Wā ‘Akahi

Weli
Ka Makua

Hānau ka Weli,
he Weliweli kāna keiki, puka

First Epic

Weli
The Parent

The Weli gives birth,
the Weliweli emerges

Puhi a me Loli

Ha‘i hou ‘ia e Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

He mau kupua ‘o Puhi a me Loli e noho nei ma Kona. He mau i‘a lāua i ka lā, akā, ke hiki mai ka pō, ho‘ololi ko lāua kinolau i mau kāne u‘i. I kekahi pō, ua iho maila kekahi mau kaikamāhine i kai e ‘au‘au a e lawai‘a. Iā lāua e nanea ana i ka lawai‘a, ‘ike ‘ē ‘ia akula nō ia lāua e Puhi a me Loli, a i ka ‘ike ‘ana o nā kaikamāhine ‘elua iā lāua, ho‘omaka a‘ela lākou e kama‘ilio me ka leo ho‘ohenoheno. I nā kaikamāhine nō a ho‘i i ka hale, ‘a‘ole lāua i ho‘opuka iki no nā kāne a lākou i ‘ike ai ma kahakai no ka mea ua ‘ike lāua i ka makemake ‘ole o nā malihini i ka makua kāne.

Hala a‘e kekahi mau pule, ‘ike ka makua kāne i ka hele mau ‘ana o nā kaikamāhine i ke kai e lawai‘a a ‘au‘au akā nō na‘e ‘a‘ole lāua i ho‘iho‘i mai i kekahi ‘ano mea‘ai i ka hale. Ma muli na‘e o kēia mili‘apa ‘ana ma kai, ua hahai ka makua kāne i nā kaikamahine me ka lāua ‘ike ‘ole, a ‘ike aku nei ‘o ia i ka launa ‘ana o nā kaikamahine me nā kāne u‘i, ‘o Puhi a me Loli. ‘A‘ole ‘o ia i makemake i ko ke ‘ano o nā kāne no laila i kekahi pō a‘e, kokolo aku ‘o ia ma hope o kekahi pōhaku nunui. ‘A‘ole ‘o ia i noho lō‘ihi a ‘ike aku ka makua kāne i ka pi‘i ‘ana o kekahi puhi a loli mai ke kai mai a ho‘ololi aku lāua i mau kāne u‘i.

Ho‘i koke ‘o ia i ka hale i ‘ike ‘ole nā kaikamāhine iā ia. I kekahi pō a‘e, ma mua o ka ho‘i ‘ana o nā kāne, iho ka makua kāne i kai e ho‘omoe i ka ‘upena ma kahi āna i ‘ike ai i ka puka ‘ana o nā kupua. I ka ho‘i ‘ana ‘o Puhi a me loli i kai ua pa‘a loa lāua ma ka ‘upena a i ia manawa like, lele ka makua kāne i kahi kokoke o ka ‘upena a ho‘oku‘i iā lāua me ka pōhaku a make. A laila, ua ho‘i hou ka makua kāne i kauhale a kālua i nā kupua a mo‘a.

I ke ala ‘ana o nā kaikamāhine, hā‘awi ka makua kāne i ka Puhi a me ka Loli i nā kaikamāhine e ‘ai. Iā lāua e ‘ai ana a mā‘ona, ‘ī maila ka makua kāne iā lāua, “A ‘o ia! Ua ‘ai ‘olua i nā kinolau o nā kāne a ‘olua!” Puka aku nā kaikamāhine i waho o kauhale a lua‘i mai i kekahi puhi a me loli li‘ili‘i. Pepehi ka makua kāne i nā i‘a a puhi i ke ahi a lehu. I ‘ole e ola hou lāua kanu ‘ia ka lehu ma ka ‘āina wai ‘ole. No nā kaikamāhine o ka mo‘olelo, ua noho lāua a loa‘a nā kāne maika‘i i kū i ka makemake o ka makua kāne.

The Eel and the Sea Cucumber

Retold by Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

Puhi and Loli were demi-gods who lived in Kona. They were fish in the day, however, when night fell, their forms changed into beautiful men. One night two girls went down to the ocean to swim and fish. As they were enjoying the art of fishing, Puhi and Loli saw them, and when the two girls saw them, they started to talk in sweet voices. As the girls walked home, they didn't dare to mention the men that they met at the sea because they knew how much their father disliked visitors.

After some weeks went by, the father noticed that the girls always went to the sea to fish and swim, however they never brought back any food to the house. Because the girls were wasting time at the ocean, the father followed the girls without them knowing. That is when he saw the two girls interacting with the beautiful men, Puhi and Loli. He didn't like the character of the two men so the next night, he crept behind a big rock. He didn't sit there long before the father saw an eel and a Sea Cucumber crawling out of the sea and changing form into beautiful men.

He quickly returned home so that his daughters wouldn't see him. The next night, before the two men returned, the father went to sea and set a net where he saw the two demi-gods come up the night before. As Puhi and Loli returned to sea they were caught in the net and at the same time, the father jumped next to the demi-gods and beat them with a rock till they were dead. That night the father returned home and roasted the demi-gods till they were cooked.

When the two girls awoke, the father gave his daughters the Eel and the Sea Cucumber to eat. As they were eating till they were full, the father says to them, “There you go! You two just ate the life forms of your two lovers!” The girls quickly ran out of the house and threw up a small eel and sea cucumber. The father beat the creatures and burned them with fire until they were nothing but ash. So that the forms would never live again, the father planted the ashes in the land without water. For the girls of the story, they eventually got two men that met the father's standards.

He Inoa No Kamehameha ‘Ekahi

He oli Kuluwaimaka mai ka Bishop Museum

‘O Kanaeolauoikū ke kāne
‘O ke kawa lele i ma‘opu a Lono
‘O ka hou kapu o ka wai o Luamea
‘O Hikawainui ka wahine
Loa‘a mai ka pū lolena ‘ula
Ka pū kani walahoa i ka moana kai ‘ele‘ele
Ka loli mākoko kahuli au loli
Loli mākoko i ka pili ‘ala
E moe ana i ke ‘ale ‘ula i ke ‘ale lani
I weoweo ke kukuna ma Kūkuluokahiki
‘O ka lani ka inoa, e o a

He Inoa No Kamehameha ‘Ekahi

A Kuluwaimaka chant from the Bishop Museum

Kanaeolauoikū is the man
Diving from Lono's leaping place
The sacred sweat is the water of Luamea
Hikawainui is the woman
With the red limp pū
The pū, which sounds over the dark ocean
With an altered loli mākoko
The loli mākoko near the pathway
Resting in the red waves, in the heavenly waves
Where the sun's rays are red at Kūkuluokahiki
This is for the chief