Kaneikokala, in Bishop Museum, Honolulu.
Photograph: Peter Faris, 10/21/2010.
An
example of Hawaiian large scale stone carving is this figure of Kaneikokala in the Bishop Museum in
Honolulu. Kaneikokala represents a
shark deity. It appears to be a rock slab in pretty much natural form with limited pecking to accentuate features of the deity. It was probably originally erected in a productive fishing site or
by fish ponds as an entreaty to the shark spirit.
Explanatory
text from the museum label explains, “Kaneikokala, a stone image of Ki'i pohaku made of
vesicular basalt, was uncovered by Wahinenui, a kama'aina (native born) of
Kawaihae, Hawai'i. Wahinenui was guided to the buried location by his dreams,
claiming the ki'i had pleaded constantly to be taken from the cold in which it
lay. Kaneikokala was brought to Bishop Museum in 1906, and not long afterward
set permanently into cement in the floor of Hawaiian Hall. In spite of well
intentioned efforts to relocate Kane to a suitable site outside the Hall, the
image has steadfastly held its ground and refused to be moved.”
I love this approach to the subject. Having
many years of museum work in my career this sort of light hearted handling
of the story allows us to see a contemporary relevance to the subject of such past beliefs. The figure of the deity seems to like to be standing in the Hawaiian Hall of the Bishop Museum and refuses to be moved. It would have been just as easy to have said that the concrete that he was set
in was of such high quality that it has resisted contemporary attempts to move
the statue without the risk of damage, but would that have been half as
interesting? I think not.
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I don’t know…I live here and every time I see it I get chills. I swear today when I was looking at it up close, it fluttered in the space it sits in. So weird and creepy.
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