Posted by Uncle Charlie on September 29, 1998 at 07:14:51:
In Reply to: Ancient Hawaiian Culture posted by Isaac Nichols on September 28, 1998 at 03:59:10:
: Hello!
: I am in the eight grade and am from a small Alaskan town north of Anchorage and we are studying ancient Hawaiian history and culture. I have been trying to find out what some of the weapons and the clothes and the games that the Hawaiians had before the first Europeans came there. My school library didn't have much information and my Mom helped me find this web page. Do you know what some of the old weapons were? I did find out they were probably made of stone. I also found out about the cloth made out of the mulberry tree and the feathers used for the King's robe. What kinds of clothes did the Hawaiian's wear? I ffigured that one of the main sports would be surfing but were there any other games or sports that the Hawaiian's did? If you don't know this do you know where else I can find it on the internet?
: Thanks for your help. Mahalo! (I think that means thank you)
: Isaac
Aloha Isaac,
Thats correct, Mahalo does mean thank you. 10 years ago, I traveled all over Alaska, especially in the Artic Slope. My family and I did Hula shows and cultural exchanges with the Nana Corp in Kotzebue. Our hula dancers(who consisted of my daughters,son and wife)traveled to Sungnak, Point Hope, Kaina, Pt., Evick, Burrows, Nome and many other places. We have wonderfull memories and gifts from the Iniupats(my spelling might be off). They told me that the first white people to see them named them Eskimo (to eat raw meat) Like the word Hawaiian is a haole(white)word. We call our selves, He Hawai'i Au,(We are Hawai'i) or Kanaka Maoli(real native). The native men used a malo(loin cloth)and a Kihei(formal ware). The women wore Pa'u(short skirts) Both items were made with Wauke(malberry)and also the barks of the mamaki tree.
The weapons consisted of sling stones, war clubs made of wood and stones, daggers made of wood inlaid with sharks teeth for the "cutting blade". The favoret weapon was spears. Short spears made out of sacred hard woods found in the forest. The had long spears called Ihe lau meki,"The barbed spear". When this spear would make contact with its victim, the barbs would brake off. Our ancient people had many games. They would chalange each other by throwing spears at one another and see who could catch the spears without getting hurt. The would build "slides" Holua on the sides of step hills. The built a "holua sled" which was about 12 inches wide and 6 to 8 feet long and they would have a contest who could slide the fartest down the hill, very similar to what you do but with snow, here its cenders. Theres games with making tops out of kukui nuts(candles nuts) and games with strings and stuff. Because They were water people, they use to challenge each other diving off 1000 foot cliffs(Maui has a spot called "Kahikili's Leap" named after a King of Maui who beat many people diving off the cliff. I hope that helps, Malama pono (take care), a hui hou, Aloha no,(farewell for now) Uncle Charlie