Post #67531 by christiki295 on Sat, Jan 3, 2004 4:20 PM

I was reminiscing about this complaint made by a Hawaiian tiki carver who sadl remarked that the mana of the tikis was not strong enough to protected the Hawaiian land from invaders.

Although the invaders were unnamed, most likely he was referencing the fact that by some estimates Hawaiians own less than 5% of the aina/land, whereas a rich mogul like David Murdoch owns the entire island of Lanai.

72 other private land barons and the federal and state governments own the other 95%.

Murdock became the majority shareholder of Castle&Cooke, one of the original Big 5 haole sugar plantation interests. C&C purchased it from James Dole, founder of Dole Pineapple.

James Dole was a relative of Sanford Dole, who was partially responsible for the overthrow of the Hawiian monarchy by his role in the 1887 Bayonet Constitution and overthrow of Queen Liliuokani on January 17, 1893. The Crown lands, those retained by the monarchy in the Great Mahele in 1848, were confiscated by this new government, headed by Sanford Dole.

A US warship in the harbor also unloaded armed troops in support of the eventual US annexation. President Clinton apologized for the role the US played.

The carver also might have been refering to the 1874 non-judicial foreclosure law which allowed landowners to repossess land purchased at extremely high interest rates without prior notice to the landowner and without providing the owners the opportunity to petition the Courts.

Today, Hawaiian state law allows land barons like the Bishop estate (which owns 10% of all Hawaiian land) and Campbell estate who are under longterm leases are allowed to file quiet title actions to own the land outright in fee simple by merely publishing the names of, at times - hundreds, Hawaiians who might have a valid claim on the title stemming from the 1848 Great Mahele.

He also noted that it was ridiculous that the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel had placed their tiki facing inland, whereas traditinonal tikis faced toward the ocean, like the Place of Refuge on the Big Island. He added, sadly, that their mana was not strong enough to protect the land against the (unnamed) invavders.

The definition of a tiki, in addition to being the first man (occationally attributed to having sexual prowess), includes a mystical power.

The Night of the Tiki book also recounts first hand interviews with island elder natives who attribute a special power to the tiki. Meriam Webster dictionary also defines a tiki as an "image of a Polynesian supernatural power." A contemporary source, Tikiwonder.com, includes "magic, gods and forces" derived from the Polynesian islands in its defintion.

The Place of Refuge at Pu'uhonua 'O Honaunau Historical Park is guarded by 6 ft tall tikis facing the ocean and provided kapu violators and others with sanctuary based on the mana derived from the chiefs buried there.

I suppose it is no small wonder that the tiki mana has proven not to be strong enough to enforce the state motto, "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono" - "the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness."