Wrong and Right Conduct in Ancient Hawaii
There are many kinds of wrong committed by men, if their number were all told; but a single stem gives birth to them all. The thought that proceeds from, the…
From: Unknown To: 1903 C.E.
Location: Hawaii
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
Wrong Conduct and Right Conduct.
From Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo, 1903.
There are many kinds of wrong committed by men, if their number were all told; but a single stem gives birth to them all. The thought that proceeds from, the mind is the parent that begets a multitude of sins.
When the heart proposes to do wrong then doubtless it will commit a sin; and when it purposes to do right, then no-doubt, it will do right; because from the heart (naau, bowels) comes good and from the heart also comes evil. But some evils light down of themselves (lele wale mai), and so do some good things.
If the eye sees a thing, but the heart does not covet it, no wrong is done. But if the eye observes and the heart covets a certain thing, a great many thoughts will arise within having inordinate desire (kuko) as the root, a restless yearning (lia), a vehement desire (uluku), and a seizing (hookaha); or duplicity (hoo-makauli’i) and covetousness (iini), which make one look upon a thing with deep longing and the purpose to take it secretly and appropriate it to one self. These faults are to be classed with theft.
Coveting the property of another has many aspects to it, a spying upon another, lying in ambush on his trail, plotting, treachery, deceit, trickery with the intent to murder secretly in order to get someone's goods. All of these things come under the head of robbery and are of the nature of murder (pepehi wale).
If one has determined to enrich himself at another's expense the evil has many shapes. The first thing is covetousness (pakaha), filching, thrusting one's self on the hospitality of one's neighbor (kipa wale), stripping another of his property (hao wale), appropriating his crops (uhuki wale), theft, robbery and other wrong deeds of that nature.
If a man wishes to deal truthfully with another and afterwards finds that things have been misrepresented to him, there are many things involved in that. In the first place there is deceit (hoo-punipuni), lying (waha-he'e), slander (alapahi), falsehood (palau), the lie jestful (ku-kahe-kahe) the lie fluent (palolo), the lie unclothed, (kokahe), the lie direct, (pahilau), and many other things of like sort.
If a person seeks to find fault with another there are many ways of doing it, the chief of which is slander (aki, biting), defamation (ahiahi), making false accusations (niania), circulating slanders (holoholo oleo), vilifying (makauli'i), detraction (kaa-mehai, belittling (kuene), tale-bearing (poupou-noho-ino), ensnaring (hoowalewale), misleading (luahele), treachery (kumakaia), fault-finding (hoolawehala), malice (opu-inoino), scandal-mongering (lawe-olelo-wale), reviling (paonioni) and a host of other things of the same sort.
If one has evil thoughts against another there are a great many ways in which they may express themselves. The first is anger (huhu), indignation (inaina), sarcasm (a-aka), scolding (keke), fault-finding (nana), sourness (kukona), bitterness (nahoa), fretfulness (makona), rudeness (kalaea), jealousy (hoolili), scowling (hoomakue), harshness (hookoikoi), intimidation (hooweliweli) and many other ways.
If a man wished to kill an innocent person there are many ways in which he can do it, first to simply beat him to death (pepehi wale), by stoning (hailuku), whipping (hahau), knocking him down (kulai), garroting (umiwale), pounding with his fists (kuku'i wale), smiting (papa'i), wrestling (hako'oko'o), stirring up a fight (hookonokono), and many other similar ways.
These were all sins, clearly understood to be very wrongs but those who did these things were not suitably punished in the old times. If any one killed another, nothing was done about it there was no law. It was a rare thing for any one to be punished as at the present time.
It should be remarked here that in ancient times indiscriminate sexual relations between unmarried persons (moe o na mea kaawale), fornication, keeping a lover (moe ipo), hired prostitution (moe kookuli), bigamy, polyandry, whoredom (moe hoo-kama-kama), sodomy (moe aikane), and masturbation were not considered wrong, nor were foeticide and idol-worship regarded as evils.
The following things were held to be wrong, hewa, both in men and women, to change husband or wife frequently (ko-aka), to keep shifting from place to place, to be a glutton or to in men and women: to change husband or wife frequently (ko- [sic] less gossip (palau-alelo), to be indolent and lazy, to be an improvident vagabond (aea, kuonoono-ole), to be utterly shiftless (lima-lima-pilau),to go about getting food at other people's houses (koalaala-make-hewa) these and other like actions were really wrong, hewa.
The following practices were considered hewa by the landlord, that one should give himself up to the fascinations of sport and squander his property in puhenehene, sliding the stick (pahee), bowling the ulu-maika, racing with the canoe, on the surf-board or on the holua-sled, that one should build a large house, have a woman of great beauty for his wife, sport a fine tapa, or gird one's self with a fine malo.
All of these things were regarded as showing pride, and were considered valid reasons for depriving a man of his lands, because such practices were tantamount to secreting wealth.
If a landlord, or land agent, who farmed the land for an alii (kono-hiki) had to wife a woman who did no work, neither beating out or printing tapa, doing nothing in fact, but merely depending on what her husband produced, such a non-producer was called a polo-hana-ole, and it would be counted a hewa, and a sufficient reason why the man should be turned out of his lands.
Mere complaining and grumbling, with some other misfortunes are evils that come of themselves. There are other ills of the same sort which I have not mentioned.
There was a large number of actions that were considered essentially good (pono maoli), and the number of persons who did them was very considerable, in spite of which there lighted down upon them the misfortune that when they looked upon the things belonging to another their heart lusted after them. The right course in such a case is to resist the temptation, not to pursue the object of one's desire, to cease thinking about it and touch it not.
To act justly without trespassing or deceiving, not frequenting another's house, not gazing wistfully upon your neighbor's goods nor begging for anything that belongs to him—that is the prudent course.
The following actions were considered worthy of approbation; to live thriftily, not to be a vagabond, not to keep changing wives, not to be always shifting from one chief to another, not to run in debt.
It was reckoned a virtue for a man to take a wife, to bring up his children properly, to deal squarely with his neighbors and his landlord, to engage in some industry, such as farming, fishing, house-building, canoe-making, or to raise swine, dogs and fowls.
It was also deemed virtuous not to indulge in sports, to abstain from such games as puhenehene, pahee, bowling the maika, running races, canoe-racing, surf-riding, racing on the holua-sled, and to abstain from the tug-of-war and all other games of such sort.
The practice of these virtues was a great means of bettering one's self in this life and was of great service.
The farmer and the fisherman acquired many servants and accumulated property by their labors. For this reason the practice of these callings was regarded as most commendable.
The worship of idols was regarded as a virtue by the ancients, because they sincerely believed them to be real gods. The consequence was that people desired their chiefs and kings to be religious (haipule). The people had a strong conviction that if the king was devout, his government would abide.
Canoe-building was a useful art. The canoe was of service in enabling one to sail to other islands and carry on war against them, and the canoe had many other uses.
The priestly office was regarded with great favor, and great faith was reposed in the power of the priests to propitiate the idol-deities, and obtain from them benefits that were prayed for.
The astrologers, or kilo-lani, whose office it was to observe the heavens and declare the day that would bring victory in battle, were a class of men highly esteemed. So also were the kuhi-kuhi-puu-one, a class of priests who designated the site where a heiau should be built in order to insure the defeat of the enemy.
The kaka-olelo, or counsellors who advised the alii in matters of government, were a class much thought of; so also were the warriors who formed the strength of the army in time of battle and helped to rout the enemy.
Net-makers (poe ka-upena) and those who made fishing-lines (hilo-aha) were esteemed as pursuing a useful occupation. The mechanics who hewed and fashioned the tapa log, on which was beaten out tapa for sheets, girdles and loin-cloths for men and women were a class highly esteemed. There were a great many other actions that were esteemed as virtuous whether done by men and women or by the chiefs; all of them have not been mentioned.
Malo, David. Hawaiian Antiquities: (Moolelo Hawaii). Translated by Nathaniel Bright Emerson, Hawaiian Gazette Co., 1903.
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