The “Hawaiian Renaissance” began in the 1970’s as a rediscovery of the Islands’ native cultural heritage and a revival of the Hawaiian language, arts, and hula. And yet, all this revitalization of the past has strangely overlooked one little-known component of Hawaiian culture before European contact: its blatantly bisexual and homosexual social institutions. It’s a fascinating aside to this rich state’s unique civilization that flourished in isolation from the outside world for many centuries. And it’s something that many islanders don’t want to admit or acknowledge, even to this day.
I lived on the Big Island of Hawaii for five years while researching and publishing the first gay guidebook to the Islands, the Rainbow Handbook Hawaii. Through many interviews with scholars and much investigation, I found that Hawaii’s same-sex history was not some far-fetched revisionist notion, but as clear as the tropical sunlight that falls on the Islands.
The great explorer Captain James Cook became in 1779 the first non-Polynesian to set eyes on Hawaii
(though there’s some intriguing historical evidence that Spaniards visited the islands as early as 1627). When he first appeared, Cook was mistaken for the Hawaiian god of agriculture and fertility, Lono. (Cook’s sails resembled Lono’s white flags, and Cook coincidentally appeared during Lono’s festival season.) But later Cook and the sailors showed themselves for the mere humans that they were.
The ship’s journals during this voyage describe a culture that was clearly bisexual to Western eyes. Cook’s men wrote horrified accounts of close, brotherly aikane relationships within the kingdom or ali`i—“a shocking inversion of the laws of nature, they bestow all those affections upon them that were intended for the other sex,” as one of the sailors put it. They recorded that the kings of Maui, Kaua`i, and the Big Island all had their own aikane, which were lower royals who became a type of volunteer lover-concubine of the higher royalty, forming a sub-class unto themselves. There’s even one account of chief Kalanikoa of Kauai asking if a certain young handsome European sailor would become his personal aikane for a little while, and he offered six valuable hogs to boot! It wasn’t recorded whether or not the lad agreed.
These eyebrow-raising passages of the Cook expedition’s journals have long been overlooked by heterosexual scholars. In the early 1990’s, Robert J. Morris published in the Journal of Homosexuality a concerted study of the logs from the ships Discovery and Resolution, which revealed some interesting tidbits about old Hawaiian culture. Among the samples, drenched in 18th-century views of decency:
Of this Class [aikane]are Parea [Palea] and Cani-Coah [Kanekoa] and their business is to commit the Sin of Onan upon the old King. This, however strange it may appear, is fact, as we learnt from the frequent Enquiries about this curious Custom, and it is an office that is esteemed honourable among them & they have frequently asked us on seeing a handsome young fellow if he was not an Ikany [aikane]to some of us.
From the log of David Samwell, ship’s surgeon, 29th of January, 1779
[E]very Aree [ali`i] according to his rank keeps so many women and so many young men (I`car`nies [aikane]as they call them) for the amusement of his leisure hours; they talk of this infernal practice with all the indifference in the world, nor do I suppose they imagine any degree of infamy in it.
From the log of Charles Clerke, second in command, March, 1779
He [Kamehameha] with many of his attendants took up quarters on board the ship for the Night: among them is a Young Man of whom he seems very fond, which does not in the least surprise us, as we have had opportunities before of being acquainted with a detestable part of his Character which he is not in the least anxious to conceal.
From Samwell’s log of the 10th of February, 1779
Many say that old Hawaii was neither purely a heterosexual nor homosexual, but a bisexual culture. Same-sex relationships were evidently frequent, and many men and women had aikane or punahele: close friends or “favorites” with whom they were at times involved sexually. No particular shame was associated with same-gender sex, and sodomy was not considered wrong. The words ho`okamaka and moe aikane were common terms used to denote same-sex relations. The more explicit way to put it was upi laho, which translates to something like testicle pressing, or literally “scrotum squirting.”
The word aikane itself relates to a particular sexual relationship in old Hawaii. It is a combination of ai, meaning to have sex with, and kane, meaning man. Aikane nowadays is used to mean “good friends,” and most people don’t realize what the word actually once pertained to.
Aikane relationships between men in old Hawaii are only recorded among the ali`i and high chiefs, but probably occurred between commoners as well. Royal aikane seemed to have been a whole rank of people who were granted special social and political status as a result of their sexual role. Since the high ali`i had an obligation to mate with certain other royals, aikane were chosen voluntarily out of desire rather than duty. They were kept as exclusive concubines to the chiefs. Most aikane rose up from the lower ranks of royalty, and their sexual friendships with higher ali`i increased their mana (spiritual power).
Although aikane were usually young male sexual companions to the ali`i, they often had their own wives and children, and were not seen as any less masculine than other men. Aikane relationships didn’t seem to be regulated by any “top or bottom” order, regardless of age or ranking. There were also female aikane (the word often occurs in the Pele goddess stories), but since women were subjugated by and isolated from the men, this only strengthened the “guys only” club of royal aikane relationships that disregarded the women.
The aikane role seems to have been honorable and noble, and was not hidden at all. In fact, it was even boasted about to shocked European sailors. Aikane relations were talked about freely and frequently in Hawaiian culture, since they were an important part of the royal hierarchy. These homosexual relationships had social value, and there are even ancient stories referring to aikane living together in great sacredness.
Although historians don’t like to mention it, the sailors’ journals record that the great uniter of the Hawaiian Islands, King Kamehameha, brought aboard one young aikane while traveling on Cook’s ship. According to tradition, some children were raised specifically to become aikane of the chief. Scholars figure the king also had male aikane in his household (in addition to his two wives and numerous courtesan women), as well as intimate aikane relationships with high-ranking male ministers.
In fact, some scholars profess that Kamehameha himself was a “favorite” of King Kalaniopu`u. There are sketchy details of a jealous rivalry between Kamehameha and another of the King’s aikane, Palea, which ended in Kamehameha’s favor. The trouble-making Palea is often credited with setting up a theft incident during Cook’s stay in Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island. The incident led to mistrust between the formerly neighborly Europeans and Hawaiians, and finally led to Cook’s attempt to kidnap King Kalaniopu`u for ransom of the stolen boat. A large skirmish ensued and Cook was beaten and stabbed to death in the conflict. Thus, one of the forming events in Hawaii’s early history may have been linked to homosexual practices.
Did the fabled King have any sexual preference, or was he merely following old Hawaiian customs by having aikane? We’ll probably never know. For Hawaiians, it’s an irrelevant point, since these kinds of sexual lines have little meaning or purpose. But the aikane tradition didn’t end with King Kamehameha. Rumor has it that his grandson, King Kamehameha III (1815-1854), also had his own aikane.
Besides the tradition of aikane, another notable aspect of the Hawaiian culture is the mahu. Transvestism was, and still is, widespread in parts of Polynesia, where some men choose to don women’s apparel, grow up as a girl, and even become a wife of another man, perhaps one of several, sometimes even cutting his/her thighs to “menstruate.” Some traditions tell of a male, usually a younger brother, being compelled to take on the feminine role of family caretaker and keeper of traditions when a suitable daughter was lacking. Mahu in old Hawaii referred to either an effeminate male or a masculine female, someone who took on the opposite gender’s role. Whether this translated into homosexual behavior is not entirely clear.
Nowadays the word mahu usually refers to a local male transvestite or an effeminate man, who is primarily gay and non-white. At times it’s also used simply to mean any gay man, even a “butch muffy” or a “fag” from the Mainland. Mahu is now seldom used for women, and there’s really no Hawaiian word for “lesbian.”
Despite aspects of an inclusive, `ohana-like society, pre-contact Hawaii was still a highly regimented culture. Society was strictly regimented by the ali`i in the form of kapu (taboo) laws. For instance, stepping on the king’s shadow was grounds for execution, as was failing to kneel or prostrate oneself in his presence. Kapu laws, however arbitrary, kept everyone in check and the often-warring chief’s societies running somewhat smoothly. Interestingly, the fall and winter months were usually designated as a time of peace and planting, with wars commencing after February. It’s been said that mahu were sometimes encouraged to follow the warriors into battle—not to fight, but to take the female role while the men were away from their homes for so long.
Women often had same-sex relations while men were away at war. There are also accounts of women sometimes taking on the traditional male role of warrior and accompanying their men in battle. These Hawaiian Amazons were called wahine kaua, or battle women. They asked to be warriors, and the men obligingly trained them in this traditionally masculine occupation. They were seen as nothing terribly extraordinary, and they would return to their family life after a war.
Between men and women, there were many kapu laws and mores. Women couldn’t fish or even touch men’s fishing equipment (early signs of “penis envy” paranoia?). Women couldn’t eat certain kinds of fish, pork, coconuts, or even bananas (again?). Women had it tough, no doubt—the only compensation being that older women were revered. They could become honorary kupuna or elders, setting down the laws of a region. A few recorded instances tell of women being given the male role of priest from birth and becoming na kaula wahine, or women-prophets.
Some specific kapu may have worked to the homo’s advantage. One edict was that after seven or eight years of age, men could only sleep in the men’s house while women slept in the women’s house. This law was practiced by King Kamehameha himself. Commensality laws forbad men and women from eating together. However, there are occasional accounts of apparent mahu men being allowed to eat and sleep with the women as one of them. The kapu on eating practice was finally abolished when King Kamehameha II sat down for some royal “grinds” with his mother, Queen Ka`ahumanu, in 1819, effectively ending the whole kapu system altogether. It’s speculated the strong-willed queen wanted to crush the powerful kahuna or priest class in the process.
With the fall of the kapu system and the arrival of missionaries in 1820, many old customs started down the road to extinction. Although it’s easy to criticize the missionaries for the destruction that they clearly inflicted upon Hawaiian culture, the good ones did set up hospitals and schools for the islanders. They also helped create the first Hawaiian alphabet and written language. Their adversaries, the whalers, made prostitutes out of the women and displayed less concern for the native-born population. Interestly, Hawaiian beliefs and Christianity somewhat overlap. The Hawaiian creation myth closely mirrors the one in Genesis. The Hawaiians also believed in a great god Lono who would return to Earth (echoing Cook’s appearance), and in the loving and forgiving high god Kane, to whom all life was sacred. During this era of cultural upheaval, many mahu were involved in carrying on the outlawed hula dance and chants clandestinely. Even today, many gay men are kumu hula (mentors of hula) and hula dancers, and are respected for their talents and creative abilities.
Hawaiians also have a strong heritage of mele, or chants, that explain the olden times. It seems sexuality in old Hawaiian culture was treated as a fluid part of everyday life. As in the book of Psalms, it had a poetic characteristic. In the hula and mele you can still witness the exquisite form of sensuality that was part of a people who celebrated their sexuality. In fact, Hawaiians often named their genitals as a matter of course! There were also mele ma`i, or songs in honor of genitals, performed at events like the birth of a great chief. It’s been said that King Kalakaua’s penis had the impressive name of halala (literally translated as to bend low), and Queen Lili`uokalani’s vagina was called `anapau (which means frisky).
Hawaiian family structures are and were collective and extended, unlike our nuclear families. Many related and unrelated aunts, uncles, cousins, and hanai (adopted) family members merge together as one `ohana. According to tradition, first-borns were often given to the grandparents or others to raise. Mates were merely given the poetic label of noho ai, or “one to lie with.” Private property in terms of marriage was unheard of. Although family lines were blurred in this way, genealogy was of utmost importance to the Hawaiians. Many old chants are solely information on lineage.
So even with the Hawaiian Renaissance in its current golden age, it’s interesting to see how contemporary Island culture, heavily influenced by more conservative Christian and Asian cultures, has degraded the importance and meaning of sex, and more specifically homosexuality, in the history and culture of Hawaii. If this renaissance is to be fully honest with its past, it’s important to acknowledge all the aspects of its fascinating and tolerant roots.
Matthew Link is the author of the gay guidebook Rainbow Handbook Hawaii (see website at www.rainbowhandbook.com).
