19th century lei niho palaoa in the Honolulu Museum of Art

A lei niho palaoa is a Hawaiian neck ornament traditionally worn by aliʻi (chiefs) of both sexes. The 19th century examples are most commonly made of a whale tooth carved into a hook-shape suspended by plaited human hair.

The symbolism is not known; it may represent a tongue that speaks the law, or may represent a vessel for mana (inherited virtue).[1] Precontact lei niho palaoa were less than two inches in length, and were not only made of whale ivory, but also of shell, bone, wood, stone, and coral.[2] Sometimes, several of these smaller pendants were strung on twisted human hair.[3] The Bishop Museum has a lei niho palaoa with a hair bundle having a circumference of 7.5 inches. It is made from a single eight-ply square braid cord, measuring 1,708 feet, looped back and forth over 1000 times on each side.[4]

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Metropolitan Museum of Art".
  2. ↑ "New Guinea Tribal Art".
  3. ↑ Kaeppler, Adrienne L., Polynesia, The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 2010, p. 371
  4. ↑ Buck, Peter H., Arts and Crafts of Hawaii, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, 1957, p. 537
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