The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-31
WITCHCRAFT YET
 HOLDS IN HAWAII The Kahuna Finds Employment Among SuperStitiOus Natives A SORCERER IN PRISON Charged With Having Caused the Death of an Old Man By Beat
 Ing Him Over he Head
 With a Bipe.
! SoRCERtR IN PRISON

Honolulu, May H.-There has been an- other outbreak of kahunaism in Hawaii with the result that one of the sorcerers. or kahunas. is in Prison at Puna Hawaii, awaiting trial on the charge of man slaughter. As briefly told in a previous dispatch, he Is charged with having caused the death of an old native by beating him over the head with a Bible In order to drive the devils from his body. This case is one of the most unique in the annals of kahunaism in the islands It appears from the story told at the trial in district court, that a native in the Puma district became i'll and the govern ment physician, Dr. Holland, was called in. He was treating the man with some hope of curing him, when the native call- ed in a kahuna, believing that the phy- sician was not curing him rapidly enough. The kahuna immediately threw away the remedies prescribed by the physician and diagnosed the case himself. He found that the man was possessed of red devils, and after several incantations in which the aid of spirits was invoked, de- cided that the only way to drive out the devils was by liberal application of the
 
 sick man was compelled to sit upright in bed and was then beaten vigorously by the kahuna with a heavy volume of the Scriptures. When the kahunas arm tired, the mans wife was forced to con tinue the treatment, until the man sank unconscious in bed few days after ward the man was beaten even more vigorously with the Bible and he died.
 The kahuna was arrested. first on the charge of practicing witchcraft, but at terWard the charge was changed to man. slaughter. The man made no defense. He said that he had done his best for his patient, but the devils had conquered. He testified that the mans eyes were red, that he was restless and that his hair stood on end, and that these were signs that he had red devils. The only cure was by the application of the Bible 10 the head, as the Bible told.
 The kahuna was asked to point to the chapter in the Scriptures which provided for this method of getting rid of the devil but he became confused and refused to do so. Judge Kamau then held the ka- huna for the grand jury on the charge of manslaughter. The wife of the man admitted that she had beaten him over the head with the Bible, but said that she could not disobey the instructions of the kahuna, in whom she trusted implicitly.
 This case has caused an investigation io bt lhdut OL lnt pIdcllCe OI kdnunHlSm in the islands. Kahunaism Is prohibited by law. It is relic of ancient Hawai-, and all the efforts of the missionaries, from the day of their arrival have been insufficient to stamp 1t out. It is witch craft pure and simple, but even some of the educated people among the Hawaii ans believe In 1t. There is something in 1t akin to the faith cure.
 The younger element is growing up without fear of 1t, but among the older natives 1t Is estimated that there is one kahuna to every fifty people. For ka- hunatsm is a lucrative business An att tempt was made at the last session of the legislature to secure the repeal of the law prohibiting the practice of wltch- craft, but 1t failed to get through the senate, though all the natives voted for It. At the session just closed another ef- fort to legalize the practice of the black art, though in roundabout way, was made. A bill was introduced to permit the practice of medicine without a license which was meant for the kahuna and no one else
 few months ago a woman witch doc tor in Lahaina on Maui was sent to pris- on for causing the death of a father and two sons who, she said had killed the | 2 pet cat of her favorite niece All three of the men became i'll and the kahuna was called in to cure them. They died as
 
 that she practiced kahunaism She said that she did her best to save the lives of her patients but their great sin in killing the cat had made cure impossible. A The kahuna has of late become some what modernized. or perhaps 1t Is only hhat fakirs have replaced the real thing. Many of them are blacKmailers pure and simple. They claim power to summon Ipirits at will and unless they receive everything they want in the form of money or food. the creduous native is likely to suffer from their wies. The kahunas claim descent from the devil, md the principal theory of their prac- lice is that all men are possessed of splr- It's which leave their bodies at night and poster other people. also that spirits of deceased relatives always return to earth 10 infiict their presence upon people they have known in life. The kahuna for a mall consideration kills these wander ng spirits and permits the native to go In peace. Pigs and white chickens must be sacrificed to obtain this. The man who is afflicted with the spirits must pro- 7ide the chickens and pigs-and the ka- nuna eats them. The kahuna also claims the power of craving a person to death, and it is not nfrequent that cases are reported. too where these witches are employed for shis purpose. Some eases are reported loo. where the kahuna has been success .ul. for the prayers So work upon the .ears of the super st,'ious native that 1t no wonder he dies. In the stirring fines of the revolution kahunas were employed to pray President Dole to ieath and pigs were sacrificed to bring his about, but the head of the new re- ublIc was too practical man, and ate he pigs himself. The game was found to ,e rather expensive, and other means