Kapu refers to the ancient Hawaiian code of conduct of laws and regulations. The kapu system was universal in lifestyle, gender roles, politics, religion, etc. An offense that was kapu was often a corporal offense, but also often denoted a threat to spiritual power, or theft of mana. Kapus were strictly enforced. Breaking one, even unintentionally, often meant immediate death,^[1] Koʻo kapu. The concept is related to taboo and the tapu or tabu found in other Polynesian cultures. The Hawaiian word kapu is usually translated to English as "forbidden", though it also carries the means of "sacred", "consecrated", or "holy".

Kapu[link]

As these examples might suggest, the sense of the term in Polynesia carries connotations of sacredness as much as forbidden-ness. Probably the best way to translate kapu into English is as meaning "marked off" or ritually restricted. The opposite of kapu is "noa" meaning "common" or "free".

Kapuhili[link]

Most famous are the Kapuhili restrictions placed upon contact with chiefs (kings), but these also apply to all people of known spiritual power. Kapu Kū mamao means prohibited from a place of the chief, while Kapu noho was to assemble before the chief. It was kapu entering a chief's personal area to come in contact with his hair or fingernail clippings, to look directly at him and to be in sight of him with a head higher than his. Wearing red and yellow feathers (a sign of royalty) was kapu, unless you were of the highest rank. Places that are kapu are often symbolized by Pahu Kapu, two crossed staffs, each with a white ball atop.

[edit] ʻAi Kapu

The ʻAi kapu was the kapu system governing contact between men and women. In particular, men and women could not eat meals together. Furthermore, certain foods such as pork (the body form of god Lono), most types (67 of the 70 varieties) of bananas (body form of the god Kanaloa), and coconuts (body form of god Ku) were considered kapu to women. In fact, women could not even make coconut rope. Taro (body form of god Kane) was also kapu for women to eat. Some large fish were also kapu for women to eat. Isabella Abbott, a leading ethnobotanist of Hawaii theorizes that because of the limited "noa" (free) diet for Hawaiian women, seaweeds were relied upon more heavily for Hawaiians than other pacific islands.^[2]

The kapu system was used in Hawaii until 1819, when King Kamehameha II, acting with his mother Keopuolani and his father's queen Ka'ahumanu, abolished it by the symbolic act of sharing a meal of forbidden foods with the women of his court.

Aloha Aina[link]

"Kapu" restrictions were also used to regulate Hawaiian fishing in order to maintain the long term viability of ocean life in the 1700 and 1800s. Certain fishes and/or designated areas were forbidden (or kapu) at the times when overfishing could damage the environment. This is similar to the modern regulation of monitoring and regulating fishing and hunting through licensing but was well before the "modern" era and showed great insight into sustainable living.^{[citation needed]} Also the Kapu ʻōhiʻa kō chant was needed before harvesting an ʻŌhiʻa tree.

Modern usage[link]

The ambiguities in the Polynesian concept (from the English point of view) are reflected in the different senses of the word in different national Englishes: In modern usage in Hawaii, "KAPU" is often substituted for the phrase "No Trespassing" on private property signage. In the movie Lilo and Stitch, Lilo has a sign on her door that says "Kapu" for privacy. Although kapu can transmit the meaning "stay out", kapu still means much more to most residents of Hawai‘i. By contrast, in New Zealand, the comparable word "tapu" is almost always used to mean "sacred".

In 2006, Her Interactive released a computer game based on the Nancy Drew series of books, titled The Creature of Kapu Cave.^[3]

The rebooted TV show Hawaii Five-0 featured a civic pride group known as the Kapu, composed of local surfers.

See also[link]

• Hawaiian religion
• 'Ai Noa

References[link]

• Ulukau Hawaiian Language Website "Kapu" Definitition