Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 1, 1 January 2022 — HE MAU MO'OLELO O KAPŪKAKĪ [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HE MAU MO'OLELO O KAPŪKAKĪ

Q(jCb 0 kūU UMW PROTECT OUR WATER

Kapūkakī is the true name for the area now known as "Red Hill." It is located in the ahupua'a of Moanalua on the border shared with the ahupua'a of Hālawa and the moku of 'Ewa to the west. Moanalua is in the moku of Kona on the island of O'ahu. Kapūkakī specifically seems to have been the marker for the west end of the moku of Kona, as evidenced by the 'ōlelo no'eau: "Kona mai ka pu'u o Kapūkakī a ka pu'u o Kawaihoa; Kona, from Kapūkakī to Kawaihoa. The extent of the Kona district on O'ahu is from Kapūkakī (now Red Hill) to Kawaihoa (now Koko Head)." One of the most sacred wahi pana in Moanalua was Leilono, located along the upper rim of Aliamanu crater. Leilono was an entrance to Pō, the plaee of gods and ancestral spirits. It was one of the "leaping places" of ghosts into the spirit world. Based on the writing of historian Samuel Kamakau, Kapūkakī may also have been a markerto identify Leilono. This is an excerpt from an essay written by Kamakau on caring for the dead: Leilono at Moanalua, Oahu, was close to the rock Kapukaki and easterly of it (a ma ka nae aku), directly in line with the burial mound of Aliamanu and facing toward the right side ofthe North Star (a huli i ka 'ao'ao 'akau o ka Hokupa'a). On the bank above the old trail there was a flat bed of pahoehoe lava, and on it there was a circular plaee about two feet in circumference. This was the entrance to go down; this was the topmost height (nu'u) of Kapapaialaka, a plaee in the 'aumakua realm. Here at the entrance, ka puka o Leilono, was a breadfruit tree of Leiwalo, he 'ulu o Leiwalo. It had two branches, one on the east side and one on the west.* In the 1860s, Historian John Papa Tī also wrote of Kapūkakī. This recollection is from a chapter on trails from Honolulu to 'Ewa in Fragments of Hawaiian History: Let us turn to look at the trail going to Ewa from Kikihale, up to Leleo, to Koiuiu and on to Keoneula. There were no houses there, only a plain. It was there that the boy li and his attendants, coming from Ewa, met with the god Kaili and its attendants who were going to Hoaeae. When the kapu moe was proclaimed, they all prostrated themselves on the plain until the god and his attendants passed by... the trail went to Kaleinakauhane, then to Kapukaki, from where one could see the irregular sea of Ewa; then down the ridge to Napeha, a resting plaee for the multitude that went diving there at a deep pool. This pool was named Napeha (Lean Over), so it is said, because Kualii, a chief of ancient Oahu, went there and leaned over the pool to drink water. The trail began again on the opposite side ofthe pool and went to the lowland of Halawa, on to Kauwamoa, a diving plaee and a much-liked gathering plaee. It was said to be the diving plaee of Peapea, son of Kamehamehanui of Maui who was swift in running and leaping. The plaee from whieh he dove into the water was 5 to 10 fathoms above the pool.* *Kamakau and Tī quotes sourced from hoakaleifoundation.org

In the wake of the U.S. Navy's refusal to shut down its fuel storage facility despite an emergency order issued by the Hawai'i State Department of Health and the urging of state leadership, a coalition of Native Hawaiian organizations has formed. Called Ka'ohewai, they are kia'i rising in defense of Kapūkakī and the wellbeing of our 'ōina and wai. On Dec. 12, 2021, members of Ka'ohewai gathered at dawn at the entrance to the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander to build and dedicate a ko'a (shrine) to eall upon our akua, 'aumakua and kūpuna to help restore life and health to Kapūkakī. - Photos: Kanaeokana

Onee the news broke about the leak at the Kapūkakī (Red Hill) military fuel storage facility and the contamination of drinking water in the Red Hill well, a rally was quickly organized on December 3 to protest the Navy's failure to protect our precious water resources and shut down its facility. The photo on the left includes CNHA and Sierra Club representatives. (l-r) Menanaokalū Hind (CNHA), Jocelyn Doane, Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Kūhiō Lewis (CNHA), and Wayne īanaka (Sierra Club). - Pnotos: Jason tees