Post #308229 by Tamapoutini on Tue, May 22, 2007 3:03 PM

On 2007-05-22 13:36, AlienTiki wrote:

...as much of the history and names of these deities was lost when the Hawaiians were given a "New Religion". You know the decimation of thousands by means of introduced disease can make people question there faith.

Here is the only known image of Lono.
Kinda ugly ain't it?

Hey, thanks for that Alien!

Its not so hard to imagine. So much Maori history/lore has been lost also. Also read: Australian Aboriginal, Native American, Easter Island, etc, etc... (Amine)
I hate to say it, but perhaps it is the fact that its lost forever that makes the rich 'Sth Seas' exsistance so mysterious/alluring..?

So we have many images that we know are 'traditional'/real, but cannot be certain as to their identity. I was recently reading about 'Uenuku'; a wooden figure that was supposedly bought to NZ from the legendary 'Hawaiiki' at the time of the 'Great Migration'; there are only three works in existance known as Uenuku & two of them are in the Honolulu Museum, and I gather that all three look quite different.. I believe the intention of the carver & the name given to a piece is the most important thing. To a race with strong/important oral-tradition & no written language, names were remembered & all recited history accepted as accurate.

Im rambling. Thanks for the info. Keep up the Good Work!

Tama :)

PS: yeah, the original Lono is much uglier than I would have imagined... :lol: