Ki'i hulu manu
Feathered image of Kūkā'ilimoku (Kū, Snatcher of Islands)
Feathers of ʻiʻiwi and ʻōʻō birds; Netting of olonā fitted over twined ʻieʻie rootlets, with eyes of pearl shell held in place by black wooden pegs and a mouth lined with 94 dog teeth.
Purchased from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1895.
Kiʻi hulu manu, or feathered images, were among the most important of sacred images. They served as vessels into which certain gods could be called through proper prayers and offerings. As these images were often handed down generationally to the highest of chiefs, they were periodically renewed through a ceremony called kauila huluhulu, where the images were re-adorned with feathers in union with the proper prayers and protocol.
This particular kiʻi hulu manu served as the receptacle for the powerful god Kūkāʻilimoku, the snatcher of islands.
Kūkāʻilimoku, the god of war and politics, was bequeathed to Kamehameha I by his uncle Kalaniʻōpu'u, the high chief of Hawaiʻi island. Kamehameha and his kāhuna offered prayers, sacrifices, and constructed a temple dedicated to Kūkāʻilimoku. With the full power of the war god behind him, Kamehameha was able to unify the Hawaiian islands through strategy, battle, and negotiation, and create the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.
Of the 19 surviving kiʻi hulu manu housed by museums across the globe, Bishop Museum cares for the only 2 remaining in Hawaiʻi.