Customer Reviews

Ancient Hawaii

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There is simply no one alive who could do what Herb Kane has done for the understanding of precontact Hawaii. We should all be grateful that such an accomplished artist also possesses considerable research skills and the ability to display them. One gets all three in this splendid paean to Kane's ancestors.

ANCIENT HAWAII is a beautiful and understandable look at Hawaii before the arrival of Captain Cook. One would have to travel the world to see this collection of Herb Kane's paintings and drawings, and spend hundreds of hours in the library to get this sort of understanding and feeling for the precontact Hawaiian world.

Herb Kane is the real thing. The book is for everyone.

In 1995, officials from the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort, then under construction on the Big Island, persuaded local illustrator and living legend Herbert Kawainui Kane to produce a series of paintings depicting ancient Hawaiians as they went about their everyday tasks. Kane consented, and also wrote the captions that would accompany the work on display. As these captions became longer and longer, Kane realized he had the beginnings of an excellent book on the history of his people. Thus Ancient Hawaii came into being. He begins, of course, with the legendary Menehunes (as we now know them; we have no idea what they called themselves) and their epic voyages from Polynesia and the South Pacific, then traces the journeys of the much-later Tahitian adventurers who became the ancestors of the people now known as Hawaiians. The remainder of the book is taken up with descriptions of Hawaiians as they practiced their everyday crafts, from planting to taro-making, from fishing to navigating. Of course, Hawaiian leisure activities are featured as well, not only the hula and surfing, but also canoeing, gambling, and "nocturnal activities between consenting adults." (Let's not go there!) Each of these activites (except the "adult" pastimes) are accompanied by some of the most visually stunning paintings you've ever seen of the islands and their people. Thunderously rich, vibrant, and full of life, these works of art could easily be ripped out and hung on the wall (but who would want to ruin such a wonderful book?); readers who want more of these beautiful treasures are given ordering information in the back of the book. Accompanied by his luminous, truly poetic written descriptions, the reader comes away with an idyllic, yet very truthful and accurate look of Pre-Cook Hawaii, one that is beautifully descriptive and thankfully free of judgement. Ancient Hawaii should be a the top of your must-purchase list, as it combines accurate history, stunning paintings, and wonderful, easy-to-read prose into one slim yet altogether winning volume.

If you have a desire to glimpse the glorious past that was Hawai'i, then this is your ticket. Ancient Hawai'i is both broad and deep without being overwhelming. The book is lavishly illustrated, which helps stimulate the imagination, and the text is very well written. It is easy to see that this was a labor of love.

My favorite section in the book was titled Reciprocity, in which the author distilled the ingenious economic system of Hawai'i to less than two pages, and still managed to convey the complex social trait of the Hawaiian culture, uku.

It is with this sense of uku that I wish to say mahalo to Herb Kane for his gift of pictures and words, and also pass his gift onto you, the next reader.

I purchased this book in anticipation of a trip to Hawaii, wanting to learn more about the cultural roots. This presentation was exceptionally beautiful (amazing paintings), simple in its presentation, and left the reader feeling a part of it all. I highly recommend this book.

Before the grand hotels and resorts, before crowded beaches, before paved roads and cars... there was sacred Hawai'i of old.

Herb Kawainui Kane allows you through his words and mostly through his artwork to revisited old Hawai'i in its truest and purist form. It's a visual journey that details even the smallest things. Herb Kane does an excellent job at retelling a story almost forgotten... a spiritual and emotional journey experienced by all but so often unexplained until now.

Hawai'i was and is still a magical place and Herb Kane's work shows that better than most any other artist I've seen in Hawai'i. Herb's work allows you to take a differant kind of trip to paradise... the one that existed and flourished for a thousand years before discovery by Captain Cook.

I bought this book to be able to describe ancient Polynesian life. The photos are treasure troves of information. The text is almost secondary, even if it is right on track. Well worth the cost if only for the beauty of the prints. Did I say the pictures were pretty?

Herb Kawainui Kane (pronounced KAH-ney) is a master artist, voyaging canoe designer, and Hokule`a captain. He is also author of Ancient Hawaii, a visual extravaganza of his vision, based on research and his artistic interpretation, of the life and times of pre- and post-contact Hawaiians.

Kane writes: "Without writing, kahuna were the living libraries of the old culture, preserving knowledge in trained memories. Some feats of memory seem incredible today. The story of Kamapua1a required sixteen hours of word-perfect recitation. Some temple invocations, we are told, in which any mistake would break the power of the words, required two days to deliver. Early Christian missionaries were astonished to find among their converts some who could recite entire books from the Bible soon after learning to read. Knowledge kept in living memories and shared only among a select few is extremely fragile, which helps explain why so much has been lost. One epidemic of an introduced disease could wipe out the masters of a guild, and with them knowledge accumulated over millennia. Disenfranchised in 1819 and subsequently condemned by Christian missionaries as sorcerers and witch doctors, their veil of secrecy became their shroud" (p. 40).

Given the reduction of the Hawaiian population from a high of over 800,000 to only 40,000 in a hundred years, Kane's hypothesis explains a great deal.

"Much that we would like to know about them has been lost by the impact of Western ways as well as their own customs of secrecy. Much of what remains is tantalizingly indistinct, blurred through the lens of our modern vision, distorted by the fantasies and embellishments all peoples invent about their pasts" (p. 7). I think Kane would admit that his personal fantasies affect him as well, with his depictions of ancient life in his paintings, noble and proud. Regardless, his paintings are magnificent, and they are well integrated into his text.

Ancient Hawaii is a nice addition to the secondary literature on Hawaii's history. For the price, it is probably the best bargain around.

This book has its ups and downs. The ups were the amazing paintings done by Herb Kawainui Kane and the plentiful factual information about ancient Hawai`i. Herb Kawainui Kane's paintings "speak a thousand words" and they are the greatest asset in this book and this asset makes this book worth every penny and more (priceless).

The biggest downs were that every now and then I would find a detail that made me question the authenticity of the information as fact and that the author goes about telling this information as though it was fact without citing or saying how he came to believe these details to be facts.

The biggest down of all is that, as a Native Hawaiian, I'm sick of hearing Hawaiians describe their own selves in terms of Eurocentric view points and going so far as to oblige these view points to the point of putting down the Hawaiian people and I found much of that in this book. While I'm used to hearing our Kupuna do this, since such a discourse was practically shoved down their throats, and I can not blame Herb Kawainui Kane for doing this, but I hate seeing it in writing and it bothers me to know that the younger generation could pick this book up and be fascinated by its "ups," but then become tempted to adopt its degrading manner of explaining who the Hawaiian people are.

I think that for anyone wanting to learn more about Hawaiian culture or history, this book makes a good supplement, but surely must be read along with many other materials. It would be practical in any study to read many different materials. This book, ironically, also acts as a wonderful way to learn about the oppression of the Hawaiian people for any Hawaiians that may be interested in seeing an excellent example of how Hawaiians for several generations were taught to speak and think in a manner degrading to Hawaiians. This book shows how powerful those lessons were in prior (and many times in current) generations and how these words even today have an incredibly insidious affect on our manner of thinking and speaking about ourselves and how these words come with an almost unquestionable authority.

Herb Kane has been one of many in my introduction to and understanding of the earth's first people. I am an African who has always been on the journey to know her own people and their culture and in the powerful way of Ancestors have been taken from the main road of discovery to one of the many side roads to see, hear and absorb the heart of another. Mr. Kane has done a magnificent job in putting together this book in a way that a novice, such as myself, in learning about Hawaiian Culture will understand, ponder and perhaps see some of the rest of humanity reflected in the history of his people. Please don't let the smallness of this book fool you. There are deep and introspective things to be found beneath the small rocks along the shore. Thank you Mr. Kane for this precious gift to us all.

The writer of this book has explained the basics of Hawaiian history and culture, and then has illustrated it all with some of the most breathtakingly beautiful paintings I've ever seen. It's the next best thing to having a time machine!