Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 1988 — He Mau Ninau Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

He Mau Ninau Ola

- Some Health Questions Kekuni Blaisdell, M.D. ■ .•• ■.•■■■■■

Kahuna 'Anā'ana: Mokuna 'Ekolu

Nīnau: If ana ana is not "praying to death by a witch doctor," what is it? How did it eome to be? And why does it persist? Pane: I ka Mokuna 'Hua (Part II) i kēlā mahina aku nei (last month), 10 non-"praying-to-death" hana maika'i (favorable), rather than hana 'ino (unfavorable), examples of 'anā'anā practices were cited.

Akā (however), the kahuna 'anā'anā seems to be best known today for his hana 'ino (harm). As elsewhere in Eastern Polynesia, he would traditionally use maunu (bait), such as hair. nails, urine or clothing, usually stealthily procured from the intended victim. Since these objects contained some of the person's mana, through prayers and rituals attending these objects, the kahuna was able to control their mana and, therefore, the victim. From knowledge of the victim's personal behavior and especially his weaknesses, such as his offense to another person or to his 'aumakua, or violation of a kapu, the kahuna would make it known to the victim by way of intermediaries, that his transgression would require punishment.

Ho'upu'upu (carefully planted suggestion) with resulting sense of guilt and fear of waia (puhlie disgrace) could lead to anxiety, depression, an assortment of somatic complaints, failure to eat and or drink, and even death. On the other hand, the indicted victim might react with indignation anddefianceat being wrongly accused. Samuel Kamakau and David Malo described how a kahuna kuni might be engaged to counter or avenge the kahuna 'anā'anā's hana 'ino through the kuni (burning) ceremony. ln this ritual (Figure 1), the kahuna kuni placed the intended victim's maunu in a fire of green wood and publicly prayed for revelation of the kāhoaka (phantom) of the person who had wrongly sought to harm the victim. With the sudden appearance of a ho'ailona (omen),

such as an anuenue (rainbow), ua (rain) or hekili (thunder), the kahuna would pronounce the name of the kāhoaka and predict appropriate retribution, such as illness or death. Variations of such practices accounted for other named kahuna classes. For example, the kahuna ho'opi'opi'o (to curve back), by ritually touching a part of his own body in the presence of the victim, could inflict illness in the same site in the target person. This could becountered, however, by the victim promptly pointing to the same body spot, with the appropriate chant, and thus, pi'opi'o

(return) the infliction to the originator. The kahuna ho'ounauna (to send) could send a malicious spirit to induce sickness or make (death). The kahuna makani (wind) could induce a spiritual wind to enter a patient, such as to counter hana'ino. The kahuna kāhea (eall) could eall upon the gods to reveal information about an ailment or heal it.

Kamehameha's illness with ma'i hēhē (furuncle, "boil"), when he was a competing young chief known as Pai'ea in the court of Kalani'ōpu'u, was attributed to 'ana'ana, according to John Papa'IT. A rival youngali'i, Inaina, with maunu from Pai'ea, engaged two kāhunaat Kea'a, Ka'ū, to inflict death on Kamehameha. However, eaeh time the kāhuna tried to make a ritual fire with their rubbing sticks, a pueo (owl) would flap his wings and extinguish the fire. The kāhuna then saw a haili (vision) of Pai'ea and concluded that the gods did not approve of their hana 'ino against the young warrior. They predicted, however, that Pai'ea would have ma'i hēhē from their abortive 'anā^anā, but that Inaina, rather than Kamehameha, would die. Pai'ea did have ma'i hēhē at that time, but he allegedly was protected from death by the pueo, perhaps his 'aumakua. Soon thereafter, however, Inaina was among the slain in Kalani'ōpu'u's lost battle against Kahekili at Kakanilua, Maui.

Nineteenth century native writers 'IT, Kamakau and Malo, having been Westernized and Christianized, referred to 'anā'anā as based on "lies," "superstition" and deceit." Such denunciations, led mainly by foreigners, were responsible for the stipulation in the 1868 Act to Establish a Hawaiian Board of Health, that any native practitioner convicted of 'ana'ana would lose his license.

I kēia mahina a'e (next month), we will analyze these beliefs and practices of old Hawai'i, consider explanations for their persistence even kēia wā (today), and speculate on their origins. 'Oiai, e ho'omau e ho'ouna mai nei i kou mau r!tnau ola, ke 'olu'olu.

Figure 1. The kuni (burning) ceremony countered or avenged the hana 'ino (harm) of 'ani'anā to an innocent victim. When the kahuna kuni piaced the victim's manu (bait) in a fire with appropriate prayers, the kāhoaka (phantom) of the person who had initiated the hana'ino against the victim appeared, and was thereupon sentenced to retribution.