Queen Ka'ahumanu’s Lei Niho Palaoa is an artifact featured in "All the Time in the World".
Origin[]
This pendant was braided with ancestral human hair, and was worn by Hawaii's Queen Ka'ahumanu.[1]
Effects[]
Contains memories that can only be accessed by the Warehouse Keeper.
History[]
This pendant was worn by Hawaii's Queen Ka'ahumanu; the ancestral hair that was used to braid it holds the memories of past Warehouses and only the Keeper can release them. This artifacts is a record containing vital parts of the Warehouse's history and it protects some of the Warehouse's most closely guarded secrets.
Abigail Cho, Keeper of Warehouse 13, used this artifact to discover why Warehouse 9 had bronzed Paracelsus, as all information about him had been redacted by the Regents of the time; in doing so, she recounted the incident of his apprehension by Warehouse 9 agents and the revelation that he had been its Caretaker.
Real World Connections[]
Ka'ahumanu (1768 - 1832) was queen consort and acted as regent of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi as Kuhina Nui. She was the favorite wife of King Kamehameha I and also the most politically powerful, and continued to wield considerable power as co-ruler in the kingdom during reigns of his first two successors.
Hawaiian society under the ‘Aikapu system was stratified according to rank. An individual’s rank was not determined by wealth or gender, but by genealogy. Those of the highest rank could trace their genealogy all the way back to the beginning of time, to the very first organism to inhabit the Earth, even to the primordial darkness preceding all life. These genealogies were recorded in chants called ko‘ihonua that glorified Ali‘i bloodlines, ancestors, and their descendants.[2]
One important symbol of rank for the highest Ali‘i was the Lei Niho Palaoa, a whale tooth pendant. The carved hook pendant is strung on thousands of finely braided strands of human hair. Its exact symbolism is unknown, though one belief is that it represents a vessel for mana (inherited virtue or power).[2]
Trivia[]
- It is likely that the artifact can only be used by (and as such, the Keeper must be) someone of Hawaiian descent, as both known users of the Lei Niho Palaoa are Hawaiian (Lili'uokalani was a Native Hawaiian queen, and Abigail Cho, like her actress Kelly Hu, is of Chinese and Native Hawaiian descent).
- Potentially, the Keeper must be a descendant of the hair's source and/or Ka'ahumanu herself, which could make Abigail a distant descendant of Hawaiian royalty.
- Contrary to the episode, SyFy's Artifact Guide describes the artifact as a "Hawaiian Kuala" (no such object exists) that was first used by Queen Lili'uokalani. It is possible that this simply means that the lei niho palaoa, created from Ka'ahumanu's hair, was inherited and first used as an artifact by the future queen (rather than Ka'ahumanu's immediate successors) Lili'uokalani.
Gallery[]
