Imagine if ali`i, or Hawaiian chiefs, of the old were still walking around today with carefully tied together bird feathers creating a beautiful cape and cloak draped over their shoulders and down their backs.
These capes are such amazing works of art, that having the opportunity to view them at the Bishop Museum is quite the luxury.
And being able to show the modern generation what the ancestors of this culture used to adorn themselves with.
The Hawaiian feather cape, or ahuula was made for those of higher ranking in the Hawaiian society. They are usually associated with the ali`i class.
“Gods who walked among men (ali`i),” said Kai Markell, compliance manager for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, in an email.
It was believed that the longer the capes were, those would be for the higher ranking alii since they took more birds, skill and were valued more, Markell said.
In great explanation of the ahu`ula, Markell said the capes were literally an ahu (altar) on the shoulders of the sacred ali`i.
The capes themselves are special items and to make one, required much skill and effort.
In making the capes, certain colors and patterns went into designing it, each meaning something different.
Red was typically the color that represented higher status, not only in Hawaiian history, but also in different parts of the world, according to Betty Lou Kam, director of cultural collections at the Bishop Museum for 32 years.
Thus, when the capes were made, red was often the color found in the capes. The red feathers were carefully plucked from i`iwi birds. Yellow feathers were less common than the red, but birds in Hawai`i were not usually yellow.
Those making the capes sought feathers from the mamo and o`o birds. These birds were not yellow, but black, they had yellow feathers in a few specific spot.
“Under the tail and or wing, at the cut off of the birds’ leg,” said Kam.
“Because yellow feathers were so treasured and rare, it seems that cloaks and capes in yellow may have been highly regarded.”
Gathering materials to create the cloak, feathers were obtained by the bird catchers, who were specialists (kia manu) that could use the bird snares.
Birds were trapped by a sticky sap that was placed on the tree branches, the bird catchers knew all about the birds, their rest places, bird calls and molting periods.
The feathers were a tribute during the time of the Makahiki, a time of rest and celebration. The feathers were collected and presented as gifts to the chiefs, like taxes in a sense, Markell explained.
Quantities of feathers could also be built up over time. The plant that was used to make the netting support was olonā, which became the cordage for the cloak.
Harvesting and cultivating the olonā was a timely process, but then just making the plant fibers into thousands of feet of cordage for the cloak tacked on more time, making the whole process very lengthy.
“I believe this is a long, long process,” Kam said. “Perhaps years of work, but we don’t know for sure.”
Hundreds and thousands of feathers were needed to make only one cloak, and were tired into the netting very close together to form the surface of the cloak.
The bird catchers would make careful use of the feathers. In obtaining the yellow feathers only few were removed at a time. This allowed the birds to produce feathers in the future.
Aside from the o`o and mamo birds producing the yellow feathers and then being released, the i`iwi birds, the ones producing red feathers provided more feathers and it often was difficult for them to recover from this. They were still put to use, and were not wasted.
The beautiful capes and cloaks were made with care and were symbols of power and social standing in the Hawaiian society.
Markell also shared an important ōlelo noeau, or wise saying.
“Maka`ala ke kanaka kahea manu (A man who calls birds should always be alert).”
He also went on to explain that the meaning of this `ōlelo no`eau means that the bird catchers, or the kanaka kahea manu, imitated the birds calls to attract them near and onlypluck out a small amount of feathers let them go. Once the bird catcher called the bird, he had be alert to catch the birds quickly.
In other words, when someone wishes to succeed they must be alert to opportunities that to should come about.