Hoʻi Hou o Kanaloa i Ke Kai...E Ola mau loa na iwi

The following kanikau, or chant of lamentation, was written to honor the bones of the beloved humpback whale that was recently returned to the sea of Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe. E Ola nā iwi!

​Haliʻa Aloha Ke Koholā i Ke Kai O Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe

Nānā mai Honuaʻula iā ke ʻAlākeiki
​
Aia ka iewe, ʻo Molokini    
Aea ʻo Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe
​
Ua hoʻohānau iā ʻoe e nā naiʻa
Ua hānau ʻoe i ke kai o Kanaloa    

​
​Ua poliʻai a anapau
ʻAumoana iā nā kai ʻelima -            ʻAlalākeiki, ʻAlenuihāhā, Auau,        Kalohi a Kealaikahiki
Ua ili ma Kūheia, ola nā iʻa
​
Ua hānaiʻai nā manō, nā papaʻi, nā    puhi a i nā mea ola pau pū o ke      kai
Mai kou ola mai ke ola    

ʻAuwē, ʻuwē, ʻuwē
Aia i hea ʻoe
ʻAʻole lohe ke kuʻi o kou pahu ma      Hakioawa
ʻAʻole ʻike kou lele ma Ahupū
​
ʻAʻole lohe ke kani o kou leo i ke      kai ma Kūheia
​ʻAʻole ʻike ke ani o kou i hiʻu ma        Kealaikahiki    
Ua ʻimi iā ʻoe i ke ʻakoʻakoʻa ma        Maunalei

ʻAuwē, ʻuwē, ʻuwē
Kaulaʻi nō ʻoe ma Kīhei    
Pū alewa ma Māmala ma ke kai        Kuloloiʻa
ʻAuwē, ʻuwē, ʻuwē

Hoʻi nō ʻoe i kou kai hānau o              Kanaloa    
Hoʻi nō ʻoe ma Kanaloa                      Kahoʻolawe
Eō mai!    
E ola nā iwi o kēia koholā aloha 
​   

Lele wale ka manaʻo
Lele i ke kai
Lele i ka lewa
ʻĀmama, ua noa

I look from Honuaʻula towards the    ʻAlalākeiki Channel
There is the afterbirth, Molokini
Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe rises out of     the ocean
​The naiʻa assist in your birth
You were born in the sea of             Kanaloa

​You nursed and frolicked
You roamed the five channels -       ʻAlalākeiki, ʻAlenuihāhā, Auau,
 Kalohi and Kealaikahiki
Stranded at Kūheia, the marine        life thrived
You nourished the sharks, the           crabs, the eels, and all living           things together of the sea
From you life, came life.

Lament, sorrow,
Where were you?
I could not hear the pounding of       your drum at Hakioawa
​I could not see you breaching at       Ahupū
I could not hear your song under       the ocean at Kūheia
I could not see thee waving of           your tail at Kealaikahiki
I looked for you at the gathering       (of whales) at Maunalei

Lament, sorrow,
You were hung and dried at Kīhei
Suspended at Honolulu harbor near the sea of Kuloloiʻa
Lament, sorrow

Now you return to the ocean of your birth of Kanaloa
Now you return to Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe
Answer
Long live the bones of this beloved humpback whale
​

Nā Pōmaikaʻi a me Noa, Kaimalino, Oʻahu August 2018

Click on the file below for the official press release shared by the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources.

nr-humpback_whale_returned_to_the_ocean_after_32_years.pdf
File Size:	175 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---