THE HAWAIIAN PP^OPLE. 49 



waiians were naturally a lii'-ihly religious people, tlicy found iiinny objects to 

 worship and many ways in which to worship them. As a matter of fact, the 

 cartli, the sea and the air were iilled with their aiiiakiias, in the form of invisible 

 being's, who wrought wonders in the powers and ])lienoineiia of natni-e. Tiie 

 presence and power of the amakuas was evidenced to them b\- the thundt-r, light- 

 ning, wind, earthquakes and volcanoes. 



Religion Among the IIawaiians. 



Of the innumerable gods in the pantheon, Ku, Kane, Lono and Kanaloa 

 were supreme. These important gods were supposed to exist in the heavens, in 

 invisible form, and to have been present at the beginning. They were also ho- 

 lieved to appear on the earth in human form. In addition to these each person 

 had his or her own titulary deity, and each occupation was presided over by a 

 special amakua, to which worship was due. Thus the fisherman, the canoe maker, 

 the hula dancer, the tapa maker, the bird catcher, even the thieves and the 

 gamblers, all had presiding deities with power to prospei- them in their callings 

 and bring them good luck in their undertakings. Other deities were clothe 1 in 

 life in the form of numerous animals and plants. Disease and death were quite 

 naturally regarded as the woi-k of the gods and appreciated l)y the people as 

 material evidence of their invisil)]e powers. 



Idol Worship. 



They Avorshipped their deities chiefly through idols made of wood or stone. 

 They believed that such images represented, or in some way were occupied by 

 the spirit of the deity that they sought to worship. 



The people as a whole had a rather well defined conception in regard to 

 existence after death. They believed that each person had an invisible double. 

 They also thought that after death the spirit lingered al'iout in dark places in 

 the vicinity of the body and was able to struggle in hand to hand encounters 

 with its enemies. A nightmare was interpreted as a temporai'v (piitting of the 

 l)ody by the spirit and in certain cases, through proper prayers and ceremonies, 

 it was believed to be possible to put the soul back into the body after it had 

 left it. This was usually accomplished by lifting the toe-nail of the unfortunate 

 pel-son concerned. Many places were believed to be haunled and the spirit was 

 supposed to journey from the grave to its fcu-mer abode along tlie path that the 

 corpse was carried for burial. 



DKsrKiPTiox OF Plate. 



1. The Ilc'iau of Puukiluiln at Kawailiac — a luii;(.' .stuiic ciiclosuri' Imilt liy Kaiticlianielia I. 

 as a ])roteetion ajjainst the perils of war. Many human sacrifices were nia(h' on ils altar to 

 the great war god Kukailiinoku ; among others the l)o<ii(>s of Kaniehameha 's rival. Keoua. and 

 his followers who, on a peace mission, were treacherously slain while landing at Kawaihae 

 from a canoe in the year 1791. -. P^ntranee to the lliian at Kawaiha". .'!. l)oul)le war 

 canoe equip{)ed with mat sails; the gourd masks wcirn liy the wari-iors art' also shown. 

 4. l^eather cloalf [ahuula] worn liy (diiefs of importance; made of red |iiwi] and yellow 

 [mamo and o-o] bird feathers. ■"». The city of refuge | })Uulioiuia | at llonaunau; a stone wall 

 twelve feet high and fifteen feet thick encloses seven acres of tabu grtnnid. To such sanctuaries 

 women and cliildren, warriors worsted in battle, criminals and others in peril might floe f(U" 

 safety from their avengers. 6. Heian of the ojien truncated jiyramidal type; compare with 

 the rectangular walled type shown in figs. 1 and 2. 



D. H. HILL LIBRARY 



