Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 12, 1 December 1989 — Nā iwi Kānaka (human bones), mokuna 'eono (part six): Mālama (protect) and ho'ohana (utilize) [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Nā iwi Kānaka (human bones), mokuna 'eono (part six): Mālama (protect) and ho'ohana (utilize)

He Man Kīnan Ola

by Kekuni Blaisdelt, M.D.

Ninau: Why are you Hawaiians so upset over the unearthing £uid scientific study of bones buried so long ago that they cannot be individually identified? After all, did not your ancestors use the bones of people they knew as fish hooks,

ornaments and as good luek charms? Pane: Ma mua (previously) in this eolumn, major reasons were given for Hawaiians' strong opposition to digging up our burial grounds. This conviction was recently reinforced at the Oct. 28 Native Hawaiian Burials seminar in the State Capitol Auditorium. _I kēlā mahina aku nei (last month), He Mau Ninau Ola also considered the special veneration given nā iwi (the bones) of Kamehameha I at the time of his death onMay 8, 1819, at Kamakahonu, Kailua-Kona, moku Hawai'i. Some believe that his iwi were promptly hidden in a secret cave at Kaloko, North Kona. However, evidence reported by Bishop Museum researcher Dorothy Barrere favors the view that the king's iwi were housed in a hale poki ("tomb") at Ahu'ena, Kamakahonu, similar to the Heile o Liloa of the 16th century in Waipi'o Valley, and Hale o Keawe at HōnaunauKona in the mid-18th century. Then, sometime between April 1820 and April 1822, the great warrior's iwi were taken from the imposing and well-guarded hale poki at 'Ahu'ena, and "distributed among his principal chiefs." So recorded two English missionaries, Tyerman and Bennett, after they visited the site with their guide John Young, close confidant of the late ruler Kamehameha I. A third English missionary of the same time, wrote that the king's successor and son, Liholiho, had taken the bones of his father with him on his illfated trip to England in 1824, where the young prince and his sister-wife died of measles. But we have no confirmation of that supposition. Assuming Kamehameha's iwi were so disposed of, what ho'ohanafuse) was made of his iwi? "Fish hooks, ornaments and good-luck charms,"as the above questioner asks? The wording of this question suggests need for further explanation of

Hawai'i's ancient ways. Nā iwi of a high chief, such as Kamehameha, required special reverence for at least two reasons: 1) It was essential that nā iwi never fall into the hands of an enemy who mightdesecrate them and thus insult and harm the famous chief and his family. Some acts of such disrespect included kaula'i nā iwi i ka lā (publicly bleaching the bones in the sun), puhi i ka iwi (display of burning the bones); using nā iwi in refuse receptacles, such as ipu kuha (spittoon), ipu mimi (uiinal), or as fish hooks. 2)Nā iwi ali'i (chiefly bones) continued to contain the 'uhane (spirit) and this special godly mana of the chief, as long as they were treated as deified with proper resp>ect and prayers. Mālama pū'olo (safe-keeping of bones bundled in tapa) as 'unihipili (deified bones) were the highest form of mālama and ho'ohana (use) of chiefly iwi. A senior person in the 'ohana was assigned as kahu (keeper). Typically, ka 'unihipiH was repeat-

edly asked to protect, to assure health and life, to promote healing of the sick and other favorable outcomes. Or, it might be sent on an errand of mercy, warning or even harm. Abandoned or neglected, such iwi lost their mana. Kawena Puku'i describes their being rendered inactive through proper ceremoniesreleasing their 'uhane to return to the etemity of Pō, the great darkness from whieh all in the Hawanan cosmos arose. It is also conceivable that an iwi of Kamehameha, such as his iwi hilo (thighbone), could have been mālama 'ia (cared for) by ho'ohana (use) as a handle for a kahili, for it is said that in this way Kamehameha so "honored" Ka'iana, killed in the 1795 Battle of Nu'uanu, and Kalanikupule, ruKng chief of O'ahu, who was eaptured and his body sacrificed a year later. While we have no direct evidence that Kamehameha's iwi continued on page 17

Flg. 1. A kahlll In the Bishop Museum with a pole said to contain the right Iwl ku (shln hone, tibia) of Kaneoneo.

He Mau Ninau Ola

/rom page 18 were so honored, Fig. 1 depicts such an honor for Kaneoneo, an earlier ruling chief of O'ahu. The usefulness of na iwi of the conqueror as 'unihipili to his 'ohana could have been considerable. Certainly mueh more beneficial than their being secreted in a remote cave. In any case, mālama and ho'ohana as 'unihipili are not in the category of "good-luck charms" to a kanaka maoli and ho'ohana of an iwi as a handle or pole for a kahili would not be considered a mere "ornament," but rather a means of glorifying the departed ali'i.