Nā Iʻa Kupua o ka Moana

Some background on Loheloa's Second Journey to Kuaihelani

Haʻinakolo is a Hawaiian epic, a tale told in daily instalments over 16 months. As such, there are many important characters on whom the spotlight is cast at different times, each with their own journey. Among them is Hinaʻaiulunui’s kaikunāne (younger brother), Loheloa, who was widely regarded as Hawaiʻi Island’s strongest man and was a kupua in his own right.

As was common for kaikunāne of that time, Loheloa protected Hina, ensuring her wellbeing and that of her family. While Hina was carrying Haʻinakolo in her belly, a kupua named Keaukānaʻi came to Waipiʻo from Kuaihelani in search of a wife for Kaʻulawena, a chief of that land. It was decided that Hiʻilei, one of Hina’s younger sisters, would be his wahine.

Before Hiʻilei’s departure, she and Hina agreed that if Hina had a girl and Hiʻilei had a boy, the two would be paired at maturity. Loheloa accompanied Hiʻilei and Keaukānaʻi to Kuaihelani to ensure safe passage and bring word of that land back to Waipiʻo. He completed this mission and returned home to Waipiʻo.

When Haʻinakolo reached fifteen, Hina and Kū asked Loheloa to make a second journey to Kuaihelani to see if Hiʻilei had indeed had a son for Haʻinakolo to marry.

After felling the largest koa in the forest to make a massive canoe and a paddle, Loheloa went from Waipiʻo up the island chain and fought all the strongest aliʻi and kupua he could find.

Kauaʻi was his last stop, and when he entered the long stretch of ocean between there and Kuaihelani, he encountered one of the fiercest kupua of his whole journey...

Ka Nai Aupuni
15 Mei 1907

When Loheloa reached the open ocean and Kauaʻi disappeared from sight, the shadows of the sea began to swallow Niʻihau and he could see the water being whipped into a frenzy. The omens in the firmament of floating clouds displayed peculiar signs. When Loheloa saw these incredible portents, he uttered this chant of supplication:

NUMBER 27
Kūhailimoe stirs,
It is Kūhulukū, Kūhuluhulu,
Kūkapauli, Kūkapao,
Kūpulupulu, a storm comes,
The heavens are stormy, the ocean is stormy,
The clouds there in Hākoʻilani are agitated,
The gate of Kūlanihākoʻi bursts open,
A tempest—
Seagoing Son in harm's way, friendless,
O Kū!
Mind the rascals and rogues of the ocean,
Grant life to me, Loheloa, Maʻaʻalāloa,
Your descendant from the great source.

When this chant was done, the ocean calmed in all directions, lightning flashed, and thunder boomed. When this display quieted, Loheloa saw a mass of red mist moving over the ocean towards him. This red billow came within just a few fathoms of where his canoe floated, then the mist parted and he saw an extremely beautiful woman atop the wings of birds, and she was surrounded by 12 rainbows.

Then, the beautiful woman said, “Loheloa! Hero from Hawaiʻi Kuauli! Your prayer has been heard. Forge ahead until you reach the shores of Kuaihelani, there you will search and find me, your companion. I am a grandchild of Kūwahailo, just like you. And my name, so you know it, is Kahaliʻaikeaoʻōpua. Have great patience and you shall drink of Kuaihelani’s delicious spring.”

When the young woman, Kahaliʻaikeaoʻōpua, finished speaking, she disappeared from Loheloa’s sight. And this child of ʻŌwakailunaikeaouli said to himself, “How incredible! The words of the extraordinary one who just revealed herself were like a gentle shower. I doubt I’d be suitable for you.” But the glorious features of this young woman of Kuaihelani persisted in his vision. The first signs of love began budding in his heart for this beautiful one of Kuaihelani, and he said, “Unbelievable that she could desire this scary face.”

Here, reader, we shall leave our discussion of Loheloa and Kūʻīlioloa fighting in the deep, dark sea, and we will turn our attention to Pūpūkanioe, Kūʻīlioloa’s powerful kupuna wahine (grandmother).

On this day when Loheloa, Waipiʻo’s undefeated son, fought with Kūʻīlioloa, Pūpūkanioe was at the shore gathering limu. While she was picking limu, a huge, tall wave pitched up and crashed in the ocean, causing the water to rush inland.
Pūpūkanioe ran with all her might, but was taken up and deposited inland unconscious. When she came to, she said to herself, crying, “Ugh! I just barely escaped and almost died today! What is this trouble in the ocean that the waves should come and cover the land like this?

Then she walked back down to the shore to find that it was calm and peaceful.
When she reached the water’s edge, she saw, with great alarm, that pieces of this red limu were left scattered about on the sand. She looked at this limu carefully, grabbing it up into the palm of her hand. When she examined it again, she realized it was the limu ʻeleʻele that she had been gathering in the days just prior. But she was amazed to see the red color of this limu. She gave it a sniff and promptly realized that all she could smell was the odor of monk seal blood.

She became puzzled by this strange phenomenon. “What has caused this limu that I have been picking these past few days to become red, and to reek of monk seal as I now smell?”

That’s when she heard the cry of a seal howling in the ocean. It was wailing at its death by the hands of a strong man from Hawaiʻi Kuauli whose name was Loheloa.

When Pūpūkanioe heard this crying monk seal voice, she instantly knew that it was her grandchild, Kūʻīlioloa. She then cried out of love for her grandchild. When she stopped weeping, she called her shark brother, Niuhimoalawaokamoana.

NUMBER 28
O Niuhimoalawaokamoana,
The white tipped shark of the ocean!
O fish of the deep sea with tough, coarse skin
Awake, for death nears,
Blood runs in the ocean,
Stench and misfortune come ashore.

Then Pūpūkanioe actually spoke to her brother, saying, “You must try to save our grandchild. Here is his blood, running in the ocean; the limu is stained red. Our grandson’s blood is beseeching us, his elders. And he will survive by you, Niuhimoalawa.”

When she was done calling her shark brother, she called the hīhīmanu of the deep dark sea.

Number 30
Awake! Awake ray of the sea,
Spotted ray of the depths,
The ray, the hailani of Pūpūkanioe,
There he is! Our grandson—
Kūʻīlioloa, the monk seal of the rough waters,
Whose life has been driven out by Loheloa,
Awake, rescue him.

When she finished calling her hīhīmanu brother, she called her puhi laumilo brother.

Number 31
O Puhilaumilo!
Eel that lives in the mouth of the cave,
The fish that slips from the grasp,
The one that glides smoothly in the ocean,
May these ones come forth, may those ones come forth,
Rush from the Kona seas, from the Koʻolau seas,
Come in force,
Come to our grandson, to Kūʻīlioloa,
Kū of the sharp, razor teeth,
There, his life has been taken,
The breath of life leaving because of Loheloa,
The supernatural, the rogue, the strong one of Waipiʻo,
Arise!

When each of Pūpūkanioe’s appeals to her three brothers were done, the sea began to get blustery and the dorsal fin of a tiger shark was seen moving in the ocean. Similarly, a ray and a gap-toothed eel broke the surface of the water.

As they moved on a path to arrive at the battle site where Loheloa and Kūʻīlioloa were fighting, Loheloa caught a glimpse of them. He was not the only one to see them, but Puaʻahiwalani, in his humuhumu fish form, also saw these fierce brothers of Pūpūkanioe moving, the kūpuna of Kūʻīlioloa.

As Pūpūkanioe’s brothers moved through the furious billows of the ocean, that’s when Puaʻahiwalani and his legions of humuhumu also advanced.

Your author is not mistaken in saying in this place in our story, dear reader, that the three brothers of Pūpūkanioe that we see were like “battleships” and the humuhumu fish, the many bodies of Puaʻahiwalani, were like a pack of torpedos. This was truly the level of these seagoing kupua that we are seeing.

Kūʻīlioloa’s supporters moved forward and the small kupua of Loheloa’s side advanced. Pūpūkanioe stood on the land, uttering her powerful prayers for Loheloa’s death and Kūʻīlioloa’s escape. Because Kūʻīlioloa was a very powerful being, when his insides were torn out, as we just saw, some life still remained in his flesh and bones.

WWhen Pūpūkanioe’s three kupua brothers met up with Puaʻahiwalani, a great war was waged between the two sides. This was a war of the fish of the deep, fought in their extraordinary forms.

All the eels of the ocean were in one circle, the rays in the next circle, and the tiger sharks in the last circle. Puaʻahiwalani schooled as one with his many humuhumu fish bodies. These two sides came together in one spot and a fierce war commenced between them.

In this battle of the hyenas of the ocean, Puhilaumilo and his forces were killed by Puaʻahiwalani, and many of his eel bodies were swallowed up by the tiger sharks of the deep, dark sea.

Loheloa saw his ocean companion (Puaʻahiwalani) battling with the three kupua of the island of Pūpūkanioe, and he proceeded to grab Kūʻīlioloa by the neck and twist him, like someone breaking the neck of a rooster. This kupua monk seal thrashed with all his might, but he could not escape Loheloa’s stranglehold.

Then, the voice of this monk seal’s spirit called out to Loheloa, saying, “O Loheloa! I ask you to let me live, O mighty son of Hawaiʻi Kuauli. Spare my life, so that I may live in service to you.”

[Loheloa responded,] “You shall live, Kūʻīlioloa, for your plea is sincere.” Loheloa immediately released the neck of the monk seal. He grabbed his tongue and innards and shoved them back into Kūʻīlioloa’s body, then performed a prayer of revival, restoring Kūʻīlioloa to his former state.

The monk seal then spoke, “I thought I was the strong one, but it turns out that my strength was nothing in the face of yours, Loheloa. Had I not asked you to spare my life, this would be the last day I knew the warmth of the sun. Truly, Loheloa, you are so powerful. It is a strength unknown to me. And my elders—Niuhimoelawa, Hīhīmanu, and Puhilaumilo—who are daring to challenge you, have also underestimated your might. So, I ask you to please not exert your force on my grandfathers. Unfortunately, one of my them has died at the hands of Puaʻahiwalani and my shark and ray elders remain. So, let them live. It is your voice that Puaʻahiwalani will listen to.”

“Well then,” Loheloa replied, then continued speaking, “I shall let them live if, indeed, they still have life in them, but if they have been defeated then I shall finish them off. And as per your request, Kūʻīlioloa, I shall call off my sea-traveling companion.” He called Puaʻahiwalani with the following chant:

Number 31
O Puaʻahiwalani!
My puaʻa cloud in the sky,
I call to you,
Hear my voice,
Turn around, come back to your keeper,
Let the battle be over, let the fighting end,
Release the anger, leave aside the rage,
Retreat—

Puaʻahiwalani heard the call of his keeper, Loheloa, and that is when he turned around and came back to where Loheloa had called him from. And at this time when Puaʻahiwalani returned, Niuhimoalawa and Hīhīmanunuiokai had become a bit weak.

Puaʻahiwalani came back in his fish form to where Loheloa floated in his canoe, and Kūʻīlioloa had gone off to reunite with his kūpuna kāne. Loheloa then said to his traveling companion, “Listen here, my friend with whom I travel the vast ocean. I called to you to end the fighting with Niuhimoalawa and Hīhīmanunui, the kūpuna of Kūʻīlioloa, as he requested of me. I know they will not vanquish you, for you have strength and power that comes from our lord in Kuaihelani, from Kūwahailo.”

When Kūʻīlioloa reached the place where his kūpuna kāne where waiting, he said to them, “Harken, my kūpuna kāne, Niuhimoalawa and Hīhīmanunui. I came to get you two for you to meet with the grandchild of Kūwahailo, with Loheloa, from Waipiʻo. He is the enemy you were fighting and by whom my kupuna kāne Puhilaumilo died, but you two shall not reach the time when the breath of life leaves your bodies. So, we must not tarry. If you two persist in fighting with Puaʻahiwalani, you will return to our land in spirit form, like your cousin.”

“Well, there we are,” said Niuhimoalawa and Hīhīmanunuiokai, “Let’s go meet this grandson of ours. He is no other than an actual blood relative of ours, different only in that he’s steeped the sacred protocols of the gods of Keʻalohilani and had Kūwahailo’s great mana bestowed upon him. And this humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa is also a relation of Kūwahailo.”

They traveled together and reached the place where Loheloa was floating, as he had jumped out of the water onto his canoe after reviving Kūʻīlioloa. When Kūʻīlioloa and his kūpuna kāne arrived, Niuhimoalawa and Hīhīmanu quickly apologized for their wrong in attempting to challenge Loheloa.

When these elders of the sea were done expressing their remorse before Loheloa, he bestowed full forgiveness upon them, saying, “I do not travel this vast ocean on a journey of evil intentions. And the two of you shall see, elders and your grandchild, that life is of great value to me. If someone should challenge me with his strength and choose not to heed my warning, then I will deal death to them.

"Now that we have met, I am off. Before the sun sets, I shall arrive in Kuaihelani, if I don't run into other fierce fighters of the deep ocean, like Honunuimaʻemaʻe and other kupua. However, if they have caught wind of this unintentional conflict that wound us up here, then they will understand that my reaching land is the right thing.”