Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 10, 1 October 2010 — Leaving a legacy [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Leaving a legacy

By Claire Ku'uleilani Hughes, Dr. PH„ R.D. Among the enduring gifts left by our Hawaiian ancestors is their feather work. The 'ahu'ula (feather capes and clocks), mahiole (feather helmets), akua hulumanu (feathered gods), and kāhili (feather standards) give us great insight into the character of our Hawaiian ancestors. These gifts clearly demonstrate skill, artistry, tenacity and attention to detail, as well as amazing patience and hard work of the ancestors in creating works of beauty. Exam-

ples of Hawaiian feather work are on display in the Bishop Museum's Hawaiian Hall. The color and sheen of the feathers may be slightly faded, but the variation of color and detail in the feather patterns are amazing. Also remarkable, are the strength and durability of the natural materials used and the great care taken in attaching the feathers, so that these works have endured for hundreds of years. The skill and artistry in these enduring gifts are absolutely awesome. John Dominis Holt's research of Cook's joumals tells how impressed Captain Cook was by the variety of cloaks and capes worn by Hawaiian ali'i. Cook's journals reveal that Cook compared 'ahu'ula to European cloaks, remarking that some resembled European red cloth cloaks, richly ornamented with broad gold laee. He thought the most striking 'ahu'ula were made of red and

yellow feathers. Cook was also awed by the akua hulumanu that he viewed on Kalaniopu'u's canoes that brought the ali'i and his entourage out to meet Cook's ships in Kealakekua Bay. Cook found the artistic impact of the akua hulumanu an awesome, fierce and compelling sight. Isabella Abbott explains that the feathers eame from endemic birds (found only in Hawai'i) and the netting and basketry were from endemic and native plants. The 'ahu'ula netting was crafted from strong olonā cordage, and fine olonā thread tied the feathers. The basketry forms for the mahiole and akua hulumanu were made from 'ie'ie roots and olonā fibers, and required mueh skill and pahenee to make. Kamakau estimated the weaving the finely meshed netting of olonā for an 'ahu'ula took more than a year to complete. Collecting the feathers took mueh time, pahenee and skill. Bird catchers, called kia manu, caught birds in traps or by putting sticky substances from either the 'ulu tree or pāpala kēpau seeds on tree branches. Then, the kia manu sat motionless,

patiently waiting until birds perched upon the sticky branches. Gently, the kia manu plucked only a few ehoiee feathers. Then, all glue was cleaned from the bird's claws before releasing the bird to re-grow the feathers. Feathers were sorted by size and color, bundled, then tied to a quill with fine olonā thread and stored for later use. The akua hulumanu and the capes and helmets show amazing skill, ingenuity and great pahenee. Other Paeihe populations also created feather capes, but none matched the workmanship, beauty, artistry, variation of color and patterns, as well as size as the capes made by kānaka maoli. To understand their cultural significance, the 'ahu'ula and mahiole were worn only by the highest-ranking ali'i on special oeeasions and onto the battlefield, and a variety of kāhili were always part of ali'i regalia. Considering these amazing gifts, we must ask ourselves, "What will be the legacy that we will leave for our great-great-great-great grandchildren?" ■

CULTURE

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