The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-13
.CURIOS FROM HAWAII
At THE ST, LOUIS FAIR
Kahunas, Kahilis and Oo-oo-Bird
Robes to Be Among Sandwich
Island Exhibits.
AN EDUCATIONAL DISPLAY
Agricultural Products That Will
Show Islands Resources
Native Luncheons.

ST LOUIS, Dec. 12-Hawaii at the
worlds fair of 1904 will show to the world
her advancement under American rule. and
at the same time will present persons
| and things that speak of the days when the
| Kamehamehas ruled the land and super
| stition was rampant.
Prince Cupid-he of the erstwhile royal
| family, who is now a delegate to the Ma
| tional Congress from the mid-Pacfic
| group-said while in st. Louis recently that
Hawaiian exhibit would be incomplete
| without kahuna, a hula-hula girl, ka-
| hill. and robe made from feathers of the
| oo-oo bird. And he also said that these
| links which bind the present with the past
| could still be found in different parts of the
| country.
For it was not more than twenty years
ago that the kahunas prayed people TO
death, even as they did during Captain
| Cooks time; indeed their services as exer-
cists were in demand on the day that the
| stars and stripes were hoisted for the first
time over the government palace at Homo
lulu. when they were asked to use their in
carnations for the purpose of driving the
foreigners into the sea. So that some of
| these old witch doctors still live in their
grass huts on mountain sides, and although
their practices are forbidden by law, yet
there is little doubt that they still listen to
these who invoke their powers.
Under the belief that kahuna could pray
the soul out Of a man or woman many
crimes were undoubtedly committed in the
Hawaiian Islands in years gone by, for it
is evident that after receiving their fee for
services that would result in death they re-
sorted to the use OF poison, and thus re-
tanned their prestige But so skillfully were
the deeds OF violence committed that for
centuries no one suspected the truth and
it was believed that these white-haired
priests possessed the power to kill by the
means of prayer alone.
the hula-hula girl, though more modern
than the kahuna. is also becoming a rarity
owing to the objection to her form of
dancing offered by the newcomers on the
islands. This criticism on the part of for
eigners could not be understood by the ma
tives when first offered, for the hula girl
was to them the poetry of motion, and her
every act was the expression of a Hawaiian
song.
/ These girls were trained for their dances
while yet in the cradle, when women who
were expert in the convolutions that would
be necessary twisted their limbs and
kneaded the little ones muscles until they
became supple as acrobats.
Kahalis and robes made from birds feath-
ers speak of day when gorgeous feathered
songsters filled the trees and bushes of the
islands. But alas for the vanity of kings,
this species of fauna. indigenous to the
archipelago, has long since departed and the
birds seen to-day are the result of impor-
tation. f-b .r
A PRICELESS ROYAL ROBE.
One of the Kamehamehas is responsible
for the extinction of these members of the
feathered tribe. When admiring an oo-oo
one day he decreed that he should be fur
nished with royal robe, made from the
golden tufts that shone on the breasts of
the songSters. These tufts were only a
fraction of an inch in diameter and the
robemaker said that hundreds of thousands
Of the birds would be needed to complete
the gorgeous garment eff 1t takes every
bird in my kingdom must have the robe"
said the monarch. and forthwith the slaugh-
ter began. Probably the most magnificent
piece of wearing apparel ever worn, even
by king, was the result. But the birds
were so plentiful that there still remained
goodly number, seeing which, and his
vanity being unsatiated Kamehamehas or
dered that a cape be made, even as the
robe had been. This time the hunters were
at work for much longer period, and when
they had completed their task not an oo-oo
remained on the islands, and you hear of
them to-day only In fables
But the garments are in existence-price-
less robes Of a former state. One is in the
British Museum, taken there soon after
Liliuokalani's abdication, and the other is
in the government building at Honolulu. 1t
is the latter that will be seen in st. Louis
next summer.
Plumage of larger birds than the oo-oo
was used in forming the kahilis, which are
immense plumes, made of variegated feath-
ers and used by attendants to wave flies
and other insects from the monarch's face
when he was enjoying an Afternoon siesta.
These by the dozens will be brought to st.