Anahulu Hoʻonui 12/31/2024 – 1/9/2025

Aloha mai kākou, 

In this new calendar year, we will now turn to moʻolelo about the pūnāwai named Kapunahou, as printed (and transcribed here) in Ka Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa on November 26, 1915 as “Kahi I Loaʻa Mai Ai Ka Inoa Kapunahou.” The first few paragraphs introduce us to the significance of Kapunahou, well-known to everyone in Hawaiʻi for being the name of a school: 

“O ka inoa Kapunahou, he inoa ia i paanaau i na kanaka Hawaii a me na haole pu, a no ka mea o ka inoa ia i kapaia aku ai kekahi kula ma Oahu nei, kekahi o na kula kahiko loa ma ke komohana o ka Mauna Pohaku.

Ke hookokoke mai nei keia kula i ka hoomanao ana aku i ka piha ana o na makahiki he kanahiku-kumamalima o kona ku ana mai ka hoomaka ana mai i kinohi.

Me he mea la, i waena o na Hawaii o keia au hou e nee nei, a pela no me kekahi poe kahiko, ua noho pouliuli lakou i ke kumu o ka loaa ana mai o ka inoa Kapunahou, e lilo ai na hoakaka malalo ae nei, i mea hialaai ia lakou ke heluhelu iho:

He nui na moolelo e pili ana ia Kapunahou, e like me ka hoike ana mai a ka poe o ka wa kahiko, aka nae ke hoikeia aku nei kekahi o ia mau moolelo, e like me na mea i kakauia, a e paa nei ma na moolelo o keia au naauao.”

Because Mānoa valley was known for sustaining a large number of people back in the wā kahiko, there are many moʻolelo and traditions related to Kapunahou. Over the next few anahulu, we will read what the 1915 writer has printed for us to learn nearly 110 years later.