Natural Hawaii - A contempary guide to natural activities, products, and services in Hawaii.

Transportation was mostly by water and on foot due to t he absence of roadways. Canoes were ideal since their hulls could clear the coral reefs.

The Hawaiian people's gods were connected to most of their endeavors. A variety of places were provided for religious observances. Men set up a small shrine in one end of their eating house (hale moa) where prayers and offerings were made. Agricultural heiaus, called waihau and unu, were the scene of rituals to improve crops.  Fishermen erected simple shrines along the coast, and bird catchers erected their own simple stone platforms, called koia, in the mountains.Of great importance were the large temples (heiaus) dedicated to certain purposes and gods. Typical heiaus were enclosed by sturdy walls of lava stone, the floors were covered with smooth rocks, and the roof was open to the sky. Heiaus included raised platforms of stone, grass houses for the storage of wooden images, platforms for holding sacrifices, and in some, an oracle tower (‘anu’u) covered with white kapa.

Religion played an important part in healing treatments. Before a patient was treated, the kahuna performed a ritual of mental cleansing or ho’oponopono. In this counseling type of service the patient and all the members of the household were helped to clear their minds of hatred, jealousy and bitterness. Under the guidance of the kahuna, those present talked over their problems and resolved their differences. The unburdening continued until all obstacles were cleared away and all offenders were forgiven.The ho’oponopono technique cleared and prepared the mind of the patient and the minds and thoughts of those attending or near him so that all of them could take part in the prayers offered with the medication. It was understood that the body could not be healed until the spirit was cured.

The Hawaiian language is poetic and expressive with a vocabulary of some 25,000 words. Before the arrival of the “white” man, communication in Hawai’i consisted of the spoken  word either through talking, singing, or chanting.The Hawaiian alphabet, as identified and put in writing by the early missionaries, consists of five vowels and seven consonants plus the hamzah or glottal stop (‘okina or ‘u’ina) which is usually typed as an apostrophe or a single initial quotation mark. The macron (kahako or mekona), a straight, horizontal line over certain vowels denotes the proper pronunciation and meaning of the words. Placed over a vowel, it causes the sound to be lengthened or stressed. This changes the meaning of the word as well as its pronunciation. A word is misspelled if either the ‘u’ina or kahako are omitted. (We apologize for any inconsistencies or missing ‘okinas or kahakos in this publication.)

Kapu was the system of laws regulating the people. Some kapu were the long-standing laws of the land much like the Jewish system that western man incorporated into his daily life. The best known, affecting all classes, was the one forbidding men and women to eat together.Kapu regulating the conservation of natural resources were usually far-sighted and just. Other prohibitions, formulated by the priests and the chiefs for some type of social control, were often severe and unjust. Abolishment of many kapu occurred in 1819 at the time of the Kamehameha II feast with his wife. The laws of the Christian missionaries replaced the traditional kapu system.