The ground was prepared, level earth packed smooth for the contest. The players retreated from the mark, balanced the paheʻe in the right hand, sprang forward, and sent it along the ground with great velocity. The darts lay wherever they stopped until all were thrown. Then the whole party ran to the other end of the floor to see whose throws had gone farthest.
Paheʻe
Pukui defines paheʻe as "spear-throwing; dart-throwing sport of sliding a stick over a smooth surface; the dart itself." Andrews defines the term as "the name of a game which consists in sliding a stick either on grass or gravel."
There were two types of darts: moa paheʻe, the short dart, and ihe paheʻe, the long dart.
Ihe Paheʻe
Ellis described the dart:
The paheʻe is a blunt kind of dart, varying in length from two to five feet, and thickest about six inches from the point, after which it tapers gradually to the other end. These darts are made with much ingenuity, of a heavy wood. They are highly polished, and thrown with great force or exactness along the level ground, or floor of earth, previously prepared for the game.
Buck describes several specimens that were located in the Bishop Museum. The darts conform to Ellis's description, thickest about six inches from the point and tapering to the opposite end. They range in length from 43.5 to 67 inches, with diameters between one and one and a half inches. Fornander states that some ihe paheʻe are a fathom and a half long and others four and one half feet in length.
Moa Paheʻe
There were 13 thick, short darts at the Bishop Museum. Most are 14 inches in length and range between 10 to 22 inches long. Their diameters range from 1 to 2½ inches.
Fornander states the paheʻe was made of several different types of heavy wood: koaiʻe, ʻülei, oʻa, māmane, kauila, and uhiuhi. These darts were highly polished so they would be slippery and slide easily on the course.
The Course
The course used for paheʻe was the same as those for the game of ʻulu maika. The tracks were roughly formed and the length was 40 fathoms. For a very powerful player, a course of "five times forty fathoms long" was necessary. Ellis states that the courses were generally about fifty to sixty yards long.
Pahe’e required dexterity and strength
Ellis documented two forms of the contest.
One of these occasions two darts are laid down at a certain distance, three or four inches apart, and he who, in given number of times, throws his dart most frequently between these two, without striking either of them, wins the game.
At other times it is a mere trial of strength; and those win who, in a certain number of times, throw their darts farthest. A mark is made in the ground, to designate the spot from which they are to throw it. The players, balancing the paheʻe in their right hand, retreat a few yards from this spot, and then springing forward to the mark, dart it along the ground with great velocity. The darts remain wherever they stop till all are thrown when the whole party run to the other end of the floor, to see whose have been the most successful throws.
Village Champions
A similar game of paheʻe was hurling, catching, returning, and warding off the ihe paheʻe, or javelin. Since the javelin was the main weapon of war, the aliʻi promoted the game through tournaments where the warriors of the chiefs competed. The Hawaiians in ancient times were considered experts in hurling and dodging darts and javelins.
. . . A national sport, practiced on holidays when village champions are opposed to each other. The contestants stand a certain distance apart and throw in succession seven spears, seven stones, seven stone axes with handles, and seven wooden knives, one at the other and then back again. If a player is hit he loses. The game is hazardous and exciting.
Moa Paheʻe is one of the ten events in the Hawaiian Decathlon Card Set.
Makahiki Games
Sources
Andrews, Lorrin. A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1974.
Buck, Peter H. Arts and Crafts of Hawaii. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1957.
Culin, Stewart. "Hawaiian Games." American Anthropologist, vol. 1, no. 2 (April 1899), pp. 201–247.
Ellis, William. Journal of William Ellis: A Narrative of a Tour Through Hawaii in 1823. Honolulu: Hawaiian Gazette Co., Ltd., 1917.
Emory, Kenneth. Ancient Hawaiian Civilization. Honolulu: The Kamehameha Schools Press, 1933.
Fornander, Abraham. Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-Lore. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1919–1920.
Malo, David. Hawaiian Antiquities. 2nd ed. Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 1898.
Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel Elbert. Hawaiian Dictionary: Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1971.
Whitney, Caspar. Hawaiian America. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1899.