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Bernice P. Bishop Mus., Bull.
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Historical SummaryHandy records the lament of a fallen Hawaiian chief whose maria had failed him, his resort to confession and washing, and his confident anticipation of "salvation":
What is my great offense, O god!
I have eaten standing perhaps, or
Without giving thanks,
Or these my people have eaten
Wrongfully.
Yes, that is the offense, O Kane-of-the-water-of-life.
O spare; O let me live, thy devotee,
Look not with indifference upon me.
I call upon thee, O answer thou me,
O thou god of my body who art in heaven.
O Kane, let the lightning flash, let the thunder roar,
Let the earth shake.
I am saved; my god has looked upon me,
I am being washed, I have escaped the danger.
This Hawaiian lament is particularly interesting, for it practically amounts to a confession and appeal to Kane, the god of life, for forgiveness and succor. According to Best, on the east coast of North Island, New Zealand, the first act of a tohunga in seeking to help a sick person was to call upon his patient to confess all hara and raruraru, that is, "acts offensive to religious or moral laws." The act of confession was followed by an absolutory rite which "acted as a . . . loosening or setting free from all pernicious hindrances." The purification was aided by sprinkling. It will be noted that the Hawaiian lament just quoted, the first part of which is in a sense a confession, ends
I am saved . . . ,
I am being washed, I have escaped the danger.1
1Handy, E.S. C.n/an/an/an/a, "Polynesian Religion," , 34: 242.
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Chicago: "Bernice P. Bishop Mus., Bull.," Bernice P. Bishop Mus., Bull. in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. Thomas, William I. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937), Original Sources, accessed December 3, 2023, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=RUF1AJHGH4PBQSP.
MLA: . "Bernice P. Bishop Mus., Bull." Bernice P. Bishop Mus., Bull., Vol. 34, in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, edited by Thomas, William I., New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937, Original Sources. 3 Dec. 2023. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=RUF1AJHGH4PBQSP.
Harvard: , 'Bernice P. Bishop Mus., Bull.' in Bernice P. Bishop Mus., Bull.. cited in 1937, Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. , McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. Original Sources, retrieved 3 December 2023, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=RUF1AJHGH4PBQSP.
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