Kapu

The Hawaiian word "kapu" is usually translated as "forbidden". In ancient Hawaii, "kapu" refers to the ancient system of laws and regulations. An offense that was "kapu" was often a corporal offense, but also often denoted a threat to spiritual power, or theft of "mana". "Kapus" were strictly enforced. Breaking one, even unintentionally, often meant immediate death. [ [http://www.islands.com/article.jsp?ID=47759&typeID=122&categoryID=0 http://www.islands.com/article.jsp?ID=47759&typeID=122&categoryID=0 ] ] The concept is related to taboo and the "tapu" or "tabu" found in other Polynesian cultures.

Restrictions

Most famous are the restrictions placed upon contact with chiefs (kings), but these also apply to all people of known spiritual power. It was "kapu" to enter a chief's personal area, to come in contact with his hair or fingernail clippings, to look directly at him and to be in sight of him with a head higher than his. Wearing red and yellow feathers (a sign of royalty) was "kapu", unless you were of the highest rank. Places that are "kapu" are often symbolized by two crossed staffs, each with a white ball atop.

The "kapu" system also governed contact between men and women. In particular, men and women could not eat meals together. Furthermore, certain foods such as pork, some types of bananas (as they resembled a phallus), and coconuts were considered "kapu" to women. As these examples might suggest, the sense of the term in Polynesia carries connotations of sacredness as much as forbidden-ness. Probably the best way to translate it into English is as meaning "marked off" or ritually restricted. The opposite of kapu is "noa" meaning "common" or "free".

"Kapu" restrictions were also used to regulate Hawaiian fishing in order to maintain the long term viability of ocean life in the 1700 and 1800s. Certain fishes and/or designated areas were forbidden (or kapu) at the times when overfishing could damage the environment. This is similar to the modern regulation of monitoring and regulating fishing and hunting through licensing but was well before the "modern" era and showed great insight into sustainable living.

The "kapu" system was used in Hawaii until 1819, when King Kamehameha II, acting with his mother Keopuolani and his father's queen Ka'ahumanu, abolished it by the symbolic act of sharing a meal of forbidden foods with the women of his court.

Modern usage

The ambiguities in the Polynesian concept (from the English point of view) are reflected in the different senses of the word in different national Englishes: In modern usage in Hawaii, "KAPU" is often substituted for the phrase "No Trespassing" on private property signage. In the movie "Lilo and Stitch", Lilo has a sign on her door that says "Kapu" for privacy. Although kapu can transmit the meaning "stay out," kapu still means much more to most residents of Hawai‘i. By contrast, in New Zealand, the comparable word "tapu" is almost always used to mean "sacred".

In 2006, Her Interactive released a computer game based on the Nancy Drew series of books, titled "The Creature of Kapu Cave". [ [http://www.herinteractive.com/prod/cre/index.shtml http://www.herinteractive.com/prod/cre/index.shtml] ]

ee also

*Hawaiian religion
*'Ai Noa

References