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HAWAIIAN
GAMES
By STEWART CULIN
INTRODUCTION
The new materials
of this paper were collected from four Hawaiian sailors, from Honolulu,
named Aka (Kamehameha), Daviese Kahimoku, Welakahao, and Hale Paka (Harry
Park), and verified by means of Andrews' Hawaiian Dictionary. (1)
These have been
supplemented by information from other sources (2) and by a few notes on
similar games in other islands, (3) the object ...
2. Peter Corney,
Voyages
in the Northern Pacific (1813-1818), Honolulu, 1896.
William Ellis,
Polynesian
Researches, London, 1853.
Charles Wilkes,
U. S. N., Narrative of the U. S. Exploring Expedition during the Years
1833-1842, Philadelphia, 1845.
H. Carrington
Bolton, Some Hawaiian Pastimes (Journal of Amerlcan Folk-lore,vol,
IV, No. 21).
W. D, Alexander,
A Brief History of the Hawaiian People, N. Y., 187I.
Wm. T. Brigham,
Preliminary
Catalogue of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu, I892.
3. Rev, John B.
Stair, Old Samoa, or Floatsam and Jetsam from the Pacific Ocean,
London, 1897. Thomas Williams and James Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians,
N.Y., 1859.
R. Taylor, Te
ika a maui, or New Zea/and and its Inhabitants, London, 1855.
Ernest Dieffenbach,
Travels
in New Zealand, London, 1843.
R. H. Codrington,
The
Melanesians, Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-lore, Oxford, 1891.
In addition the
writer desires to acknowledge his indebtedness to that most suggestive
paper by Dr E. B. Tylor: "Remarks on the Geographical Distribution of
Games," in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute; vol.
IX, 1879, and to the chapters on "Toys and Games" in Prof. A. C. Haddon's
valuable work, The Study of Man, 1898.
...
23. Hei-hei-na-lu:
"SURF-RACING."
- The surf-board,
pa-pa-hee-na-lu,
is made from the wood of the wi-li-wi-li (Erythrina corallodendrum)
or bread-fruit tree.
Ellis (3) describes
it as generally five or six feet long, and rather more than a foot wide,
sometimes flat, but more frequently slightly convex on both sides.
It is usually
made of the wood of the Erythrina, stained quite black and preserved
with great care. After using, it is placed in the sun until perfectly dry,
when it is rubbed over with cocoanut oil, frequently wrapped in cloth,
and suspended in some part of the dwelling.
Dr Bolton (4)
describes the play as follows:
"Plunging through
the nearer surf, the natives reached the outer line of breakers, and watching
their opportunity they lay flat upon the board (the more expert kneeled),
and just as a high billow was about to break over them, pushed landward
in front of the combers.
The waves rushing
in were apparently always on the point of submerging the rider, but, unless
some mishap occurred, they drove him forward with rapidity on to the beach
or into shallow water."
(Footnotes)
3. 8 Vol. IV,
P.3!"J9.
4. Journal of
American Folk-lore, vol. IV, p. 21.
Page 213
Racing in the
surf is called hei-hei-na-lu, from hei-hei, "to race," and
na-Iu,
"surf."
Two champions
will swim out to sea on boards and the one first arriving on shore wins.
Playing in the
surf is hee-na-lu, from hee, "to glide."
Andrews gives
the names o-lo and o-wi-li for "a very thick surf-board made
of wi-li-wi-li," and o-ni-ni as "a kind of surf-board"; also
pa-ha as "a name for surf-board," and ki-o-e, the "name of a
small surf-board."
"Surf-boards were
usually made of koa, flat with slightly convex surface, rounded
at one end, slightly narrowing towards the stern, where it was cut square.
Sometimes the
pa-pa
were made of very light wi-li-wi-li and then were narrow, o-lo.
In size they
varied from 3 to 18 feet in length and from 8 to 10 inches in breadth,
but some of the ancient boards are said to have been 4 fathoms long.
The largest in
this museum are so heavy that they require two men to move them.
The surf riders
swam out to sea to the ku-la-na or place where the high rollers
follow each other in quick succession, and there mounted a high wave and
rode on it until near the beach where the water was smoother; the first
one arriving at the hu-a won the race.
The riders sometimes
raced also to the ku-la-na or starting place.
Standing on the
boards as they shot in was by no means uncommon.
Men and women
both took part in this delightful pastime which is now almost a lost art."
Wilkes (2) says:
"The Kingsmill islanders use a small board in swimming in the surf like
that used by the Sandwich islanders."
According to
Codrington (3), "in the Banks' islands and Torres islands, and no doubt
in other groups, they use the surf board, tapa."
(Footnotes)
1. Preliminary
Catalogue, part II, p. 55.
2. Op. cit.,
vol V, p. 100.
3. Op. cit.,
p 34.
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