Necklace (Lei Niho Palaoa), Hawai'i
About this video
At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, two speakers examine a 19th-century Hawaiian lei niho palaoa, a necklace of finely plaited human hair with a pendant carved from sperm whale ivory. They explain how the materials linked the wearer to the ocean god Kanaloa and to their ancestors, so chiefs wore it to assert their divine right to rule.
You'll be able to
- identify the materials of the lei niho palaoa and explain what each meant.
- explain how wearing the necklace helped a chief assert legitimacy.
- describe the pendant's form and suggest what it may refer to.
Key words
- Lei niho palaoa
- A Hawaiian necklace of braided human hair with a curved whale-ivory pendant, worn by chiefs.
- Kanaloa
- The Hawaiian god who presides over the ocean; whales were his embodiment.
- Regalia
- Special objects worn to show rank or royal power.
- Mahiole
- A feathered helmet worn by Hawaiian chiefs, with a raised crest protecting the head.
- Heirloom
- A treasured object handed down through generations of a family.
- Oratory
- The art of public speaking.
Transcript
(jazzy piano music) - [Beth] We're in the gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that houses amazing works from Polynesia and we're looking at a necklace that dates to the early mid-19th century from Hawaii.
- [Maia] This is a spectacular necklace which incorporates these heavy bolts of very finely plaited and braided human hair.
- [Beth] And the decorative form at the bottom that curves upward is made from whale ivory. Both the hair and the ivory are very important materials here.
- [Maia] Yes, it's the materiality of the various elements of this necklace that really point to the deeper cosmological framework in which operated. The sperm whale tooth, this ivory that this pendant is carved from is a relic of Kanaloa, Kanaloa is the god that presides over the realm of the ocean, the moana, and this is a Tapu's face.
- [Beth] So when you're wearing this you're announcing your relationship to the god.
- [Maia] This was ceremonial regalia. Chiefs wore these to assert their divine right to rule. Chiefs really are deemed to have direct descent from gods. And wearing the condensed bone of the god that presides over the ocean and wearing the immaculately plaited, finely braided hair of your ancestors creates this very powerful means of asserting your legitimacy and your right to rule.
And that pendant is spectacularly carved. You can see how it tapers in gently and then flares out where it has this horizontal ridge. And then it tucks down and up into this beautifully fluid upward curve.
- [Beth] And that curve is very thinly carved. It looks fragile.
- [Maia] You can see that very fine rim, it's so perfect. It looks very much like a tongue. This may have been a reference to oratory and it's the beginnings of a circle. So if you'd imagine that this chief may well have been wearing a mahiole or a feathered helmet along with a feathered cape, no doubt.
The mahiole or feathered helmets include a raised crest which protected the head which is the seat of power. And so curving down from the top it infers this full circle which the head of the chief is embedded.
- [Beth] And the contrast between these materials is so stark.
- Yeah. - We have the matte texture of the hair and then the luminous surface of the whalebone.
- [Maia] You can really see that it's a whale ivory, it's a tooth of a sperm whale because of that creamy outer layer but then you can see this yellowy dentate core which runs down the center part of it.
- [Beth] And it almost reads like gold. - [Maia] It's incredibly valuable. Whales were not hunted, islanders would wait until they beached on the reef. Whales are the embodiment or essence of the god of Kanaloa.
- [Beth] So we see this in a museum case and it's important to remember, although we can admire this, and look at it closely as an aesthetic object, that it was something that was worn that had very specific meaning to those who looked at it and to the person who owned it and wore it.
- [Maia] These are heirlooms, these are sacred treasures, they were handed down through generations, and they retain this power and vitality. They're not static artworks, they're really vital, living objects which link us to the past. (jazzy piano music)
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