58 REPORTS ON INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJECTS. 



Brigham, William T*, Bernice Paiiahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii. 

 Graut No. 341. Stcrveymg, photographing, and describing the hciau, or 

 ancient stone temples oj the HawaiiaJis, in connection ivith a treatise on 

 ' ^Ancient Hawaiian Worship. " $2 , 500. 



Abstract of Report. — Under the grant to aid in the exploration and study of 

 the ancient Hawaiian temples, or heiau, the available time of the grantee has 

 been devoted to compiling lists of all known remains, checking all that are 

 wholly destroyed, and selecting those in such condition as to give valuable 

 data as to construction or use. Mr. John F. G. Stokes, curator of Polyne- 

 sian ethnology in the Bishop Museum, has undertaken the careful survey 

 and location of these temples and has already done much work on the 

 island of Oahu and on Hawaii, where he is now surveying. He has largely 

 increased the list of known temples, but many of the new ones and not a 

 few of the earlier ones on the list are so far ruined that it is not desirable to 

 do more than make a mere statement of their former existence and the 

 kings or chiefs by whom erected. On the other hand, the process of clear- 

 ing away the vegetation which has protected many from destruction has 

 revealed interesting facts in the astonishing variety of plan and the great 

 variation in extent of Hawaiian temples. 



It has been found that in some of the principal temples prayers are still 

 offered, and the last king, not more than a score of years ago, made a large 

 and formal offering to the war god of an ancient temple on Kauai. In 

 former years offerings in the apparently deserted place of ancient worship 

 were found. Dr. Brigham has, by the excavations and clearings already 

 made, found confirmation of his knowledge of the ancient ritual obtained 

 by him forty years ago from a priest who had offered human sacrifices and 

 conducted the worship in one of the more important of the temples of the 

 island of Molokai. 



He has made or obtained photographs of all known existing idols of 

 Hawaiian origin, and with the additional information obtainable as this 

 exploration goes on he hopes to present a fairly clear picture of the worship 

 of this, the most religious people of the Pacific region. 



The expenditures so far have been for travel and labor in clearing and 

 not for permanent instruments or apparatus, for the trustees of the Bernice 

 Pauahi Bishop Museum have kindly loaned instruments for the survey and 

 have arranged for the assistance of members of the museum staff ; among 

 these Mr. Stokes, who has camped with Dr. Brigham in such temples as 

 are best preserved, is giving invaluable aid. The grantee hopes to present 

 next year the finished results of his studies of the religious side of this 

 remarkable people, who, like the Hebrews, had places of refuge, public 

 temples of vast size, and also divinity schools, a powerful priesthood (still 

 existing), and oratories in every house. In their best estate the Hawaiians 

 kept their "forty thousand and four hundred thousand gods" fully 

 employed. 



