TRADITIONAL WAYS OF KNOWING: Words of Rain

Listen to The Water Fall

Native plants gather water in Waikamoi forest, known as the heart of Maui.

Hawaiian Words of Rain

The Hawaiians were intimately aware of the importance of fresh water, and of rain, to their lives. In fact, the words for water and wealth have the same root:

• Wai is the Hawaiian word for fresh water.
• Waiwai is the Hawaiian word for wealth.

There are hundreds, and maybe even thousands, of Hawaiian words for rain. Here we share some of the information collected in Hānau Ka Ua by Collette Leimomi Akana with Kiele Gonale*.

Hawaiian words for rain describe:

• Rain in specific places (nāulu is a sudden shower, asscoeated with Kawaihae, Hawaiʻi, Niʻihau, and other areas).
• Types of rain (nahua is a hard, cold, pelting, stinging rain; there are also names for misty, cold, white, heavy, warm rains, etc.).
• Characteristics of rain (Ua kualau rain that comes from the sea; there also names for rain along cliffs, sneaking by, duration, scent, etc.).
• Seasonal rain signals (for example, the ʻuala farmer counts the kuāu showers to know when to plant, Hānau Ka Ua, p. xvi).
• Figurative meanings of rain (like Kanilehua, the name for a chattering rain, which refers to birds in lehua trees and can also be used to mean gossiping).

The Hawaiians had many terms to describe the misty rains and clouds that settle over mountains. A few examples are listed below.

• Lilinoe is the Hawaiian word for the fine mist that covers mountains and cliffs on Hawaiʻi and Maui (Figs. 1 and 2 show examples of mist that might be called Lilinoe). Lilinoe is also the name of a goddess of mists.
• Ua Noe is a light rain and mist that clings to the plains (East Maui). Noe mist is lighter than the uhiwai but heavier than ʻohu, ʻehu, and ʻehuehu fog.
• ʻOhu is fog, smoke, a light cloud on a mountain.
• ʻAwa rain is a fine mountain rain. 

ʻO ka uahi noe lehua ē

ʻO ke ʻAwa nui i ka mauna 

The vapor that mists the lehua blossoms 

The thick ʻAwa fog of the mountain

(Hānau Ka Ua, p. 15)

• ʻAwaʻawa rain is like ʻawa. It is cold and bitter smoke (may be acidic) of the mountains (associated with Pele) that smothers the cliff and is inhaled. ʻAwaʻawa is also used as a descriptive term for grief.

* Much of the information for this section was learned from Hānau Ka Ua by Collette Leimomi Akana with Kiele Gonale (Fig. 3). It is an amazing resource for learning more about Hawaiian rain names, place, and culture.