Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 3, 1 March 1988 — Naupaka Flower Legend is a Tale of Lovers [ARTICLE]

Naupaka Flower Legend is a Tale of Lovers

In ancient Hawaii, when the land was still shrouded in the mists of Pele's fire, and when Kane ruled graciously, the princess Naupaka, according to the kupuna, fell in love with a eommon man. Her people of the mountains, and his of the seashore, made their love forbidden. And so it was that by the light of the moon she would slip down from the mountains following a trail made of seashells to the sea. In the silver moonlight, the trail would sparkle like diamonds, thrilling the princess with every step in anticipation of meeting her lover. But the princess and the commoner could not meet without prying eyes discovering their secret. The princess Naupaka and her lover were found in their trysting plaee, and her people took her away. But before she was torn from her lover's arms, her tears rained down upon a lovely flower that onee grew by the sea. That flower, onee whole, split at that moment forever. Today, one ean find one half of the Naupaka flower blooming on or near the sandy beaches of the islands. In the mountains, perhaps by long unused trails that glisten faintly with half covered seashells, a walker ean find the other half of the Naupaka. In celebration of the Year of the Hawaiian and now Ho'olokahi, may friends, families and lovers again be together and may we further embrace our Hawaiian culture.