Fated feathers, unfurling futures

Tuhinga 28: 24-30

ABSTRACT: While scholars have documented the travels of the ‘ahu ‘ula (feathered cloak) and mahiole (feathered helmet) of Kalani‘ōpu‘u over the course of more than two centuries, what is of principal importance to many Native Hawaiians is simply this – they left by an act of Pacific generosity and they returned by an act of Pacific generosity. This brief article seeks to explore the circumstances of the original gifting of these chiefly riches by ali‘i nui (high chief) Kalani‘ōpu‘u to Captain James Cook in 1779, as well as the implications of their most recent return by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Both acts were of lasting cultural and political import, and were magnificent gestures of faith, of trust and, one might argue, of commitments intended to bind future generations. Might these acts be viewed not independently, but as an intergenerational continuum of relations? And how might Kalani‘ōpu‘u’s own agency be understood in both a historical and a contemporary context?

KEYWORDS: Kalani‘ōpu‘u, James Cook, ‘ahu ‘ula, mahiole, mea waiwai ali‘i, Hawaiian featherwork, Hawai‘i, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, indigenous agency, Pacific generosity