Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 10, 1 October 1989 — Naturally Hawaiian [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Naturally Hawaiian

By Fatrick Ching Artist/ Environmentalist

When the early Polynesian voyagers set out to find and inhabit new lands they took with them the supplies they needed not only for their long oeean voyage, but for their continued survival in their new land as well. Among these items were seed and cuttings of plants whieh would provide shelter, clothing, tools and food. A handful of animals were brought along as well — the dog, pig, rat, gecko and jungle fowl. The Pdynesian jungle fowl, known as chickens, were known to Hawaiians as moa. They closely resemble the eommon farm ehieken but were said to be slightly smaller in size. According to Dr. Stanley C. Ball, who studied the moa, the ancestors of the Polynesian jungle fowl originally eame from the Maiaysian region. Undoubtably the moa that eame to Hawai'i with the Polynesian voyagers were already domesticated animals. Onee here, a percentage of them fled to the forests and became wild. There are those who say that populations of the Polynesian jungle fowl still exist in certain areas of Hawai'i while most sources will testify that with the infusion of many breeds of introduced chickens the true Polynesian jungle fowl no longer exist in Hawai'i. The uses of the moa in ancient Hawai'i were varied. They were kept around the house as pets and used as a source of food. The flesh and eggs were eaten though it was not as important a food source as pork or fish. Feathers of jungle fowl were used for various feathered articles; shorter feathers were used for things such as capes while the long tailfeathers of the eoek were used for kahilis. In more recent times a popular sport of the ali'i was cockfighting. Here, birds were matched up and bet upon in mueh of the same way as is done (illegally) today. Perhaps the most important use of the moa in ancient times was for sacrifice. Often a ehieken of a certain color was needed as sacrifice for a given healing rite or to fend off evil. Obviously the moa was an important entity in Hawaiian culture. Games were named after the moa as were plants or parts of plants. They crowed in the the morning to wake the ancient Hawaiians just as they do today. Whether they're in the yard, in the ring, or in the ehieken long rice these birds are still an integral part of life in Hawai'i, as they will be for a long time to eome.