Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 4, 1 ʻApelila 2015 — Poem for No Moku [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Poem for No Moku

TMs month's guest eolumnist is Mahealani Wendt of Wailuanui, East Maui, who wanted to share a poem she wrote for the mahi'ai kalo, lawai'a and traditional practitioners who are the lineal descendants of the original inhabitants of the ahupua'a of Ke'anae and Wailuanui, who still engage in the traditional practices of their kupuna, on their ancestral lands. "Na Moku" is a reference to

their community organization, "Na Moku Aupuni o Ko'olau Hui". The poem was written wMle she was a passenger in a car, driving the Hana Highway, on her way to make a presentation to the organization. She would like to thank Trustee Lindsey for her leadersMp in supporting the people of East Maui in their struggles for return of the wai. Poem For Na Moku One kumu hula's bruddah named Tommy Went cruise Hana Road with his Honey They was making all niee In dis green paradise When Tommy say "Honey, something funny — You wen notice dat no more one sound When we drive on the bridges around And wen we look up mauka Where onee had plenty wata Bone dry; wanda what stay da matta?" Den his honey say, "Tommy you right All da falls disappear out of sight And da hundreds of streams (Were dey just childhood

dreams?) Stay all gone, what could cause such extremes? They went leave Maui Isle all perplex Never know what to think or do next Jes so happen dey ran Into Ed and his fren Ed explain 'bout da problem complex Long ago they wen build dis big ditch 'Cross the Ko'olau hills

into whieh They divert every drop And nobody ean stop Them from taking whatevah dey wish For the state blesses all their endeavors It's all green lights, permissions and waivers Yes, collusion abounds And there's fear all around 'Cause control's in the hands of big players. They will take your job if you rebel "No make waves bout the wata" dev te11

So it seems a lost cause If for justice you pause Thev trv turn all vour

heavens to hell. But you know, it is right to resist So that pono again may exist So our children may say We took steps every day So the greedy would cease and desist; So the waters could onee again flow And the streams when they sing in the storm Could continue their song Ceaselessly, even long After rains in the skies stop their fall Let us pray true abundance returns And that all men tMough nature will learn Our true mission and worth While we dwell here on earth Is to keep God's creation from harm So o'opu ean onee again flourish So the kalo, the land again nourish And the streams ever llow As they did long ago And earth's bounty mankind ever cherish. ■

Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey Trustee, Maui

Ola i ka wai ! Members of Hālau o Nakaulakuhikuhi, Hāna, hike to a waterfall after working lo'i. - Courtesy photo