Ka Moʻolelo Walohia
o Haʻinakolo
A year of designs and stories
from within a moʻolelo kupuna
Joseph Mokuʻōhai Poepoe
Joseph Mokuʻōhai Poepoe
The version of Haʻinakolo that we celebrated with more than a year of designs is the one published as a daily serial in Ka Naʻi Aupuni (January 1, 1907 to May 1, 1908) and attributed to Hoʻoulumāhiehie. Several Hawaiian scholars acknowledge this as Joseph Mokuʻōhai Poepoe in collaboration with others. Poepoe was one of the foremost Hawaiian writers, scholars, and intellectuals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Haʻinakolo is one of several epic Hawaiian literary works that have stood the test of time. Others credited to Hoʻoulumāhiehie are Ka Moʻolelo o Hiʻiakaikapoliopele and Ka Moʻolelo Hiwahiwa o Kawelo. Poepoe also penned works under his own name, like the monumental Ka Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi Kahiko which is dense with genealogical knowledge and includes in it the Kāmehaʻikana story.
We will forever be in deep gratitude to Poepoe for his contribution to the preservation of the intellectual and cultural legacy of our kūpuna, the legacy of ʻike Hawaiʻi that we strive to perpetuate in what we do at Kealopiko.
Moʻolelo Overview
Haʻinakolo is the most famous beauty to ever come from Waipiʻo valley and a woman of immeasurable strength. Her mother, Hinaʻaiulunui, descends from Waipiʻo’s chiefly family and her father, Kūʻaikauaakama, comes from Kuaihelani, the legendary home of many akua and kupua. Like her aunty before her, Haʻinakolo is taken to her father’s homeland. There, she becomes the wahine of Keāniniʻulaokalani and they have a son named Leimakani. All is well until Keānini’s hānai parents, Makaliʻinuikūakawaiea and his wife Maʻū, use love magic to make him fall in love with their daughter, Hāpaimemeue.
Heartbroken and angry, Haʻinakolo goes against societal norms. She breaks the ʻaikapu twice, strikes a deal with Kanaloa, then leaves Kuaihelani on a waʻa with Leimakani. They nearly lose their lives at sea, but her ʻaumākua come to her aid and she and her young son survive the harrowing trip back home to Waipiʻo.
The trauma of the journey is compounded when Haʻinakolo's feet touch the shores of her beloved valley and she has a mental breakdown—the gods' punishment for defying the ʻaikapu twice. She abandons Leimakani on the sand, and wanders the forests of Waipiʻo in a deep depression.
Through isolation in nature, learning hula, and the help of her ʻaumākua and kūpuna, Haʻinakolo is healed and reunited with her family and Keāniniʻulaokalani. Not only does she heal, but she becomes one of the most accomplished hula dancers in all of the islands. We hear her name in mele that still survive and some hula practitioners have heard of her story.
Ka Moʻolelo Walohia o Haʻinakolo is a story of love, loss, and redemption in the life of this aliʻi wahine and her family, the chiefs of Waipiʻo. The events in their lives are woven into a compelling drama that spans four generations and focuses on relationships and lifestyle norms within the aliʻi class of society. Yet the challenges and lessons are universal, reminding us that many of the difficulties we face today our kūpuna also experienced in their time. And if they could overcome them, we can too.
Haʻinakolo's story begins with the meeting of her parents Hinaʻaiulunui and Kūʻaikauaakama at Hina's private bathing pool at Hiʻilawe in Waipiʻo. From Kū's home at the summit of Maunakea, he can see rainbows constantly arching over Waipiʻo. He makes a journey there, gifts Hina a lei poʻo and bouquet of lehua and the two quickly begin a romance.
Translation Feature 1: Ka Pāpahi Lei Lehua
On their first date, Hina very is impatient to consummate their aloha. She becomes frustrated with Kū’s approach and hastily voices (Haʻina) her complaints (kolo). This results in the naming of the daughter they have yet to concieve, Haʻinakolo.
Hina says that her daughter will wander the road feeling the same sadness she felt in that moment. We see these words take shape and play out in Haʻinakolo’s life.
Mana ka ʻōlelo - The word has power.
Hina and Kū have a traditional hoʻāo and Haʻinakolo is conceived. They begin their life together in ʻŌpaelolo, deep in the valley. Hina is guarded by her brother, Loheloa, the strongest man on Hawaiʻi Island.
As the couple settled into life together in the valley, things were fairly uneventful. Then one day a canoe arrived on the shores of Kanukuwai and a handsome man jumped out. It was Keaukānaʻi, an uncle of Kūʻaikauaakama from Kuaihelani who could also take the form of an ocean current.
He announced himself with a magic maʻa stone that Loheloa caught, then threw at the back of the valley causing the walls to crack and Waipiʻo's rivers to form.
Translation Feature 2: Nā Kahawai o Waipiʻo
Keaukānaʻi had come for a wife for Kaʻulawena, another chief in Kuaihelani. Hina's younger sister, Hiʻilei was chosen to go. Before she left with Keaukānaʻi, she and Hina made a pact that if Hina had a girl and Hiʻilei had a boy, they would be paired at maturiy.
Haʻinakolo was born with all the signs of a chiefess—nā ʻōuli hānau aliʻi—and raised by Hina in seclusion and under strict kapu (pālama ʻia) with lehua nectar as her bath water and hāwane (the nuts of the loulu palm) as one of her main foods.
The young chiefess grew into the most beautiful woman in all the islands. When she reached maturity, her aunty Luʻukia (younger sister of Hina) became deeply jealous of her beauty and irritated the her niece was the talk of the island. Enlisting the help of the two kāhuna who raised her, Luʻukia tried to kill Haʻinakolo with poisoned bundles of food. The two kāhuna used a swarm of pūlelehua and other flying insects to distract Moʻoinanea, who stood guard at the door of Haʻinakolo's house. But Kūwahailo came and spoke through Haʻinakolo, showing her the evil intentions of her aunty and saving her from death.
Translation Feature 3: Moʻoinanea
Haʻinakolo did not retaliate, but from that time on, Luʻukia began to isolate herself from the rest of the family.
Writer Moses Manu positions Moʻoinanea as an ancient progenitor being who separated itself into five lines: Aliʻi, akua, kāula, kahuna, and makaʻāinana. This suggests that our moʻokūʻauhau, the lines of descent that fill our long bones with mana and give strength to our iwikuamoʻo (spine), connect back to this powerful being.
When Haʻinakolo turned 15, Hina asksed Loheloa to travel to Kuaihelani to see if Hiʻilei had, in fact, had a son with whom Haʻinakolo could be paired.
Excited for a second journey to the land of akua and kupua, Loheloa had to first build himself a waʻa. He went up into the forest and took the biggest Koa tree he could find. The tree towered over the rest of the forest, ten times the height of the other trees, and ten men could join hands around its girth. From it was carved his canoe Hālaualiʻiokekoa, and also his paddle, Hoakakaihoeakalawakua.
Loheloa then went from Waipiʻo up the island chain fighting 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, Kūʻīlioloa, a supernatural monk seal.
Translation Feature 4: Nā Iʻa Kupua o ka Moana
An epic battle ensued and Kūʻīlioloa's grandmother, Pūpūkanioe, called their ʻaumākua to come to his aid: Niuhimoalawaokamoana, Kalupeokamoana, and Puhilaumilo.
Loheloa emerged victorious, with Kūʻilioloa becoming an ally. He paddled on and reached the shores of Kuaihelani, where he was reunited with his sister, Hiʻilei. He met her husband, Kaʻulawena, and their son, Keāniniʻulaokalani.
Although Loheloa thought he would bring Keānini back with him to Waipiʻo, he was enticed to stay there in Kuaihelani. Instead, Kūwahailo dispatched Keaumiki and Keaukā to go to Hawaiʻi and bring Keānini's wahine back.
Keaumiki and Keaukā made their way through the island chain meeting all the most beautiful young chiefesses, eventually finding their way to Haʻinakolo in Waipiʻo. They had expected to return quickly to Kuaihelani, but Haʻinakolo asked to stop in several places and on Oʻahu, where she got waylaid flying kites and playing pūhenehene. She even grew a huge hāliʻi maile, or shady mat of maile over a grove of Kou trees as a feast tent. She did this using a single hair from the head of one of her maile sisters, Mailelauliʻi.
All this carrying on with others compromised her kapu, so instead of traveling back to Kuaihelani with them, she had to go back to Waipiʻo and into seclusion. Annoyed, Keaumiki and Keaukā returned to Kuaihelani without her.
When Keaumiki and Keaukā returned to Kuaihelani without Haʻinakolo, Keāniniʻulaokalani knew he had to make the journey to her in Waipiʻo. He travelled there on his waʻa with an interesting crew and the two met in Waipiʻo. They did not have the traditional hoʻāo ceremony like Kū and Hina did. Instead they stayed alone, conceiving their child, Leimakani, in seclusion.
At six months pregnant, Keānini took Haʻinakolo back with him to Kuaihelani. Things quickly took a turn for the worst. Hāpaimemeue, Keānini's stepsister, decided she didn't like Haʻinakolo and wanted Keānini for herself. Her parents, Makaliʻi and Maʻū used love magic to take Keānini from Haʻinakolo. They came and kidnapped him in a rainbow net called kōkō a Makaliʻi.
After losing Keānini twice and breaking the ʻai kapu both times, Haʻinakolo decided it was time to return to Waipiʻo. On a waʻa provided by Kanaloa, she and Leimakani braved the ocean stretch between Kuaihelani and Hawaiʻi.
Translation Feature 5: Ke Ala Moana o ka Hoʻi ʻana mai
Their journey was incredibly harrowing. Kanaloa caused the seas to rage, but Keaulawe, the grandfather current, kept them from drowning, even when others in his family of currents kept overturning their waʻa. Mailelauliʻi, took the form of an ao kahaʻea, giving them shade from the harsh sun and rainwater to drink. And a huge pūnohu of limu lipoa and limu kala helped to float them when they lost their vessel. After several days and nights at sea, they made it home to Waipiʻo. Angered by her defiance (breaking the ʻai kapu), the gods punished Haʻinakolo by making her go crazy. As soon as her feet touched the shore at Kanukuwai, she lost her mind. She left Leimakani on the sand and wandered into the forests of Waipiʻo.
Our journey of design only covers the first two thirds of the moʻolelo, but the last third is also full of amazing things.
After Haʻinakolo disappears into the forest, the moʻolelo follows the journey of her son, Leimakani. He takes a wahine as a partner, conceives a child, and learns hula. We hear little detail about Haʻinakolo, but we know she walks the ʻāina in solitude and eventually also learns hula. When she emerges again, she is with one of two dance troupe that are traveling the islands and making a stir. Both groups, along with Leimakani's hālau, converge in the valley at an ʻaha hula.
There, Leimakani's hālau has their ʻūniki and the other groups perform. She is reunited with her son and the rest of her family. Keānini also comes to Waipiʻo, having finally left the grip of Hāpaimemeue. He and Haʻinakolo are reunited and spend the rest of their days together in Kīpahulu.
The last part of the story follows Leimakani's life and some significant challenges that arise with his newborn son. We encourage all of you to read the original moʻolelo to find out how it finishes.
Every part of this compelling tale is packed with rich language, engaging imagery, and so much ʻike Hawaiʻi. We hope this journey of design and the selected translation pieces help to bring you closer to this literary masterpiece of our kūpuna.
Pīpī holo kaʻao!!!
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