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

are these foreigners doing with their eyes downward?) Some replied, ‘E anaana ana ia
kakou’- (they are praying us to death.).” 232
I samband med en predikan Hiram Bingham höll för några hawaiianer under en exkursion
1821 noterade han:
Extremely ignorant, destitute and debased, they appeared wild as the young ass’s colt upon
the mountains, and some of them, even frightened at the voice of the preacher and
interpreter, as though they apprehended they were to be laid on the altar, or prayed to
death, as they believed the victims of the priests of their superstition had been. 233
Missionärernas kyrkbygge i Wainee [Wai‘anae] skapade också reaktioner:
’First they will build a church, then they will send out the mu [bödel som samlade in offer
till offer-ritual]’. After the church was completed they said, ‘The church is finished, and they
will not use it until a man has been buried at each door.’ They were fearful lest they be
killed by a mu. (….) One of them said, ‘We are going down, but today all of us will meet
with death.’ Another said ‘Yes, we have heard that there are guns by the pulpit, loaded with
shots. When the people go in Mr. Richards will stand at the door of the church. After
everyone has gone in, he will close the door on us, then run quickly to the pulpit, light the
powder in his gun, setting it off, and we will all die. It is better for us to go home.’ Some
agreed to this, others said, “We shall go on, and if we die, we die. 234
Även missionärernas husbygge visade sig vara föremål för oro. När Hiram Bingham lät
bygga sitt hus och grävde ut en källare hade hawaiianerna i Honolulu en del funderingar
kring detta:
That pit is a place where people stay with guns until the Sabbath comes. Then when the
minister prays and the people close their eyes the haole will come with guns and shoot
everyone, then when the house was finished, a letter will be sent to the chiefs of America to
send the people outside [of the harbors] and they will come ashore. The men will be placed
in barrels and rolled in onto the shore. 235
Nattvarden som ceremoni var också något som ansågs vara märkligt. Främst var det
nattvardsvinet vilket flera hawaiianer trodde var människoblod ifrån levern. Detta
rapporterades hawaiianerna uppfatta som motbjudande: ”How disgusting. One would
think that the haoles [vita] would behave better.” 236
Likaså fanns det tankar om att de mediciner de vita läkarna, eller medicinmännen,
föreskrev var just människoblod. Just misstänksamhet gentemot den västerländska
medicinen fick även Dr. Holman uppleva. Redan vid ankomsten hade han kallats av
Liholiho till hovet där han förväntades agera läkare åt en av kungens hustrur samt åt
flertalet av hans tjänare. Trots att han lyckade återställa fleras hälsa möttes han av ständig
opposition, främst av den inhemska läkaren som var säker på att det bara var en tidsfråga
innan Holman hade dödat alla. Flera ali‘i var även de övertygade om att Holman använde
den amerikanska medicinen i syfte att förgifta dem. Denna övertygelse hade stor
232 Dibble 1843/1909: 152.
233 Bingham 1849/1969: 131.
234 Mistaken ideas concerning the missionaries 1842, HEN: 225/BM.
235 Mistaken ideas concerning the missionaries 1842 HEN: 224/BM.
236 Mistaken ideas concerning the missionaries 1842 HEN: 225f/BM.
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