Ke Alahou, Volume I, Number 4, 1 February 1980 — Untitled [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Editor s eommenl: The projects conducted by the crew of Hokule'a remind us of the legend of Hema, a pan-Polynesian legehd about a great super chief. Hema was the son of Aikanaka and his wife Hinaaimalama of Hana, Maui. Hema's wife was called Hina-polipoli and they lived at Kipahulu, East Maui. When she was pregnant with their second child, Hina craved for the eyeball of a ,large fish of the; open, deep sea. This fish had a tail like that of the shark, Ahiale and was called Kekukaipaoa. Hema prepared all his fishing gear and made ready the double hulled eanoe by loading enough food and water for several days. He covered his canoes with many mats, lashing them down with cords so that sea water could not seep in. When the eanoe was covered securely, he hung his fishing line, Pupuwaiakolea, above the top of the poles that were between the hulls of the canoes. He put the end of the line through a knot he had tied and then he set up his cord calabash, whieh was called Kumaaiku. He took out the fishhook and tied the end of the fish line tightly around it fastening it to the pole. Hems v s fishhook was not made of human bone like some of those found in the Bishop Museum, nor was it made of whale bone or turtle Manaiakalani. It was made of a branch of wood whose name is not known today. The kikala orthe intersection of the barbs, is found at the branch closest to the trunk of the tree. When this branch is laid flat, three other branches project from it. These branches are broken so they are short and sharp. This joint is called Jehua, perhaps after the flower. The shank knob of the fishhook is called the mu'o and this is where the fish line is tied. The name of Hema's fishhook is Papalaho'omau and still survives today as the name of the Congregational Church in Kipahuhi, It was later on iii the story that Hema was blown off course ana his voyage to Kahiki or Holani-ku began. ,