Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 4

[Page 31]

V--CEREMONIES OF GRADUATION; DeBUT OF A HULA DANCER

CEREMONIES OF GRADUATION

The _ai-lolo_ rite and ceremony marked the consummation of a pupil's readiness for graduation from the school of the halau and his formal entrance into the guild of hula dancers. As the time drew near, the k.u.mu tightened the reins of discipline, and for a few days before that event no pupil might leave the halau save for the most stringent necessity, and then only with the head m.u.f.fled (_pulo'u_) to avoid recognition, and he might engage in no conversation whatever outside the halau.

The night preceding the day of ai-lolo was devoted to special services of dance and song. Some time after midnight the whole company went forth to plunge into the ocean, thus to purge themselves of any lurking ceremonial impurity. The progress to the ocean and the return they made in complete nudity. "Nakedness is the garb of the G.o.ds." On their way to and from the bath they must not look back, they must not turn to the right hand or to the left.

The k.u.mu, as the priest, remained at the halau, and as the procession returned from the ocean he met it at the door and sprinkled each one (_pikai_) with holy water. Then came another period of dance and song; and then, having cantillated a _pule hoonoa_, to lift the tabu, the k.u.mu went forth to his own ceremonial cleansing bath in the sea. During his absence his deputy, the _kokua k.u.mu_, took charge of the halau. When the k.u.mu reached the door on his return, he made himself known by reciting a _mele wehe puka_, the conventional pa.s.sword.

Still another exercise of song and dance, and the wearied pupils are glad to seek repose. Some will not even remove the short dancing, skirts that are girded about them, so eager are they to s.n.a.t.c.h an hour of rest; and some lie down with bracelets and anklets yet unclasped.

At daybreak the k.u.mu rouses the company with the tap of the drum. After ablutions, before partaking of their simple breakfast, the company stand before the altar and recite a tabu-removing prayer, accompanying the cantillation with a rhythmic tapping of feet and clapping of hands:

_Pule Hoonoa_

Pupu we'uwe'u e, Laka e!

O kona we'uwe'u ke ku nei.

[Page 32] Kaumaha a'e la ia Laka.

O Laka ke akua pule ikaika.

5 Ua ku ka maile a Laka a imua; Ua lu ka liua[32] o ka maile.

Noa, noa ia'u, ia Kahaula-- Papalua noa.

Noa, a ua noa.

10 Eli-eli kapu! eli-eli noa!

Kapu oukou, ke akua!

Noa makou, ke kanaka'.

[Translation]

_Tabu-lifting Prayer_

Oh wildwood bouquet, oh Laka!

Hers are the growths that stand here.

Suppliants we to Laka.

The prayer to Laka has power; 5 The maile of Laka stands to the fore.

The maile vine casts now its seeds.

Freedom, there's freedom to me, Kahaula-- A freedom twofold.

10 Freedom, aye freedom!

A tabu profound, a freedom complete.

Ye G.o.ds are still tabu; We mortals are free.

[Footnote 32: _Lu ka hua_. Casts now its seeds. The maile vine (pl. IV), one of the G.o.ddess's emblems, casts its seeds, meaning that the G.o.ddess gives the pupils skill and inspires them.]

At the much-needed repast to which the company now sit down there may be present a gathering of friends and relatives and of hula experts, called _olohe_. Soon the porkling chosen to be the _ai-lolo_ offering is brought in--a black suckling without spot or blemish. The k.u.mu holds it down while all the pupils gather and lay their hands upon his hands; and he expounds to them the significance of the ceremony. If they consecrate themselves to the work in hand in sincerity and with true hearts, memory will be strong and the training, the knowledge, and the songs that have been intrusted to the memory will stay. If they are heedless, regardless of their vows, the songs they have learned will fly away.

The ceremony is long and impressive; many songs are used.

Sometimes, it was claimed, the prayers of the k.u.mu at this laying on of hands availed to cause the death of the little animal. On the completion of the ceremony the offering is taken out and made ready for the oven.

One of the first duties of the day is the dismantling of the old kuahu, the shrine, and the construction of another from new materials as a residence for the G.o.ddess. While night yet shadows the earth the attendants and friends of the pupils [Page 33] have gone up into the mountains to collect the material for the new shrine. The rustic artists, while engaged in this loving work of building and weaving the new kuahu, cheer and inspire one another with joyful songs vociferous with the praise of Laka. The halau also they decorate afresh, strewing the floor with clean rushes, until the whole place enthralls the senses like a bright and fragrant temple.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 38 PLATE IV MAILE (ALYXIA MYRTILLIFOLIA) WREATH]

The k.u.mu now grants special dispensation to the pupils to go forth that they may make good the results of the neglect of the person incident to long confinement in the halau. For days, for weeks, perhaps for months, they have not had full opportunity to trim hair, nails, or beard, to anoint and groom themselves. They use this short absence from the hall also to supply themselves with wreaths of fragrant maile, crocus-yellow ilima, scarlet-flaming Jehua, fern, and what not.

At the appointed hour the pupils, wreathed and attired like nymphs and dryads, a.s.semble in the halau, sweet with woodsy perfumes. At the door they receive aspersion with consecrated water.

The ai-lolo offering, cooked to a turn--no part raw, no part cracked or scorched--is brought in from the _imu_, its bearer sprinkled by the guard at the entrance. The k.u.mu, having inspected the roast offering and having declared it ceremonially perfect, gives the signal, and the company break forth in songs of joy and of adulation to G.o.ddess Laka:

_Mele Kuau_

Noho ana Laka I ka ulu wehi-wehi, Ku ana iluna I Mo'o-helaia,[33]

Ohia-Ku[34] ouna o Mauna-loa.[35]

Aloha mai Kaulana-ula[36] ia'u.

5 Eia ka ula la, he ula leo,[37]

He uku, he modai, he kanaenae, He alana na'u ia oe.

E Laka e, e maliu mai; E maliu mai oe, i pono au, 10 A pono au, a pono kaua.

[Footnote 33: _Mo'o-helaia_. A female deity, a _kupua_, who at death became one of the divinities, _au-makua_, of the hula.

Her name was conferred on the place claimed as her residence, on Mauna-loa, island of Molokai.]

[Footnote 34: _Ohia-Ku_. Full name _ohia-ku-makua_; a variety of the oha, or lehua (pl. XIII), whose wood was used in making temple G.o.ds. A rough stem of this tree stood on each side near the _hala-pepe_. (See pl. III, also pp. 19-20.)]

[Footnote 35: _Mauna-loa_. Said to be the mountain of that name on Molokai, not that on Hawaii.]

[Footnote 36: _Kaulana-ula_. Full form _Kaulana-a-ula_; the name of a deity belonging to the order, _papa_, of the hula.

Its meaning is explained in the expression _ula leo_, in the next line.]

[Footnote 37: _Ula leo_. A singing or trilling sound, a _tinnitus aurium_, a sign that the deity Kaulanaula was making some communication to the one who heard it.

"By the p.r.i.c.king of my thumbs Something wicked this way comes."]

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[Translation]

_Altar-Prayer_

Laka sits in her shady grove, Stands on her terrace, at Mo'o-helaia; Like the tree of G.o.d Ku on Mauna-loa.

Kaulana-ula trills in my ear; 5 A whispered suggestion to me, Lo, an offering, a payment, A eulogy give I to thee.

O Laka, incline to me!

Have compa.s.sion, let it be well-- 10 Well with me, well with us both.