Astro wrote:
Being red, thought it might be some kind of Christmas decorations.IMScotty wrote:
Looks like they have grown more modest with time.max.patch wrote:
I gotta ask the obvious question...why are they sometimes dressed and sometimes not?
The Ki'i (Tiki) represent Gods, but also seem to play a role in family heritage and genealogy. The NPS allows practicing Hawaiian descendants of the caretakers of this 'place of refuge' to come and dress the Ki'i in preparation for "Kau Makaliʻi - Season of the Makahiki Ritual." This ritual is about 'renewal and regeneration.' This ritual seems to occur around the time of the winter solstice (makes sense).
The NPS site says, "The dressing of the kiʻi functions as a way to manifest the mana (spirit and essence) of the gods and ancestors in the human realm and bridge the divine with the present." The loincloth is called a 'malo.'
I found a picture from 2020 where they were dressed in white malos. Why red this year? I have not figured that out yet. Perhaps just the fickleness of fashion
“Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”
John Greenleaf Whittier
the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”
John Greenleaf Whittier
