Further Media
Producer unknown to us
Oceania, Polynesia, Hawai'i archipelago (Owyhee/Big Island, Mau'i, Kaua'i o. Ni'ihau)
Before 1781
Sea snail (pipipi), Olonā fiber (Touchardia latifolia)
Acquired in 1773–74 or 1777 on Captain James Cook’s second or third expedition in the Pacific. It is yet unknown by whom the object was acquired.
Brought from Great Britain to Germany by Benjamin La Trobe, a Moravian working in London.
Inv. no. 66275
The shark has a prominent role in the Pacific waters around the Hawai'i archipelago – in traditional fishing and in the original cultural tradition of the Polynesian islanders. Some 250 years ago, the shark god Kuhaimoana, one of the most powerful deities in the Hawai'ian spiritual cosmos, was regularly invoked at festivals and ceremonies for his mana – the divine energy of the ancestors. For this purpose, young men and women from high-ranking noble families (ali'i) had to learn the strict rules of ceremonial dances (hula kahiko) in special temple schools (hālau). These schools introduced them to the necessary regalia and their use.
The leg ornaments, which can also be found in the Herrnhut Cook collection, played a key role. The cords of these snail rattles, tied together below the knee, are made from the extremely strong and stretchy plant fiber of the Olonā nettle endemic to Hawai'i. These nettle fibers were also used to make the robust tendons for shark arrows. The snails attached to the leg ornament – the Herrnhut piece holds more than 700 – let the rhythm of the hula dance be heard loudly during the ceremony.
On a symbolic level, however, these snails (pipipi) also had a direct reference to the shark god, because the snails were considered to accompany the sharks, as they attach themselves to the sharks’ skin. In this sense, the sound of the leg ornaments in the hula invoked the shark god and also symbolized eternal fidelity. Therefore, the leg ornament was worn at funerals of high-ranking ali'i, but also as a pledge of allegiance to high-ranking leaders who derived their divine origin from Kuhaimoana.