Rest Days; A Sociological Study g 



sense as a recognition of the supernatural. In Polynesian belief 

 the violation of a taboo would be punished by the offended atiia 

 or spirit. Such a conception readily lent itself to priestcraft and 

 statecraft and so became in the hands of the ruling classes, a 

 mighty engine of social control. In Hawaii, where the supersti- 

 tions in question reached their most elaborate and grotesque de- 

 velopment, communal taboos could be imposed only by the priests, 

 although this action was often taken at the instance of the civil 

 authorities. Police officers were even appointed to make sure 

 that all prohibitions were strictly observed. For every breach 

 of the rules the death penalty was inflicted unless the delinquent 

 had some very powerful friends who themselves were either 

 priests or chiefs.^ 



The range of these Hawaiian taboos, as extended for reasons 

 of state or religion, was very wide. Thus we are told that 

 idols, temples, the persons and names of the king and his family, 

 the persons of the priests, houses and clothes of the king and 

 priests, were always tabu. Certain much prized articles of food 

 besides almost everything offered in sacrifice were reserved by 

 taboos for gods and men ; and hence women, except in cases of 

 particular indulgence, were restricted from using them. Some- 

 times an entire island or district was tabooed and no one was 

 allowed to approach it.- 



The institution of taboo also included various regulations re- 

 quiring the special observance of certain times and seasons. 

 These occurred, generally, on the approach of some important 

 religious ceremony, immediately before going to war, and during 

 the sickness of chiefs. Their duration was various, and appar- 

 ently much longer in remote ages than in the period immediately 

 preceding the arrival of the missionaries. In Hawaii, before the 

 reign of Kamehameha II, forty days was the usual period. 

 There were also periods of ten or five days, and sometimes of 

 only one day. Tradition declares, however, that once a taboo 

 was in force for thirty years during which time the men were 



^ Ellis, op. cit., iv. 387 sqq. 

 ' Ellis, he. cit. 



