>>26910818Tapu is just a Polynesian language family word for "forbidden". I believe tapu is Māori. Its variant tabu (Tongan cognate) gives us the word "taboo". In Hawai'ian the word is kapu. Kapu sites were usually burial places for past leaders and sacred sites. Kapu also referred to seasonal bans on harvesting of wildlife, a kind of primitive conservation; eg, some fruit only grow on certain parts of Hawai'i, and during certain parts of the year it would be kapu to pick them as it would completely deplete the supply and stop the plant from propagating. Certain acts were also kapu. In some Polynesian cultures, words would be kapu; eg, a dead chief's name; if a dead chief's name was the same as a common noun, a new word would be coined. Breaking kapu resulted in either complete ostracism or death, depending on the culture. It is possible in some cases to receive blessings that remove kapu and thus absolve the crime. On Hawai'i there are Places of Refuge that someone found to break kapu can flee to and be freed of kapu, usually in remote locations. It is sacrilege to spill blood at the Place of Refuge.
