Author Archives: Dan Murphy

Playing Games in Naiwa – Part 2

Friday, November 20th, 2009

In our last episode, our hero has forgotten about home, and most likely his woman, after arriving in Kalae at the makahiki playing field. With all its ceremony, games and betting, there is indeed much excitement. 

In the evenings during makahiki time, the chiefs wait with their court for the master of ceremony to announce activities, name dancers, and give other details.  The emcee in this story, who is tall and thin with red hair, is named Kalaeloa.  It is said that Kalae is named after him. 

Kalaeloa walks among the crowd gathered looking to crown with a lei po`o the male and female athletes who will lead the games of the evening. He decides upon a beautiful woman with red hair and announces that four men will also be chosen, whether they are commoners or chief, to play in the night’s games.

Although the translation I am using was done by Mary Kewena Pukui, I was surprised when I read the original Hawaiian that some of the place names were changed.  In this chant, Haena is substituted for Ka`ana.  Haena is a place on Kauai which at one point was considered one of the origins of the hula.  Ka`ana is believed to be the birth place of hula by the people of Molokai.  The chant below as Kalaeloa uses it to praise the beauty of the girl he has chosen to wear the lei.

You have to keep the punctuation of the actual chant.  You can arrange the translation anyway you like but keep the original punctuation..
Hulili maopu ka la, wela Maunaloa - The glaring sun heats Maunaloa
Halialia na lehua o Kaana - The lehua blossoms of Haena dream of it,
Holoi mapu i ka wai mapu a ke kupa-e! - Their fragrance fills the streams for the native sons!
Aia la iluna o Luahinehaele, - There on the top of Luahinehaele
Ka elele pa makani a ka Ikioe mailalo - Comes the messenger, the Ikioe wind from below.
A popo, a uka o Kawaeku, - Coming in a gust to the upland of Kawaeku,
Kuehuehu I ka uka o Kalaeloa - And scattering dust up on Kalaeloa
Inoino aku la Kaolohia i ka makani - Kaiolohia suffers a wind storm.

Shouting and cheering, the crowd approves of the woman who is chosen.  She partners with a number of other girls and begins the game of puhenehene, or the game of hidden stones. 

The woman introduces herself as Koa`ekea and then chants:

Ola  Kaluakoi i ka ua naulu. - Kaluakoi is given life by the naulu rains.
Hehihehi keiki o Keonelele. - That pelt the natives sons of Keonelele.

Playing Games in Naiwa – Part 1

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

This story about Naiwa was originally written in 1921 in the Hawaiian language newspaper, Kuokua in three increments. In 1952 an English version of the story showed up in the newspaper Ka Leo O Molokai, written by Molly Reppun. Another version can be found in the private collections of Marsha Camera. It tells us a lot about the makahiki, the places and some of the customs from a time period right before Kamehameha’s wars.

The story begins in Waikolu. Our main character lives there with his extended family and his wahine. A grandfather begins to tell all the residents to get ready for the upcoming games to be played in Kalae. He says, he still has strength in his old bones and if friends and family bet on his skills, they will have many “goods” to carry home on their backs. Our hero decides to stay home with his “Niihau basket,” or woman, rather than to travel with the group. When the group returns, they are laden with wealth from the games.

The next time the grandfather gathers the men together, our hero decides to join them. But some of the women are sly in their comments about how dressed up some of the men are. This creates some anxiety in our hero who reassures everyone that he has only one woman in his heart. The men talk among themselves about creating a delay in their trip which they believe will stress out our hero. They agree to stay at a house an extra night in Kalaupapa to gather a bigger group before going up the pali to Kalae.

In the prelude to the games, the story’s details of the people, the place names and metaphors are amazing. The area of Kalae was ruled by two “good” chiefs. What made them good? They did not engage in war and burden the people with it. Instead, these two got along quite well and as a result hosted the games. The author tells us that story takes place during the time of “our grandfathers” and before foreign food, “Kahaolekaukau”.

This time the grandfather gives his walking stick to another and instructs the group to remember to carry the god with them when they travel. They gather from Waikolu, Wailau, Pelekunu and Halawa before climbing the cliffs. Others travel from as far away as Kaana with its lehua. The iwa birds soar above as they reach their destination. The famous and well known chant, “Aia Molokai Kuuiwa” first appears in this tale.

Before the games, there is ceremony and speeches. And the master of ceremonies invites the young men to enjoy the dancing of the young women. He highlights who is considered the best dancer for that season. And our hero forgets completely about home in all the excitement of the festivities. Which is exactly what the men in their mischief had planned when they tarried an extra night in Kalaupapa.

As a new day dawns, the crowds begin to compete with riches being exchanged while betting on different champions. Our hero's group, like others, wins and looses throughout the day. There is so much betting that items go from group to group occasionally returning to their original owners.


In our next episode we will learn more about the two weeks our hero remains away from home in Kalae.