Makahiki 2009
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
More pics are here
We went to Makahiki this past weekend. Fantastic as usual. Makahiki is the Hawaiian Olympics. One story tells that Makahiki was started by Lono who killed his wife in a rage and then spent a year traveling around and challenging everyone to fight him. Eventually he settled down and fashioned the games in his wife’s honor. Makahiki became a time of peaceful competition. I particularly like Makahiki as I think it is an important cultural holdover from traditional Hawai’i. Everyone feels proud at Makahiki. Everyone cheers for their team but also acknowledges the skills of others. A version of Makahiki plays a role in my book, Inside the Circle. Here’s an excerpt:
Pania’s event was first. It was knife, part of the fighting category. Each player was given a small wooden knife that had been charred in a fire. The object was to defeat the opponent through the delivery of a would-be fatal blow with the blackened end. The black char would show where the knife had made contact.
Pania’s first opponent was a woman from the other side of the island. They faced each other in a circle made on the ground with dried coral. The official cracked the whip and the game began.
The women circled each other. Then Pania feigned to one side, causing the other woman to halt. As the woman stood still, Pania used the slight momentum from the shift in direction to bound forward. She glided from right to left like she was sliding on mud as a child would play. The motion made judging the direction of the attack more difficult. Pania held the knife in her left hand. The point of the blade was directed toward her elbow, and the entire knife was hidden from view by her hand and forearm.
The other woman shifted her weight in rhythm to Pania’s movements. At the last second Pania changed attack entirely. She dropped to the ground and slid legs first into her opponent’s legs. The woman tried to readjust for the attack by side stepping but was too late. Pania’s knife came up and made a deep black mark on the inside of the woman’s thigh. If the blade had been real, it would have severed the femoral artery, and the woman would have bled to death in moments. The official cracked the whip again, and the match was over.