science

Kiʻi

Kiʻi is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kiʻi rather than just read about it. In short: A kiʻi is a religious image from Hawaiʻi that can hold the presence of a god summoned into it. Kiʻi is also the first man in Hawaiian religion.

Key takeaways

Kiʻi belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kiʻi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kiʻi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A kiʻi is a religious image from Hawaiʻi that can hold the presence of a god summoned into it. Kiʻi is also the first man in Hawaiian religion.

Religious images

A god could be either called on without using an image or summoned into an object. An object used this way gained mana ('power') and kept some of it so the god could be called back there again, even generations later. The images were made from natural materials, including wood, stone, and feathers. Anthropologist Adrienne L. Kaeppler argued that before European contact, feathered kiʻi were more important than wooden ones because their creation required the cooperation of several levels of society and depended on genealogical ties, whereas a single artisan could produce a wooden image. Kaeppler reported in 1993 that three types of wood were believed to have been used to make kiʻi: ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha), kauila (Alphitonia ponderosa and Colubrina oppositifolia), and possibly lama (Diospyros sandwicensis), and that laboratory analysis had contradicted this. A 2020 laboratory study of 135 Hawaiian figure carvings identified more than 18 genera that had been used.

Figure in the Kumulipo In the Kumulipo, Kiʻi is a man born alongside the gods Kāne and Kanaloa, and the senior line of human chiefs descends from his firstborn. Martha Warren Beckwith wrote that the name means "image" and identified him with Tiʻi and Tiki, whom traditions across eastern Polynesia treat as the first man.

References

Citations

Works cited

External links "New Bishop Museum exhibit explores relationships between kiʻi and people", Hawaii News Now, February 20, 2019. Includes video report from exhibition, descriptions of carved wooden kiʻi on display, and the relationship between kiʻi and tiki.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kiʻi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kiʻi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kiʻi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kiʻi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kiʻi

In research: Kiʻi appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kiʻi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kiʻi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hawaii art, Hawaii stubs, Hawaiian gods, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kiʻi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kiʻi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kiʻi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kiʻi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kiʻi in simple terms?

A kiʻi is a religious image from Hawaiʻi that can hold the presence of a god summoned into it. Kiʻi is also the first man in Hawaiian religion.

Why does Kiʻi matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kiʻi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kiʻi.