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Ritual staff (ki’i)

Late 18th–19th century

Not on view

Upright ritual staffs (ki’i) were often used during rites associated with the god Lono during Makahiki, the season that accompanied the rise of the constellation Pleiades and signaled a time of prosperity and abundance. The vertical pole resembles an abstract back bone (iwikuamo’o), which was representative of genealogical connections with the divine. The open spaces between the finial figure’s legs and the lower figure’s raised arms may have been used to attach white barkcloth (kapa) streamers.

Ritual staff (ki’i), Wood (kauila) — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Ritual staff (ki’i), Wood (kauila)

Ritual staff (ki’i), Wood (kauila)

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This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Ritual staff (ki’i)

Date: Late 18th–19th century

Geography: United States, Hawai'ian Islands

Medium: Wood (kauila)

Dimensions: H. 39 in. (99 cm)

Classification: Wood-Implements

Credit Line: Private collection, Mark Blackburn, Honolulu, Hawai'i

Object Number: SL.20.2018.1.9

Rights and Reproduction: Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.