Kauai History and Games
Hawaiians had ample leisure time living in a landscape and climate that supplied abundant food and materials without excessive labor. They invented games and contests to entertain both players and spectators, and became great sportsmen. Hawaiian athletes were especially skilled in water sports like surfing, swimming, and canoe racing. There was lele kawa (plunging with the least amount of splash), lele pahu (plunging with the greatest splash), aho loa (holding breath), and kaupua (diving for an object). There was kaha nalu (body surfing), paka wa`a (canoe surfing) and he`e nalu (board surfing) which they developed to a higher degree than anywhere else in the Pacific.
An important function of ancient games was to train warriors. Games that built strength, stamina, and agility with weapons such as spears and darts developed skills that were basic to the battlefield where hand-to-hand combat prevailed. Hawaiians played a number of games that showcased physical dexterity or sheer muscle power like lifting bolders, wrestling, boxing, foot races, and tug of war. They also competed in many ways using a wooden spear or javelin, including kaka la`au (fencing), `o`o ihe (throwing) and ihe pahe`e (sliding over a grassy course).
Simple children’s games were hei (cat’s cradle), pala `ie (loop and ball), pahipahi (slapping hands together), hu (spinning tops) and kimo (jacks). Guessing games included no`a (finding a pebble under a pile of sand or piece of kapa) and puhenehene (finding a pebble on a person). There were word games, riddles, and board games like konane, similar to checkers.
Kauai History and Luau Celebration
Today’s luaus are still a celebration of life. A time to share traditional foods, enjoy songs and dances of early Hawaii, and to give thanks to family and friends. Commercial luaus are performed at many venues around the island with Hawaiian music of the ukelele, fire dancers, and Hawaiian hula dancers moving with the style and grace of the ancients to the sound of drums and chants. And of course, there is plenty of food. These luaus generally begin at dusk beneath the stars and swaying palms, and include flower or shell lei greetings, mai tais, traditional poi dishes, Kalua Pork, and they also provide eating utensils for the poi.
When Captain Cook arrived in Hawaii in 1779, the Hawaiian people had been dancing hula for centuries. Hula was danced more by men than women as part of their religion. The men and women did not wear grass skirts, the women wore skirts made of kapa cloth, or the men wore a malo (loincloth). Later, when the missionaries arrived in the 1830’s, they were shocked by the open dancing, and it was outlawed. King David Kalakaua is credited with the rebirth of this traditional art form when, in the 1870’s, he encouraged hula practitioners to resume the custom. In this favorable era, hula practitioners merged Hawaiian elements of poetry, chanting, dance movements, and costumes to create a new form, the hula ku’i (ku’i means ‘to combine old and new’). The Hawaiians have been dancing hula ever since.
In the end, luau means feast, and celebration, and nourishment, and life, and music, and dance, and love. It is the true experience of ‘aloha’.
Kauai History and Luau Tradition
The traditional luau feast was eaten on the ground. Lauhala mats were rolled out and a beautiful centerpiece of ti leaves, ferns, and native flowers was laid the length of the mat. Bowls filled with poi, platters of meat were set out, and dry foods like sweet potatoes, dried fish or meat covered in leaves were laid directly on the ti leaves. Utensils were never used at a luau, instead everything was eaten with the fingers. Poi of various consistencies was referred to by the number of fingers needed to eat it… three finger, two finger, or the thickest, one finger poi.
Royal luaus tended to be elaborate. One of the largest ever was hosted by Kamehameha III in 1847. The list of foods prepared included 271 hogs, 482 large calabashes of poi, 3,125 salted fish, 1,820 fresh fish, 2,245 coconuts, 4,000 taro plants and numerous other delicacies. The Hawaiians cooked using an underground oven called an ‘imu’. They would begin by digging a shallow pit and line it with sand and mats. A fire was started and lava rocks were added. When the rocks became red hot, they were arranged in the bottom of the imu, and several rocks placed inside the body cavity of the pig. A layering of banana stalks, pig, damp banana leaves, and damp mats were then sealed with several inches of sand. The steam from the rocks, mats, stalks and leaves would slow cook the meat for the entire day of the feast, producing mouth-watering morsels of cooked pork.
Kauai History and Luau Beginnings
The meaning of luau is not luau.
The word ‘aha’aina, which translates ‘gathering for a meal’ is where we begin. For ancient Hawaiians, food was quite precious, and gathering for a meal to share their bounty with friends, family, or an entire village was a sign of good will to one another. ‘Aha’aina was the way the Hawaiians chose to celebrate or pay tribute. People came together to celebrate momentous occasions such as victory in war, completion of a canoe, a successful harvest, the birth of a child, or other personal milestones. ‘Aha’aina kahukahu was a feast honoring a craftsman at the completion of their first work. ‘Aha’aina ho’okipa honored ‘ohana (family) returning home after a long absence. The rituals and foods of the early ‘aha‘aina were extremely symbolic to ancient Hawaiians, and the event was meant as a way to unite those who participated in it. Each food eaten at the celebration had a meaning. Some foods represented strength or courage, while others were indicative of other goals, virtues, or aspirations that participants were seeking to obtain.
In ancient Hawaii, men prepared the food and ate their meals apart from women. Commoners and women of all ranks were also forbidden to eat certain delicacies. Pork, bananas, coconuts, and certain fish were among the foods that were kapu (forbidden) to women. King Kamehameha II abolished these laws and many others in the year 1819. He validated this change in tradition by having a symbolic feast where men and women were not only able to eat together, but to share the same food. At this feast one of the main dishes involved wrapping chicken in the young leaves of the taro plant and baking it in coconut milk. This dish was called ‘Luau’ and as a result of its being one of the main courses, the feasts themselves came to be called ‘Luaus’.
Kauai History and Distinction
Easter island once possessed a forest of palms and it is thought that natives deforested the island in the process of erecting their statues. The disappearance of the island’s trees seems to coincide with a decline of their civilization around the 17th century AD. Midden contents show a sudden drop in quantities of fish and bird bones as the islanders lost the means to construct fishing vessels and the birds lost their nesting sites. Soil erosion due to lack of trees is apparent in some places, and sediment samples show that up to half of the native plants had become extinct and vegetation of the island was drastically altered. Obsidian spear points and the toppling of many statues indicate a breakdown of the social structure, possibly even leading to civil strife.
Meanwhile, back on Kauai, the Hawaiian culture originated from the same areas of Polynesia and the islands of the Western Pacific and the edges of Asia. The first settlers to Hawaii brought with them ancient Polynesian traditions and lifestyles. Over generations, they adapted their beliefs and ways of living to accommodate their new island home, adding new gods to their pantheon and honing new skills such as surfing. The differences between Hawaii and their Polynesian family grew more pronounced once the era of transpacific migrations ended. In many artistic endeavors like kapa making, featherwork, and hula, Hawaiians surpassed the rest of their cousins in skill and proficiency. A highly structured and sophisticated culture blossomed in Kauai’s gentle climate and lush abundance. With time and isolation, Hawaiian culture grew as distinct as the endemic plant and animal communities.
Kauai History and Easter Island Moai
Moai have a considerable size range, from 6 feet to over 30 feet tall. One giant moai still attached to the matrix of rock in the quarry is over 65 feet long, and has an estimated weight of 270 tons. This remarkable quarry site lies littered with statues in all stages of fabrication. Some moai lie on their backs, and others are nearly vertical. As the carvers worked, the front and sides were carved first. When nearly finished, only a keel attached the back of the statue to the rock. Gradually it was pecked away, the figure was moved downhill, and stood up in a hole dug into the hillside. Once completed, the statues were ready to be transported to the ahu for which they had been carved. Island legends claim they ‘walked’ from the quarry to their ahu under their own spiritual power (mana). Some researchers claim the moai were laid on wood sledges and moved along by means of log rollers. Others believe they were moved while standing up on a sledge. One method has them rocking along on a wooden fulcrum. It is probable that the means of transport varied from time to time, depending upon size and form of the statue involved.
Once a statue reached its ahu, it was raised by means of wood poles and stones placed beneath it. Gradually the statue became upright as the pile of small rocks grew. Only those statues placed upright on ahu were given eyes. This ‘opening’ of the eyes activated the power and ‘mana’ of the statue. At least some of the statues had inlaid eyes fashioned of coral and with stone pupils. Great cylindrical topknots (pukao) were carved from red scoria and added to the heads of certain statues.
