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Kingship and Sacrifice: Ritual and Society in Ancient Hawaii

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Valeri's Kingship and Sacrifice is a well researched and thoroughly documented study of the ritual practices and beliefs of the state religion of Hawai'i prior to Christianization and subsequent colonization (you make the connection). This classic is an essential for those interested in the indigenous religious practices of Kanaka Maoli (the Native Hawaiian), specifically those of the ruling class or ali'i and consequently the participation required by the maka'ainana (watcher of the land). He relies extensively on oral histories recorded and/or translated by Native speakers, as well as other documents authored by Native Hawaiians primarily in the 1800's. These written sources are unique because Kanaka Maoli are rare among indigenious peoples as they were able to record their history in their mother tongue and English. In fact prior to the American backed coup that toppled the legitimate government of Hawaii in 1893, Native Hawaiians were the most literate nation in the world. Today Kanaka Maoli Nation is considered the most illiterate ethnic group in the American colony known as the State of Hawai'i. Politics aside, to Valeri's credit he consistantly avoids judgement of what might appear to be questionable cultural practices/values to some Western eyes (although let that reader first take the log out his own). On a metaphysical plane, Kingship and Sacrifice is a study of an alternative and (in its a time) viable reality. We are reminded that reality is not arbitrary construct or an absolute, but rather a mutable creation of the human mind and as such any reality functions because as an individuals within a society we give our conscious or unconscious consent. We are also given opportunity to reflect upon how Spirit was made manifest or channeled within a particuliar society, and noteworthy is the belief that mystery of Spirit imbued every aspect of life. The influence of this ancient way of being is still felt within contemporary Hawaiian culture.