Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 4, 1 April 1997 — ʻO au nō ka pulapula o Kekaha, ma Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻO au nō ka pulapula o Kekaha, ma Hawaiʻi

Ua lilo 'o Nana iā Welo. E hulimoku nā 'īlio 'ula o ka lani i ka hiki mai a ka 'ino, i ka hiki mai nō aka mālie. Ke hali'i nei nā mōhala māmane. He pua lena i wili pū 'ia me ke 'ala o ka walahe'e. Pā mai ka 'iniki a ka 'ōuli āiwaiwa o ka lani. Ua ha'a kākou akūka ikaika. Ua oli kākou akūka maka'ala. Ua pule kākou a kū ka pono. Pono no ka manawa ē. We have danced together, let us be strong together. We have chanted together, let us be alert together. We have prayed together, let us be proper together. 'O au nō Hannah Kihalani Springer. 'O au nō ka pulapula o nā pulpula o ko mākou 'āina hānau, 'o Kekaha ka inoa. Kia o Kekaha ma kona 'ākau mai Honokohauiki i ke 'ao'ao hema a hiki i Pu'uanahulu i ke 'ao'ao 'ākau. 'O Kukui'ohiwai ka inoa o ko mākou 'āina aloha ma Ka'ūpulehu ma Kekaha. Aloha mai Kukui'ohiwai mai. I am Hannah Kihalani Springer. I am the pulapula of our 'āina hānau, Kekaha at Kona akau. Kekaha is that part of North Kona from Honokohauiki in the south through Pu'uanahulu in the north. Our 'āina aloha there is Kukui'ohiwai, at Ka'upulehu and this is who we are. While there are kaha lands on all of the islands, the drier regions on the leeward sides, we of Kekaha, kona 'ākau, further underscore the arid quality of our homeland with the suffix wai'ole. Our home land is punctuated bv lava rather than stream channels whieh flow down and across the mountains' flanks. In generations not so distant, we harvested water from lava tubes, optimized dew fall by effective mulching practices, and sought sweet water sources in the rocky reefs along our shoreline. The rich fisheries off of the Kaha lands are

renown in the 'ōlelo no'eau and the mo'olelo. As noted in 'Ī'I and Kamakau the riches of the waters were trade items to supplement the limited productivity of the land. Ours is not a "fat land", but our efficient utilization of our precious water resources eompli-

ments our deep and abiding loyalty to this plaee. Kekaha wai 'ole o na Kona Waterless Kekaha of the Kona district. Kekaha in Kona, Hawai'i, is known for its scarcity o water but is dearly loved by its inhabitants. ('Olelo No'eau no. 1716). Of the water caves my mother taught me with tales lived first hand. Our family maintains the mulching practices today, and the eool currents along the shoreline heighten the anticipation of refreshment when walking the coastal trails. My world view and the creativity shaped by it have eome from this plaee. A plaee where wit is expressed by lifeway as well as by rhetoric. This is my homeland and we are as the offshoots of it. And so from us, from Kukui'ohiwai, "Aloha mai kākou." This is my introduction of myself to you. In the months to eome we shall eome to know eaeh other more fully, stories of our homelands, stories of our people, stories that we are creating • together.

MahhaA Gp*iH$ei Trustee-elect, HawaPi