Learn about the Makahiki

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In ancient Hawaii, roughly one third of the year was set aside as the “makahiki”. During this four-month season, which began in the month of Ikuwa (roughly late October to early November), warfare was forbidden. It was a time of playing games, celebrating the harvest, paying tribute to the chiefs, and honoring the god Lono. It was a time for storytelling, competitions, feasting, and dancing. This bibiography will help you learn about this very special time of the traditional Hawaiian calendar.

Suggested Reading
H 572.9969 K	Ancient Hawai’i, by Herbert Kawainui Kane. Kawainui Press, 1997. pages 44-45.
H 572.9969 An	Ancient Hawaiian Civilization; a series of lectures delivered at the Kamehameha Schools. Mutual Publishing, 1999. Originally published by C.E. Tuttle Co., 1965. pages 64-66, 91, 146-147, 152-153, 253.
H 919.69 I	Fragments of Hawaiian History, by John Papa I’i. Bishop Museum Press, 1993, originally published in 1959 from newspaper articles written between 1866-1870. pages 70-76.
H 572.9969 W	From the Mountains to the Sea: early Hawaiian life, by Julie Stewart Williams. Kamehameha Schools Press, 1997. pages 163-168.
H 572 M	Hawaiian Antiquities, by David Malo. Bishop Museum Press, 1951, from a work originally completed in 1839. Chapter 36, pages 141-159.
H 790 M	Hawaiian Games for Today, by Donald D. Kilolani Mitchell. Kamehameha Schools Press, 1975.
H 291 B	Hawaiian Mythology, by Martha Warren Beckwith. University of Hawai’i Press, 1970, originally published by Oxford University Press, 1940. pages 33-37, 435.
H 572 K	Ka Po’e Kahiko. The People of Old, by Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau. Bishop Museum Press, 1992, originally appearing as newspaper articles between the years 1866-1871. pages 19-22.
H 572.9969 L	Life in Early Hawai’i: the ahupuaa. Kamehameha Schools Press, 1994. pages VI-VII.
H 630 H	Native Planters in Old Hawaii, by E.S. Craighill Handy and Elizabeth Green Handy. Bishop Museum Press, 1972. Part 4.
H 394.2 M	Puke Makahiki, by Ka Molokai Makahiki Committee. Ka Molokai Makahiki, 1984.
H 372.83 M	Resource Units in Hawaiian Culture, by Donald D. Kilolani Mitchell. Kamehameha Schools Press, 1992, originally published in 1969. pages 261-262.
These titles are available at the Hawai’i State Library only.
R H 394.26 C	Makahiki, by Naomi N.Y. Chun. Kamehameha Schools/Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, 1990. Note: this book is a reference book at the Hawai’i State Library, however there is also one circulating copy at Waimea Library.
H 790 N	The Sports and Games of the Makahiki Festival: a history and a unit of instruction, by Santiago Wilfred Navalta. A doctoral thesis from Brigham Young University, 1978.

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