Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 5, 1 Mei 1985 — He Mau Ninau Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

He Mau Ninau Ola

Some Health Questions by Kekuni Blaisdell, M.D.

This month's eolumn is the first in a series of responses to a frequently submitted ninau from you po'e heluhelu (readers), for whieh mahalo a nui. Q: What were the beliefs of our kupuna of ancient Hawai'i concerning health, illness, and medicai treatment?

A: Evidence on your important ninau is largely indirect and fragmentary , since our kupuna kahiko kept no palapala (written records), and westernization, beginning with the arrival of Capt. Cook in 1778, depopulated our islands, and tended to deplore, distort and suppress our traditional native medical lore. Nevertheless, it is possible to palokeloke (fit loosely together) the available hakina (fragments) into a fairly coherent mo'olelo (story). One oversimplified version is expressed in this outline of ehiku (seven) interrelated concepts:

1. Our po e kahiko believed that there was a oneness of kanaka (man) with himself , with others and with all of nature. This unity was characterized by a basic orderliness of natural phenomena, recurring cyclic phases and a delicate balance of complementary opposites (dualism). Perhaps the most elegant testimony to this concept is He Kumulipo, the 2,102-line genealogical creation mele, whieh begins with the fiery earth mother mating with the sky father to form the walewale (muddy slime), out of whieh arises ko'ako'a (coral), the first in an orderly sequence of 260, increasinly complex species of life culminating in Haloa, the first kanaka. Through successive generations, great men became chiefs, and great chiefs became deified as gods with kinolau (many body ) forms, such as plant, animal, wind, mountain and stone. Thus, all of nature was revered.

2. Mana was energy whieh pervaded all mea (things) and accounted for their behavior. Mana was quantifiable. lt could be inherent, like the greater mana by birth of ali'i, compared to the lesser mana of maka'ainana (commoners). But mana could also be acquired or enhanced, like no'eau (skills) of a kahuna Iapa'au (physician), or the sailability of an ocean-going wa'a (eanoe).

3. Kapu, restnctions initiated by the kahuna but requiring the sanction of the ruling ali'i, and the eomplianee of the community as a whole, were intended to promote control of mana for the benefit of all. Thus, kapu permitted fresh water bathingonly at down-stream designated sites, while upstream wai (water) was kapu for drinking only.

4. Frequent direct communication with the psychospiritual realm of 'aumakua (departed kupuna who became family guardian gods), or indirectly via the kahuna to special or supreme akua, like Ku and Lono, also channeled mana for the good. Formal psychospiritual communication was mainly in the form of chanted pule (prayers), rituals and ceremonies, whieh, through perfection of design, wording and performanee, acquired additional mana and effect.

5. The human body had ekolu (three) piko. The piko po'o or manawa (fontanel of the infant's skull) was the opening by whieh the person's 'uhane (spirit) within the head eommunicated with the spiritual realm of one's 'aumakua. The piko waena (navel), the site of the fetal-materna! 'iewe (placental) umbilical cord, represented the permanent link between the person and his makua (parents). This piko in the abdominal wall covered the 'opu (abdomen) containing the na'au (gut), whieh was the locus for knowledge and wisdom. The third piko was the piko ma'i (genitalia) whieh tied one to successive generations of offspring forever. 6. lllness, or other misfortune, was due to imbalance or disharmony within oneself, with others, or with nature and akua, and thus, emi (loss) of mana. Common causes of such adversity were violation of kapu, offense to elders, and negligence or disrespect of 'aumakua, who required pinepine (frequent) attention.

7. Diagnosis of an illness was determining the mechanism of loss of mana in a particular case. Therapy was ho'iho'i ana (restoring) the lost mana, mainly through psychospiritual means, supplemented by physical methods, such as special foods, lomilomi, and application of medicinal plants and minera!s. If the foregoing concepts seem strange to us po'e Hawai'i today, it is because we have wandered far indeed from the ways of our Polynesian ancestors. Further details of these beliefs and related practices will follow in columns to eome. Meanwhile, e ho'omau ha'awi mai i mau ninau ola, ke 'olu'olu.