Kuulei Higashi
Kilauea, Hawai‘i
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Wa&_macron; ‘Akahi

Moamoa
Ma Uka

‘O ka&_macron;ne ia&_macron; Wai‘ololi&_macron;, ‘o ka wahine ia&_macron; Wai‘olona&_macron;
Ha&_macron;nau ke Kakalamoa noho i kai
Kia‘i ‘ia e ka Moamoa noho i uka
He po&_macron; uhe‘e i ka wawa&_macron;
He nuku, he wai ka ‘ai a ka la&_macron;‘au
‘O ke Akua ke komo, ‘a‘oe komo kanaka

First Epic

Moamoa
Mountainside

Wai‘ololi&_macron; the product of males, Wai‘olola&_macron; of females
The Kakalamoa gives birth, it is found in the sea
Guarded by the Moamoa in the uplands
The night becomes tumultuous
Ranting, plants are sustained by water
The Gods enter, man does not have access

Pi‘i A‘e au i Kuahiwi

Na Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

I kekahi la&_macron;, ua ho‘oholo na&_macron; kumu o ko‘u kula e huaka‘i i ka Luapele ma Kilauea. Ua makemake la&_macron;kou e a‘o mai a ho&_macron;‘ike aku ia&_macron; ma&_macron;kou i kekahi mau mea i pili i ka luapele a me na&_macron; mea ‘epekema o ia wahi. Ua lawe aku kekahi alaka‘i ia&_macron; ma&_macron;kou ma na&_macron; alahele like ‘ole i ‘ike mua ‘ia ‘ole e ka nui o na&_macron; hauma&_macron;na.

Ua komo ma&_macron;kou i loko o ka nahele, ke kula, na&_macron; pae ku&_macron;kaepele a pe&_macron;la&_macron; wale aku. Eia na‘e ia&_macron; ma&_macron;kou i ka‘alo a‘e i ka pae ku&_macron;kaepele, ua ha&_macron;‘ule kekahi o na&_macron; hauma&_macron;na a ‘a‘ole i hiki ia&_macron; ia ke hanu. Ua maopopo na&_macron; hauma&_macron;na a pau, he ha&_macron;no&_macron; ko Keawe.

‘A‘ole ‘o Keawe i lawe mai i kona la&_macron;‘au lapa‘au ha&_macron;no&_macron; a ‘oiai ua pa‘a ma&_macron;kou a pau ma kekahi wahi i ‘ike ‘ole ‘ia e ka po‘e a he wahi mamao loa ia mai na&_macron; mea a pau o ke&_macron;ia ao, ua pono ma&_macron;kou e no‘ono‘o koke.

Ua a‘o mai kekahi kupuna ia&_macron; ma&_macron;kou i ke ‘ano la&_macron;‘au lapa‘au o ka moamoa. E haku lei ana kekahi o na&_macron; hauma&_macron;na me kekahi kupuna a ua ‘ako ‘ia na&_macron; mea kanu moamoa e ho‘okomo i loko o ka lei haku. I na&_macron; manawa a pau i haku ke kupuna wahine i kekahi mea kanu ua ha‘i mai ‘o ia ia&_macron; ma&_macron;kou i kekahi ‘ike no ia mea kanu.

Laki no&_macron; ma&_macron;kou no kona ha‘i ‘ana mai no ka moamoa a me kona ‘ano ola i ka ma‘i ha&_macron;no&_macron;. Ua ho‘i koke kekahi o ma&_macron;kou i loko o ka nahele e huli i na&_macron; moamoa a ina&_macron; ma‘a ‘oe i ka pi‘i i uka e ‘ako i na&_macron; la&_macron;‘au, maopopo ia&_macron; ‘oe, ina&_macron; pi‘i ‘oe i luna, e pule a noi no ke&_macron;ia mea kanu a e ‘ike koke ana ‘oe i ia mea. ‘A‘ole ma&_macron;kou i holo lo&_macron;‘ihi a ‘ike ‘ia ka mea kanu. Ia&_macron; ma&_macron;kou i ho‘i a‘e ua ho‘oma&_macron;kaukau ‘ia ka la&_macron;‘au a ha&_macron;‘awi ‘ia aku i ke keiki ha&_macron;no&_macron;.

Ua hau‘oli no&_macron; ma&_macron;kou a pau i kona hanu maika‘i hou ‘ana a ua ho‘i ma&_macron;kou i kahi ho‘okahua e ho‘opau i ka huaka‘i.

A Trip Up to the Mountains

By Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

One day, our teachers of my school decided to take a trip up to Volcano National Park. They wanted to teach and show us some things about the volcano and the scientific things of that place. One of the leaders took us on all kinds of trails that most of us never knew existed.
We entered the forest, the plains, the sulfur fields and all kinds of places. However as we were passing through the sulfur fields one of the students fell down and he couldn’t breathe. All the students knew that Keawe had asthma.

Keawe didn’t bring his asthma medicine with him and since we were stuck somewhere that wasn’t well known to a lot of people and it was a far area from all the new technologies we had to think fast.

An elder taught us about the healing power of moamoa. One of the students was braiding a lei with her grandmother and moamoa was gathered to put inside the lei. Every time the grandmother would braid in a different plant she would tell us some facts about the plant.

We were lucky that she told us about the moamoa and how it can heal asthma. Some of us quickly returned into the forest to find the moamoa and if you’re familiar with climbing to the uplands to collect plants, you know that when you go up there, pray and ask for the plant and you will soon see the plant. We didn’t search for very long before we found the plant. When we returned, we prepared the medicine and gave it to the student suffering from an asthma attack.

We were all relieved when he started to breathe easily and we returned back to our campsite to finish our excursion.

Kekahi ‘Ike Hou A‘e

Inoa Hawai‘i: Moa, Moamoa

Inoa Peleka&_macron;nia:

Inoa ‘Epekema: Psilotum spp.

Kona ‘ano: ‘A‘ohe lau o ke&_macron;ia mea kanu, eia na‘e he mau la&_macron;la&_macron; ‘ano ma&_macron;noanoa ‘o&_macron;ma‘oma‘o. I kekahi manawa he ‘ano melemele ka la&_macron;la&_macron; ke na&_macron;na&_macron; aku. ‘A‘ole ikaika loa ke&_macron;ia mea kanu, hiki ke haki koke ‘ia. Ulu ke&_macron;ia mea kanu ma ka ‘a&_macron;ina a i kekahi manawa ulu pu&_macron; ia mea kanu ma loko o na&_macron; kumu la&_macron;‘au.

‘Ikepili Hoihoi: Ho‘ohana ‘ia ke&_macron;ia la&_macron;‘au no ka la&_macron;‘au lapa‘au. Ke ho‘oma&_macron;kaukau ‘ia hiki ke ho‘ohana ‘ia no ka ha&_macron;no&_macron;, ka ‘o&_macron;kole hi&_macron; a me ka ‘ea.

More Information

Hawaiian Name: Moa, Moamoa

English Name:

Scientific Name: Psilotum spp.

Description: This plant doesn’t have any leaves, however it has thick green branches. Sometimes the branches are yellow. This isn’t a very strong plant and it breaks easily. This plant grows on land and sometimes this plant also grows inside the branches of trees.

Interesting Fact: This plant is used for medicine. When it is prepared you can use it for asthma, diarrhea and thrush.