Anahulu Hoʻonui 8/5 – 8/14

Aloha nui kākou, 

As we prepare for the beginning of another semester, let us also turn our attention to another moʻolelo that features the ʻāina of our UH Mānoa campus. E nā hoa heluhelu, please join me in reading Hoʻoulumāhiehie’s Ka Moʻolelo o Hiʻiakaikapoliopele while the narrative takes place in Kamōʻiliʻili. 

The portion of the moʻolelo that we’ll be reading was published in the nūpepa on 25 Iune 1906 in Ka Naʻi Aupuni (page 4). Hiʻiakaikapoliopele, youngest sister of Pele, is traveling with Lohiʻau and Wahineʻōmaʻo back from Kauaʻi and passing through Waikīkī, Oʻahu during their journey through the pae ʻāina: 

“Ē, ʻaʻole hoʻi i kana mai ka ʻea o ke lepo e kū maila,” wahi a Lohiʻau i pane aʻe ai, me ka hoʻomau ʻana aʻe nō hoʻi i ke kamaʻilio ʻana, “He puahiohio maoli kēlā e wili maila!”

I ia wā, ʻōlelo akula ʻo Hiʻiaka, “ʻAʻole kēlā he puahiohio kupu wale aʻe āu e ʻike akula, e ke kāne. He kuehu lepo manawa ʻino kēlā na ko ʻoneʻi mau moʻo kanaka, ʻo ia o Pāhoa, he wahine, a me kona kaikunāne moʻo nō hoʻi. Akā, ʻaʻole ʻo lāua wale nō nā kupu ʻino o kēia mau kaiāulu, akā, he lehulehu loa nō kēia poʻe. Ei aku nō ia kupu ʻino ʻo Kamōʻiliʻili. Ei aku nō hoʻi ʻo Pōhakukīkēkē, a ua pēlā wale aku.” 

Hoʻomau akula nō lākou nei i ka hele ʻana. Iā lākou nei i hele aku ai a kokoke e hoʻopiʻi aku i kahi kaola e piʻi aku ai a loaʻa aku kahi e kū nei ka luakini o Kamōʻiliʻili, he hū ʻana o ka makani kā Lohiʻau a me Wahineʻōmaʻo o ka lohe ʻana, ʻike aʻela lāua i ka lilo ʻana o ko lāua mau pepeiao i hope, ʻo ia nō ʻoe ʻo kekahi mau lima ʻoʻoleʻa loa e huki ana i ko lāua mau pepeiao. A ʻo ka wā nō ia o lāua i hoʻōho aʻe ai me ka makaʻu a weliweli nui hoʻi, “Auē! Auē! Moku nā pepeiao o māua i kēia mea e nahu nei ē! E Hiʻi e! He aha kēia?”

A i ia wā nō lāua nei i lohe aʻe ai i nā leo kani hoʻokio e kani oeoe ana ma nā wahi e nui, ʻaʻole i kana mai ka ʻikuā kūpinaʻi. Ua like me nā leo o nā haneri pōpoki e kī ana a e uē ʻaʻaka ana hoʻi me ka hoʻonanā ʻana. (313)

“Hey, look at all this dust rising,” Lohiʻau exclaimed, “There is a whirlwind coming our way!”

Hiʻiaka said, “That is no ordinary whirlwind that you see, husband. It is an evil dust storm stirred up by the moʻo of this place, Pāhoa, the female, and her moʻo brother. They, however, are not the only malevolent ones of this area, for there are many. Ahead lies the wicked Kamōʻiliʻili. Also up ahead is Pōhakukīkēkē, and there are more.”

They continued onward. When they were approaching the top of the path leading to where the church of Kamōʻiliʻili stands now, Lohiʻau and Wahineʻōmaʻo heard the roar of the wind, and they felt their ears drawn back, just as if powerful hands were yanking at them. They shouted in fear and sheer terror, “Oh no! Oh no! Our ears will be torn off by this thing biting at us! O Hiʻi! What is this?” 

They heard shrill voices shrieking from all over; it was ear-splitting. It was the screeching and hissing of a hundred angry cats ready to fight. (291-292)

Because Hoʻoulumāhiehie’s version of this moʻolelo is generally accessible due to its 2006 Awaiaulu publication in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and in English, there are many ways and contexts that we as readers may approach the above section, and if we are furthering our pilina with our Mānoa campus, we know that the lower makai ʻili ʻāina is named Kapaʻakea, which may indicate the limestone beneath us that also contains the Mōʻiliʻili karst. While the subterranean movements of water are invisible to us, this moʻolelo reminds us that the strong winds we encounter near Kamōʻiliʻili are moving the water beneath us as well. 

In the mornings when I walk along the ʻauwai at Ka Papa Loʻi ʻo Kānewai, some of the loʻi kalo will sometimes flood because the makawai that releases the water is clogged with debris. Once cleared, the makawai will create a whirlpool that quickly de-floods the loʻi, and the noise indeed sounds like the screeching of a hundred angry cats, but I have only heard this at Kānewai.