Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 5, 1 May 2021 — 'Alekoko: Ka Hana Kupanaha a ka Menehune [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'Alekoko: Ka Hana Kupanaha a ka Menehune

j KA NAAUAO O NĀ KŪPUNA ^ > THE WISDOM 0F THE KŪPUNA f

Na Kalani Akana, Ph.D. 'Alekoko ka inoa o kekahi ali'i M ^ o Puna, Kaua'i. 'O Kalālālehua I ■ (Hāhalua) kona kaikuahine ali'i M wahine. Noho lāua ma Niumaluma ha'i o ke kahawai 'o Hulā'ia (Hulā'ia). Ma muli o ko lāua make'e i loko wai i'a, ua kauoha 'ia ka po'e Menehune e kūkulu a kāpili i kekahi loko wai i'a ma ka nuku wai o Hulā'ia. Ua 'ae ke ali'i o lākou e hana i ka loko wai inā hāhai nā ali'i 'elua i ke kapu Menehune - 'o ia ho'i, 'a'ole hiki iā lāua ke nānā i kā lākou hana 'ana. Ua ho'ohiki nā ali'i. No laila, e hana ana nō ua po'e Menehune nei a ao ka pō a pau pono ka hana.

He po'e kaulana ia mau Menehune ma Kaua'i a puni i ka 'oihana kūkulu. 'O ke ali'i kaulana o ia lāhui 'o Ola. Kaulana ā hiki i kēia lā kā lākou mau hana kupanaha: ka 'auwai 'o Kīkī-a-Ola ma Waimea; 'o Hālau-a-Ola, he ulu lā'au koa a he kūlana kauhale a Ola; ke Kīpapa-a-Ola, he ala hele kīpapa i o Alaka'i; a me kēia hana kaulana 'o 'Alekoko. 'O kā lākou hanohano ke kumu i kapa 'ia ai ka loko wai i'a 'o 'Alekoko, 'o ia ka "Menehune Fishpond.

Wahi a Katherine Luomala (1951), he lāhui 'oko'a nā Menehune i hiki 'ē mai i Kaua'i ma mua o nā Hawai'i no Tahiti me Nu'uhiwa. He po'e poupou, 'ilikou, a no'eau i ke hana kūkulu. Ma Kahiki, ko lākou kulāiwi, kapa 'ia lākou 'o lākou nā "Manahune" a he mau kānaka lawelawe nō lākou - 'ilihune ko lākou mana. Ma muli o ka ho'omāino, hō'ino 'ana e nā ali'i ke kumu paha o kā lākou ha'alele 'ana mai Kahiki. 'A'ole i kapa 'ia 'o 'Alekoko no ka inoa o ke ali'i wale nō. Wahi a ka mea ha'i mo'olelo Kaua'i kaulana 'o Fred Wiehman, 'o ka hiki 'ole a 'Alekoko me Kalālālehua ke mālama i ke kapu Menehune ke kumu o ka inoa 'o 'Alekoko. Penei ka mo'olelo. Ma muli o ka hana kuli o ke kani pohā, kani wahie a ka pōhaku ma kekuapapa, kupa'ipa'i, a kāpili 'ana, ua nīele aki'ei, hālō nā ali'i 'elua i ka hana a nā Menehune. 'O ka nānā hewa nō ia a 'Alekoko meKalālālehua, ua kū ka hana a nā Menehune. Kauoha ke ali'i Menehune, 'o Ola paha, iā lākou e ho'okū i ka hana, holoi i ka lima ma nā 'ale o ka loko wai, a ho'i i kauhale. Ua koko ko lākou lima no ka mea 'a'ole pāhe'ehe'e nā pōhaku. He mau pōhaku nihoniho a 'a'anapu'u no Wahiawa mai. Kūmaumau nā Menehune mai Wahiawa ā hiki i Niumalu, ma kahi o 'iwakalua mile, a hāpai li'ili'i aku, hāpai aku i nā pōhaku nui i laila i ka pō'ele'ele o ka pō. Ma Niumalu, ua kā a kālai 'ia na pōhaku nihoniho e hiki i nā limahana ke kāpili pono a pili likiliki nā pōhaku kekahi i kekahi. He mea kupanaha nō kēlā hana ma Hawai'i a puni. Ho'okahi wale nō noi a lākou Menehune - e mālama i ke kapu. Inā 'a'ole hiki i ke ali'i ke mālama i ke kapu, ke kānāwai, he pono ke waiho wale nā limahana i ka hana. Mau nō ka hana kupanaha a kēia lāhui kānaka, nā Menehune, ā hiki i kēia lā. 'O kekahi pono nui o ia mo'olelo 'o ia nō - e mālama i kāu i ho'ohiki ai! E mālama ho'i i ke kanaka nui a me ke kanaka li'ili'i; ka po'e mana nui a me ka po'e mana hune. E mālama iā 'Alekoko. ■ Kalani Akana, Ph,D., is the culture specialist at OHA. He is a kumu of hula, oli anā 'ōlelo Hawai'i. He has authored numerous articles on Indigenous ways ofknowing and doing. To read this article in English, go to kawaiola. news.

An archival pholo of 'Alekoko Fishpond from the webpoge of "Ho'okuleono" - Photo: Peter Young