Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 5, 1 May 1989 — No Cultural Evidence Found [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

No Cultural Evidence Found

Experts Say Hawaiians Did Not Hunt Or Eat Seals

By Ed Miehelman Public Information Officer The Office of Hawaiian Affairs says there is no evidence to link early Hawaiians with the practice of hunting or eating seals. One of OHA's main goals as a state agency is to preserve and promote Hawaiian culture. This is why OHA trustees expressed serious concerns following reports that assistcint federal public defender Hayden Aluli is considering a "native Hawaiian rights" defense in the case of Daniel Kaneholani, who is accused of killing an endangered Hawaiian monk seal. An Apnl 6, 1989 letter to Aluli, signed by OHA Chairman Thomas Kaulukukui, Sr., says in part: "The Board, of course, in no way intends to prejudge the guilt or innoeenee of Mr. Kaneholani. However, any attempt to fabricate a non-existent cultural practice in defense of ai:otally abhorrent and illegal act is unconscionable." "There is no evidence that pre-contact Hawaiians ever hunted or ate seals. Researchers such as Edith McKenzie and Puakea Nogelmeier say there are only passing references to Hawaiian seals, indicating that contact with humans was rare and that seals were never considered a traditional food source." This contention is supported by Alan Ziegler, former head of the Bishop Museum's vertebrate zoology department. Ziegler states that no Hawaiian seal bones or bone fragments have ever been uncovered in any archaeological site in Hawai'i. The linguistic evidence also indicates that seals were uneommon creatures in Hawai'i prior to 1778 just as they are today. The Hawaiian names for seal are " 'ilioholoikauaua", "hulu", "kila" and

"sila". "Kila and "sila" are derived from the English name for the animal. " 'llioholoikauaua" is a descriptive name whieh means "the dog whieh travels the rough seas". This indicates that seals were so rare in Hawaii, there was no eommon name for the animal. The word, "hulu" means fur and probably was introduced by early whalers who

traveled to areas such as Alaska where fur seals were hunted. Hawaiian monk seals are on the federal endangered species list for a very good reason. It is estimated only 1,000 to 2,000 of them are left on earth. A modern day kapu has been established to prevent their extinction.

Hawaiian monk seal. Photo courfesy o/ Pacific Missile Range Facilify, Kaua'i. T