Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 4, 1 April 2013 — ON THE COVER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ON THE COVER

Wearing a lei of shredded ti leaves, a kahuna lapa'au prepares an infusion of herbs, some to be ground up in the stone mortar near his knee. Many remedies were gathered from the sea to the mountain forests, and some were cultivated. Smoke curls up behind him from a small fire over whieh noni leaves are being charred for use in a preparation. He holds a sprig of pōpolo, perhaps the most important of all medicinal plants. The juice of the leaves and the black, sweet berries was used in treatments for skin disorders, wounds and digestive problems. In the bowl at lower right are fruit and leaves of noni, perhaps the second most important plant in healing. Leaves of kukui, in the basket at right, were used as a laxative or a purge. A small bowl (lower center) holds red salt (pa'akai 'alaea) evaporated from seawater steeped in red ocherous earth. On the platter, right to left, are yellow-blossomed 'ilima, the seaweed limu kala, and the corms of 'ōlena (turmeric). Behind the platter are stalks of kō (Polynesian sugar eane). At lower left is the ginger 'awapuhi. At left, a broken bone is being set. It is said that specialists in bone setting went through a lengthy apprenticeship from whieh they graduated only after breaking and successfully setting a bone in a member of their family. At right, a physician manipulates the body of a patient with varying pressures calculated to help him make his diagnosis. Physicians observed rituals expressing respect toward Lono, patron spirit of healing, and strived to emulate their ancestral 'aumakua, conducting their lives in a manner that would make them worthy of receiving mana.