Publisher's Synopsis
Americans sought tiki for comfort and amusement not too long agosmall reminders of the carefree life they found on their Hawaiian vacation, something to conjure up the memories of sunshine and mai tais. Sold in souvenir shops throughout Hawaii as shrunken, watered-down deities tiki were, to some people, symbolic of the islands. Most are quaint relics now. But for Polynesians, tiki represent an ancient religion, a capricious one in which deities and nature ware with each other and with man, and a time when commoners and alii alike would tremble with fear at their whims. Tiki of Hawaii: A History of Gods and Dreams reveals the real tiki. A few are benign, while others are terrifying sculptures twelve feet high, carved with exquisite care. You will learn how ancient Hawaiian civilization ordered itself known as kapu, along with a rigid caste system, earthquakes, volcanoes and intrigue.
