And mahalo to you for your kind comment. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Cook was stabbed with a dagger, and to best of my recall, it was thought to be one of the iron daggers made by Cook's blacksmith as a trade item much desired by the Hawaiians, who -- prior to the prior year when he came upon Kaua'i Island -- had no usable metal and were literally a stone-aged culture. But a very advanced one. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo (thank you) for your very nice comment. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for commenting. The "swords" are only hollow for perhaps 20-25% of the length, starting from the back end. There's no need to cut in in half. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@traditionalhawaiianculture i just bought a sword fish bill to replicate the weapon. And I was wondering how they where made. The swords you have look to be cut sword fish bills because they are thinner than the bill I bought.

I don't know about sword fish bills from elsewhere than Hawaii, but suspect they are all much alike. Did the bill you bought by any chance have teeth all along its edges? Or holes where such teeth were formerly present? That would be a sawfish bill. They are wider than swordfish bills, and rounded at the front. If you mean thinner top to bottom rather than side do side, the younger swordfish bills are shorter and of course thinner. The making of the bills into weapons in old times probably included abrading away the sides of the bill at the rear, where there are open spaces instead of just solid bill structure. This creates a narrowed "handle" area, and very likely it was wrapped in tapa or in sennit cordage, to make it both stronger and better for handling. A rough stone, particularly one containing crystals like olivine, could be used in the hand as an abrader. For removing larger areas, a "nao wili" pump drill might have been used to drill holes and thus simplify some of the material-removal. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo again for your fine comment. I just replied your other comment of today, too. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo to you as well, for your nice comment. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo to you as well for a nice comment! Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your fine comment. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

No one knows the name. They were seen only one time, when Capt. Cook got to Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island during Makahiki Season in 1779, and they were worn by paddlers of a double canoe carrying one or more inclined idols, probably indicating that the god Kū was not in control at that time, and instead Lono, the god of peace, etc. was in ascendance. As I said, the gourd is a kino lau (body form) of Lono. It has nothing to do with "ikaika" (strength or warriorhood) nor "mahiole" (the term for the fiber and often feathered ali'i helmet). It is not a helmet, per se, but rather a wearing of the god Lono by putting his body form on yourself. I believe that is the correct interpretation, and others agree from what I have read. That these paddlers were priests of Lono is a very likely idea. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo for your kind words. Makes my day! Aloha, Ka'imiloa

I don't understand your comment, Marcielynn, but thanks for commenting anyway. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Ignorant and dumb

Thanks for your nice comment. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for taking the time to reply with your interesting story. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo (thanks) for your reply. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for commenting via a question. The large shark hooks were no doubt baited with pieces of fish, such as a chunk from an ahi fish (tuna). There was no specific trolling with the hooks that I know of, but no doubt a baited hook was presented, or moved around via canoe, when a shark approached, or perhaps where sharks were feeding on something like the floating carcass of a dead whale. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your very interesting reply. Someone else has told me in the past year that they found hand-axe looking stones on Maui or perhaps Haleakalā. I would much like to see clear closeup photos of what you found. 200 to 300 kilobyte size is a good size for sending ("moderate" size by computer-forwarding standards). Please go to our Hawaiian-culture non-profit's website , at www.hawaiian-culture.com, to contact me. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

mahalo (thanks) for your comment. Yes, though highly busy recently, several more videos are in the works. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your comment. Yes, the Hawaiians were so separated from other cultures, yet they produced a great number of unique items and my count so far is 46, but there will be more! This is a particular thing that got me so interested in figuring out how they did things despite such limited resources and no metal. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your kind reply! Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiianculture howdy! And thank you for your insightful video mister :)

@@huskeeloins Thanks again for replying! Apparently, KZbin keeps track of the number of replies, and it's helpful for the channel. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiianculture oh well good deal! Here’s another mister :) Let’s take advantage of this, could you tell me how you were introduced to Hawaiian culture? I live in the middle of the states and have been fortunate enough to have visited when I was a child. I’m very interested, how did you get to start experiencing it? Also I must say you must be a very skilled woodworker to have made some of these works of yours.

@@huskeeloins I'm pressed for time so this reply must be rather short. For you, and others: I wanted to go to Hawaii very badly for unknown reasons, tho I didn't know much about it and didn't know anyone there. First got there in 1968, then got to return, thru a series of "miracles". It was a return "home" and the elder Hawaiians were like my relatives. I wanted to learn and was a good and patient listener. Oftentimes, no one in their own family had ever wanted to learn what they knew. But I did. Between that and lot of research plus lots of hand skills coupled with all the more patience, I gradually learned a number of the Hawaiian arts and crafts, resurrected several lost ones, and managed to figure out how multiple things were done in old times without metal tools and using only the things available in the Islands back then. Being a natural born teacher, I also began doing cultural teaching about 50 years ago. The journey has been long, satisfying and interesting ever since. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for commenting. Isn't it amazing that the Hawaiian people, isolated in the N. Pacific, had no metal tools or weapons until Capt. Cook happened along in 1778. They knew what metal was, apparently from pieces of it in driftwood. So they wanted it badly and soon learned how to work it by closely watching the blacksmiths of the two ships. By 1807, a generation later, they were "saturated" and would no longer trade for iron! Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo (thank you) for your fine comment. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your reply. You're right about obsidian (volcanic glass). It is incredibly sharp when broken. Even used by neurosurgeons instead of the best steel scalpels at times. But please take note that the Hawaiians did not use obsidian-bladed weapons. Hawaii has very little obsidian, let alone high quality obsidian. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiianculture Forgive me, I was thinking of the Macauhuitl which, after a quick Google search, I now realize is actually an Aztec weapon. Not Hawaiian.

@@klaytonb9609 Mahalo (thanks) for your reply, Klay. I figured the wicked Aztec weapons were what you were thinking about! Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiianculture Aloha, a e palekana!

Welina e Rachel (Greetings, Rachel -- in Hawaiian) I would enjoy helping you with this, and likely it will be interesting to other commentators on this channel too. The first thing I need in seeking to answer your questions, or at least provide input, is... where do you live? Is it Hawaii, and if so, what Island and what general area? Although you speak of the 'ulumaikas and poi pounder of your grandpa (definitely Hawaiian), if the things you are finding "everywhere" on your property are not in Hawaii, yet are Hawaiian, that would be highly remarkable -- unless they were the home-site (and possibly buried?) items of Hawaiians who moved to the Mainland (North America) in the times of the Fur Trade, whaling era, etc. in the 1800s. Or possibly Mormon converts who moved to the Salt Lake City area of Utah. And for starters to you: the books I would recommend for seeing and learning about Hawaiian artifacts would be "Arts and Crafts of Hawaii" by Sir Peter Buch (Te Rangi Hiroa), "Material Culture The J.S. Emerson Collection or Hawaiian Artifacts" by Catherine Summers, and "Na Mea Makamai Hawaiian Treasures" by David Young. You could also look online by Google-searching for "images of Hawaiian artifacts". But that will also lead you all over the place, and some of the things will not be authentic. Also....are your green stones only partially green, resembling lava with a lot of green crystals in it? That would be olivine crystals and the best place to find those that I know of is the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Stones like that do make very good rubbers for shaping other material, even hard stone. If you actually found part of a 4-sided, well polished Hawaiian adze-head, that would be a good find, rarely to be found outside Hawaii. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your interesting reply. And yes, I've seen Polynesian upper arms on men who were not weight lifters, and the moreso in Samoa where there has been less dilution of the ancestral blood, that were as big as my own thigh! Women fought too in Hawaiian battles, especially if their side was losing, and a large bodied Hawaiiian woman who had been wielding a fairly heavy or heavy tapa-beater since the age of 8 or so would have had a very powerful dominant arm! It's unlikely they would have been using sharkstooth weapon, tho, unless perhaps their husband had been badly wounded or killed and she picked it up in anger and desperation. Ordinarily, it would have been highly against the kapus (taboos) of old time Hawaiian culture. Sharks and any religious-use or religion-related items were kapu to women. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiianculture As a stonemason and a Guy that used to make his own chainmail and armour, It is terribly understated just how much damage a wooden club that has been heat hardened can do to a metal breast plate or helmet for that matter. weight and sharp points plus reach, equals weapon. Pretty sure most people work that out as soon as something scared the shit out of them as a kid.

@@karnovtalonhawk9708 Thanks for your good reply. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@karnovtalonhawk9708 I forgot to mention in reply just sent, that I've never seen anything about Hawaiians heat-hardening their weapons. The native woods used for digging sticks and weapons, about six of them, are very hard just as the "dark" Kauila and 'Uhi'uhi woods were both very hard and very heavy. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo for your very nice comment. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your interesting question. I'm unsure which weapon you are referring to, but in general I know a considerable number of the "nao wili" (pump drill of old Hawaiian times) drill tip possibilities which could make small holes. There was also some sort of small, tubular marine animal "shell" which could be used to drill very small round holes in hard material. Usually the drill tip was an elongate triangle in cross-section, which therefore created a cone-shaped hole when spun. Oftentimes the hole was also drilled from the opposite side so the two coned holes met to fully perforate the material. Even tho I know these things via observing old artifacts, and have worked with them, I usually use modern tools to create the holes. The simplest is a set of machinist "number drills" which come in a great many sizes. Then there are coarse dental burrs of hard steel which can be used to open up, elongate or chamfer a drill hole, thus mimicing the old time holes which are conical and therefore don't tend to fray the cord with sharp edges like modern drilled holes have. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for the very interesting reply. I have received a great many replies and almost all were fun or notable to read. Yes, I've had at least two other "dream teachings" that I can recall -- both related to how to do old time Hawaiian things in the old way. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your comment. The sharks' teeth Hawaiians used in the old times for tools and weaponry were mostly from tiger sharks, but occasionally from great white sharks, and smaller sharks. The sharks were caught using large baited hooks, which had two hook aspects unique to Hawaii. Also caught with two notable methods of noosing. The sharks had to be killed to get the needed teeth, and also sharkskin for drum tops and abraders. The bill-type weapons usually came from swordfish, which were smaller than marlin, and and that plus their surface-feeding made them easier to catch than marlin.That leaves us with the rather rare swordfish daggers and swords, and the quite rare marlin-bill club/daggers. As forgetting your own teeth or bills today, check your local and national regulations. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiianculture thank you very much

Hope all is well with you. I recently thought of that fun Ipu Heke class! Do you remember the song for my wife's birthday on I think the last day of the several-weekend class? I hate to drive by our fine former house now, since it has been so starkly altered and is painted a Pepto Bismo color! Gone is the Hawaiian-plants garden in front too! No, no ipu growing where I now live. I have never found a secure place where I felt I could grow them without their being carried away by folks who think they are edible squash. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiianculture I'll keep watching you on KZbin now that I've found you. Per chance have you been to the crystal mines?

There aren't any crystal mines in Hawaii that I know of, so I presume you are asking about Arizona, which has many a mine! But no, I have not been to any crystal mines here. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo (thanks) for your kind words, Brad. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Much thanks for your kind comment. There's more to come, including Hawaiian birds and featherwork, Hawaiian stone adzes and their handles, lashing and use, Hawaiian ornaments of old times and how made, Hawaiian cordage in detail, etc. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

And mahalo to you for your nice comment. (For those comment-readers who don't know any Hawaiian language, "mahalo" means thank you, and "mahalo nui loa" means thank you very much. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo to you for taking the time to view this channel and my efforts to pass on knowledge about old time Hawaii. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo for your comment. I'm aware there are different explanations for how the loop is handled in grasping the weapon. I simply believe that in hand-to-hand combat on a bloody battlefield, where use of your full dominant hand might be necessary at any time, yet weapon-retention was all important too, the methodology I related makes the most sense, plus it is the methodology I was shown. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiianculture special forces worldwide use the thumb lanyard grip based on many bloody wars for decades so I guess it’s based on well tested bloody battlefield experience,but it’s probably also a personal preference I guess.

@@rick-nv7im Thanks for your reply again. Respectfully said, and for educational purposes to all reading this, the only way to judge an old time culture is to know what it was like and try to put yourself back there. Modern ideas, methods, moralities don't fit. The Hawaiians of old knew about the bow and arrow, for instance, but did not use it in combat!Slingstones were used by both sides at the start of a battle, and then it was close-set hand-to-hand combat. That was much more bloody than modern warfare, and much more likely to involve troublesome terrain and vegetation variations, as the intense battle ebbed and flowed. And it was usually " no quarter" warfare. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiianculture yeah this are details we modern folks do not stand still by,I do acknowledge you as a true master and specialist on this territory and hope to learn more interesting indigenous fighting stuff,maybe you can tell some indigenous battle stories/details or get deeper into weaponry details that should be awsome because beside the brutal aspects the technical design and the beauty of your tools there is lots of interesting stuff to learn and discover about it all. Greetings Rick de Man.

@@rick-nv7im Thank you for your considerate and fine reply, Rick. Stay tuned for more, further-reaching, Hawaiian history and how-to. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Respectfully related, you are looking at a comment based in Hawaiian cosmology and thus "traditional" to the utmost. Being gifted a name or solution or methodology in a dream is considered aid or information from the collective ancestors. It happened to me, I was grateful, and I mentioned it very briefly to share it -- so the methodology I received is passed on. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

A mahalo iā 'oe i kou 'olelo ana ia'u i ka leo kanaka. Nui ko'u aloha i kēia mea , aka, līli'i ka'u 'olelo ana Hawai'i i Alikona, ka home a'u i kēia wā. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your reply, Kristoffer. Respectfully said, I don't see anything amongst the old time Hawaiian weaponry that resembles the snaky-bladed Kris weapons, but is true that the other Polynesians did not have daggers -- suggesting that the Hawaiians modeled theirs after daggers such as the early Spanish ships in the Pacific had. Multiple proposals have been seriously made, and I agree, that is is likely that one or more Spanish visits or shipwrecks of the later 1500s or 1600s may have given the isolated Hawaiian Islands a good glimpse of outside weaponry, a century or two before the arrival of Capt. Cook in 1778. The fact that the Hawaiians had hardwood daggers and occasional fighting swords with sharksteeth along the edges, or uncommon sword-like weapons made from swordfish bills, is simply following along with Polynesian materials and designs, and I don't think they were related to the Roman gladius weaponry. The one documentably Hawaiian dagger-type weapon that I re-created, having a finger guard and stingray barbs along the narrow blade does indeed resemble the hand-shielding daggers of the Spanish in the 1500s, again suggesting early contact between Spanish and the Hawaiians. It is unique in Hawaii and the rest of Polynesia. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thank you so much for writing back. That was a nice reply. Thank you Sir. Very interesting. Reason i asked is seven pointed star and the abdicated queen. Hawaii was after all an Old Kingdom before the spanish(?) Thank you again. I Wish you a great day! Love from Trondheim, NO. @@traditionalhawaiianculture

Good to hear back from you, Kristoffer. I hope you can give me some more input so I can better reply to your thoughts and questions. I am completely unfamiliar with any seven pointed star in Hawaiian traditions or symbols, so I did some internet searching. I found this link that may be helpful to you, since I know that Max Freedom Long's "Huna" book and teachings from back around the 1930s gained quite a following in Europe: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanaloa. As far as Queen Lilu'okalani, she was highly educated, very familiar with the Western World and its ideas and ideals, and was an author and song writer much beloved by her people. When U.S. troops from a warship forcibly took over Hawaii in 1893 due to political intrigues by the then-wealthy Sugar Planters and others opposed to increasing Hawaiian rule, the Queen abdicated and urged non-violence. She was confident that the U.S. Government, as with both France and England governments in 1839 and 1843 when similar armed coups by warships took place, would negate this illegal action. President Cleveland was outraged about the armed takeover but nothing was done and meanwhile he did not get re-elected and the Spanish-American War was looming. Hawaii was quite strategic in the Pacific as a supply and coaling station for the steamships of that time, and thus Hawaii got annexed by the U.S., quite illegally, in 1898. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

@@traditionalhawaiiancultureThank you so much for your patience, in your reply. (Meaningful). I have another question for you, if i can. What are names of the most effective traditional projcetile weaponaries of Hawaii? (Hunting and warfare). With thanks. -Kristoffer.

@@traditionalhawaiianculture(Sorry for late reply. (It's national ski competitions in Norway).

Thanks for commenting. Here, our hearts go out to Maui. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thanks for your fine comment, Joseph. I know exactly what you mean, having felt that way about certain people I have run across during my long life! Aloha, Ka'imiloa

A lot of lost arts out there

Enjoyed your videos, Joe, especially the atlatl throwing. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thank you

much thanks for your good remarks. I just got back from a cultural trip to Aotearoa (New Zealand). A marvelous experience amongst the Maoris. Yes, their old time workmanship in wood, stone, whalebone and teeth, and jade is utterly outstanding. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo ( thank you) for your fine comment. Yes, the study of the ancient peoples is fascinating! Aloha, Ka’imiloa

Thanks for your inquiry. No, I don't sell such things, but rather concentrate on passing on what I have learned by talking with Elders, observations in museums and collections, and lots of personal experimentation and experience. I hope you will give a try at finding just the right stone and making an 'ulu maika for yourself. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Thank you for your reply and caveat. I am not aware of gourds anywhere in the world having toxic fumes, and countless numbers of them are cut yearly with power tools. Will you please provide more information here for all the people of this website, and any references you may have, as well. Any information about toxic fumes in gourds that proves reliable needs to be spread around in many places, including of course Hawaii. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Hello again, Tom. I did a bit of Goggle searching today, about toxicity from cutting gourds. It turns out there are two things relating to "toxicity". One is the Curcubitae family: gourds squash, cucumbers, etc. Some varieties can be very bitter, and of course in today's world of alternative medicine, smoothies, and a vast internet of advice, some people manage to poison themselves by eating (or drinking) these extremely bitter ones. The Hawaiians of old times had a vast gourd culture, and there were two types of gourds: 1. "Ipu 'awa'awa" or bitter gourds -- which were used for all sorts of societal needs and also medicines and a literally life-threatening "cleansing" taken via enema by certain brave Chiefs, and 2. "Ipu mānalo" or eating gourds. I believe the "bitter " gourds have a lot of tannin in them (tannic acid, as used in leather tanning), and hence are better for the unique Hawaiian art of decorated gourds (ipu pāwehe). It also makes them turn quite dark with age, as the tannin oxidizes. The Ipu mānalo are "sweet" gourds and of course are used for food. The other toxicity issue is the molds and related "dust" inside or outside on gourds that dried in the field, etc. Cutting them open with power tools, scraping or sanding out the inside materials on the gourd's shell, or doing the same on the outside, may well release these molds and "dust", causing ill effects in some persons. But that is not a gourd toxicity, per se. I have opened a great many Hawaiian gourds, and a scattering of U.S. Mainland gouds,, and helped many a student in doing that, and have never seen any toxicity, nor have I ever had it reported to me later. And I have always taught people to soak their gourd first in order to soften the dried outer skin, before scraping it off. I suspect the Native Americans followed this same method, yet today many a person probably attacks the gourd shell with sandpaper and/or power sanding. So the "toxicity" problem is similar to the various wood workers who grow allergic to certain woods and especially dust. Or house renovators who tear part walls, etc. Molds and dust sensitivity is the issue. Again, occupation and societal knowledge comes into play as they use gloves, masks and respirators. And those who seek to use bitter Cucurbitae fruits in foods and drinks learn the hard way not to do that! Their ancestors would have already known that! Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Mahalo for your 'ōlelo hawai'i and also for your dedication to nā mea hawai'i kahiko. I am not fluent in spoken hawaiian, but can read it with the help of the Dictionary, and more importantly, translate. No laila, e 'olu'olu 'oe, hele aku 'oe i kēia lā i ka website hawaiian-culture.com a 'ōlelo aku i'au i ke 'ano email. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

Bryan -- I forgot to mention in my reply yesterday: did you watch Part 2 of the stonework video, which I did indoors? Lots of important info there. Aloha, Ka'imiloa

I appreciate your comment. Aloha, Ka'imiloa