View source for Religion:Kahuna

{{short description|Hawaiian word for expert in a profession}}

'''Kahuna''' ({{IPA-haw|kɐˈhunə}}; {{lang-haw|kahuna}}) is a Hawaiian word that refers to an expert in any field. Historically, it has been used to refer to [[Medicine:Physician|doctor]]s, surgeons and dentists, as well as priests, ministers, and [[Unsolved:Magic (supernatural)|sorcerers]].<ref name="def of kahuna ulukau">{{cite web|title=Kahuna|url=http://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.85/cgi-bin/hdict?e=q-11000-00---off-0hdict--00-1----0-10-0---0---0direct-10-ED--4-------0-1lpm--11-haw-Zz-1---Zz-1-home-kahuna--00-3-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-00-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&d=D6052|website=Ulukau Hawaiian Electronic Dictionary|access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref>

== Background ==
A {{lang|haw|kahuna}} may be versed in [[Earth:Agriculture|agriculture]],<ref name="Kia">Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ZnRj-q-QlIY Ghostarchive] and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210812142024/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnRj-q-QlIY Wayback Machine]{{cbignore} b |title=Waipi'o Valley with Kia Fronda 1992 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnRj-q-QlIY |website=YouTube |publisher=Rusty Wright |access-date=31 May 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref _Long_The_Three_Kahunas">{{cite web |title=The Three Kahunas |url=http://kathylongartist.com/product/the-three-kahunas/ |website=Kathy Long Artist |publisher=Kathy Long |access-date=31 May 2018}}</ref> canoe building, or any other skill or knowledge area. They may be called on by the community to bless new buildings and construction projects or to officiate weddings.<ref name="US_Census">{{cite web |title=David 'Daddy' Kaonohiokala Bray |url=https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/davidbray542017.pdf |access-date=27 May 2018 |website=US Census}}</ref><ref name="Heinze1991" />

Forty types of {{lang|haw|kahuna}} are listed in the book ''Tales from the Night Rainbow'', twenty in the healing professions alone, including {{lang|haw|kahuna lapa{{okina}}au}}, a medical priest or practitioner, and {{lang|haw|kahuna hāhā}}, "an expert who diagnoses, as sickness or pain, by feeling the body".{{cn|date=May 2023}}

There are several categories of {{lang|haw|kahuna}}. A ''craft kahuna'', such as the {{lang|haw|kālai wa{{okina}}a}} is an expert canoe maker, and a {{lang|haw|ho{{okina}}okele}} is an expert navigator.{{cn|date=May 2023}} A {{lang|haw|kahuna lapa{{okina}}au}} is a "medical doctor, medical practitioner, [or] healer. {{lit|curing expert|i=yes}}".<ref name="kahuna lapa au">{{cite web|title=Ulukau: The Hawaii Electronic Library|url=http://www.ulukau.org/elib/collect/ped/index/assoc/D0.dir/doc233.pdf|website=ulukau.org|access-date=28 May 2018|page=114}} (Page 114 in print document, p. 144 in electronic)</ref>

=== ''Kahuna nui'' ===
According to Fornander, there are ten colleges or branches of the Hawaiian priesthood:<ref name="Fornander1920">{{cite book|author=Abraham Fornander|title=Fornander collection of Hawaiian antiquities and folk-lore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3dNbjQ1DBB0C&pg=PA323|year=1920|publisher=Bishop Museum Press|page=323}}</ref>

* {{lang|haw|{{okina}}Anā{{okina}}anā}}, {{lang|haw|Ho{{okina}}opiopio}}, and {{lang|haw|Ho{{okina}}ounāunā}} were said to practice [[Unsolved:Magic (supernatural)|sorcery]], to bring death or injury to others by means of prayer.<ref name="Fornander1920" />
* {{lang|haw|Ho{{okina}}okomokomo}} and {{lang|haw|Po{{okina}}i {{okina}}Uhane}} were said to use spirits for divination and [[Unsolved:Spirit possession|spirit possession]].<ref name="Fornander1920" /><ref name="HandyDavis2012">{{cite book|author1=E. S. Craighill Handy|author2=Davis|title=Ancient Hawaiian Civilization: A Series of Lectures Delivered at The Kamehameha Schools|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PoXQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT252|date=2012-12-21|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-0438-9|pages=252}}</ref>
* {{lang|haw|Lapa{{okina}}au}}: one who practices medicinal healing.<ref name="Lapaau">{{cite web|title=About La{{okina}}au Lapa{{okina}}au, and Lapaau.org|url=http://lapaau.org/about/|website=lapaau.org|access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref>
* {{lang|haw|Kuhikuhi pu{{okina}}uone}} ({{lit|to direct divination}}): one who locates the site for the construction of {{lang|haw|heiau}}, or temples.<ref name="kuhikuhi definition">{{cite web|title=Page 173 kū.hala.kai – kū.hipa|url=http://www.ulukau.org/elib/collect/ped/index/assoc/D0.dir/doc211.pdf|website=Ulukau: The Hawaii Electronic Library|access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref>
* {{lang|haw|Kilokilo}}: one who divines and predicts future events, a [[Religion:Prophet|prophet]].<ref name="definition for kilokilo">{{cite web|title=Page 446 fond – founder|url=http://www.ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?e=q-0ped-000sec--11en-50-20-frameset-search-kilokilo-1-010escapewin&a=d&d=D0.4.6.7&toc=0|website=Ulukau: The Hawaiian Electronic Library|access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref>
* {{lang|haw|Nānāuli}}: soothsayers, diviners, prophets.<ref name="Fornander1920" />

To master all ten branches made one a {{lang|haw|kahuna nui}} or [[Religion:High priest|high priest]].<ref name="Fornander1920" /> {{lang|haw|Kahuna nui}} usually lived in places such as Waimea Valley, which is known as the Valley of the Priests. They were given slices of land that spanned from the mountain to the sea.<ref name="Valley_of_the_Priests">{{cite web |title=Waimea Valley |url=http://www.hawaiipictureoftheday.com/waimea-valley/ |website=Hawaii.com |date=15 December 2011 |access-date=30 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="waimeavalley">{{cite web|title=History of Waimea Valley|url=https://www.waimeavalley.net/about/view/history-of-waimea-valley-botanical-gardens|website=Waimeavalley.net|access-date=29 May 2018}}</ref> Hewahewa, a direct descendant of Pa{{okina}}ao, was a {{lang|haw|kahuna nui}} to Kamehameha I. A contemporary, Leimomi Mo{{okina}}okini Lum is a {{lang|haw|kahuna nui}}.<ref name="Hokulea">{{cite web|title=Pa{{okina}}ao From Thrum, Emerson, and Kamakau|url=http://archive.hokulea.com/ike/moolelo/paao.html|website=Hawaiian Voyaging Traditions|access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="BizJournal_2004">{{cite news|title=Big Island heiau to host celebration of stewardship|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2004/06/14/daily81.html|access-date=28 May 2018|work=Bizjournal|date=June 20, 2004}}</ref> David Kaonohiokala Bray was a well-known {{lang|haw|kahuna}}.<ref name="Heinze1991">{{cite book|author=Ruth-Inge Heinze|title=Shamans of the 20th Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V0KP78wyP0cC&pg=PA42|year=1991|publisher=Ardent Media|isbn=978-0-8290-2459-3|page=44}}</ref>

King Kamehameha IV, in his translation of the ''Book of Common Prayer'', used the term {{lang|haw|kahuna}} to refer to Anglican priests, and {{lang|haw|kahunapule}} to refer to both [[Religion:Laity|lay]] and ordained Anglican ministers.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

== Legal status ==
Craft {{lang|haw|kahuna}} were never prohibited; however, during the decline of native Hawaiian culture, many died and did not pass on their wisdom to new students. As an example, when the {{lang|haw|Hōkūle{{okina}}a}} was built to be sailed to the South Pacific to prove the voyaging capabilities of the ancient Hawaiians, master navigator Mau Piailug from Satawal was brought to Hawaii to teach navigation to the Hawaiians.<ref name="voyaging revival 2016">{{cite news |last1=Perez |first1=Christina |last2=Ko |first2=Brendan George |date=September 22, 2017 |title=Aboard the Hōkūle{{okina}}a Canoe As It Returns to Hawaii |work=Vogue |url=https://www.vogue.com/projects/13534632/hawaii-hokulea-canoe-polynesian-sailing/ |url-status=live |access-date=27 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528052401/https://www.vogue.com/projects/13534632/hawaii-hokulea-canoe-polynesian-sailing/ |archive-date=2018-05-28}}</ref>

After American missionaries went to Hawaii in 1820, they reportedly prohibited {{lang|haw|kahuna}} practices. But, in the 100 years after the missionaries arrived, all {{lang|haw|kahuna}} practices were legal until 1831, some were illegal until 1863, all were legal until 1887, and some were illegal until 1919. Since 1919 all have been legal except sorcery, which was initially declared illegal but was decriminalized in 1972.<ref name="Chai2005">{{Cite book | last = Chai | first = Makana Risser |  title = Na Mo'olelo Lomilomi: The Traditions of Hawaiian Massage and Healing | publisher = Bishop Museum Press | year = 2005 | pages = 34, 177–178 | isbn = 1-58178-046-X}}</ref>

The first Christian missionaries arrived in 1820. Ka{{okina}}ahumanu, one of the most powerful people in the Hawaiian nation, did not convert until 1825. Eleven years after missionaries arrived, she proclaimed laws against hula, [[Unsolved:Chant|chant]], [[Biology:Kava|kava]], and [[Religion:Hawaiian religion|Hawaiian religion]].<ref>Kamakau, ''Ruling Chiefs'', pp.&nbsp;298–301.</ref>

== Non-Hawaiian uses ==
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[File:Beach blanket bingo333.jpg|thumb|150px|The term "Big Kahuna" was used in the 1965 film ''Beach Blanket Bingo'']] -->

The term was used in the 1959 film ''Gidget'', in which "The Big Kahuna", played by Cliff Robertson (Martin Milner in the TV episode), was the leader of a group of surfers. The figure of the ''Big Kahuna'' became commonplace in Beach party films of the 1960s, such as ''Beach Blanket Bingo'', in which the ''Big Kahuna'' was the best surfer on the beach. Hawaiian surfing master Duke Kahanamoku may have been referred to as the ''Big Kahuna'', but he rejected the term as he knew the original meaning.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Hall | first = Sandra Kimberly | title = Duke: A Great Hawaiian | publisher = Bess Press | year = 2004 | isbn = 1-57306-230-8 }}</ref>

In the [[Philosophy:New Age|New Age]] spiritual system known as [[Unsolved:Huna (New Age)|Huna]], which uses some Hawaiian words and concepts [[Philosophy:Cultural appropriation|appropriated]] from Hawaiian tradition,<ref name="Kahaleole" /> ''kahuna'' denotes someone of priestly or [[Unsolved:Neoshamanism|shamanic]] standing.<ref name="King2014">{{cite book|author=Serge Kahili King|title=Kahuna Healing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PVtbBgAAQBAJ|date=2014-05-27|publisher=Quest Books|isbn=978-0-8356-3107-5|page=38}}</ref> The prevalence of these works in pop culture has influenced definitions in English dictionaries, such as Merriam-Webster, which not only defines ''kahuna'' as "a preeminent person or thing" but also offers "Hawaiian shaman" as a secondary definition.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Merriam-Webster|title=Kahuna|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kahuna|website=Merriam-Webster|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> Wells College professor Lisa Kahaleole Hall, a Native Hawaiian, wrote in a peer-reviewed journal published by the [[Organization:University of Hawaiʻi|University of Hawaiʻi]] that Huna "bears absolutely no resemblance to any Hawaiian worldview or spiritual practice" and calls it part of the "New Age spiritual industry."<ref name="Kahaleole">Hall, Lisa Kahaleole. "[http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/13881/v17n2-404-413-dialogue2.pdf?sequence=1 'Hawaiian at Heart' and Other Fictions]", ''The Contemporary Pacific'', Volume 17, Number 2, pp.&nbsp;404–413, 2005, University of Hawai'i Press.</ref>

== See also ==
* Ancient Hawaii
* Kohala Historical Sites State Monument
* [[Social:Hoʻoponopono|Hoʻoponopono]], Hawaiian forgiveness process
* [[Biography:Morrnah Simeona|Morrnah Simeona]], regarded as a {{lang|haw|kahuna la{{okina}}au lapa{{okina}}au}}
* Tohunga, a cognate term and title in Māori tradition
* [[Religion:Filipino shamans|Filipino shamans]]
* [[Unsolved:Bobohizan|Bobohizan]], shamans among the Kadazan-Dusun
* Big Kahuna Burger, a fictional Hawaiian-themed fast food restaurant chain that appears in the movies of Quentin Tarantino
* [[Biography:Guru|Guru]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Chai, Makana Risser. ''Na Mo'olelo Lomilomi: Traditions of Hawaiian Massage & Healing''. {{ISBN|1-58178-046-X}}.
* Hall, Sandra. ''Duke: A Great Hawaiian''. {{ISBN|1-57306-230-8}}.
* Gutmanis, Jane (1976). ''Kahuna La'au Lapa'au – Hawaiian Herbal Medicine'' [Medical Kahuna]. Island Heritage (www.islandheritage.com). English. {{ISBN|0-89610-330-7}}.
* Kahalewai, Nancy S. ''Hawaiian Lomilomi – Big Island Massage''. {{ISBN|0-9677253-2-1}}.
* Kamakau, Samuel. ''Tales & Traditions of the People of Old''. {{ISBN|0-930897-71-4}}.
* Kupihea, Moke (2001). ''Kahuna of Light – The World of Hawaiian Spirituality''. Inner Traditions International. {{ISBN|0-89281-756-9}}.
* Lee, Pali Jae. ''Ho{{okina}}opono'' and ''[https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=5986&recCount=25&recPointer=0&bibId=4794709 Tales from the Night Rainbow]''.
* Malo, David. ''Hawaiian Antiquities (Mo{{okina}}olelo Hawai{{okina}}i)''. Bishop Museum Press. 1951 (1903).
* McBride, Likeke R. ''The Kahuna: Versatile Masters of Old Hawai{{okina}}i''. {{ISBN|0-912180-51-X}}.
* Pukui, Mary K.; Haertig, E. W.; Lee, Catharine A. (1980). ''Nana I Ke Kumu'' [Look to the Source]. Hui Hanai. {{ISBN|0-9616738-2-6}}.
* {{cite book
|last1=Pukui
|first1=Mary Kawena
|last2=Elbert
|first2=Samuel H.
|title=Hawaiian Dictionary
|location=Honolulu
|publisher=University of Hawaii Press
|year=1986
|isbn=0-8248-0703-0
}}

[[Category:Religious leadership roles]]

{{Sourceattribution|Kahuna}}