Did Tiki Fail to Protect the Hawaiian 'Aina?

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."

Did you watch "Conquering Hawaii" on the History Channel? It was enlightening and disgusting in how man's greed and intolerance has changed "paradise".

As you know Hawaii wasn't the only land whose culture was overun by Europeans. Nothing could stop what is to some called "Manifest Destiny". I have read over 30 books on the plight of Native American Indians. It is a shame what happened to them. But you can help in a lot of different ways by donating your time and money to different charities, although some would say this only perpetuates their current conditions. I helped fight one of the causes by writing to my represntative in Congress. Many native American Indian tribes currently are fighting to get land back after the treaties they signed were broken by "the white man". Many of them are regaining lost land. I say more power to them. One of the saddest things to see (to me) is to see a culture lost forever. Whatever native culture that may be.

What really rots my socks is the way Muslims overran and enslaved my people in Ukraine!

em.

(sniff sniff....checking for politics....mine and Fish's topic-locking hands are starting to itch....)

I think if the topic stays on Hawaii, it shouldn't be locked. It may get heated, but if it stays on topic...

TG
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

Well, you would first have to decide on what "Hawaiian" means: what percentage of Hawaiian ancestry that can actually be traced back to the original rolls of native islanders.

In 1779, Captain Cook estimated the population of the islands to be around 300,000. The first census of the kindom, taken in 1832, showed a population of 130,313. Four years later a count revealed a decline of 22,000.

The number of Hawaiians that are of full blood, is quite nill. So if someone is 50% haole, and 50% Hawaiian, are they Hawaiian?

Further, what if the 50% haole blood is the blood of the original families that stole the islands. So if you were to consider that particular 50/50 blood ratio 'Hawaiian', the thiefs won! They stole the land, and now they are considered 'Hawaiian'.

Hawaii is obviously made up of numerous nationalities. Many mainlanders consider anything of Pacific origin that looks Asian to be "Hawaiian". Many people that have Asian features and may be of Pacific islander origin, like to portray themselves as "Hawaiian".

So, the question of should more of the islands belong to "Hawaiians" may be a moot point.

The post is not intended to be polictical, the comment is primarily about the power of the tiki in a historical, real life context, although I acknowledge I did not list the positive contributions of the Dole family (I haven't found any so far, but I'm sure they exist - maybe they indirectly caused the tourist industry to develop, enabling us to visit the magnificent islands)

Regarding who is Hawaiian, we should also include the offspring of those from China, the Phillipines and Japan who arrived initially to work on the plantations.

I was taught in a Black Studies Courses that anyone who was 1/16 of an indigenous culture was then considered of that culture.
Supposedly, this was a rule that was imposed by slave owners in the days of slavery.

So... If your great great grandmother was Hawaiian, then you can call yourself Hawaiian?

Hawaii is as authentic as a Velveeta cheese loaf. It is now a “looped” commercial made up of many cultures and ethnicities. Let's not forget the Portuguese sailor's, Mexican cowboys, and Chinese tailors that migrated to the islands for economic reasons.

In fact, many of the "so called" characteristics of Hawaii are not really Hawaiian at all.
For example: pineapple, aloha shirts, slack key guitars, ukuleles, and sugar cane were all introduced to the islands by other cultures.

However, two things that were created by traditional Hawaiians are surfing and tikies.

My point is... Shit, I forgot my point!

Anyway, Save the rain forest, the hump back whale, and learn the REAL meaning of TIKI!!!

BK wrote (sniff sniff....checking for politics....mine and Fish's topic-locking hands are starting to itch....)

Eh let'em talk story. This is good info for peepz to know. Everyone is going to have an opinion both good and bad. I wan't to read the opinions. Don't sound like politics to me brah.

Actually, it's been stated that the art of carving Tiki was brought to Hawai'i from other Polynesian Islands and further back in time... from Peru and British Columbia.

Polynesia was populated with those descendants of the Peruvian Balsa-wood-raft Mariners integrating with the peoples who came in large canoes from what is now British Columbia. Oddly - both had tikis/totems as a large part of their culture.

The book, Kon Tiki, tries to prove that anyway. I believe quite successfully.
Thor Heyerdahl... what a ride that guy and his buddies took.

Hmmm... they sailed right about the time Trader Vic's was blossoming.

Maybe the power of Tiki LET people land so that Tiki could take over the world. Maybe Hanford is really made of stone and over a thousand years old.
Maybe I should have another drink.

In fact, many of the "so called" characteristics of Hawaii are not really Hawaiian at all.

Except for the weather! Can't beat the Hawaiian weather. I'm having a hard time getting used to wearing "pants"!! (and jackets/sweats too!)(god damn it's a cold winter on the mainland this year!)Shorts and tanks! The Hollidaze are over! Bring on Summer!!!

On 2004-01-05 19:46, pablus wrote:

Actually, it's been stated that the art of carving Tiki was brought to Hawai'i from other Polynesian Islands and further back in time... from Peru and British Columbia.

Polynesia was populated with those descendants of the Peruvian Balsa-wood-raft Mariners integrating with the peoples who came in large canoes from what is now British Columbia. Oddly - both had tikis/totems as a large part of their culture.

The book, Kon Tiki, tries to prove that anyway. I believe quite successfully.
Thor Heyerdahl... what a ride that guy and his buddies took.

I question the validity of early explorers such as Thor Heyerdahl or even the writings of Margaret Mead.

There is a great documentary on the journey of Polynesians that was done by PBS. It's called "Nomads of the Wind".

Hmmm.

I saw that same documentary, "Future Eaters" or something like that, and their 1st episode, although filled with eye-catching 3-d graphics, stated that they were unsure when those first settlers came from Africa, through meganesia and into Australia/New Zealand.

They've got a website up about it.
This second episode, "Nomads..." is the thing you're talking about - right?

http://www.abc.net.au/science/future/ep2/synop2.htm

Heyerdahl, (since he has no website to check out I'll state his hypothesis), tied the Peruvian pre-"indian" and Polynesian peoples together by observing the word "TIKI" as an ancient name of the first man in both places' history. The carvings were unique to both areas. Elements of the ancient languages were similar.

Then he built that raft and hit the ocean to show that it COULD have been. In previous and subsequent works Heyerdahl was much more the scientist than explorer and presents more data on human migration and interaction.

I thought the guy from "Nomads..." was plowing their path through Australia rather than just gliding along with the wind.

As far as how Hawai'i was populated there is no doubt from anyone though.
Just a bit of wondering still about where the very first Polynesians came from.

I never read Mead - I thought her stuff was just studies of culture rather than historical musings.

Anyway, although the past is intriguing as to when and how they got there - I'm more interested in when and how I'm going to get there. I know it won't be by balsa raft.

Yes, I beleive Thor's theory has been scientifically disproven by DNA testing and such. But he still kicks ass.

And yet... when confronted with the simple sweet potato(e)... these same scientists shrug their shoulders. And then come up with trans-oceanic theories of their own.

Hey - if science is a religion are we breaking charter?

The Heyerdahlites vs. the Meganesians?

Science is good for one thing, though...
I make a much better cocktail than my forefathers ever did.

...And we get to hear the wonder that is Baby Lulu from our own homes.

[ Edited by: pablus on 2004-01-06 09:35 ]

Heyerdahl bugs me for the same reason Erich von Daniken does: he doesn't think "primitive" people could possibly have created their own megalithic sculpture/architecture etc - it must have been the Incas (or extraterrestrials f'chrissakes) who helped them.

Very patronizing, but hey, he was an academic - publish or perish. He was one of the lucky ones whose theories get read by the general public, but really it is not unknown for an academic to publish the most ludicrous, whacked-out bullshit imaginable. The nice thing about this kind of history: nobody ever gets to DISprove their theories (although I didn't know about the DNA studies, interesting). Fact is, we'll never really know. But for me, I am perfectly satisfied to think that the Polynesians came up with their own megaliths. Nan Madol has no resemblance to anything on the South American mainland. As for the British Columbian native peoples, their totem carving started, I think, quite a bit later than the Polynesian stuff. The carving most people identify as their style is pure 19th-century in fact.

emski

As for the Tikis' mana not being able to prevent invasion, there are only two possible interpretations:

1. yes, the Tikis' mana was not as strong as the mana of the white men's Lord Jehovah or whatever you wish to call Him, YHVH, etc. because they were only little local gods and YHVH is the creator of the Universe, or

2. there are no gods at all (or if there are they didn't care), and the success of the invasion was a result of cajolery combined with big guns.

that's history for ya,
em.

On 2004-01-04 10:49, christiki295 wrote:

Regarding who is Hawaiian, we should also include the offspring of those from China, the Phillipines and Japan who arrived initially to work on the plantations.

Following that logic, should we not then include the other folk (the "White" ones)as Hawaiian who came at the same time as those you list? Or are only non "White" races included in the Hawaiian family?

By the way, the "Original Hawaiians" probably migrated from further west in Polynesia (so are not indigenous to the island either.) It's just a matter of timing. Despite that what Dole, John L. Stevens and Charlton Heston did to the Islands was just plain wrong.

Did Tiki protect the 'Aina? I guess it's a matter of your viewpoint: No because the original settlers are outnumbered by others? Yes, because the original settler's Hawaiian cultures is still alive today DESPITE the massive effort in the 19th century to eradicate it. I like to think the latter.

However, in the spirit of reconciliation I dedicate the following poem to all the oppressed in the world:

"THE MODERN MANS LITANY"

by Charles J. Nohai

I Apologize for:

All the Indians I have killed,
All the Slaves I have owned,
All the Women I have oppressed
and
All the Hawaiians I have stolen land from.

Side note:
The majestic Moai did protect the natives of Easter Island from European invasion until Easter Sunday 1722 (1400 years of isolation), but not strong enough to protect them from warring and slaughtering\killing between themselves, to almost total devastation.

A Tiki Cheers To You

[ Edited by: Unga Bunga on 2004-01-06 12:21 ]

i communed with a real-life moai this morning at the national museum of natural history.

i don't know if this particular one ended up in d.c. coz of imperialism or cultural exchange.

it's still cool tho. j$

No disrespect to native Americans or Hawaiians (whatever a native Hawaiian is), but a common thread in the downfall of many indiginous populations was their own participation in it.

Just like today, many people are just out for personal gain and ignore their greater cultural heritage out of economic necessity. How could it hurt us if I can trade these goods with the white men so I can better support my family? Why shouldn't we let them use our harbor? We need the bucks (or rum or weapons or textiles or whatever).

I'm not saying that the cultural usurpers were not often opportunistic, thieving, lying, back-stabbing cretins, just saying that it's usually not such a clean-cut issue of the innocent idyllic natives being overrun by evil white men.

A perfect example of this today is in South America where native indian populations have been forced by their intense poverty (partially brought on by the native rulers' short-sightedness) to "sell" large tracts of forest to developers or become what are essentially enslaved farm workers. Starve to death and lose my family or work for the men who are destroying my land and culture?

Oh, and isn't "tiki" a haole bastardization of the Hawaiian "nihi"?

I can't wait until some big ass space alien comes here and kicks our asses and takes over.

(hey!, then we'll all be displaced natives crying in our light-beers)

Haven't they already? At leaste according to David Icke...

I for one welcome our new Lizard People overlords.

On 2004-01-06 15:13, tikifish wrote:
I for one welcome our new Lizard People overlords.

Me too! All hail the shape-shifting lizard people from Planet X! In exchange for unrestrained adulation, how about I get to be Minister of culture?

:), em.

I thought the Vikings were the first to discover Hawaii. They called it Greenland to promote tourism.

aloha,

On 2004-01-06 12:22, Johnny Dollar wrote:
i communed with a real-life moai this morning at the national museum of natural history. i don't know if this particular one ended up in d.c. coz of imperialism or cultural exchange.

http://www.mississippi.net/~comcents/tendertale.com/tenders/007/007.html

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-10 13:40 ]

On 2004-01-06 21:26, filslash wrote:

My understand is that that one was was taken to DC by the U.S.S. Mohician...

http://www.mississippi.net/~comcents/tendertale.com/tenders/007/007.html

That's one robust crew they had there.

On 2004-01-06 10:37, emspace wrote:
Heyerdahl bugs me for the same reason Erich von Daniken does: he doesn't think "primitive" people could possibly have created their own megalithic sculpture/architecture etc - it must have been the Incas (or extraterrestrials f'chrissakes) who helped them.

:lol:
I forgot about that theory.
Of course it was the Space Alien's that created the maoi, pyramids, and the sphinx...

I also read that they are currently living in a Tahitian cave with unicorns, Bigfoot, and the abominable snow man.

Gimee a Freakin break!

On 2004-01-06 15:13, tikifish wrote:
Haven't they already? At least according to David Icke...

I for one welcome our new Lizard People overlords.

Drats....what gave us away? The Supreme Reptiliad told us that our disguises would be impenetrable...that we could exhaust the Earth's tiki and rum supply within five years and return safely to our planet as heroes...

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2004-01-08 21:23 ]

On 2004-01-06 12:14, Unga Bunga wrote:
Side note:
The majestic Moai did protect the natives of Easter Island from European invasion until Easter Sunday 1722 (1400 years of isolation), but not strong enough to protect them from warring and slaughteringkilling between themselves, to almost total devastation.

Point well taken. However, during the tiki carving period, the tiki mana did promote and nurture the Easter Islanders to such an extent I suppose that they in turn wanted more Moai for more manna and never balanced out the aina-earth replinishment issue.

On the issue of profiting or supporting one's family by selling land, that too is a point well taken, although the laws and judicial system appear to have been stacked against the native Hawaiians, so as to deprive them of fair opportunity to protect their rights to the land.

On 2004-01-08 21:22, Basement Kahuna wrote:

On 2004-01-06 15:13, tikifish wrote:
Haven't they already? At least according to David Icke...

I for one welcome our new Lizard People overlords.

Drats....what gave us away? The Supreme Reptiliad told us that our disguises would be impenetrable...that we could exhaust the Earth's tiki and rum supply within five years and return safely to our planet as heroes...

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2004-01-08 21:23 ]

Don't worry BK, if anyone's going to exhaust the earth's Tiki supply it'll still be you.

:), em