Death Rites And Hawaiian Royalty

The bones of Hawaii's King Kamehameha the Great were hidden at night in a secret location. In contrast, his successor Kamehameha III had a half-mile-long funeral procession to the Royal Tomb watched by thousands. Drawing on missionary journals, government publications and Hawaiian and English language newspapers, this book describes changes in funerary practices for Hawaiian royalty and details the observance of each royal death beginning with that of Kamehameha in 1819. Funeral observances of Western royalty provided an extravagant model for their Hawaiian counterparts yet many indigenous practices endured. Mourners no longer knocked out their teeth or tattooed their tongues but mass wailing, feather standards and funeral dirges continued well into the 20th century. Dozens of historic drawings and photographs provide rare glimpses of the obsequies of the Kamehameha and Kalakaua dynasties. Descriptions of the burial sites provide locations of the final resting places of Hawaii's royalty.

Information on cultural traditions including birthdays, holiday celebrations, coming of age ceremonies, marriages, and funerals. Description and explanations include anecdotes than emphasize the bonds these traditions create. -- From the back cover.

Effie Bendann offers an analytical study of burial rites and associated ideas in Melanesia, Australia, Northeast Siberia and India. This book is divided in two parts. Part One looks at the similarities in rites and ideas, while Part Two examines the differences. Topics include cause of death, mourning, purification, taboos, women's connection with funeral Rites and the cult of the dead.