Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 5, 1 May 1999 — Pali ke kua, mahina ke alo [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Pali ke kua, mahina ke alo

Back straight as a eliff. face bridit as the moon O ? o — txaditional descrintioii of an attractive person

By Claire Hughes. D e p t . of Health tARLY HAWAI1ANS had definite standards for physical beauty. Parents and kūpuna woiked diligently on their offspring, from infancy through adolescence to coirect physical characteristics that deviated from the accepted standard of the time. Infancy and childhood are the natural periods of growth and change, when features could be easily molded to meet the Hawaiian standards for physical beauty. According to Mary Kawena Puku'i, infancy was the time to mold and perfect the bodies of favorite children. Infants were gently massaged to strengthen limbs. Fingertips were rolled between the thumb and index finger to make the tips taper. If the nose was 'upepe, or flat, the bridge of the nose was gendy pressed to a sharper ridge. Ears that stood out from the head were pressed back against the head, and infants were never laid down with their ears folded forward.

As a young mother, I was reminded constandy that po'o 'opaha, a flat head, was the sign of a lazy mother, one who left her baby in one position for hours. Eyes that were too small were massaged by pressing the outer comers of the eyes ! toward the nose, to make the eyes grow ! larger. The buttocks of boys were carefully molded, as the malo hid only a small part of the body, and boys with flat seats were teased by their playmates. Mrs. Puku'i tells us that to correct the functional disorders that were diagnosed by the kahuna pa 'ao 'ao, weaknesses of infants and children were treated with special diets, herbal tonics, massage and other physical therapies. A diet with plenty of greens for the nursing mother was believed to produce strong teeth in her baby. Later in development, chunks of dried squid were chewed by growing children to help develop good jaw muscles and strong teeth. The usual Hawaiian greens, lu'au and palula (sweet potato leaves), as well as limu, are rich sources of ealeium and other minerals such as iron and potassium for healthy bones and teeth. Kalo and poi were the major staples in the Hawaiian diet and supplied a large portion of the necessary minerals. Puku'i believed these foods were responsible for the massive jaws and beautiful teeth of Hawaiians. There is mueh skepticism regarding the effectiveness of body molding. The anthropologist Dr. Charles Snow, an early visitor to Hawai'i, verified the prac-

tice through thorough examination of the bones that were removed ffom Mōkapu where the Marine base

was built. Dr. Snow noted among the adult population a number of male skulls with shapes similar to that of a favorite ali'i, Liloa These skulls exhibited characteristic changes for whieh molding techniques would have been responsible. Ā

Mrs. Puku'i collect-

ed a variety of cultur-

al sayings that praise those characteristics that Hawaiians considered

important prerequisites of physical beauty and handsome appearance. "Pali ke kua, mahina ke alo," speaks of a straight back and a face that reflects brightness as the attributes of a good looking person. "Oki kilohana ka pali o Waialoha" rneaas straight and tall is the cliff of Waiaoha. It reflects the admiration held for a tall, well-formed person. "Ku mai no, he pali" talks of a cliff. This would have been said in admiration of a handsome person who, like a cliff, attracts one's attention. The preferred characteristics then were straight backs, good height and faces that reflect vitality. These are attributes we still aspire to today. They are not out of reach if we develop good lifestyle eating habits. ■

Uii lliHI

Nativc Hawaiian Olympic mcdallLsl Duke Kahanamoku measured up to traditional Hawaiian standards - and any other standaid - of striking physical beauty and glowing good health.