The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 3

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER. 3

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man the husband of all the women. Among the
chiefs it was customary to marry among near rela-

tives. Marriage lasted as long as it pleased the
man. The murder of children was very common,

and it is supposed that two-thirds of the children
were killed in their infancy. Girls were especially
unwelcome and more apt to be buried alive at their
birth than the boys. The unchastity of the women
was so great when the first missionaries came in
1820 that it beggared all description. Polygamy
Was common and here as elsewhere the prolific
source of hatred and murder.

Hawaiian Religious Beliefs.

The ceremonies of the Hawaiian religion, whose
chief gods were Kamapuaa, the great hog god, Ku,
and Lono, were so shameful and filthy that they
cannot be described. The lowest and worst pas-

sions were expressed in the religious dances, sacri-
fices, and orgies conducted in honor of the gods.
The character ascribed to their idols was incredibly
degraded and loathsome, the description of their
appearance most hideous and revolting, and the
ceremonials observed in
bloody.

their honor cruel and
The number of temples was great, and

The Crater of Kilauea.

The loathsome habit of feasting upon human
flesh and the degradation of this bestial gluttony
existed on the islands. Superstition held sway over
the-lives of the Hawaiians to a frightful extent.
They were ever in fear of the kahwna, or sorcerer,
a person who by his incantations was supposed to
be able to produce the death of his victim. They
were ever dreading that remnants of their food,
portions of their clothing, nail-parings, or hair
might come into possession of their enemies, since
it was by the use of these things that the sorcerers
were supposed to carry out their wicked intentions
and perform. their nefarious work.

many, of them were very large. Human victims
were sacrificed in these temples at their dedication,
when a war canoe was launched, a new house built
for the king, when sickness was to be averted, or
when a king was to be buried. When the great
volcano Kilauea was in a state of eruption, human
sacrifices were offered to the goddess Pelé, who was”
supposed to live in the great mountain, the victims
being thrown into the burning crater.

Tabu.

The system of tabu is common to all Poly-
nesians, but seems to have reached a high state of
development among the Hawaiians. It was a pro-