Hawaiian antiquities (Moolelo Hawaii) (Bernice Pauahi ...

An essential work in Hawaiian studies:
This is a classic work in Hawaiian literature. Written approx in 1840, the author bridges an ancient,pagan, pre-Cook Hawaiian world; and a new world of foreigners, private property, diseases, Christianity, and a struggle to maintain a Hawaiian identity. Malo describes many aspects of ancient Hawaiian life and culture, including tools and technology, land tenure, religious practices, politics, agriculture, medicine, games and amusements, marriage and family life, etc. This text is still considered a primary source for knowledge of Hawaiian culture in the era before Captain Cook sailed into Kealakekua Bay. Malo never quite mastered the English language, so Hawaiian Antiquities was written in Hawaiian. It is one of the few books in the canon of texts written in Hawaiian. It is especially valuable to linguists to have been written by a native speaker, and is essential to the modern study of Hawaiian grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Of particular interest are the many "mele" (songs) quoted. Malo believed, as many people still do, that the "mele" was the highest Hawaiian art form, integrating music, poetry, and hula, often in a religious context. Malo himself seems a somewhat dispeptic sort. A Christian minister in the rigid mold of the Protestant missionaries, he disdained many of the customs and practices he describes. He occasionally disparages the primitive technology and culture of his people. Yet for all his prejudice, Malo's tone is usually dispassionate and objective. He gets a few facts wrong. (Hawaiian surfboards may have been long, but they were never 30-40 feet long.) Modern cultural anthropologists must surely cringe at his omissions and technique. And modern Hawaiian language teachers are still sorting out his spelling and grammatical errors (hey, do you speak perfect English?)But nobody disagrees that we are very lucky to have this book.

Essential reading on ancient Hawaiian life and customs...:
David Malo, a Hawaiian, was born around 1793, died in 1853. He left behind his record of Hawaiian life, translated by N. Emerson in 1898. Malo became a Christian minister, and this influenced his interpretation and presentation of this material. Emerson wrote, in his introduction to this volume, "Though nurtured in the superstitious faith and cult of old Hawaii, and though a man of tenacious opinions, when the light reached him (I assume this was a "religious light"), the old errors were dissipated with the darkness, as clouds are dissolved by the rising sun, and his (Malo's) whole intellectual and moral nature felt the stimulus and burst forth with a new growth" (p. xiii). This hints at both Malo's biases, as well as the biases of Emerson. So we use this volume as a hint at ancient Hawaii, not as the definitive reference on old Hawaii. Here are some examples: There was a chapter on making stone axes. Malo states "Now come new kinds of axes from the lands of the white man. But iron had reached Hawaii before the arrival of the foreigner, a jetsam iron which the chiefs declared sacred to the gods (I assume this was iron pieces connected to wood washing up on beaches from shipwrecks)... Iron is plentiful now, and so are all kinds of iron tools, including the kitchen ax, the hatchet, the adz, broad-ax, chisel, etc. These are the new tools which have been imported. The stone-ax ('koi-pohaku') is laid aside" (p. 51-52). This hints at the substitution of one technology for another, and the loss of the first. "It was the policy of the government to place the chiefs who were destined to rule, while they were still young, with wise persons, that they might be instructed by skilled teachers in the principles of government, be taught the art of war, and be made to acquire personal skill and bravery" (p. 53). This may have been an idealized goal, but I doubt this occurred as a manner of policy. "The feathers of birds were the most valued possessions of the ancient Hawaiians" (p. 76)... "The carved whale tooth, or 'niho-palaoa', was a decoration worn by high chiefs who alone were allowed to possess this ornament. They were not common in teh ancient times, and it is only since the reign of Kamehameha I that they have become somewhat more numerous" (p. 77). I assume this was due to whale teeth trading from the visiting ships. "Salt was one of the necessaries and was a condiment used with fish and meat, also as a relish with fresh food" (p. 123). "Water, which was one of the essentials os a meal, to keep one from choking or being burned with hot food..." (p. 123). "Sharks' teeth were the means employed in Hawaii nei for cutting the hair. The instrument was called 'niho-ako-lauoho'. The shark's tooth was firmly bound to a s tick, the the hair was bent over the tooth and cut through with a sawing motion. If this method caused too much pain another resource was to use fire" (p. 123). "A ship was like a section of the earth quietly moving through the water. On account of their great size, when the first ships arrived here, people flocked from remote districts to view them. Great were the benefits derived from these novel craft, the like which had never been seen before. ...Many blessings have come to this race through these new sea-going craft. It was by them the word of God was conveyed to these shores, which is a blessing greater than any sought for by the ancients" (p. 132). In his preface, David Malo wrote: "I do not suppose the following history to be free from mistakes, in that the material for it has come from oral traditions; consequently it is marred by errors of human judgment and does not approach the accuracy of the word of God." I agree, but this has to be one of best, and most complete, remaining first-person recollections of old Hawaii. For those interested, this is an essential reference.