Anahulu Hoʻonui 9/22 – 10/1/2025

Aloha e nā hoa makamaka, 

In this passage of “Kahi I Loaa Mai Ai Ka Inoa Kapunahou” to which we are now turning our attention, we learn that the twins, who are living inside of a tiny cave around Mānoa and Makiki, are searching for fresh water, a similar circumstance that we read about earlier with Kealoha and Mukaka searching for water in an earlier version of this moʻolelo:

I keia manawa i holo aku ai na keiki mahoe a pee iloko o ka puu pohaku, ma ke kua aku o Kapunahou. Ma keia wahi i nohi ai laua me ka ai ana i na huaai o ka nahelehele, ka uhini ame na manu, e loaa aku ana. Maloko o kekahi mau ana liilii ko laua wahi e noho ai. 

I kekahi la nae, olelo aku la ke kaikuahine o Kauakiowao i kona kaikunane, ua makemake oia e auau, eia nae aohe he wai. Olelo mai la ke kaikunane e hoao oia e hele e huli i wai. Ua ike mua oia i kekahi lokowai o Kanawai ka inoa, kahi ana i maa i ke pahele ana i na koloa ahiu. Ua hoomaopopo oia i ke aku wai o Kakea, he moo, ka mea e noho mana ana maluna o na kumu wai o ke Awawa o Manoa ame Makiki. He kupuna keia aku no ua mau keiki nei. 

While Kauawaahila searches for water at his sister Kauakiowao’s request, he notices for the first time sources of water that have long existed, including a lokowai. Perhaps the Kanawai mentioned in this moʻolelo is the Kānewai that we know today, where Ka Papa Loʻi ʻo Kānewai is certainly fed by fresh water sources. Although this account was published back in 1915 in Ka Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa, Kānewai continues to be a puʻuhonua today.