Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 7, 1 July 2000 — Kamaʻipuʻupaʻa evokes Moanalua history [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kamaʻipuʻupaʻa evokes Moanalua history

f - By Manu Boyd fOR CENTURIES, 0'ahu's Moanalua valley has been home to Hawaiian ali'i, luring a myriad of experts in traditional practices to serve and impress them. In the mid-1800s, Prince Lot Kapuaiwa, grandson of Kamehameha I, fell heir to that ahupua'a, bequeathed to

him by hts hānai father Hoapih, who received it from his father, Kame'eiamoku. There, he built a country home that still stands in refurbished yet fragile form at Moanalua Gardens in the valley predominantly held today by the estate of Samuel Damon. Despite missionary disapproval of the Hawaiian practice deemed frivolous, lascivious and pagan, Prince

Lot took an interest in its revival and surrounded himself with culturally savvy retainers. In the 1850s, a female kahuna ffom Moloka'i captured his attention, and remained a favorite in his household after he became king in 1862. Her name was Kama'ipu'upa'a, literally "the virgin." Lot, like his half-sister Princess Ruth Ke'elikōlani, was noted for giving lavish lū'au whieh boasted the best — — i ■ 1 1 1 —ii

of food, drink and entertainment. As minister of the interior, prior to becoming king, he supported legislation to license hula performances whieh, by missionary order, had been declared illegal for decades. His zest for reviving cultural practices predates King Kalākaua's by more than a decade. "Kama'ipu'upa'a" emerged again, some 120 years later, with the construction of a permanent, traditional ^ nā hula īhula nlatforml at Moanalua Gar-

dens, commemorating Prince Lot's love for hula. On March 8, 1980, under the direction of Kumu Hula Kaha'i Topohnski, Ho'oulu Richards and others, Kama'ipu'upa'a was dedicated with ceremonial mele and hula old and new, including those passed down from noted Moanalua chantress Nāmakahelu Maka'ena. Twenty years later, again under Topolinski's direction, Kama'ipu'upa'a will be honored, amidst throngs of dancers, chanters and enthusiasts in Moanalua, just as has been done for hundreds of years. ■

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Kama'ipu'upa'a hula mound (left) will eome alive with traditional and modern hula on July 15 at the Prince Lot Hula Festival at Moanalua Gardens. At right, King Kamehameha V's country home, originally situted ma kai of the present park boundaries, is beautified with lo'i kalo. Photos by Manu Boyd