Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 113, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 May 1913 — BEFORE The White Man CAME [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BEFORE The White Man CAME

MARRIAGE among Hawalians, especially those of high rank, has always been attended by more or less writes a Honolulu correspondent of the New York. Evening Post. The wedding festivities of a high-born maiden on the island of Hawaii last summer continued without pause for four days and nights. Nearly all the native population of the big island enjoyed, in one way or another, this great feast with its outdoor sports and games, but I doubt whether —in spite of the modern education and elegance of the lovely bride, in spite of the wealth and magnificence of her family —this wedding equaled, to the Hawaiian mind, a marriage of the high born in the olden days. Before the coming of the huole (white man) to these sun blest isles, when a high chief wished to take unto himself a wife he would have gathered together from among his people a group of the most attractive maidens. Smooth and straight of limb were these maidens,, glossy haired, with the gold of the tropical sun glistening in the ruddy bronze of their satiny skins. None among them was there who was not desirable, But the young chief must not choose too hastily, for upon his wahine (woman) defended in a large measure the future fate of his people, the line of royalty in Hawaii descending then as now, through the maternal side of the house. Therefore, the young chief must look well to his choice. Sometimes, in his perplexity, he would call to his assistance a kahuna (medicine man), who would Invoke the aid es the gods in the momentous selection to be made; Then were things gjpiplified for him. He no longer had any will in the matter, but became the Instrument of the gods themselves. Taking Charge of the Affair. Upon the kahuna fell the duty of taking temporal charge of the affair. At a signal from him the virgins, each with her hula gourd in which were pebbles male and female, would squat in line before the young chief. With right arm holding the hula gourd extended they begin, with low moaning, to chant the life story of him who comes to seek a bride. Louder and stronger swells the chant as the singers go on to tell of the young chief’s beauty as a child, of how his mother loved him, of his speed in running, and his strength and Sin swimming, in throwing the 3, and in riding the bounding surf board, until, with a grand crescendo it reaches the climax of his triumph over thft great shark, or the poisonous eel. With this the singers spring to their feet and the hula dance is on. Now the chant becomes a refrain, swelling and sinking, falling and rising, accompanied always by the rattling of the pebbles, male and female, in the hula gourds. In perfect, unbroken rhythm the virgins dance, now twirling the rattling gourds over their heads, now striking their palms together four times, or kneeling to thump four times on the mat at their feet. From their birth they have been trained to do this dance. With joints made supple by exercises devised for that purpose they whirl their loins here, there, the muscles under their shining skins moving in rhythmic measures to the chant and the rattle of the hula gourds. At last, through the kahuna, the gods Interpose. At a signal from the kahuna the dancers recede and form a circle within a circle. Round and round they dance, breaking and reforming the circles, changing and interchanging. Now, for the young chief the gods will choose his bride. The kahuna lifts his hand, the young chief takes a backward step, closes his eyes and lets fly an arrow from bis bow. The Arrow of Chance. With swift, unerring instinct the arrow wings its way among the dancers, to fall at the feet of the most beautiful, the most desirable of the virgins. The gods have chosen —but as yet the chief does not know their choice. The dancing and the chanting have ceased with the fall of the arrow. The young chief opens his eyes, but he cannot see the arrow. "Pua Ne! I’ua Nel" he call*, and

straightway the hiding arrow, from its. place at the virgin’s feet, answers, i» a clear voice: “Ne! Ne!" With this, the Either maidens step* back and—her young beauty all shimmering in the sun —the heaven chosen stands revealed to him who has come* seeking his bride. /In the background a soft voice> speaks of the glories of the chosen, one. Another takes up the theme and frdm lip to lip the song is carried till all the voices blend in one sweet cadence that swings softly up and down,, up and down, with the softly swaying: bodies of the chanters. Of her beauty they sing, of her grace in dancing thehula and her wonderful skill in the lomilomi (massaging). Presently, keeping time to the rattle of her own hula gourd, the bride-to-be begins to dance. With slim, brown body lightly poised and dainty feet quiescent, she dancesthe marriage dance, the muscles under her glowing skin rippling like tiny waves in a sunlit pool. That is the young man’s signal. With a cry of “Thou art mine, O beloved; thenceforth thou shalt dance for me alone in my hut —for me and none other!" he seizes the maiden in his arms and. bears her away with him through the forest.

Then begin the preparations for the wedding. A great luau, or feast, must be made —called the luau or ohaainamale (wedding feast). Some go to> sea to bring back fish that are of fin® flavor and good omen. Others bring fatted pigs, fatted pups, kalo already made into the delicious poi, and sugar cane. Awa, too, must be procured, and well born men and maidens with clean, strong teeth must be found, for be it known that the awa root must be chewed in’the mouth until it is soft and pulplike, placed then in a kao bowl, water poured over it, anil then strained, to make the liquor for the ohaaina-male, otherwise the feast would lack good cheer. Then the drum man with his two> drums appears. The drums, a small one and a larger one, are made of the hollowed sections of cocoanut tree*, with the hollowed end covered with shark skin drawn taut and fastened with thongs. With a drum on either side of him, the drummer beats with his fingers, so that those hearing him catch the drummed-out words: “Hoao na ’Hi e! (The chiefs are married!)” With a shout the words are ta,ken up by all who are near, and in from their sports—surfboard riding, racing, arrow shooting, dancing, swimming, discus throwing, wrestling—come the wedding guests, and out from his hut comes the young chief, with his slim brown wahine. The bridegroom and his lady touch noses. All the high chiefs among the guests touch noses. Then an old chief, bearing a wonderful piece of tapa doth; comes forward. The wedding pair face each other, and the old chief throws the tapa over them both.

Four times four prayers the kahuna utters —being four to the gods of the' air, four to the gods of the sea, four to the gods of marriage and four td the gods of birth. All the high chiefs and the people again join noses. From every throat present swells forth four times, in a triumphant chant: “Hoao na ’ll! e! Hoao na ’Hi e! Hoao na ’lll e! Hoao na ’Hi e!”

“The chiefs are married," and the guests sit down with them to the wedding feast.