Transforming Hawai‘i
‘aha ali‘i |
council of chiefs |
ahu |
boundary marker |
ahupua‘a |
basic local community land division, under the control of a lesser chief known as an ali‘i ai ahupua‘a |
‘āina |
land in general |
ai noa |
‘free eating’ – eating to deliberately break and challenge traditional food kapu practised by Ka‘ahumanu and her followers in 1819 |
akua |
a god, spirit or deity |
ali‘i |
chief |
ali‘i ‘ai ahupua‘a |
chief of the basic local community |
ali‘i ‘ai moku |
district chief |
ali‘i akua |
god king, term reserved for chiefs of the highest rank, especially pi‘o rank |
ali‘i nui |
great chief, paramount chief of a discrete, unified polity, also known as a mō‘ī |
‘auhau |
tax |
‘aumakua |
ancestral spirits and deities |
‘awa |
kava (Piper methysticum), the root of which was used to make a psychoactive beverage consumed by chiefs |
haku‘āina |
a landlord, most typically a konohiki or ali‘i ‘ai ahupua‘a level lesser chief |
hale nauā |
the house in which genealogical specialists gathered to ascertain the pedigrees of chiefs for decisions on their eligibility to join paramount chief’s households |
hanai |
adopted child |
haole |
foreigners |
heiau |
temple |
ho‘okupu |
tribute |
ho‘omana |
to worship, to empower through worship |
hula |
traditional dance in various forms |
ihe |
a short spear measuring from two to 2.5 metres, thrown or used to thrust |
ilāmuku |
officer of the paramount chief’s household responsible for maintaining the kapu associated with that household |
‘ili; ‘ili lele |
subdivision of an ahupua‘a |
‘ili kūpono |
a segment of the ‘ili land division directly controlled by the paramount chief rather than the ahupu‘a chief, the tribute from which was reserved for the paramount chief |
ka‘a-kaua |
sub-commanders within each retinue |
kāhili |
fly whisks or standards; symbols of chiefly rank |
kahului |
crescent formation with horns pointing towards the enemy |
kahuna |
person with specialist knowledge of valued skills, usually associated with favour from the gods such as canoe makers, herbal medicine specialists and priests |
kahuna kuni |
sorcery priests |
kahuna nui |
high priest |
kahuna pule |
priest, religious specialist |
kalaimoku |
war councillor, senior military adviser to rulers |
kalana |
subdivision of a moku (district) |
kalo |
taro (Colocasia esculenta) |
kanaka |
commoners recruited by ali‘i for their martial prowess |
Kānaka Maoli |
indigenous Hawaiians |
kanaka no lua kaua |
ali‘i and maka‘āinana who lived with the chief and did not desert him in battle |
kapa |
tapa, cloth made form the bark of the wauke (paper mulberry plant, Broussonetia papyrifera) |
kapu |
permanent or temporary sacred status through connection to the gods |
kapu moe |
prostrating taboo requiring commoners and lower ranked chiefs to lie prostrate in the presence of a high-status sacred chief |
kaukau ali‘i |
collective name for lesser grades of chiefs |
kāula |
prophet |
kāuwa |
underclass enslaved by their enemies or descended from other kāuwa. Used for human sacrifices at luakini heiau (temples) |
ko‘a |
a fishing shrine dedicated to the god Kū‘ula |
kō‘ele |
land division worked by commoners, all the produce of which was reserved for the benefit of the konohiki and ali‘i |
konohiki |
land manager for an ahupua‘a land unit on behalf of the ali‘i ‘ai ahupua‘a (chief in charge of the ahupua‘a) |
kū‘auhau |
genealogical specialist within the paramount chief’s retinue responsible for memorising the genealogies and mo‘olelo of the ali‘i |
kuhina |
governors |
kukulu |
straight battleline |
kula |
dryland cultivation areas especially associated with ‘uala (sweet potato) cultivation |
kupuna |
elder, ancestor |
lo‘i |
irrigated pond-field for growing taro |
loko i‘a (loko, loko kuapā) |
fishpond on reef flat enclosed by a stone wall |
luakini heiau |
temple where human sacrifice was offered |
luakini kaua |
temple dedicated to the war god Kū |
luakini po‘okanaka |
temple where human sacrifice was offered |
māhele |
the land reform process from 1846 to 1855 which replaced traditional landholding procedures with Western-style individual tenure parcels held by the Hawaiian Crown, the government, and individuals |
maka‘āinana |
commoner majority below the chiefly classes |
makahiki |
four month, rainy season period of ritual, celebrations, and chiefly tax collection commencing when Pleiades became visible in November, and dedicated to Lono, the god of rain-fed agriculture |
makawalu |
battle formation of small flexible groups for broken terrain |
mālama |
care for, management of resources or people |
malo |
loincloth |
mana |
signs of the gods’ favour manifest in good fortune to people eliciting respectful treatment of individuals |
moemoe |
night attacks |
moe-pu |
ali‘i’s chosen companions in death |
mō‘ī |
paramount chief, see also ali‘i nui |
moku |
polities |
mo‘o |
a land unit subdivision of an ‘ili land unit |
mo‘okū‘ahuhau |
genealogical heritage |
mo‘olelo |
traditional historical account |
naha |
one of the highest chiefly ranks |
nī‘aupi‘o (Pi‘o) |
close consanguineous marriage between high-status chiefs resulting in offspring of the most sacred rank, the ali‘i akua or ali‘i kapu |
noa |
temporarily or permanently free of kapu (sacred status) by separation from the divine |
‘okana (also known as poko) |
a subdistrict incorporating several ahupua‘a |
pahoa |
a hardwood dagger measuring up to 60 centimetres |
pahupū |
literally, cut in half, name given to special group of Maui warriors in the era of Kahekili who tattooed half of their body with black dye |
pa‘i‘ai |
storable form of taro produced by steaming, mashing and pressing taro corm into hard dry cakes |
palaoa pae |
ruler’s right to whalebone washed up on shore |
peleleu |
new larger, sturdy canoe design commissioned by Kamehameha after loss of much of his fleet between O‘ahu and Kaua‘i in 1796 |
pikoi |
used as a throwing club to bring down fleeing enemy |
poi |
cooked and mashed corm of taro with water added |
poi-po |
ambushes |
poko (also known as ‘okana) |
a subdistrict incorporating several ahupua‘a |
polulu |
a long hardwood pike of up to six metres |
pua‘a |
pig |
pukaua |
commander in chief |
pu‘uhonua |
place of refuge and safety in times of conflict |
pu‘uku nui |
chief treasurer |
toa |
warrior |
‘uala |
sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) |
wahine |
a woman, female |
waiwai |
literally plentiful water, applied to wealth in goods or property |
wohi |
high chiefly rank exempt from the prostrating tapu |
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