Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 80, 6 April 1894 Edition 02 — The Heathen Hawaiian. [ARTICLE]

The Heathen Hawaiian.

— Altbough tho accns.ition of tbe ! missionarics tbat Hawaii is steepeil iu l»arbjirism aml beatbenism cloes not reflect mucb credit on tbem or tbeir work. tbey are per sistent in making sucb assertion botb verballv aml in print. Tbose wbo bave iutimate knowledge of i the IIawaiiaus, tbeir life, tbeir customs and tbeir ancient bistor\-. are aware bow nnfonnded, uncbaritable. and nnreasonable tbe charges of tbo missionaries are. Tbey have been to!d so beforo by a better nutbority and an abler pen tban we baveatonr eommaml. and we consider it well to reprint i wbat Hon. Jndge Abrabam Fornauder wrote to Dr. C. M. Hyde ! in respouse to an article titled '*Har, ian Names of Eelation j ahip. of Consmguinity and Affinity/ from that gentlemau’s pen in Tbrum’s Annnal for 1884. We \ select tbe following paragrapbs from Mr. Forn.mder’s article whieh was written on tho 19lh i of January, 1884, nnd publisbed ' in next year s issne of tbe same Annual. believing tbat tbe opinioos of tbat Iamented bistorinn and friend of tbe Hawaiians. aro ’ of more weight ihauall tbeemptv and unproved accusations of men like £merson ; Bishop and Hyde. “14. Dr. Hyde says: ‘Among the Ha waiiane tbere was no tribal < org*Dizatioo, no tribal ownersbip < of land, no snbordinatiou of tbe I individual to tbo irtbe. The so- i «•1 orginism reocgni«ed tbe < chiof u tEe bighest 1

**ThRt is mainly cmrect *o far j as the H" w «iian ,s concernetl for j tbe lust eigbt haadred years. or perb"|« a Mliie less. iīct in reganl to tbe Polyuestir.s gener.»lly the tribal system seeras to bave beeo the parnmouot orgaoization from before tbe time tbat they first eutered the Pac.fic. and was , broagbt witb thero to tbe v.irious groops wbere they fina11y settled. It existed in fall force in New Zea)ar.d. in Saraoa. in Marqtiesus, j as late as the discover>- of those i gronps in the last centjry. •*15. In bis cloring remarks Dr. Hyde says: ‘In tbe utter of what we menn by the | hasband and the family. in the ! loose promiscaons interconrse in whieh men and women indn!ged in with little or no rostraint we 1 shoa!d expect to find utter nneial dicorganization and disiiitergrution, bat the;e raust have been i soruewhere, sornehow checksand [ balunccs that kcpt the social life in working order with some wbolesome re»t:'a nt.’ “Thefirst portion of thedoctor’s remarks contain some stroug asi sertions whieh are uot jastrfied bv the sociaI usages and nctual every d *v l;fe of tbe old Hawaij ian before the foreigoer eame j and rnlightened him liow to defy hw> aneieul g<xls with impanitv, j how to evade the t:.bas. how to j I draw profit from sensnality, and how to kill bimself witb nim. The social aud family aftections ] weaeasstrong in the o!d Hawaiians, ns in uny raodern people, I Cliristian or Pagan, althongh thev used ’Concrete’ terras to de1 signate f «tlier or motlier. Tlie ancient logonds nre full of tue | 1 most touchii'g instances of mar- \ ■ tal Iove and of filial aftectinn i The husband who pnts :>wav his j wife—his nnhine hoao —except for cause. had to reckon with her relatives; and the wife who elan- ; destinelv dishonored Ler husband’s bed generally paid tl,e ! forfeit with lier bfe. The de- I grees of relationship were ino.st ' intimate and more endearing | ainong tl:e oKl Hawaiians than | ! among many modern n itious. i 1 Their fourtli and fifth deg.ees <>f I consanguinity were uot only ealled, but considered and cherished as brothers and sisters. The mtercourse between the sexes; was regulated by rulesau«l iabas, , long ug) discarded and now , hardly remembered. And tho I ol<l legends, in depicting aneieni | social hfe. give no warraut for accusing tlie Hawaiians, as a j peoplo, of ‘iudu!g ng in prorais ; cuous intercourse.’ Tbat was ! ouo of the many dead sea apples wliieh Ihe fnre gner planted on j the ruins of the <>ld tabus. Any comparison that may be made j heiween t l io Hawaiiuns of fiftv years before Cook’s «rrival and fifty years aftcrwards ean ouly I resalt to the cred>t of tlie former period; and coany mparison of the Hawaiiuna of either pericd with flii ideal Chnstian eom- \ munitv is as unfair as it is uncritica1. “In the later part of the reraarks above qnoted. Dr. Hyde | says: ‘But there must havebeen somewhere, aomehow, checks j and ba!ances tbat Lept l!io so- j eial life iu working order, ete.’ “As the doctor’s diagnois of tho social life of the old Hawaiians before Cook’s arrival, is inc<>rrect, I need not dwell upon the‘cliecks aud balances’ whieh j thea ‘kept the social life in working order. They wero patent. of immemorial u«age, and of suffi- j cient force to easure compar.itive ; peaee, an abandaut food supply aiia nn iucreasing popnlalion. j During tlie penod tbat followed i Cook’s arrival, and up to tlie nd- i vent of the Christian ;»ries. those *ohecks and balances’ • were stramed to the utmost aiid i finally bruke dowu completely. j 1 Xo wonder that, wheu the mis- j : sionaries nrrived. they foand a ! monil darkness witboat compare, j a social looseness tbat batlies de- j scription. a laud witbont a Uod j or a rebgion, for the tabns) had been aboIisbe«t, tbe Keiauē elosed, aud the ancient priesthood virtaaPy self ! effaoed before tbe missionaries ! arrived. And the lieaeen- ! sus Aeemi" kept on for many j yeurs after their arrivnl. AĪI bonor to their zeal. all credit for i ! what they accomp!ished,aithoagh j their metbo«ls may not aiw.«ys lmv® been the most jndicious. Tbey bad to create, as well as to direct; and tbe ‘checks and btl- | anees,’ whieh now are slowly bot \ i surely gainiug tbe neoepianee of , tbe j>eople, are their crown of ! glor>', thoir title to gratefal rememhnmee. I bave had oppor- ! ! tauities of kuowing tb s people | for fifty years. I saw tliem probably at tho:r lowest ebb, immediately after tbe disturbaoce of Kaomi in 1833: I saw tbera ag lin dariog tbe oeeupaiion of Lonl George Pauiet in 1843. and have lived bere ever sinee. noting the apwanl progress of tlie peopiel aud 1 feel justified iu saying that tho rooral malaria—wnieh was tbe iuevitable resalt of tbe sadden transition from ouecondition of life to jmother— has speot its force. and tbat tbe moral senti- ! ment of the people now is suffi- ( oient!y stroog to uown down «nd | to prerent s repotitioo of the <0sm* whieh difignxtod the esgp I

! !5er ve*rs o! this trans:tion perI iod * “Dr HrJe. tbereforn. err«i if 'ia itti!l»r.!es the oor>I >f*rkneis. the s euil lo-*eQ«ss, m wh;cli the m Psioniries t'onad thi» p**ople, to the o!d Haw īnns of fifty ye:»rs and apw»nls bef rs C *ok 3 ; time. They aod tbeir inst t.:tioas, their ‘checks and b»l.ince3 hid pa&3ōi awav. Th°y have a his- ! torv of the:r own «U : cb I have i endeavored t<* redeem from ohli--t vinn. K««oehameha I. was the ll>st of tbe old H\w>,iiins. Ue shonId have d ed witb the ceutnrv that saw him born, for even his , strong will and generallv soond !jodgmcnt eonhl uot arrest tbe I downw,.nl coarse of his natioi. when onee it had fiirly planged into the transition drs,rt. “1G. Dr. Hyd- says: ‘Sixt\* vears of Cbristian teacbing. with but imperfect opport mtv f r Cliristian tr.iining. liave not safiiced to root ont ■ id iiieas u»d habits. aml ingraft new priociples ■ into Hawanan iife, bat only to iu:tiate some new inet i<>ds “Let the Doctor th »nk Go»l for wliat h>s been «l >ne, and soften lrs impatience by t!io reflection tli.it t'>e trans tion perio-l of Lis and my ancestors extend- d over sever.il centnrie.s; and that even r.'>w. some of tiie l>»wer str ita of Eampe probably do not stind : =tuv highcr in c vilzitinn tli;in | correspouding str.ita in Hawaii.”