'uniki - name for an initiation ceremony that corresponds to "graduation" in modern hula schools. Its function was to celebrate, by honoring the goddess, the proficiency attained by the disciple to his or her art. Similar rites were practiced in other ancient arts, such as lua (general name for hand-to-hand fighting). The Hawaiian Dictionary notes that the term 'uniki, is "probably related to niki, to tie, as the knowledge was bound to the student".
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