A Valuable Idol Recently Discovered in an Ewa Rice Field.
Mr. A. L. Atkinson is now the owner of a valuable Hawaiian relic. In digging in one of the rice fields several days ago in the Ewa district of this Island, an idol was discovered buried in the mud. A picture of it is given above in three phases—the front, the side and the back. It stands a little over five feet high, and is not like any other idol known. Continue reading
President Hosmer and the boarders of Oahu College paid a visit to the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum at the Kamehameha School last Saturday afternoon. Prof. W. T. Brigham, curator, showed the collegians almost every article on exhibit at the museum, and his visitors were very much impressed with the relics of the barbaric age of Hawaii nei, only one hundred years ago. Mr. Brigham knows the history of almost everything placed in the museum, and he entertained the students for over two hours with the pedigree of the various exhibits.
[I wonder if the students of Punahou are still visiting the museum today!]
(Advertiser, 10/17/1892, p. 3)
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, Volume XVI, Number 3203, Page 3. October 17, 1892.
When the warship Bennington returned from Kauai, it brought two old cannons from Hanalei, from the place of Judge Thurston [Lunakanawai Kakina], with the thought of the captain that these would be fine objects for the Bishop Museum to display.
He believed that these were cannons from the Russian fort facing Hanalei, but according to Judge Thurston’s statement, they were cannons form the warship of Lunalilo named Haaheo [Haaheo o Hawaii], and it ran aground at Hanalei many years ago.
The director of the Bishop Museum refused to take the guns, and so the captain thinks he will return the guns when he returns to Kauai.
[This was the ship of Liholiho, Kamehameha II, and not Lunalilo. There was much press about it last year! Go check out the exhibit at Kauai Museum on the Haaheo, showing now!! Does anyone know what became of these cannons?]
(Aloha Aina, 12/3/1898, p. 1)
Ke Aloha Aina, Buke VI, Helu 49, Aoao 1. Dekemaba 3, 1898.
106. A cloak said to have been destroyed in the conflagration caused accidentally in the attempt of the Board of Health to stamp out the bubonic plague in the Chinese quarter of Honolulu. At the time when the claims for losses caused by this great fire were presented to the Commission appointed for the purpose, my assistant, Mr. Allen M. Walcott, obtained from the claimant, Peleioholani, a carpenter by trade, the following particulars: The cloak was called “Eheukani” and was made in the time of Keeaumoku (the father of Kaahumanu) and finished shortly before the battle of Mokuohai (July, 1782) between Kamehameha and Kiwalaó. Keeaumoku’s wife gave it to Peleioholani’s grandmother. Principally mamo* feathers with a small crescent of red iiwi in each upper corner; between the shoulders a round spot of black oo feathers, from which a line of red iiwi led down to a trifle below the middle of the cloak. The cords at the neck were of human hair, an unusual thing. It must be remembered that the design (Fig. 16) as well as the following measurements are from the description given to Mr. Walcott by Peleioholani and are of course only approximate. They are worth recording as differing from any robes described. Length, about 4 feet 9 inches; neck measurment about 2 feet; circumference at bottom about 5 feet 8 inches. It is a matter of tradition that 27,000 birds were captured to furnish the feathers for this cloak. In the left side were seven spear holes that were never patched, and about which were blood stains. Keeaumoku was severely wounded in this battle, and it was rather a fancy with the old chiefs to retain the honorable scars in the ahuula, as in the cloak given by Kamehameha to Vancouver to be taken to England for King George.
[And a note on the note by Brigham. I am not sure the oo instead of mamo feathers comment should be considered true when even the great mamo feather ahuula of Kamehameha Paiea has red iiwi feathers within it…]
(Brigham, William T. Additional Notes on Hawaiian Featherwork. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1903. pp. 15–16.)
Brigham, William T. Additional Notes on Hawaiian Featherwork. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1903. p. 17.
THE HAWAIIAN OWL. Photo by Williams.
A NEST of four baby owls was discovered about three months ago by Dr. George Huddy in the Kalihi valley behind his residence. The discovery of the quartette of owlets is important in that few of the species have been found in late years. Three of them died shortly after being taken into captivity, but the oldest of the lot lived and is growing into a fine bird, and is at present about the size of a small pullet. He is thoroughly domesticated and makes himself perfectly at home in the residence of Dr. Huddy, mingling with the people without fear.
The three dead ones were taken in charge by Mr. Bryan, Professor Brigham’s assistant at the Bishop Museum, and they are now stuffed and form a group with one brought to the museum about four years ago. It has been said at the museum that the owls are exceedingly rare and are valuable in the preserved state for the museum.
The pet eats mice as well as raw meat. Dr. Huddy was quite troubled as to the manner in which the owl digested the bones and was rewarded a short time ago when the owl retired to a corner and began retching. Soon a quantity of bones issued from his throat, and the youngster then resumed his eating of further food.
The owl is of the “horned” species. When approached by some one he does not know two groups of feathers on the back rise upward in a threatening manner and remain in that position until the stranger retires. If it is some one he knows the feathers fall back and he courts their attention.
The owner of the rare bird states that none of his family have known of the existence of such owls in the Kalihi valley for the past forty years. They were at one time plentiful. The native for the owl is pueo. When fully grown it is the size of a large hen or the alala, or crow. Its feathers are mottled, its eyes exceedingly large and the claws are sharp like those of a cat. In appearance the owl’s head is very much like that of a cat. It catches mice, small birds and young chickens, on which it lives. The feathers were formerly made into very handsome kahilis.
In ancient times the owl was thought to be a god and was worshipped by multitudes. Some families looked upon the appearance of an owl near their habitation as a warning of approaching death; others as the coming of good luck. On the hills back of Kalapu, in Manoa Valley, beyond the bluff on which the Castle residence is located, owls once inhabited the caves in great numbers.
One of the legends of Manoa Valley gives the owl great prominence as god. The legend of Kahalaopuna shows that the owl was looked upon as such, a certain owl being known as the guardian of the beautiful maiden.
[Does anyone know of kahili made with pueo feathers?]
(Hawaiian Gazette, 2/11/1902, p. 5)
Hawaiian Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Number 12, Page 5. February 11, 1902.
THE BISHOP MUSEUM IS NOT open to the public until the arrangement of the collections is completed, of which due notice will be given; and until then visitors cannot be admitted.
W. T. BRIGHAM, Curator.
May 14, 1891.
(Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 5/16/1891, p. 2)
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, Volume XIII, Number 2766, Page 2. May 16, 1891.
Barring any obstacles, during some of the days of this week, the location of the artifacts housed in the National Museum Office at Aliiolani Hale will be transferred to the Bishop Museum Office at Kamehameha School, to go under the care of Prof. W. S. Brigham of the Bishop Museum.
If the artifacts of the Nation are moved to their intended new nest, then that office will be open for other Government Agencies, like the Department of Land Survey, and its space will become an office for the two houses, and that is great because it is directly adjacent to the Attorney General’s Office; but this all depends on the decision of the one who sings.
(Leo o ka Lahui, 1/26/1891, p. 3)
Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Buke II, Helu 115, Aoao 3. Ianuari 26, 1891.
Treatment of Ladies at Bishop Museum.
An Open Protest to the Trustees of the Kamehameha Schools.
MR. EDITOR:—The undersigned with three other ladies, Hawaiians of the highest respectabily, standing and position, with five little children, were sitting this morning in the shade of the Kamehameha Museum enjoying the fine showing made by the naval men drilling on the College campus. Chairs had been offered by a Kamehameha graduate, he placing them on the grass plot adjoining the Museum. After a little while, Mr. Brigham, the curator of the Museum, drove by within a few feet of us. He scowled most savagely at us. In a few minutes a Portuguese workman came to order us away from the place.
As it has invariably been the custom to throw the College grounds open to the public when any sort of a public or semi-public show is taking place within its precincts, we did not pay any attention to his orders, thinking it a piece of officiousness on the part of an ignorant person, and the man went away. After a while the man re-appeared and ordered us off again, saying he was acting by Brigham’s orders, and to use force if necessary. He took hold of the chair of the wife of a prominent official and tipped it partly over. She sprang up to avoid a fall, as did two other ladies. I, being at the very corner of the building and a little in advance of the others did not perceive the man until he had taken hold of my chair and had partly spilled me on my knee. I turned around to protest, when he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my chair, saying “you get out of this, those are my orders from Mr. Brigham. If you don’t go yourself, I make you go. Mr. Brigham don’t allow any one to get on this grass.”
There were quite a number of carriages standing around, occupied by spectators of the drill.
The actions of the Portuguese were so rough and insulting that the attention of quite a number were attracted to our forcible ejectment. Continue reading
Being that the parading was being held in the uplands of the Kamehameha School for Boys, on the plains of Kaiwiula, Mrs. Emma Metcalf Nakuina went attended by Mrs. R. W. Maea [Mrs. Rudolph William Meyer] of Kalae, Molokai and two of her daughters, Mrs. Mutch and Mrs. Hitchcock. They went and sat in a calm and shady place at the Bishop Museum, atop a area covered with manienie grass, and the son of the one named first, F. W. Kahapula Beckley, brought them chairs. Continue reading
A Place to Learn and Enjoy for the Visitors.
AN EFFORT BY HONOLULU’S WEALTHY FOR THE BENEFIT OF EVERYONE.
On the Saturday of this past week, the Aquarium of Hawaii, which stands in Waikiki, makai of Kapiolani Park opened for viewing. This opening was not an opening for the general public, but it was for just those who were invited to come see. This Sunday is when it will be open to the public.
Earlier, it was reported in the columns of the Kilohana¹ that a home will be built where Hawaii’s fishes will be kept, and in the end, the report has come true as the building was entered by the invited guests and will be entered by Honolulu’s people on Sunday.
Many years ago, there was a thought to build an aquarium in Honolulu nei, and Dr. Dorn was the one to come up with the idea; however, because the Government held back some of the resources, this idea by the doctor was dropped and it slept quietly until it was revived by the Rapid Transit Company [Hui Kaauwila]. This idea was considered seriously by this group, when Mr. James Castle [Kimo Kakela] and Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Cooke stepped in and encouraged the effort.
Mr. James Castle gave a portion of the land of Kapiolani Park, which he held in lease, as a place to build this home. When Mr. C. M. Cooke and his wife joined in this effort, that is when the Rapid Transit Company realized that their dream that they were dreaming would come true, and Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Cooke graciously gave the money for the construction. Therefore, the Rapid Transit Company was left to collect Hawaii’s fishes for the aquarium, and that is how the aquarium here on Oahu came to be.
This is seen in the great lands all over the world, and its importance is recognized. One of the benefits is that knowledge is gained by those studying the life of fish, and this is taught at universities. And some thousands of people graduate, being educated in where various ocean fishes live, like whales, sharks, the fishes of the ocean floor, and outside of those, the small fishes of the sea shore.
At the aquarium of Hawaii mentioned above are the many fishes of Hawaii; the ocean fishes are separated from the fresh-water fishes, and according to the visitors who went to see this new place and who have seen the displays of the Foreign Lands, …
¹From the subtitle of the Kuokoa Newspaper: “Ke Kilohana Pookela no ka Lahui Hawaii” [The Greatest Prize of the Hawaiian Nation]
(Kuokoa, 3/25/1904, p. 1) Continue reading
nupepa 