Makahiki
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The Makahiki season is the ancient Hawaiian New Year festival, in honor of the god Lono of the Hawaiian religion.
It lasts four consecutive lunar months, approximately from October/November through February/March. It is a time for men, women and chiefs to rest, strengthen the body, and have feasts of commemoration (ʻahaʻaina hoʻomanaʻo). During Makahiki labor was prohibited and days were marked for resting and feasting. The Hawaiians gave thanks to the god Lono-ika-makahiki for his care. He brought life, blessings, peace and victory to the land. They also prayed for the death of their enemies. Makaʻainana (commoners) prayed that lands of their aliʻi (chief) may be increased, and that their own physical health along with the health of their chiefs be at their fullest.<ref>Hawaiian Antiquities Mo'olelo Hawai'i. David Malo. 1898.</ref>
In antiquity, many religious ceremonies occurred during this festival period. Commoners stopped work, made offerings to the chief or aliTemplate:Okinai, and then spent their time practicing sports, feasting, dancing, and renewing communal bonds. During the Makahiki season warfare was forbidden which was used as "a ritually inscribed means to assure that nothing would adversely affect the new crops".<ref name="kirch2010">Template:Cite book</ref>
Today, the Aloha Festivals (originally Aloha Week) celebrate the Makahiki tradition.<ref name="pk">Template:Hawaiian Dictionaries</ref>
Festivities
The Makahiki festival was celebrated in three phases:
HoTemplate:Okinaokupu was a time of spiritual cleansing and making offerings to the gods (HoTemplate:Okinaokupu). The Konohiki, a class of chiefs who managed land, acted as tax collector, collected agricultural and aquacultural products such as pigs, taro, sweet potatoes, dry fish, kapa and mats. Some offerings were in the form of forest products such as feathers. The Hawaiian people had no money or other medium of exchange. These were offered on the altars of Lono at heiau (temples) in each district. Offerings were also made at ahu, stone altars set up at the boundary lines of each ahupuaTemplate:Okinaa (ridge-to-reef geographical division).
All war was outlawed to allow unimpeded passage of the image of Lono (Akua Loa, a long pole with a strip of tapa and other embellishments attached). The festival proceeded in a clockwise circle around each island as Akua Loa was carried by the priests. At each ahupuaTemplate:Okinaa its caretakers presented hoTemplate:Okinaokupu to the image of Lono, a fertility god who caused things to grow and who gave plenty and prosperity. The Akua Loa was adorned with white kapa streamers and the king placed a niho palaoa necklace on the deity.<ref name="kirch2010" /> During a specific time the deities had to be put horizontally as a "sign of homage to the king".<ref name="kirch2010" />
Celebrations
The second phase was a time of celebration: hula dancing, of paTemplate:Okinaani kahiko (sports), of singing and of feasting. These contests, such as mokomoko (boxing), [[Hawaiian lava sledding|heTemplate:Okinae hōlua]] (sledding), kūkini (foot racing), wrestling, javelin marksmanship, bowling, surfing, waTemplate:Okinaa (canoe) races, and swimming. Some of these games were physical sports. Others were played with the mind. Individual contestants were judged and reflected on their family's reputation.<ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> One of the best preserved lava sled courses is the Keauhou Holua National Historic Landmark.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiians) were passionate about the mental games, which consisted of riddles, recitation of genealogies, proverbs, and knowledge of hidden meanings.<ref name="auto" /> Ancestors cherished these games and held them dear to their naʻau. They placed bets on favorites. Some dared to bet their lives. These games are still practiced today to help younger generations to learn about their ancestors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Finally the waTemplate:Okinaa Template:Okinaauhau (tax canoe) — was loaded with hoTemplate:Okinaokupu and taken out to sea where it was set adrift as a gift to Lono.<ref>Template:Hawaiian Dictionaries</ref> At the end of the Makahiki festival, the chief went offshore in a waTemplate:Okinaa. When he returned he stepped onshore and a group of warriors threw spears at him. He had to deflect or parry the spears to prove his worthiness to rule.
Royal births
A royal birth during Makahiki was sometimes given the name Lono i ka makahiki.
Origin
The ancient Hawaiians split the year into two seasons.<ref name="kirch2010" /> The first was Makahiki. The second lasted eight lunar months where rituals of Kū were practiced.<ref name="kirch2010" /> In Template:Okina[[Hawaiian language|Ōlelo HawaiTemplate:Okinai]] (Hawaiian language), Makahiki means "year"<ref name="pk"/> as well as the change from harvest time to planting time agricultural season. This probably came from MakaliTemplate:Okinai hiki, the rising of the Pleiades, known in Hawaii as Makaliʻi, which occurred about this time.<ref>Template:Hawaiian Dictionaries</ref> It may also come from ma Kahiki, meaning roughly "as in Tahiti", since the legend of Lono is associated with voyages to and from Tahiti. Its origins are linked to the "return" of Lono, during one of the early migrations, in the form of a mortal man.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Timing
The beginning of Makahiki generally is fixed each year by astronomical observations. On the Island of Hawaiʻi, when Makaliʻi (Pleiades) star cluster rises shortly after sunset, usually on November 17, the following crescent moon marks the beginning. On Oʻahu, it may begin when Makaliʻi rises above Puʻu o Mahuka Heiau, as seen from Kaena Point, or when the star ʻAʻa (Sirius) appears in conjunction with a particular land form high on a cliff.
Contact
The sails and masts of Captain James Cook's ship resembled Lono's Akua Loa. Cook's vessel arrived at Kealakekua Bay, near a large heiau to Lono during Makahiki in 1778.
See also
References
Further reading
- Handy, E. S. C. Ancient Hawaiian Civilization. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing, 1999.Template:ISBN?
- Handy, Edward Smith Craighill; Handy, Elizabeth Green; Pukui, Mary Kawena Native Planters in Old Hawaii: Their Life, Lore, and Environment. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1972 (rev. ed. 1991). Template:ISBN
- "The Rebirth of Makahiki" Article about past and current Makahiki activities. Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine Vol. 10 No. 4 (September 2006)
- "Makahiki – The Hawaiian New Year" On-line article on Makahiki traditions.