Death rituals in the Hawaiian Culture

[greentara]

I just became a Hospice Volunteer and last night we had representatives from the spiritual communities on Kauai for a panel discussion regarding death. One of the representatives was a wonderful Hawaiian woman from the Hawaiian Christian church. Most of what she talked about was traditional Christian death and funeral rituals. Has anyone ever attended a funeral that leans more toward the indigenous Hawaiian Funeral rituals? I’m just curious to know if there are any indigenous Hawiian rituals related to death that remain in the Culture.

[hulagirl]

Re: Death rituals in the Hawaiian Culture

Hi greentara, in our family we wear white to funerals. We choose to celebrate one's life rather than grieve for their death.

We also carry pieces of ti leaf and alae salt on our bodies to chase away the evil spirits and bless our houses after the burial in case anything came with us from the gravesite.

Pregnant women are NOT allowed to go to the gravesite or mortuary because superstition states that a spirit could try and enter the womb and take over the child.

In the old days there was a lot of wailing when someone passed, and some people even knocked their teeth out with stones to show how important that person was to them. (I knew a practicing kahuna- passed away years ago- in high school who explained that to me)

We also don't believe in cremation because our iwi, our bones are considered sacred- heavy in mana- and are to be treated as such. This is a HUGE reason why we get pissed when stupid people take our iwi and throw them in dumpsters (Wal Mart in town did that) or paper bags (another privately owned company did that recently- don't remember the name.) It's insulting and the equivalent to taking your mamas body and throwing it away in the trash.

Those are all the death rituals I know of offhand, like I said these are still practiced by my family to this day... (we are all catholic) if anyone else can think of anything more to add, I'd be happy to read it! I find this topic- actually, I find all native topics- very interesting...

[PoiBoy]

Re: Death rituals in the Hawaiian Culture

those customs have been lost. but you might see a "theatrical" version learned via academia(past ethnographic work) or a "revitalized custom" borrowed from other cultures. such is the case with other so called "Hawaiian traditions" like "Hawaiian kakau"(translation: tattoo); which as it is today, is not genuinely Hawaiian...it's a Samoan tradition recently "borrowed". as is the Hawaiian awa(kava) ceremony, which is a theatrical performance of a borrowed Tongan ceremony inspired by migrant Samoan and Tongans.

*but the postcard looked nice though*

[hulagirl]

Re: Death rituals in the Hawaiian Culture

those customs have been lost. but you might see a "theatrical" version learned via academia(past ethnographic work) or a "revitalized custom" borrowed from other cultures. such is the case with other so called "Hawaiian traditions" like "Hawaiian kakau"(translation: tattoo); which as it is today, is not genuinely Hawaiian...it's a Samoan tradition recently "borrowed". as is the Hawaiian awa(kava) ceremony, which is a theatrical performance of a borrowed Tongan ceremony inspired by migrant Samoan and Tongans.

*but the postcard looked nice though*

Sorry PoiBoy, you lost me with the whole postcard thing...

which customs have been lost? I believe some Hawaiians still do practice our own cultural traditions (without them being "borrowed") they just do it in secret. I've seen akualele with my OWN eyes- trust me, Kanaka Maoli people STILL know how to do ancient things, they just don't want to share it.

[greentara]

Re: Death rituals in the Hawaiian Culture

Hi greentara, in our family we wear white to funerals. We choose to celebrate one's life rather than grieve for their death.

We also carry pieces of ti leaf and alae salt on our bodies to chase away the evil spirits and bless our houses after the burial in case anything came with us from the gravesite.

Pregnant women are NOT allowed to go to the gravesite or mortuary because superstition states that a spirit could try and enter the womb and take over the child.

In the old days there was a lot of wailing when someone passed, and some people even knocked their teeth out with stones to show how important that person was to them. (I knew a practicing kahuna- passed away years ago- in high school who explained that to me)

We also don't believe in cremation because our iwi, our bones are considered sacred- heavy in mana- and are to be treated as such. This is a HUGE reason why we get pissed when stupid people take our iwi and throw them in dumpsters (Wal Mart in town did that) or paper bags (another privately owned company did that recently- don't remember the name.) It's insulting and the equivalent to taking your mamas body and throwing it away in the trash.

Those are all the death rituals I know of offhand, like I said these are still practiced by my family to this day... (we are all catholic) if anyone else can think of anything more to add, I'd be happy to read it! I find this topic- actually, I find all native topics- very interesting...

Many thanks hulagirl for the information. I just read something recently related to the teeth/stone thing. Salt is kind of a universal when it comes to purification and tea leafs have so many different uses in the Culture. I agree with you that many pre-contact rituals are still in tack in Hawaiian Culture. So many things related to the Culture had to be practiced in secret including hula, language and much more, so one has to dig deep to find the ones that remain. The old ways are never completely lost they are programmed into the cultural DNA. It’s kind of disrespectfull to think that the rituals are “borrowed” from other cultures indigenous Hawaiian people were more than capable of having their own rituals with out borrowing from other Pacific Island people.

BTW I liked the poem about Karma on your blog.

[Adri]

Re: Death rituals in the Hawaiian Culture

I attended a local funeral where an oli was written and performed to commemorate the life of the deceased person. I don't know if that's a traditional Hawaiian death ritual but it was beautiful.

[Random]

Re: Death rituals in the Hawaiian Culture

We also don't believe in cremation because our iwi, our bones are considered sacred- heavy in mana- and are to be treated as such. This is a HUGE reason why we get pissed when stupid people take our iwi and throw them in dumpsters (Wal Mart in town did that) or paper bags (another privately owned company did that recently- don't remember the name.) It's insulting and the equivalent to taking your mamas body and throwing it away in the trash.

I find this topic- actually, I find all native topics- very interesting...

Interesting...

So, the practice of cremation and scattering of the ash into the ocean an acceptable modern practice for Hawaiians, or is that still considered a foreign practice shunned by traditionalists?

[greentara]

Re: Death rituals in the Hawaiian Culture

Interesting...

So, the practice of cremation and scattering of the ash into the ocean an acceptable modern practice for Hawaiians, or is that still considered a foreign practice shunned by traditionalists?

According to what a Hawaiian man told me I think it was a little of both cremation and burial. A shallow grave was dug and the body put into it in it on rocks, banana leaves and ti leaves. The body was placed in the grave and covered with tapa, moist leaves and grass. Next they piled the grave with sticks and lighted it. It was kept burning for three days while sacred chants were preformed.
On the fourth day the grave is opened and the flesh scraped away from the bones. The head is removed and wrapped in maile leaves and tapa. The thigh bones are also removed and scraped. These parts were returned to the family to keep with them as a remembrance of their respected ancestor. The remains were given to the Kahunas and taken to a secret place, for burial. I don’t know if this was a practice for the “common” people but according to what I’ve learned it was done with the Alii Nui and other people of the royal class. Who knows if this is true so much tradition has been lost with time but the person that explained it to me seems to be really knowledgeable about the Culture.. This ritual would be difficult to practice today, but I did learn that here on Kauai you can bury people on privately owned land ~ only thing is you must disclose it to future buyers.



It is such a tragedy that these bones are often scattered and destroyed by developers especially in the Poipu area. I went to a re-burial about six months ago at Poipu. The bones were reclaimed from the Smithsonian and reburied on land at a time share development called Point at Poipu. So sad...

I think the ashes scattered at sea is a new thing. I just went to a funeral of a main land surfer a couple of months ago and the ashes were scattered at sea while all of her friends circled on their surf boards. It was beautiful but I don’t think that is a Hawaiian ritual.