Posted by Uncle Charlie on August 08, 1998 at 02:00:50:
In Reply to: Re: Wedding Ceremonies/Marraige Customs posted by Nola on August 07, 1998 at 12:42:08:
: : : Hi Uncle Charlie...
: : : What were the wedding ceremonies of the kanaka maoli like prior to the missionaries
: : : coming to Hawaii? Did we have legal "binding" ceremonies? Were the hawaiians a monogamous society?
: : : Were the weddings performed by kahuna only for ali'i? Did Hawaiians divorce, separate?
: : : In researching hawaiian weddings, I have found what I call 'Hawaiian flavored' weddings... you know, the same basic christian ceremony, but with leis and maybe
: : : the Hawaiian Wedding song.. Any comments??
: : Aloha, the Ali'i marriage was a "sacred" thing because of the perpetuation of the blood line. When they were conceiving, it was witnessed in a custom called "ho'i mai keiki". The Ali'i saw to it that his blood line was carried on and mated with royal blood lines even higher then his like did King Kamehameha and Keopualani. She was concidered a god because her father had relations with his own daughter. The child from this mating was considered "Niau Pio" The highest achivable blood line. It was also customery to have more then one wife and it was visa versa, the women could have more then one husband. All what you see now about a so called "Hawaiian Wedding" is just for the tourist, made up by non Kanaka Maoli for the tourist industry. Its in the same catogory as the "aloha spirit" and the "7 sacred pools of Hana".
: : Mind you, from ancient chants, we learn that there was courting procedure and was done in the open. Sex to the Hawaiian was a normal function like eating and only when the missionaries came, did they caution the native people that their practices were indecent and not proper. They instilled their morals on our people that ruined them forever. Uncle Charlie
: Uncle Charlie...
: Thank you for your response...but I am a little confused.. Are you saying that the Hawaiians had sex in public view? Was there love and affection shown or a time of "choosing" someone special? In my family tree there is a story of a man who loved a woman and made her his wife. She had a sister that had a club-foot. Since the wife had a difficult time concieving, she let her husband take her sister to be his second wife (but I don't think they actually married).. This relationship produced many children for the family and provided a safe place for the injured sister to live out the rest of her life free of scorn. I'm so happy I have this web site. To me it's like have a "Tutu" on-line. If you have time, I'd like for you to address a delema I am having that I think is quite common to Hawaiians... Can a person be truly Hawaiian and support the Customs of the Hawaiian Culture and be a Blible-believing Spirit-Filled Christian? Is one automatically opposed to the other? I look forward to your response.. Thank you Nola
Aloha Nola, Incidently do you know that your name is the hawaiian way of pronouncing Nora. My great grand aunt was named Nola. No they did not have sex in public. The act was monitered by a high Chief in private. You ask an important question about being Christian and believing in Hawaiian culture. Let me tell you that I grew up with this confusion. When I grew up on the slopes of Haleakala, in Pule(which is now called Kula). My parents were staunch Catholics and we all use to kneel down and say Catholic prayers. After that we would gather around and my parents would talk about Kahuna and the gods and goddess of the past. After I got older and started to study the "Hawaiian Religion", I truely felt that it was too bad that the early missionaries did not research the religeon closer because Kane was the supreme being for the Hawaiian People and the other gods were the lesser gods. To cope with it I truely feel now that eventho I am a Christian, I still respect my ancestral gods. I dont worship them but pay them respect. If we did not do that, they we would not have a culture. Thats way our familys ancestral aumakau(guardian angel) is the Mano, the shark. In 1991 I stopped the killing of all the sharks in the Lahaina area when a women was attacked by a 15 foot shark. She was swimming early in the morning and thought it was a dolphine, she tried to play with it and it bit her. In Boaders Books store they sell a book Tigers of the Sea "Hawaii Deadly Sharks". It has the whole story with the cultural and spiritual aspect off it with picture. My whole story is there. It was written by Jim Borg. The incident was taked about all over the world. I was interviewed by Cnn, English T.V. and everytime the Discovery Channel has Shark Attack 98, they almost always include an interview of me. About me answering questions, sometimes I can but I am totally involved and cannot answer long questions. Also if it is for your personal use and you are not writing something, I will answer your question. When people that want me to do their research for them, I can tell and dont answer them or zap them from my website. Aloha Uncle Charlie