Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 10, 1 October 2022 — He Aha ka 'Ōlohe? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

He Aha ka 'Ōlohe?

V KA NA'AUAO O NA KUPUNA V ^ THE WISDOM OFTHE KŪPUNA "

Na Kalani Akana, Ph.D.

Mai ka pi'ina a ka lā i Ha'eha'e a i ka welona o ka lā i ka mole o Lehua. Aloha pumehana kākou. Ma kēia pukana o ka 'āha'ilono nei o Ka Wai Ola e nānā kākou i ka po'e olohe. 'O wai ia po'e olohe? Ma nā mo'olelo kāhiko, he kānaka ohulehule a no'eau loa i ka hana ha'iha'i iwi nā olohe. Ua kaulana 'o Mākua ma O'ahu komohana i kēia po'e olohe. Ma Mākua i hui ai 'o Makaioulu, kekahi ali'i koa, i kekahi mau pōā wāhine, he mau 'ōlohe i ma'a maiau i ka hana ha'iha'i iwi. 'A'ole he 'oihana no ke kāne wale nō ka 'oihana 'ōlohe. I 1 m nnnnnii n i

O Kapuaeuhi ka 'ōlohe kaulana 0 'Ōla'a. Na kāna mau kaikamahine 'elua i ho'opunihei i nā kama hele e kā'alo i ko ka makuakāne wahi pe'e. Ma laila kāhi āna i ho'ohā'ule ai 1 pōhaku kaumaha ma nā kānaka a make. Ma Ka'ū, ma waho iki a'e 'o

Kalapana, Puna, ua noho kekahi olohe me kāna mau kaikamahine 'elua kekahi. Inā nui nā kānaka e kā'alo ana, hea aku kekahi o lāua, "Kai ko'o," a 'a'ole 'āpo'ipo'i 'ia nā hoa hele. Inā kāhea kekahi kia'i, "Kai emi," ua kāka'ikahi nā kānaka a ma'alahi ka po'i 'ana i nā kānaka e pepehi a 'aihue i ko lākou waiwai. He mau po'e 'ai kanaka kekahi mau olohe i nā mo'olelo kāhiko. Pololei paha, 'a'ole paha. Ma O'ahu, aia kekahi 'ōlohe 'ai kanaka e noho ana ma Hanakāpīai ('a'ole ma Kaua'i wahi a Fornander). Ua hele aku kekahi me'e 'o Kapakohana e paio me ia. Ua 'ā'ume'ume aku, 'ā'ume'ume mai ā hiki i ka pepehi 'ia 'ana i ka 'ai kanaka e Kapakohana. A laila ua kūkulu 'o ia i oleolekauihu me nā iwi olohe.

He mana nui ko nā iwi o kekahi olohe wahi a nā po'e kahiko. 'Ōko'a nō na'e kēia mau 'ōlohe ma nā mo'olelo. Malia paha ua ho'oka'awale 'ia nā olohe o ke au kahiko mai kekahi aloali'i kāhi a lākou i lawelawe a ho'ohana ai i ko lākou no'eau i ka 'oihana ha'iha'i iwi, ka lua, a me ka ho'ohana 'ana i mea kaua. Kohu mea lā ua like nā olohe o ka mo'olelo kahiko me nā po'e ronin o Iāpana kahiko. 'A'ohe haku ma luna 0 lākou a laila ua hele ā 'auana a lapuwale. 'O ka olohe o nā kenekulia 1900 me nā 2000 he mau kānaka no'eau loa i ka 'oihana lua a me ka 'oihana hula kekahi. 'O Nāluahine Ka'ōpua o Kona ka mea i nīnauele 'ia e Henry Kekahuna e pili ana i ka 'oihana lua. Ua noho 'o Kaopua ma ka 'ao'ao Keauhou o Ke'ekū ma nā one o Mākole a ma Kahalu'u, Kona. Wahi a Ka'ōpua ua a'o kona kupunakāne i ka hula ma ka wā ao. A pō ka lā, ua lawe 'o Ka'ōpua 1 ke kukui i loko o ka hālau ma 'Umihale, ka pā hale o Lonoikamakahiki, a ua ho'omaka ke a'o 'ana i ka lua. Ua nānā wale 'o Ka'ōpua i ka hana 'oiai ua pāpā 'ia kona a'o 'ana mai e ka makuakāne e a'o i ka hana ho'oweliweli o ka lua. 'O kona mau mea ho'omana'o 'o ia ka 'ike i ho'opalapala 'ia e Kekahuna a e ola nei i o nā 'ōlohe o ia au. 'O nā olohe o ka lua a me ka hula he mau kānaka o'o a mākaukau loa ma kona 'oihana. 'Ike lākou i nā mo'oku auhau, mō'aukala, nā mo'olelo, nā mele, nā pule, me nā 'onina, kuhina, a me nā 'ai a pau o kona 'oihana. Hiki iā ia ke haku i mele, pule, a i papahana hō'ike. He kumu a'o ka olohe a he "shihan" a i 'ole he kumu o nā kumu nō 'o ia. 'A'ole 'ike 'o ia i kona 'oihana wale nō akā maopopo iā ia i nā hana no'eau like 'ole e pili ana i kona 'oihana, e la'a ka lā'au lapa'au, ka hana mea kaua, hana mea hula, a pēlā aku. 'O ka olohe ka polopeka o ke kula nui oiwi. 'A'ole i kana mai kona akamai a me kona na'auao. No laila, e hō'ihi kākou i nā 'ōlohe o kēiau au mālamalama. ■ Kalani Akana, Ph.D., is a kumu ofhula, oli and 'ōlelo Hawai'i, and a research analyst at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. He has authored numerous articles on Indigenous ways of knowing and doing.

To read this article in English, go to kawaiola.news.

Naluahine Kaopua - Photo: Courtesy