Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 3, 1 March 2023 — Laka Wahine, Laka Kāne [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Laka Wahine, Laka Kāne

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

Na Kalani Akana, Phū. Aia 'elua kanaka kaulana me ka inoa 'o Laka ma loko o ka mō'aukala kahiko Hawai'i. Ho'okahi he wahine a he akua 'o ia o ka po'e hula. Ho'okahi he kāne a he kupuna 'o ia no nā Hawai'i a me ka po'e o ka Pākipika e like me nā Tahiti, nā Māori, Sāmoa, Tonga a pēlā aku. 'O Laka wahine ke akua o ka hula. Ma luna o ke kuahu hula, aia kekahi palaka o ka lama i kālai 'ole 'ia a i wahī 'ia i ke kapa melemele 'ōlena,'o ia ke kino o Laka. 'O ka maile kekahi o kona kinolau a ua ho'owehiwehi 'ia kona wahi kuahu me nā weuweu 'a'ala o ka waonahele e like me ka palai, ka pala'ā, ka lehua, a pēlā aku nō. Wahi a Moke Manu, ua a'o 'ia 'o Laka i ka hula ma Maunaloa i Moloka'i komohana e kona kaikua'ana 'o Kapo'ulakīna'u (Kapo). 'O Nāwahineli'ili'i a i 'ole 'o Kewelani ko Laka inoa ma mua. I mea e ho'oka'awale ai i kā Laka mau kuleana kumu hula, ua kapa hou 'o Kapo iā Kewelani ma nā inoa 'o Laea, Ululani, a me Laka. 'O Laka nō na'e ka inoa i lohe pinepine 'ia ma nā mele a ma nā mo'olelo. Nāna nō 'o Laka ke kumu i a'o a ho'olaha i ka hula i ka pae mokupuni. 'O Laka (Rata) kāne, he kupuna hanohano 'o ia i 'ike 'ia puni ka moana Pākīpika. 'O ia ke keiki a Wahieloa, ke keiki a Kaha'i-a-He-ma. Ua hānau 'ia 'o ia ma Kīpahulu, Maui. Ma hope o ka hānau 'ia 'ana 'o Laka, ua ha'alele 'o Wahieloa e

'imi i makana no kāna keikikāne. Ua hopu 'ia nō na'e ka makuakāne i Ka u no ka molia 'ana ma ka luaahine. Ma ko Laka o'o 'ana ua pi'i kona 'i'ini e huli i kona makuakāne. Komo 'o ia i ka waonahele a kua 'ia a hina ke kumu lā'au kūpono no kekahi wa'a a waiho 'ia ke kumu a pō ke ao. Ma ko Laka ho'i 'ana e kāla'i i wa'a i ke kākahiaka, ua ho'iho'i 'ia i kona kū pololei 'ana. Pēlā nō ka hana— kua, hina, a ho'i ke kumu lā'au i ke kūlana kū pololei. No laila ua no'ono'o 'o Laka e hana 'āpiki e hopu i nā alaka'i o nā po'e hana kolohe (he po'e menehune ma kekahi mana mo'olelo). Ma ka mana mo'olelo i ha'i 'ia e Jonah Kawai'ae'a no Kīpahulu, ua hopu 'ia 'elua akua waonahele, 'o Mōkūhāli'i lāua 'o Kūpā'aike'e a na laua i ho'ohiki e kālai a kāpili i wa'a no Laka me nā akua o ka wao (menehune) i loko o ho'okahi pō mahina. Aia a pau ka wa'a, ua hele 'o Laka me kekahi mau kāko'o i Puna e ki'i i nā iwi o Wahieloa. Aia kekahi mana mo'olelo o kēia no Hilo a malia paha aia kekahi mau mana mo'olelo no Laka ma nā mokupuni like 'ole. No laila, 'o wai ka Laka i ho'omana'o 'ia ma ka inoa wahi pana 'o Ahu o Laka ma Kāne'ohe? Mea mai kekahi 'o kēia Laka ke akua o ka wao a me ke akua o ka hula. Mea mai kekahi a'e 'o kēlā Laka ke keikikāne a Wahieloa a 'o kona ahu no ka ho'olana 'ana i kona wa'a. Koe aku ia. Ola nō na'e ka inoa o Laka i loko o ka inoa wahi pana 'o Ahu o Laka. ■ Kalani Akana, Ph.D., is a kumu of hula, oli and 'ōlelo Hawai'i, and a research analyst at the Office ofHawaiian Affairs. He has authored numerous articles on Indigenous ways ofknowing and doing. To read an English translation of the article, go to kawaiola.news