Makahiki - Citizendia

The Makahiki season was the Hawaiian New Year, in honor of the god Lono. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the In Hawaiian mythology, Lono is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a Rainbow to marry Laka. It was a holiday covering four consecutive lunar months (approximately from October or November through February or March). Religious ceremonies happened during this period. The people stopped work, made offerings to the chief or ali'i, and then spent their time practicing sports, feasting, dancing and having a good time. War during those four months was kapu. The Hawaiian word kapu is usually translated as "forbidden"

The Makahiki festival was celebrated in three phases. The first phase was a time of spiritual cleansing and making ho`okupu, offerings to the gods. The Konohiki, a class of royalty that at this time of year provided the service of tax collector, collected agricultural and aquacultural products such as pigs, taro, sweet potatoes, dry fish, kapa and mats. Taro (from Tahitian or other Polynesian languages) more rarely kalo (from Hawaiian) and gabi in The Philippines, is a KAPA (1003 FM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Contemporary format Some ho`okupu also were in the form of forest products such as feathers. The Hawaiian people had no money or other similar medium of exchange. These ho`okupu were offered on the altars of Lono at heiau - temples - in each district around the island. Offerings also were made at the ahupua'a, stone altars set up at the boundary lines of each district.

All war was outlawed to allow unimpeded passage of the image of Lono. The festival proceeded in a clockwise circle around the island as the image of Lono (or Akua Loa, a long pole with a strip of tapa and other embellishments attached) was carried by the priests. At each ahu-pua`a the chief of that district (a district also is called ahupua`a) presented ho`okupu to the Lono image, a fertility god who caused things to grow and who gave plenty and prosperity to the islands. In polytheistic religions and mythologies a fertility god is a male deity who is responsible for ensuring human Fertility.

The second phase, was a time of celebration, of hula dancing, of sports (boxing matches, sliding on sleds, surfing, canoe races, relays, and swimming), of singing and of feasting. Hula (ˈhuːlə is a dance form accompanied by chant or song It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there Hawaiian lava sledding ( Hawaiian: hee hōlua, "sled surfing" is a traditional sport of Native Hawaiians Similar to wave Surfing, Surfing is a surface water sport in which the participant is carried along the face of a breaking wave, most commonly using a Surfboard, although wave-riders

In the third phase, the wa`a `auhau - tax canoe - was loaded with ho`okupu and taken out to sea where it was set adrift as a gift to Lono. At the end of the Makahiki festival, the chief would go off shore in a canoe. A canoe is a small narrow Boat, typically human-powered though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors When he came back in he stepped on shore and a group of warriors threw spears at him. He had to deflect or parry the spears to prove his worthiness to continue to rule.

The sails and masts of Captain James Cook's ship resembled Lono's Akua Loa. Captain James Cook FRS RN ( – 14 February 1779) was an English Explorer, Navigator and Captain Cook reached the Hawaiian Islands during the Makahiki season in 1778. The Hawaiian Islands, once known as the Sandwich Islands, form an Archipelago of 19 Islands and Atolls numerous smaller Year 1778 ( MDCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or Because of this, some Hawaiians may at first have thought Captain Cook was the god Lono returning to the islands, as foretold in Hawaiian legends.

In the Hawaiian language, the word Makahiki means "year" as well as the change from harvest time to the beginning of the agricultural season. The Hawaiian language (Hawaiian ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i) is an Austronesian language that takes its name from Hawai'i, the largest island in the tropical

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