Hawaiian Warrior

Carving of a warrior wearing a malo (loincloth) and carrying a war club. He is wearing a necklace (lei niho palaoa), made of braided human hair and the ivory tooth of beached whale, which was an important symbol worn by the Hawai'ian nobility (ali'i) to indicate their genealogical descent from the gods. The warrior is also wearing a feathered helmet (mahiole). Tens of thousands of feathers were required for each mahiole. The birds were not killed but were caught by specialist bird catchers, a few feathers harvested and then the birds were released. The feathered helmet was a symbol of the highest rank reserved for the men of the aliʻi, the chiefly class of Hawaii

 

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