Kuulei Higashi
Laehala, Hawai‘i
14/IX/00

Wā ‘Akahi

Makaiauli
Ka Makua

Hānau ka Makaiauli,
‘o ka ‘Opihi kāna keiki, puka

First Epic

Makaiauli
The Parent

The Makaiauli gives birth,
the ‘Opihi emerges

Ka ‘Opihi Makaiauli

Ha‘i hou ‘ia e Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

No Kohala, Hawai‘i ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki. Ua ha‘alele ‘o ia iā Kohala ma luna o kona wa‘a. Iā ia ma waenakonu o ‘Alenuihāhā, ua po‘ipū ‘ia ka wa‘a e nā ‘ale a piholo. ‘Au ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki iā Kaho‘olawe. Iā ia e ‘au ana, lana mai kekahi ‘opihi makaiauli ma mua pono ona. No‘ono‘o iki ‘o ia, “He ‘opihi kupaianaha kēia, no ke aha i pīholo ‘ole ai kēia ‘opihi i ke kai?” Lālau ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki i ka ‘opihi me ka nīnau mau ‘ana i ke ‘ano a me ka mana‘o o kēia ‘opihi.

Ua ho‘ouna ‘ia kēia ‘opihi e ka makāula ‘o Moa‘ula a ‘o Moa‘ula ka mauna ho‘okahi e kū ana ma Kaho‘olawe. Ma muli o ko ka makāula aloha iā Pu‘ui‘aiki, ua ho‘ouna ‘o ia i ka ‘opihi e ho‘opakele iā Pu‘ui‘aiki.

Ma hope pono o ka lālau ‘ana o Pu‘ui‘aiki i ka ‘opihi, ua kā‘alo mai kekahi manō nunui. He manō nui ‘ino, ke hāmama ka waha, aia ke ā o luna ma ka ka lihi kai a aia ke ā o lalo ma ka papakū. Ha‘i aku ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki i ka manō, “Inā nahu ‘oe ia‘u e ola mau ana wau, akā, inā moni ‘oe ia‘u e hala koke ana wau.” Komo ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki i ka ‘ōpū o ka manō e pa‘a mau ana i ka ‘opihi ma kona lima.

Ma loko o ka ‘ōpū o ka manō i ho‘omaka ai ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki e wa‘uwa‘u i ka ‘i‘o o ka manō no ‘ekolu pō a ‘ekolu ao, a pae ke kino kupapa‘u o ka manō i Kanapou ma Kaho‘olawe. ‘Ō‘ili aku ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki mai loko mai o ka ‘ōpū manō a ‘o kona po‘o he ‘ōhule a hinuhinu.

Ho‘omaha ‘o ia i kahakai me ka lau pōhuehue ma luna o kona po‘o. ‘Ike ‘ia ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki e kekahi mau kānaka lawai‘a a no‘ono‘o lāua he kanaka pūpule ‘o ia a makemake lāua e ho‘omake iā ia.

“Aloha ‘eā,” wahi a ke kanaka lawai‘a.

“‘Ae, aloha nō ‘eā! He wai nō ko ‘olua,” i noi aku ai ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki.

“‘A‘ohe o māua wai, akā aia nō kekahi pūnāwai i uka.” Hō‘ike aku nā kānaka lawai‘a i ka pūnāwai iā Pu‘ui‘aiki. Iā ia e inu ana i ka wai, nou nā kānaka lawai‘a i mau pōhaku iā Pu‘ui‘aiki akā mau nō kona inu wai ‘ana. Eia ka mea kupaianaha. Ho‘i nā kānaka lawai‘a i ka pūnāwai a ‘ike ‘ia nā pōhaku ma ka ‘ao‘ao o ka pūnāwai. I ia pō i iho mai ai ka makāula ‘o Moa‘ula a ho‘i lāua ‘o Pu‘ui‘aiki i kona hale ma Moa‘ula. A i kēia lā hiki ke ‘ike ‘ia nā ‘opihi nunui a me ka pūnāwai i kōkua iā Pu‘uiaiki ma kona huaka‘i ma Kaho‘olawe.

The Makaiauli

Retold by Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

Pu‘ui‘aiki is from Kohala, Hawai‘i. He left Kohala on his canoe. While he was in the middle of the ‘Alenuihāhā, the swells became larger and sunk his canoe. Pu‘ui‘aiki swam to the island of Kaho‘olawe. While he swam, an ‘opihi floated right in front of him. He thought to himself, “This ‘opihi is special, why doesn’t it sink to the bottom of the ocean?” He grabbed the ‘opihi wondering what type it is and what does it mean?”

The ‘opihi was a gift from Moa‘ula the prophet of Kaho‘olawe and Moa‘ula is also the mountain of Kaho‘olawe. Because of Moa‘ula’s love for Pu‘ui‘aiki he sent the ‘opihi to save him.

Pu‘ui‘aiki grabbed the ‘opihi and soon a huge shark swam by. When the mouth of the shark was open, its upper jaw touched the surface of the sea, and it’s lower jaw dragged on the sea floor. Pu‘ui‘aiki told the shark, “If you bite me, I’ll live forever, but if you swallow me whole, I’ll die instantly.” The shark then swallowed Pu‘ui‘aiki and the ‘opihi that he held in his hand.

In the stomach of the shark, Pu‘ui‘aiki began to dig out the inside of the shark for three days and three nights, until the shark’s dead body washed up on the shore of Kanapou, Kaho‘olawe. Pu‘ui‘aiki appeared from the stomach of the shark and came out bald and shiny.

He rested on the beach with a pōhuehue leaf on his head. Two men saw Pu‘ui‘aiki and thought he was a crazy man and they wanted to kill him.

“Aloha,” said the fishermen.

“Yes, aloha. Do you have any water,” asked Pu‘ui‘aiki.

“We have no water but there’s a pond upstream.” The fishermen directed Pu‘ui‘aiki to the pond. As he was drinking, the fishermen started throwing stones at him but he just continued to drink water. This is the unusual part of the story. The next day the fishermen returned to the site and found a neat pile of rocks where Pu‘ui‘aiki was drinking water. In the evening, Moa‘ula came down from the mountain and took Pu‘ui‘aiki to his home, at Moa‘ula. Till this day you can still see the huge ‘opihis and the pond that helped Pu‘ui‘aiki survive his journey.

Ku‘u Pūpū Kau Pōhaku

Na Alice K. Nāmakelua

Hinuhinu wale ho‘i ‘oe,
E ka pūpū kau pōhaku,
Ne‘e mai ‘oe, ne‘e mai ho‘i,
Ne‘e mai ka ‘ae one,
Pūpū kau pōhaku,
Ho‘ohihi au iā ‘oe.

Ku‘u Pūpū Kau Pōhaku

By Alice K. Nāmakelua

You are so shiny,
Oh shell who clings to the rocks,
Along, won’t you move along?
Down to the sand’s edge,
Shell clinging to the rock,
I admire you so.