Why get a kākau kaha (tattoo)? “Just because” shouldn’t be your answer.
Traditionally, and continuing today, there are those with deep ʻike and expertise in making permanent marks on skin. They use tools of bone and wood, with naturally formulated ink. Mōlī, perhaps after albatross, are bone needles, and paʻu, is an ink make of burnt kukui nut shells. Uhi, a veil or covering, refers to the practice.
I enjoy going forth and back in dictionaries, the 1865 Andrews version is a favorite, wondering about words used, and attempting to capture specificities and accuracy.
I believe that kākau kaha must convey meaning to bearers, with symbols perhaps known only to them and their applier. Deep meanings. Other tattoo were meant to be temporary. Visitors to Kaluapele o Kīlauea sometimes adorned themselves with lei paʻiniu, indicating that they had visited the home of Pelehonuamea.
Too, they may have also tattooed themselves temporarily with the acrid juices of mauʻu lāʻili (mauʻu hōʻula ʻili), our only endemic member of the iris family. Sisyrinchium acre is its Latin name. A relatively insignificant little plant, growing in clumps on cindery, mossy soil at elevations of a few thousand feet on Maui and Hawaiʻi, I first met mauʻu lāʻili 40 or so years ago while exploring habitats along Saddle Road with Lani.
Not far off the road, on old, tan-brown pāhoehoe, in little pockets of what passes for soil, we found a few plants. Leaves, wrapped around my wrist with an ever-present bandana, after several hours left red-brown marks and small blisters in my skin. The juices did their thing – an experimental success that wore off in weeks.
