Kalā Mossman
Laehala, Keaukaha, Hawai‘i VI/01

‘Āko‘ako‘a
Ke Keiki

Hānau ka Uku ko‘ako‘a, hānau kāna,
he ‘Āko‘ako‘a, puka

First Epic

‘Āko‘ako‘a
The Child

The Uku ko‘ako‘a gives birth to an offspring,
the ‘Āko‘ako‘a emerges

Ka Mo‘olelo O ‘Ōpu‘ukahonua

Mai loko mai ‘o Hawaiian Antiquities and Folklore, na Abraham Fornander

I ka wā i ku‘u aku ai ‘o Kapūhe‘euanui i kāna aho i loko o ke kai mai Kapa‘ahu mai, ua mau kāna aho lawai‘a. Mana‘o a‘ela ‘o ia he i‘a kēia mea e mau nei, a laila, huki a‘ela ‘o ia i kāna aho. I ke kau ‘ana a‘e i ka wa‘a, eia kā he ‘āko‘ako‘a. I ia manawa, hele mai ke kahuna ‘o Lauli‘ala‘amakua. E ho‘omākaukau ana ‘o Kapūhe‘euanui e wehe a‘e i ka ‘āko‘ako‘a a kiola aku.

‘Ōlelo aku ke kahuna, “Ē! Mai kiola ‘oe i nā ‘āko‘ako‘a, he ali‘i ia, he hai kanaka. Hulia i pua‘a, a ho‘omālielie i ke akua a laila pule. Kapa aku ‘oe i kona inoa ‘o Hawai‘iloa, a laila kiola aku ‘oe i loko o ke kai, e ulu mau auane‘i he moku.”

No laila, ho‘olohe akula ‘o Kapūhe‘euanui i ka ‘ōlelo a ke kahuna. I kekahi lā a‘e lawai‘a hou nō ‘o Kapūhe‘euanui, hei hou no ke ‘āko‘ako‘a. Ho‘omana‘o ua lawai‘a nei i ke kahuna, lawe hou aku nō i ka ‘ākoakoa, ‘ī mai ke kahuna, “He kanaka, he ali‘i, e kapa aku ‘oe i ka inoa ‘o Mauiloa.” A laila kiola akula ua lawai‘a nei i ka moana.”

I ka ‘ekolu o ka lā lawai‘a o Kapūhe‘euanui, hei hou nō he ‘āko‘ako‘a. E like me ka hana mau a ua lawai‘a nei, a pēlā nō ‘o ia i hana aku ai. A ‘ike maila ke kahuna i kēia ko‘a: “He kanaka kēia he wohi, he ali‘i no ke ea kapu, e kapa aku i kona inoa ‘o O‘ahunuiala‘a.” Pēlā nō ka hana a ua o Kapūhe‘euanui, a pēlā nō kā ke kahuna ‘ōlelo i ua lawai‘a nei. Ua kapa ‘ia nā inoa o kēia mau ‘āina ma muli o ka ‘ōlelo a ke kahuna. A ma kēia ka‘ao no Hawai‘i nei, he ‘āko‘ako‘a kēia mau mokupuni. Ua ulu mai loko a‘e o ke kai akā, he ka‘ao wale nō ia. A penei ho‘i ka ho‘omaopopo ‘ana i ka ‘oia‘i‘o ‘ana, he ‘āko‘ako‘a ‘i‘o ‘o Hawai‘i nei.

The Story of ‘Ōpu‘ukahonua

From Hawaiian Antiquities and Folklore, by Abraham Fornander

When Kapūhe‘euanui let down his fishing line into the sea from Kapa‘ahu his line caught something that he thought was a fish. He drew the line onto the canoe when, behold, it was a piece of coral. The priest Lauli‘ala‘amakua came along as Kapūhe‘euanui was disentangling his line from the coral and preparing to throw it away.

Then the priest spoke to him, “Eh! Don't throw away that piece of coral, for that is a chief, a foreteller of events. Go thou and look for a pig and appease the god, and after prayer call its name Hawaiiloa, then throw it back into the sea, and it will grow up into an island.” Kapūhe‘euanui obeyed the instructions of the priest.

The next day Kapūhe‘euanui went fishing and his line was again caught by the coral. This time he thought to himself what the priest had said and took the coral to him, and the priest said to him, “That is a man, a chief; call his name Mauiloa.” He did so and then threw the coral back into the sea.

On the third day of Kapūhe‘euanui's fishing, his line was again entangled on a coral, making the third piece of coral brought to the surface by his line, and, as he had done before after freeing it from his line, took it to the priest. The priest exclaimed, “That is a man, a wohi, a chief from the sacred air; call his name O‘ahunuiala‘a.” Kapūhe‘euanui continued fishing and always took to the priest the corals he caught on his line, who named them and ordered him to go through the same process of deifying them, or rather offering sacrifices to them, until all the islands now comprising the group were successively raised as corals. And thus, according to this tale, the islands grew up from pieces of coral. But then, this is only a tale, and this is how one can ascertain the truth that these islands of Hawaii really did grow from corals.

E Lono, E Lono ē

Mai loko mai ‘o Hawaiian Antiquities and Folklore,
na Abraham Fornander

E Lono, e Lono ē! E Lonokaeho!
Lonokūlani ali‘i o Kauluonana.
Eia nā wa‘a kau mai,
E ho‘i e noho iā Hawai‘ikuauli,
He ‘āina loa‘a i ka moana,
I hō‘ea mai loko o ka ‘ale;
I ka halehale po‘ipū a Kanaloa;
He ko‘a kea i hālelo i ka wai,
I lou i ka mākau a ka lawai‘a,
A ka lawai‘a nui o Kapa‘ahu,
A ka lawai‘a nui ‘o Kapūhe‘euanui lā,
A pae nā wa‘a, kau mau,
E holo ai i Hawai‘i, he moku;
He moku Hawai‘i,
He moku Hawai‘i na Lonokaeho e noho.

E Lono, E Lono ē

From Hawaiian Antiquities and Folklore,
by Abraham Fornander

O Lono, O Lono, listen, O Lonokaeho!
Lonokūlani, chief of Kauluonana,
Here are the canoes, get on board,
Come along and dwell in Hawai‘ikuauli,
A land that was found in the ocean,
That was thrown up from the sea,
From the very depths of Kanaloa,
The white coral in the watery caves,
That was caught on the hook of the fisherman,
The great fisherman of Kapa‘ahu,
The great fisherman Kapūhe‘euanui,
The canoes touch the shore, come on board,
Sail to Hawai‘i, an island,
An island is Hawai‘i,
An island is Hawai‘i for Lonokaeho to dwell on.