Everything about Kapu totally explained
» This article refers to Hawaiian term kapu
. For the Kapu
caste of Andhra Pradesh, see Kapu (caste).
The
Hawaiian word
kapu is usually translated as "forbidden". In ancient
Hawaii,
kapu refers to the ancient system of laws and regulations. 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. The concept is related to
taboo and the
tapu or
tabu found in other
Polynesian cultures.
Restrictions
Most famous are the restrictions placed upon contact with chiefs (kings), but these also apply to all people of known spiritual power. It was
kapu to enter 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 two crossed staffs, each with a white ball atop.
The
kapu system also governed contact between men and women. In particular, men and women couldn't eat meals together. Furthermore, certain foods such as
pork, some types of
bananas (as they resembled a
phallus), and
coconuts were considered
kapu to women. 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. 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 it into English is as meaning "marked off" or ritually restricted. The opposite of kapu is "noa" meaning "common" or "free".
"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.
Modern usage
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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kapu'.
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