The tusks of a boar, the weapons of this most important sacrificial animal, were of extraordinary value in the original spiritual world of the Hawai'ians. Therefore, they were carefully selected and cut to fit, elaborately ground and put together to compose status jewelry such as the arm ornaments of the Herrnhut Cook collection.
They had an important role in the public ceremony of the Sacrifice of the Pig, in which the divine energy of the ancestors – the mana – was to be preserved and increased through the offering. In fact, such bracelets were used mainly in pig sacrifice ceremonies for the most important Hawaiian deity: the war god Ku-ka'ili-moku.
The ceremony was usually attended by the highest-rank leaders (ali’i nui) and high priests. An important part of this sacrificial ceremony was the dance performance (hula kahiko) dedicated to the god of war on the temple platform (heiau), during which only male hula dancers – aristocratic warriors – wore the armor of tusks in pairs on their upper arms. This festive feast of the hula dancers was completed with rattling leg ornaments (kupe’e pipipi), which can also be found in the Herrnhut Cook collection.