fish hook sacrifice

The idea that fish hooks made from the jawbones of human beings were better than others, seemed to have arisen at first from the angle formed in the lower jawbone. Later these human fish hooks were considered sacred and therefore possessed of magic powers. The greater sanctity and power belonged to the bones which bore more especial relation to the owner. Therefore Maui's "magic hook," with which he fished up islands, was made from the jawbone of his ancestress Malmika. It is also said that in order to have powerful hooks for every-day fishing he killed two of his children. Their right eyes he threw tip into the sky to become stars. One became the morning and the other the evening star.

The idea that the death of any members of the family must not stand in the way of obtaining magical power, has prevailed throughout Polynesia. From this angle in the jawbone Maui must have conceived the idea of making a hook with a piece of bone or shell which should be fastened to the large bone at a very sharp angle, thus making a kind of barb. Hooks like this have been made for ages among the Polynesians.

- Legends of Maui, A Demi-God of Polynesia, by W. D. Westervelt