"Who are you to tell us our history?" Kultur och religion i ... - Anpere

tibel. Vad betydde egentligen ålder för en hawaiian? Hawaiianerna mätte ”ålder” i relation
till olika fysiska såväl som mentala färdigheter, erfarenhet och kompetens. Till exempel:
”Big enough to carry a small gourd full of water (about two). Big enough to carry two
coconuts (five or six). Strong enough to carry a smaller member of the family on his back
(about 10).” 625 Ålder relaterades också till viktiga historiska händelser, exempelvis: ”I was
born in the year that Kamehameha III came to Kealakekua and afterwards the first
steamship arrived…” 626 Hur skulle man då begripa hur gammal Abraham var?
Bibelavsnittet berättar ju inget om Abrahams kompetenser, ej heller knyter det an till
någon specifik, och för hawaiianerna viktig, händelse.
En absolut höjdpunkt i skolsammanhang var hō‘ike, examinationen. Oberoende av
om det hade bedrivits skola regelbundet eller inte så var alltid uppslutningen till dessa
evenemang stor och firades med pompa och ståt. Till och med i de skolor som inte haft
någon verksamhet under året, samlades eleverna några veckor innan för att uppdatera sina
kunskaper, men också för att planera inför den kommande examinationen. Förberedelserna
sysselsatte hela familjer med matlagning och annat inför resan och vistelsen. På
själva examensdagen hölls en extravagant ceremoni där eleverna, ali‘i och maka‘āinana
deltog iklädda sina nyaste och finaste kreationer och kapa. Skolorna emellan tävlade om
publikens uppmärksamhet och favör, och den skola som vann publikens tycke blev
berömd och de som inte favoriserades hånades. 627 Vad som avgjorde var inte bara kunskaper
utan elevernas estetiska uppenbarelser.
De första åren examinerades eleverna huvudsakligen i läsning och alfabetet men senare
infördes skrivning på griffeltavlor som examinationsmoment. Reuben Tinker beskriver en
examination i Honolulu, 1831:
The shell horn blowing early for examination of the schools, in the meeting house. About
2,000 scholars present, some wrapped in large quantity of native cloth, with wreaths of
evergreen about their heads and hanging toward their feet- others dressed in calico and silk
with large necklaces of braided hair and wreaths of red and yellow and green feathers, very
beautiful and expensive.
It was a pleasant occasion, in which they seemed interested and happy (…) The King and
chiefs were present, and examined among the rest. They read in various books, and 450 in 4
rows wrote the same sentence at the same time on slates. They perform with some
ceremony. In this exercise, one of the teachers cried out with as much importance as an
orderly serjant [sic]… and immediately the whole company began to sit up straight. At the
next order, they stood on their feet. At the next they ’handled’ slates or ’presented’ – i.e.
they held them resting on the left arm as a musician would place his fiddle. At the next
order, they brought their pencils to bear upon the broadsides of their slates ready for action.
Mr. Bingham then put into the crier’s ear the sentence to be written, which he proclaimed
with all his might and a movement of the 450 pencils commenced which from their
creaking was like music of machinery lacking oil. Their sentences were then examined and
found generally correct.628
625 Pukui m.fl. 1972/1979 (vol. 2): 50.
626 Samtal med Malcolm Chun, augusti 2000.
627 Kamakau 1992a: 270.
628 Citerad i Kuykendall 1968: 108f. Dibble skriver:
“These convocations were immense, and they furnished a kind of excitement to the mass of
the people, filling in a measure a blank which hade been by the abolition of ancient festivals
and public sports. The excitement in the two cases was widely different indeed – a useful
interest being substituted for the most debasing scenes of vice and revelry.” Dibble 1843/1909:
220.
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