Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 10, 1 October 2023 — 'O Lahaina o ka Wai Hū i ke Pili [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'O Lahaina o ka Wai Hū i ke Pili

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

Na Kalani Akana, Ph.ū. He aina wela a he wahi malo'ohāhā 'i'o nō 'o Lahaina. Akā, 'a'ole ia he aina nele i ka wai. E nānā kākou, e nā hoa heluhelu o kēia

kolamu nei, i kekahi mau mo'olelo o na kūpuna e pili ana iā Lahaina me kona wai. I ka makahiki 1738, ua ho'ouka kaua 'o Alapa'i iā Maui e kaua me Kauhi'aimokuakama ma Lahaina. Ua kipi 'o Kauahi i kā Alapa'i 'ohana keikikāne 'o Kamehamehanui'ailū'au, ka ho'oilina ponot a Kekaulike.

'O ke kaua e kaua ai me Kauhi, he huli honua ke 'ano. He kaua maoli pū 'ole ka huli honua, a 'o ke kahawai o Kaua'ula, Kanahā, a me Mahoma [Kahoma], ke kahawai i pili iā Lahainaluna, 'o ia nā mea kaua. 'O ia ho'i, ua pani a ho'omalo'o 'ia nā lo'i a me nā kahawai i loa'a 'ole ka 'ai i nā koa o Kauhi, a i loa'a 'ole ka 'ai i kona mau maka'āinana. 'O Mauna Kahālāwai ka aina kumu wai o nā kahawai a me nā punawai o Lahaina a 'o ia ka wai i make'e nui 'ia e ka po'e mahikō, ka po'e i ho'ololi i ka aina a me ka mālama 'ana i ka wai o Lahaina. He mo'olelo pohihihi 'oko'a nō kēlā. 'O Lahaina o "ka wai hū i ke pili" kekahi māmala olelo a Kamakau i kākau ai i loko 0 "Ka Moolelo o Kamehameha l" ma ka Nupepa Kuokoa (11/1/1865) i huliko'a o ka hi'ohi'ona aina o Lele (Lahaina). Ma laila i waiho 'ia ai nā hoa hele o MōTkeha, 'o lāua ho'i 'o Pāha'a me Pana'ewa. Ua ho'olale 'ia lāua e noho ma laila ma muli o ka "wai hū 1 ke pili, nā 'āhui mai'a o Wai'anae (ma La-

haina kēia), nā wauke loloa o Pae'ohi, a me ka 'au mai a nā honu i ke kai." No laila, aia i hea ka wai a Kāne ma Lahaina? Aia i lalo, i ka honua, i ka wai hū! Nui hewahewa nā loko wai ma ke ahupua'a o Paunau ma Lahaina (nānā i ke ki'i). 'O ka loko wai nui loa 'o Mokuhinia, ka home o Kīhāwahine, ke kia'i o nā wai o Lele. Ma loko o Mokuhinia, aia kekahi 'ailana ma ka inoa 'o Moku'ula. Ma laila i ne'e ai, mai Hilo mai, nā ali'i 'o Keōpūolani, Nāhi'ena'ena, Kauikeaouli, a me kekahi a'e. Ma muli paha o ka 'olu'olu o ka malu 'ulu a me nā wai hū i ke pili, ua noho aupuni 'o Kamehameha III ma laila. Ua kūkulu 'o ia i kona hale ali'i 'o Hale Piula ma kai o Moku'ula ma ka pāpū pōhaku puna. I

ka ho'one'e 'ana o ke aloali'i a Kamehameha III i Honolulu mai Moku'ula a i ka ho'omaka 'ana o ka 'oihana mahi kō ma kahi o ka makahiki 1860, ua emi loa mai ka wai o Mokuhinia. I ka makahiki 1917, ua pau loa 'o Mokuhinia i ka ho'omalo'o 'ia a ua ho'opiha 'ia me nā ko'a o ke kope awa o Māla. Ua lilo ia i pāka no ka lehulehu ma ke kauoha a ke kiaaina 'o Lucius Pinkham ma ka makahiki 1918. Ua pau like pēlā paha nā loko wai e a'e o Lahaina. Pau i ka 'uhi 'ia. 'O ka nui o ka lako wai a me ka lako 'ai kekahi kumu o ke kipa 'ana o nā moku o koholā iā Lahaina. Ma kahi o ka makahiki 1840, ua ho'opuka mana'o kekahi

'elele 'Amelika i ka Mōī 'o Kauikeaouli e 'eli i kanela wai mai ke kahawai 'o Kahoma i kāhi o ka 'uapo e hiki i nā kelamoku ke ku ai i wai. Ua kupu a'e nā hale kū'ai like 'ole no ka po'e haole e like me ka hale inu lama a puni kēia kanela wai. He kumuwaiwai makamae nā wai o Lahaina. No ka maka'āinana, 'o ka wai mai nā kahawai ke ola o ka aina momona. No ka po'e ali'i, he mea hō'olu'olu nā wai hū a me nā loko wai. No ka po'e haole, he mea ia ka wai e ku ai aku, kuai mai a he mea e ho'owaiwai kanaka. E pua'i, e hū, e kahe hou nā wai o Lahaina! ■ KaMni Akana, Ph.D., is a kumu ofhuM, oli and 'ōleh Hawai'i, and a research analyst at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. He has authored numerous articles on Indigenous ways ofknowing and doing.

To read an English transMtion ofthe article, go to kawaioM.news

- is^it UOMAOt L— I ^ i crash-- J T5" =^v. /' Nd loko wai o Lahaina.