Honolulu, Hawaiʻi—An ʻahu ʻula (feather cloak) and mahiole (feather helmet) gifted to Captain Cook in 1779 are being permanently returned to Hawaiʻi by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
These cherished items were gifts from Hawaiian Chief Kalaniʻōpuʻu to Captain James Cook and have been in Te Papa’s collection since being gifted to the museum in 1912.
“He moku Kaula iho a me Niihau,
I kaulua ia Kawaihoa a Kane, Continue reading
Kalaniopuu treated Captain Cook generously, and gave him pigs, taro, sweet potato, bananas, and other things; he also gave him ahuula capes, mahiole, kahili, feather lei, fine wooden bowls, various fine kapa, ahu ao mats from Puna, and garments of hinalo—Captain Cook gave Kalaniopuu some rubbish—(It is said that the hat that Captain Cook gave to Kalaniopuu is in the head of the kaai of Keaweikekahialiiokamoku.)
(Kuokoa, 2/2/1867, p. 1)
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke VI, Helu 5, Aoao 1. Feberuari 2, 1867.
He nui ka poe kaulana i ke au o Kalaniopuu, a ua kaulana oia no kona puni kaua a me ka luku a me ka paia i na makaainana a me na kamalii opiopio—he makua aloha ole i na makaainana.
There were many famous ones during the era of Kalaniopuu, and he himself was well known, as someone who loved war, and massacring, and the striking of the makaainana and small children—he was a father who had no aloha for the makaainana.
[Although Kamakau describes many a chief as “war loving,” he describes Kalaniopuu as particularly cruel. This passage can be found in “Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii,” page 115.]
(Kuokoa, 2/23/1867, p. 1)
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke VI, Helu 8, Aoao 1. Feberuari 23, 1867.
The years 1775, 1776, 1777, 1778, and 1778. Kalaniopuu went to war at Kaupo on Maui, with his Alii, his war Officers, and his soldiers. Kalaniopuu first went to war at Kaupo, and he tortured the makaainana of Kaupo by clubbing their foreheads with his war club [newa]. This battle was called Kalaehohoa [“Clubbing-of-the-Forehead”] Continue reading
A GENEALOGY
Kumalae dwelt with Kunuunuipuawalu, and born was Makua; Makua dwelt with Kapohelena, child of Keawenuiaumi, and born was I; I dwelt with Kuawalu, born was Ahu; Ahu dwelt with Piilaniwahine, and born was Lonomaaikanaka; Lonomaaikanaka dwelt with Keawe, born was Kalaninuiamamao, Kalaninuiiamamao dwelt with Kamakaimoku, born was Kalaniopuu; Kalaniopuu dwelt with Kalola Pupuka o Honokawailani, born was Kalanikauikeaouli Kiwalao; Kiwalao dwelt with Kekuiapoiwa, born was Keopuolani; Keopuolani dwelt with Kamehameha, born was Kauikeaouli; Kauikeaouli dwelt with Kapakuhaili, born was Keaweaweulaokalani.
(Kuokoa, 11/16/1867, p. 1)
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke VI, Helu 46, Aoao 1. Novemaba 16, 1867.
It is said that Kalaniopuu was the child of Peleioholani, the King of Oahu, and that he was called Kalaniopuu, that being Kaleiopuu, the lei of Kualii, that is the tooth of the whale and whale ivory made smooth in the shape of a chicken spur [opuu], and that is what was the royal adornment of the alii of Oahu—this was not the case with Hawaii Island [who wore tongue-shaped lei niho palaoa]. Continue reading
On the 24th of January, Kalaniopuu and his warriors returned from Maui and landed at Awili in Kaawaloa, and stayed at Hanamua at Keaweaheulu’s place, but they were also on Maui at war with Kahekili.
Kalaniopuu saw the many women were at the ocean on the ship to prostitute themselves [hookamakama], so Kalaniopuu forbade women from going down to the ship. And the haole saw that the women were not coming to the ship, so the haole went into the uplands of Napoopoo and at Kahauloa, and on this side of Kaawaloa to solicit prostitution, and the women received a great amount of foreign rubbish [opala]. Continue reading
Speaking of the Captain Cook relics which have been secured for the New South Wales Government, our London correspondent says, writing on September 9:—”Sir Saul Samuel has secured for the New South Wales Government the whole of the interesting collection of Captain Cook’s relics which were on view at the late Colonial and Indian Exhibition. Some of them he has had to purchase, others have been presented as gift. Your…
(Sydney Mail, 10/22/1887, p. 868)
The Sydney Mail, Volume XLIV, Number 1424, Page 868. October 22, 1887.
LORD ST. OSWALD’S GENEROUS GIFT TO NEW ZEALAND.
VALUABLE HAWAIIAN CLOAKS AND MAORI CARVINGS.
A visitor strolling into the dingy recesses of the Colonial Museum at Wellington (says the “Press”) might have noticed some peculiar looking feather cloaks and other curios of a dinginess in keeping with their worm-eaten domicile, and apparently of no great worth. In reality, however, they are articles of almost priceless value, genuine members of the great English circumnavigator, Captain Cook. Not only so, but they are connected intimately with his voyages and discoveries in the South Pacific and with the Hawaiian Islands and New Zealand in particular. They are the generous gift to New Zealand of Lord St. Oswald, whose forbears bought them at the sale of Bullock’s Museum on April 29, 1819. When Bullock died his famous collection was offered to the British Museum for £50,000, but refused, and it was subsequently disposed of at auction.
The main feature of Lord St. Oswald’s gift is the magnificent feather cloak and helmet presented to Captain Cook a short time before his death by the King of Owhyee. This robe is particularly described by Captain Cook in the account of his voyages. The cloak, which is in a remarkably fine state of preservation, is made mainly from countless small feathers of the Yellow Roo (Destia ral coxinia), a bird long since extinct. The feathers have, with inifinite patience, been woven one by one into a fibre base. The feather helmet is remarkable in that in shape it is almost a counterpart of the helmet in which our allegorical figure of Britannia is portrayed, with the crest of comb that was a characteristic of the Burgonet of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries particularly prominent, which can be traced back to the early Roman times. How the Hawaiians had got this idea of the mediæval helmet before the discovery of the islands by Captain Cook is somewhat of a mystery, unless it be that the Spanish had previously visited the islands. This seems highly probable. There is also an Hawaiian hat of the time of Captain Cook, a very rare exhibit. It is round, crowned, and broad-rimmed. One has seen many modern hats made on exactly the same lines; indeed, if one were to put a few larger feathers on it, and some modern trimming, it might almost pass muster on a racecourse or at a garden party of the present day. Continue reading
nupepa 