XI.— THE HULA KI'I 



I was not a little surprised when I learned that the ancient hula 

 repertory of the Hawaiians included a performance with marionettes, 

 ^^'^, dressed up to represent human beings. But before accepting 

 the hula MH as a product indigenous to Hawaii, I asked myself, 

 Might not this be a performance in imitation of the Punch-and-Judy 

 show familiar to Europe and America? 



After careful study of the question no evidence was found, other 

 than what might be inferred from general resemblance, for the theory 

 of adoption from a European or American origin. On the contrary, 

 the words used as an accompaniment to the play agree with report 

 and tradition, and bear convincing evidence in form and matter to a 

 Hawaiian antiquity. That is not to say, however, that in the use of 

 marionettes the Hawaiians did not hark back to their ancestral homes 

 in the southern sea or to a remoter past in Asia. 



The six marionettes, kiH (pis. viii and ix), in the writer's possession 

 were obtained from a distinguished kumu-hula, who received them by 

 inheritance, as it were, from his brother. " He gave them to me," said 

 he, " with these words, ' Take care of these things, and when the time 

 comes, after my death, that the king wants you to perform before 

 him, be ready to fulfill his desire.' " 



It was in the reign of Kamehameha III that they came into the 

 hands of the elder brother, who was then and continued to be the 

 royal hula-master until his death. These ki'i have therefore figured 

 in performances that have been graced by the presence of King 

 Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) and his queen, Kalama, and by his 

 successors since then down to the times of Kalakaua. At the so- 

 called " jubilee," the anniversary of Kalakaua's fiftieth birthday, 

 these marionettes were very much in evidence. 



The make-up and style of these ki'i are so similar that a descrip- 

 tion of one will serve for all six. TMs marionette represents the 

 figure of a man, and was named Maka-hu (pi. ix). The head is 

 carved out of some soft wood — either kukui or wiliwili — which is 

 covered, as to the hairy scalp, with a dark woven fabric much like 

 broadcloth. It is encircled at the level of the forehead with a broad 

 band of gilt braid, as if to ape the style of a soldier. The median 

 line from the forehead over the vertex to the back-head is crested 

 with the mahiole ridge. This, taken in connection with the encircling 



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