Kapu
What are fishing kapu?
There were kapu that had to do with fishing. Fishing was a very important part of Hawaiian culture. Hawaiians depended on fish from the ocean in order to survive. The ocean was a source of life and was highly respected.
During the time of year that fish were reproducing (making more young fish), they were kapu. In this case kapu meant that no one was allowed to take the fish.
For example, during the summer there was a kapu on ʻōpelu fishing, so no one was allowed to catch ʻōpelu. During the winter there was a kapu on aku and no one was allowed to catch aku in the winter.
Why are kapu important?
It is important to have a period of time when no one takes a particular type of fish in order to prevent overfishing. Overfishing means taking fish faster than they can replace themselves. Hawaiians made sure that they didn’t take fish from the ocean faster than the fish could reproduce.
Who had the kuleana (responsibility) for making kapu?
The kuleana (responsibility) of Hawaiian experts called konohiki included making sure there would be enough fish to feed the people of their ahupuaʻa (division of land and sea). Konohiki were very knowledgeable about the life cycles and populations of fish in their ahupuaʻa. The konohiki and aliʻi (chiefs) were in charge of what species of fish were kapu and when and where people were allowed to fish in the ahupuaʻa.
Watch a video about kapu and Hanauma Bay
Long ago in Hawaiʻi, there were many more of us kūmū.
The Hawaiian people had special rules called kapu to make sure that there would always be plenty of fish in the ocean.
Let's learn about kapu.
What does kapu mean?
In the Hawaiian language, a word can have more than one meaning. The word kapu can mean sacred, prohibited, or forbidden.
What was the kapu system?
The kapu system is the old Hawaiian system of laws.
The reason why kapu were effective is that they were followed very strictly. People who were caught violating kapu were punished.
There were different kapu for different aspects of life - including fishing.
