Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 3, 1 March 2016 — The Old Warrior of Hanakeakua [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Old Warrior of Hanakeakua

By Claire Ku'uleilani Hughes, Dr. PH„ R.D. The story of the ancient warrior of Hanakeakua was told by Kailau Kaleikua, a rancher for Moloka'i Ranch. Sometimes Kailau worked in Kīpū. One evening, he noticed an elderly kāne sitting, puffing on a kāpaka (cigarette) on a hillside. The kāpaka was a homemade roll of tobacco leaves. As he inhaled, the cigarette embers glowed, illuminating his face and body. The wrinkled face and balding head revealed the warrior was aging, but his body was strong,

beautiful and gleaming, dressed in a malo that matched his skin's tone. Kailau saw the warrior there on most evenings and always gazed at him with admiration and respect. Months passed before Kailau summoned up courage to approach. To his surprise, the old warrior stood, greeting him with a kind voice. Kailau's courage deserted him and his voice shook as he responded. The man invited Kailau to sit near him. He offered Kailau some tobacco to roll himself a cigarette. Kailau declined, saying he did not smoke. The man spoke Hawaiian very distinctly, with a low voice. Kailau remarked, "You must be a scholar of the chief's court." "No, I am a warrior. I fight for the chief," the man replied. "I train every day. I haki ( break or snap) and I excel in using the weapons of war." Kaulau's fear disappeared. He said, "You must be strong. You have

a beautiful body." The old warrior laughed. "You don't have to be strong to be a good warrior. It is most important to use your brain as well as muscles. You must develop great skill with the implements of war." The next night, Kailau gave the warrior an 'alā, or stone disk, inscribed with symbols of good fortune. The warrior accepted, gratefully. He made it into a neekpieee that he wore around his neek. For months, whenever Kailau was on that end of the island, he talked with the old warrior. Then, after several weeks of absence, Kailau returned, but the old warrior wasn't there. Kailau asked in the village of Hanakeakua. The chief told Kailau of the warrior's death in a battle two weeks earlier. At sunrise the next day, Kailau went to the battlefield to search among the bones for the old warrior. He stooped to inspect

every skull among the remains on the batflefield. On the third day of his search, he found the old warrior's 'alā, and identified the warrior's skeleton. Respectfully, Kailau gathered the bones, carried them to their favorite hillside and buried them. Kama'āina of the village still see the old warrior in the evenings, sitting on his hillside, smoking. I, myself, have seen him. My mother and I often go riding with my father in our flatbed Chevrolet truck. One night, Kailau Kaleikua accompanied us. We went in silence, all four of us, Kailau sat next to my father and, I next to my mother. Suddenly, Kailau said quietly to my mother and me, "Look to your right, on the hill." I looked and said, "I see a man smoking." "Yes, that's the old warrior," he said. My mother saw him too. But my father asked, "Where is he?" We pointed and his face turned toward the old warrior's glowing cigarette, but he saw nothing. I

asked Kailau. "How is it that Papa cannot see?" Not everyone ean see these things," he replied. "Your mother ean see because she is Hawaiian, but your father is a true Christian. He cannot gaze on the past and the present for it is unimportant to Christianity." I had more questions, but Kailau shook his head. Kailau Kaleikua passed away years ago. But even today, people see the old warrior there. The ancient warrior's kāpaka glows upon his face and strong, beautiful body. A deep bond of respect and aloha had grown between the warrior and Kailau. Thus, Kailau accepted the kuleana to bury his old friend, in a plaee that was meaningful to them. The kuleana and memory of the warrior also bonded to that plaee, thus, he continues to watch over the area. His words of wisdom are still meaningful, today, "It's most important to use your brains as well as your muscles." This is a tale from Harriet Ne's collection. ■

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