I am no historian. I do not sit amongst those great Hawaiian writers of the past. I am just a Kupukaaina (one who has sprouted from this land). As the great Kahuna Kanalu, who lived perhaps more than 1000 years ago, shared with us the story of the great wave that destroyed much of these islands and his efforts to repopulate and restore life ….…………. so are these stories. It is only meant to bring life back……….to restore all that which has been lost:

To bring back life to the land.
To bring back the ali’i
To bring back the makaainana
To bring back the fish of the sea
To bring back the birds of the heavens
To bring back the plants of the land
To bring back the life to the land…….

I warn those of you with an inquisitive mind. This is a lengthy story but one that we may never be able to share in its entirety. It will leave you with more questions and a thirst to learn more. One of the questions I have pondered with Kumu Hula John Kaimikaua is what does this “lady of the wood” look like. We all have a picture of Pele in our minds but how can we visually portray this “lady of the hula”.

I have had so many people ask me, of this elder sister of Pele, simply because of the reference to her in the name of Pu’uokapolei. Most of us are familiar with the stories of Pele and Hiiaka. Others may be aware of the stories of conflict between Kamapua’a and Pele. In the past I have always referred these inquiries to Kumu Hula John Kaimikaua. He however is no longer with us and rather than committing all of this to memory I try to write them down whenever possible. This is that opportunity. I know that there will be questions because the versions are as varied as the people who tell them. The more I learn of our ancestors the more I realize how little we know. Many of us try so hard to learn of their ancient ways only to walk away feeling more confused. I thought that maybe if I learned the Hawaiian language, and speak it maybe I would feel more comfortable speaking of these things. I thought that maybe if I learned how to oli and chant……..maybe then it would be a little easier to understand things. It is just that the more I learn the more overwhelming the climb becomes. I wonder at times if I am the only one…… Few of us know the fury of Kapo and gentleness of Laka…….it is a story of Kapu, sorcery, mystery and secrets. Few today have entered that realm……..few have returned………..I knew them…………..

I will share only that which I know of Kapo and her nature. All I have to offer you is a mystery with more questions. The secrets are for others to share. I do want to share enough in an effort that we all get a sense or feeling of the association between the goddess Kapo and the place name Pu’uokapolei.

Before you can even understand what is said of the nature of Kapo and the Pele family one first needs to understand the distinction between legends, myths and reality. There are Ohana alive today who claim descent from the Pele family. Kapo is the older daughter of Haumea and Kua-ha-ilo was the father. Don’t feel surprised if you find other names for this father and mother of Kapo. Kapo is the older sister of Pele. Hi’iaka was the muli loa or youngest sister.

One of the mysteries is the relationship between Kapo and Laka. I know that there are several thoughts on this relationship. Mana’o will vary when there are so many questions. Mine is one from a Kupuna who was gracious enough to share her mana’o. This is what was said. She spoke of her younger days as a hula dancer. She also spoke of prayers before the kuahu in a Pa Hula. The picture was quite different as today I have seen haumana or students of hula practice in many different venues. I am not a hula practitioner so I am quick to accepting much of what I see today. I am not an expert or authority on hula by any means but rather just an observer. She spoke of things in hula that was sacred (kapu) and not spoken of lightly. Things that are not meant to be voiced and not meant to be heard but by a few. These are things that she was taught and how she grew up within the Pa Hula. It was not a performance but a way of life and the manner in which she viewed her world as a practitioner of hula. But as………..she went on and said ……. that time has now passed. Much must be said or more will be lost. The days of the kapu have long since left us. All that is left is to save what we can still remember. If one speaks of these things in a kindly manner no evil will fall upon them.

There are few of us today who think of a Pa Hula as a heiau. We do not talk of these things and therefore become shrouded in mystery. We can call it whatever makes us feel comfortable today but it must be remembered …it was a place of worship. A Pa Hula may also be called a shrine since the gods were represented there during periods of study. Offerings, makana, ho’okupu from the forest, land and the sea were presented to the gods. These offerings were in their kinolau forms, “kinolau” meaning “many bodies” as the gods manifest themselves in the earth, land and sea. When these offerings were placed upon the kuahu or altar representing the gods of the Pa Hula and all the appropriate prayers were recited it was understood that they were present and stood amongst them at the kuahu. During the performance it was expected that the spirit of the goddesses of the hula, especially Laka, primary goddess of the dance, would enter into the body of the performer and chanter and become the goddess or god personified in the dance.

After having said all of this perhaps it is good to say a little of the priesthood with respect to their similarities and their differences. We speak of heiau, Pa Hula and Pa Lua as if they are separate and distinct. They are all heiau simply because the gods were present in them especially during times of learning. It is difficult for some of us to understand the hold that ceremonies, rituals and prayers had on our ancestors. It is also difficult to understand why some of these prayers have dropped from our memories and those of hula are helping us see how our world may have been like. The explanation may be found perhaps in the fact that the priests of the temple held a position by the sovereign’s appointment. They formed a hierarchy by themselves, whereas the position of the kumu hula, who was also a priest, was open to anyone who fitted himself for it by training and study and by passing successfully the ai-lolo ordeal. After achieving this high level of training he had the right to approach the altar of the hula god with the offerings and to present the prayers of the company to Laka and Kapo.

Amongst these prayers before the kuahu are those that were addressed to Kapo as the divine patron of hula. Kapo was the sister of Pele and the daughter of Haumea. She had other roles, like Laka she was a goddess of the forest and woodlands. It was in her woodland dress that she was worshipped by students of hula. There have always been questions of the duality of Kapo and Laka. Whether there were 2 distinct cults of worship, one devoted to Laka and the other devoted to Kapo.

Although Laka was the daughter of Kapo, as a patron of hula Laka stands first. She was worshiped at an earlier date though they are really one. It is as important to understand that she was not begotten in any ordinary manner, she “emanated” from Kapo. Kapo preceded her family in their migration from the south to Hawaii. They came by way of Ni’ihau, Kaua’i, O’ahu, Moloka’i and settled on Maui. However on every island where she had paused, Kapo established a school for hula. Kapo had a dual nature. As Kapo’ulakina’u (Kapo-red-spotted) she was the Kapo invoked by kahuna when sending evil back upon someone. This Kapo was a goddess whose temper was violent and vengeful……But when worshipped by dancers and chanters, this same person was the gentle Laka, the spirit of the wild wood….

The halapepe, a plant used on the hula altar, was one of Kapo’s kinolau, or body forms taken by Kapo as Laka. Another kinolau of Kapo was the ‘ohe tree that she had entered with others and poisoned. The wood of these trees were later carved to create the Kalaipahoa god. A lengthy story, that may be associated with Pu’uokapolei, that we will save for another day. This ‘Ohe tree was associated with sorcery, of which art Kapo also became the patroness, due to her ferocious side. The fruit of the hala was so often worn in the form of a wreath by Kapo that it came to be looked upon almost as her emblem. It was anciently believed to be bad luck to see someone wearing such a hala wreath. If a fisherman on his way to the beach were to meet a person wearing a hala wreath it would be considered bad luck and he would normally decide to cancel fishing that day.

We have thus far identified Kapo as the elder of numerous brothers and sisters. She was the first to arrive in these islands from the south. Her sister Pele is the keeper of the fire and Hiiaka is their youngest sister. Laka is the daughter of Kapo. There is much more that can be said of the dual nature of Kapo and especially that of a sorcerer. We will speak of these things later. However it is the relationship between Kapo and this new city of Kapolei that we also find intriguing and a mystery. Why did our ancestors give it this name. That of a ferocious sorcerer and the gentle Laka. We do know that her youngest sister Hi’iaka spent time here at Pu’uokapolei in her trip to get Lohiau from Kauai and take him to her sister Pele on Hawai’i Island.
One of the people who have played a big part in shaping my understanding of our ancient past and ways of our kupuna was Kumu Hula John Kaimikaua. I live by the things he has taught me. Although he was 20 years younger than I, I gave him the respect of an elder. Much of what he shared with me he learned from his Kumu Kawahineheleikapokane. Kumu Hula John Kaimikaua shared an interesting story with me whose origins can be found in the Moloka’i hula traditions. Every year Moloka’i has its annual Hula Ka Piko at Ka’ana. It is here at Ka’ana on Moloka’i where hula had its start. It was Laka who was the teacher of hula on Moloka’i. After a while Laka became disappointed and frustrated about only teaching on Moloka’i. Laka wanted to share their teachings on every island and not just Moloka’i. Kapo was furious about her desire to spread the teachings of hula. Laka however ran away and started to spread all the teachings amongst all the islands against the wishes of Kapo. It was here on O’ahu at Pu’uokapolei where Kapo found Laka teaching hula. Today we have a hula mound at Pu’uokapolei that Kumu Hula John Kaimikaua helped design.
There are several ancient chants that make reference of Kapo residing at Pu’uokapolei. Kekuapo’i, who was the wife of Kahahana, the last Mo’i of the Island of O’ahu, wrote a kanikau in honor of her husband when he died as a result of injuries he sustained in battle with the Mo’i of Maui, Kahekili in 1784. In the kanikau she identified Kapo as the Akua Noho living at Pu’uokapolei. In another mele inoa or a place name chant written for Kuali’i, Mo’i of O’ahu in the 1600s identifies Kapo as the lady in a faded garment standing on top of Pu’uokapolei. It is obvious from these ancient chants that Kapo had a large presence in this area. However the more we learn the more puzzling it becomes and the question is why does Kapo have such a large presence in this area. Maybe the answer is much larger than we think. Maybe the answer looms overhead.
Several other aspects of our cultural past and beliefs serve to better help us understand the relationship between Kapo, the older sister of Pele, and Pu’uokapolei. Traditionally the god Ku is associated with a place on Hawaii Island that is referred to as the eastern gate of the rising sun. Its name is Kumukahi. In the oral traditions standing with Ku at Kumukahi is Kapo. Interesting enough the oral traditions further share with us that the western gate of the setting sun is at Pu’uokapolei. There is no question as to her relationship as it carries her name. Perhaps we need to look up to find the answer. This is further expanded by the fact that we already know that Pu’uokapolei served as a place of solar observation in determining the time of the year.
In conclusion, I want to quote a lengthy summary of research done by Rubilitte Johnson, a renown professor from the University of Hawaii. It is well worth reading and get an academic perspective on these things. It is the best explanation I have found in an attempt to define Kapo with respect to Pu’uokapolei. I do not want to dilute her work and feel that it is best served in her own words:

“While the available records have not been exhaustively combed, the published data collected in this study reveals that the name Kapolei is connected with the earliest migrations of Polynesians to these islands, especially in relation to migrations of the Pele family with Kapo, Pele’s older sister, and the Pahulu family carrying the Lo name, and probably the Lo’ewa titles of the Ewa chiefs. Among chiefly names, Kapolei is found in feminine names rather than in names of chiefs, and while only a few of the Kapolei compounds exist they are more prominent in names of chiefesses selected for marriages by high chiefs descending from Maui and Luanu’u in the Ulu genealogy.

The name of Kapo, perhaps in Kapolei, but most frequently in the names of Kapo-‘ula-kina’u, Kapo-kohe-lele, and Kapo-ma’i-lele are connected with the traditions of the Kapo migrations which are earlier migrations of the Pele family. Borabora, in the northern islands of the Society group in what is today’s French Polynesia, is the identified home of the Pele family, and since the Pele family claims descent from two gods, Ku and Kane, the Kane-Kapolei names of chiefesses reflects the relationship between Kane and Kapo worship described with respect to legends of the Pahulu (Lo) family and the heritage of Kane-ia-kama from Kane-kaulana-ula, god of Kaiakea, who inherited the worship of Kalaipahoa gods (Kane-kaulana-‘ula, Ka-huila-o-ka-lani, and Kapo) on Moloka’i where the trees which are the bodies (nioi, a’e, and ‘ohe) are called the grove of Kapo (Ka-ulu-i-Maunaloa). These trees provided the wood from which the war gods of Maui and Moloka’i were carved and which after conquest passed into the hands of Kamehameha. The titled Lo family of ‘Ewa, possibly descendants of the early Pahulu migration, may be by privilege able to confer title inasmuch as Hawaiian historian, notably Kamakau, associate the Lo of ‘Ewa with chiefs who preserved their attractive pedigrees.

So far as the hill Pu’uokapolei is concerned, thus far the writings of John Papa I’i showing how the hill was a sentinel and directional reference for the seaside coastal trails by which ancient Hawaiians tracked across ‘Ewa through Honouliuli to Wai’anae and Makaha give the importance of the hill as a landmark.

As for the best meanings, therefore, of Kapolei with respect to this particular location and its tradition, the sense of a venerable and valuable quality of the honored personage of the goddess Kapo in her kinolau associations with the verdure of the hula and with herbage used for ornamentation or medicinal revival of the sick or dead reflects this idea of providing adornment and relief from otherwise ordinary appearance. In definitions of lei as a ‘circlet’, as a ‘halo’ shape of light in the rainbow around the moon, this idea of a circumscribing of volcanic earth by the shape of Pu’uokapolei presents the appearance of a circular mound of earth, perhaps colored and wreathed by the foliage of flowering plants in Kapo’s favorite colors, red, yellow, and yellow with black spots, whatever those might be; the ‘ohai and kaunao’a have been named in the chants.

More seriously, perhaps, in applying the full range of Kapo and lei to an understanding of the meaning of Kapolei in the entirety one should call up the kinolau associations of Kapo in connection with feather adornment, not however ignoring other associations of welcoming and showing consideration to guest and people of renown or remembering our own. As for the reliability of Pu’uokapolei, it was a landmark giving hope to the traveler through assurance that by it the traveler could keep his way. This, of course, is the other and perhaps most important association, the reputation of the sun along its northerly/southerly course during the year, with consistent regularity, or dependability, as it were, expected by its presence on the otherwise arid coral plain of Kaupe’a. (Sterling/Summers, Sites of O’ahu)

Setting Sun at Pu’uokapolei

“When the sun reached the equator and began to move northward, it set right over (the islet of) Ka’ula and it moved on and set over Kawaihoa; and the Makali’I season when the sun set (kau) from Ka’ula to Kawaihoa was called Kau, and the Kau season was also called after the resting place of Kane (Kaulana-a-Kane)……

Thus, Kane-i-kaulana-‘ula, the god Kaneiakama and Kaiakea, who entered the nioi tree, in company with Ka-huila-o-ka-lani (i.e. lightning, the kinolau form of the god Kane-ka-uila-makeha-i-ka-lani) into the a’e tree, and Kapo into the ‘ohe tree at Maunaloa, is Kane-at-the-western-gate-of-the-sun or the summer solstice standstill when observing westward (i.e. toward Niihau). The solstice standstill point, called the tropic limit (Ka ala polohiwa a Kane or the Tropic of Cancer, was Kaulana-ka-la. We pause here to quote from the famous chant to Kane.

He Mele no Kane

He ui, he ninau:
E ui aku ana au ia oe,
Aia I ka hikina a ka La,
Puka I Hae-hae,
Aia I laila ka Wai a Kane.

E ui aku ana au ia oe,
Aia I hea ka Wai a Kane?
Aia I Kau-lana-ka-la,
I ka pae opua I ke kai,
Ea mai ana ma Nihoa,
Ma ka mole mai o Lehua;
Aia I laila ka Wai a Kane……

The Water of Kane

A query, a question,
I put to you;
Where is the water of Kane?
At the Eastern Gate
Where the Sun comes in at Haehae;
There is the water of Kane.

A question I ask of you;
Where is the water of Kane?
Out there with the floating Sun,
Where cloud-forms rest on Ocean’s breast,
Uplifting their forms at Nihoa,
This side the base of Lehua;
There is the water of Kane…

(From Emerson, Nathaniel B. Unwritten Literature of Hawaii, 1964:257).

“When it set again at Ka’ula and turned south the season was called Ho’oilo. In the same way the people of O’ahu reckoned from the time when the sun set over Pu’uokapolei and it grew cold and the time came when young sprouts started, the season was called from their germination (oilo) the season of Ho’oilo. There was therefore two seasons, the season of Makali’I and the season of Ho’oilo.”]

Much like in Greek mythology where the sun is seen as Zeus riding a chariot pulled by 15 steeds or white stallions of fire across the heavens such is the description of the sun as it passes over Pu’uokapolei on the Plains of Kaupe’a. However……………it is during the cooler season, when the sun is in the south……when something extraordinary occurs. I am certain that we have all seen it ……..though…………not aware of its cultural significance. Over the years we have learned to pay close attention to the weather conditions off the leeward coast. This celestial event occurs most of the year however it occurs most often during the month of December. Most of the year one can see a clear division between the sea and the sky. However at the time of the winter solstice a low weather band obscures the horizon and makes it difficult to see the division between the sea and sky. As the descending sun passes behind this weather band, the sky explodes as its light is refracted and the band of weather turn to many hues of red, orange, yellow and yellow with black spots. These are the colors of Kapo. Her colors of luminosity.

These are the colors of our new city of Kapolei……….the colors of Kapo’s lei hala wreath.

I find it interesting as I stand on the Pu’uokapolei Hula Mound and reflect back some 14 years from this same spot. The year was 1994. This was a year after the Ahahui Siwila Hawaii O Kapolei was chartered in 1993 as a new Hawaiian Civic Club tasked with a responsibility to bring a Hawaiian cultural presence to the young city of Kapolei. We have come a long way since that day members of the new Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club stood on the exact same spot I am standing on today. I was not amongst those members on that day and I cannot recall why I was not with them however the memory of the story they all shared with me is as clear as if I was with them.

Aunty Kala Holden at the hula mound

Those members who shared this story with me and were present on that day were Bob and Kala Holden, Melissa and Dan Lyman, Mike Kido, Jalna Keala, Annelle Amaral and Kumu Hula Olga and Noah Kalama. It is important to understand that the club knew very little of the cultural history of Kapolei but was driven to learn of its history and to identify that place that could best serve as the venue for that learning and sharing. With the little knowledge these members had of this new city Aunty Olga Kalama wrote a chant in a matter of minutes as ……if someone was whispering the words to her. It happened on this day 14 years ago…… on this very spot that I am standing on today. No one knew it but Aunty Olga would set the path for this young Hawaiian civic club. That path started here at Pu’uokapolei……..It was on a late August afternoon in 1994…….the sun was settling into Po (night). The distant sun seemed obscured by a haze. As the sun passed through this haze the sunset glow turned into all the colors of Kapo of different hues of red, yellow, orange with “black spots”………..can this be……………….the ”Lei of Kapo”?

Eo Mai E Kapolei Heed the call, O Kapolei
Ka Pu’u O Kapo, La Ea To the hill of Kapo
Ke Ala Mai Ka Hikina The path from the east
A I Komohana, La Ea Until the west

Napo’o’ana O Ka La The sun sets
I Pala’ila’I, La Ea At Pala’ila’i

Haku ‘ia Ka Lei Alaula The sunset glow creates a lei
I luna O Ke Ao, La Ea In the clouds above

Ha’ina Ka Puana Tell the refrain
No Ka ‘Aina Kapolei, La Ea About the land of Kapolei

La Ea, La Ea, La Ea

Immediately after Aunty Olga Kalama finished her chant the park sprinklers came on and everyone was drenched. Everyone who was present felt that it was a powerful “ho’ailona” or a sign of good things to come. From a cultural perspective that was a powerful sign even though it was triggered mechanically by the park irrigation. It gave everyone a feeling of having been “baptized”. It was a manifestation of embarking on a new life. Everyone could feel a sudden heart beat…….a sudden breeze………..or was it a breath…………………

Since that day we have learned how true this chant has become. Pu’uokapolei literally means the “hill of the beloved Kapo”. We have also learned that the oral traditions refer to it as the “western gate of the setting sun”. The “eastern gate of the rising sun” is at Kumukahi on Hawaii Island. At the time of the change of seasons on or about May 1 the sun sets in the “Mahinaona”. It is believed by most cultural thinkers that the “Mahinaona” is Pu’u Pala’ila’i. We know today that the celebration of May Day or Lei Day celebrated on May 1 of every year may have had its origins as a celebration of the “change of seasons” or …………..Pu’uokapolei Day.

The very first event subsequent to this day was the legislature’s passage of the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club’s bill to change the name of Barbers Point to the ancient name of Kalaeloa. Members of the Ahahui have made significant contributions in terms of restoring the ancient Hawaiian names of this region by suggesting new street names and project names many of which have been integrated into the area plan. A concerted effort has been made to educate all of us on all of the ancient place names with Pu’uokapolei as the “piko” of that learning. Aunty Olga’s Oli is no longer just words but a reality.

I have shared all the stories regarding Puuokapolei having served as a marker for the “change of seasons”, that it was home of Kamaunuaniho, that a heiau once existed here and that it served as a landmark to ancient travelers passing along the trail that we now know of as Farrington Highway. You can find details of these stories in other cultural essays.

It started here where today stands a grandest hula mound ever built in all of Hawaii nei in these modern times……but it is not just a hula mound. It is the manifestation of a history that has been restored and integrated into its construction. It is a story of the dual nature of Kapo and Laka and a celebration of the “change of seasons”.
Here is its story…….its design manifest the cultural significance of Pu’uokapolei as the marker for the “change of seasons”. This was done through the collective efforts and consultation between architects of Architects Pacific and Kumu Hula John Kaimikaua of Makakilo and Shad Kane of the Ahahui Siwila Hawaii O Kapolei. It was an extraordinary effort. Several models were considered. The final design was one that integrated the history of Pu’uokapolei and facilitated a multi-purpose of both hula and community activities.

There are two mounds. The elevated mound constructed of coral boulders is for hula only in keeping with proper hula protocol of Kapo and Laka and the wishes of Kumu Hula John Kaimikaua of Makakilo. The second mound is for community functions and also to serve as a seating space for all future hula festivals. Electric power is provided to both mounds for both lighting and sound systems. As a cultural component of integrating the surrounding cultural landscape into the hula mound the coral boulders forming the retaining walls for the elevated hula mound came from the ancient place known as Kanehili or today known as Kalaeloa (formerly Barbers Point NAS).

Anciently there was a powerful relationship between Pu’uokapolei, Kaupe’a, Kanehili and Ku’alakai. A trail once existed between Pu’uokapolei and Ku’alakai as it passed through Kaupe’a and Ku’alakai. In the story of Pele and Hiiaka when Hiiaka went to Kauai to find Lohiau and take him to Pele she stopped at Pu’uokapolei and met with Nawahinekama’oma’o. Kapo is the older sister of both Pele and Hi’iaka. The story has Hi’iaka leaving Pu’uokapolei and passing through Kaupe’a and Kanehili and arriving at Ku’alakai (Nimitz Beach). The coral boulders from Kanehili solidifies that relationship today and will be a part of every future hula festival in honor of Kapo.

Cultural Mound and Map Stone

The Pu’uokapolei Hula Mound is aligned with setting of the sun at the time of the “change of seasons” which is on or about May 1. Anciently Pu’uokapolei served as a marker for the change of seasons. Hawaiian Historian Sam Manaiakalani Kamakau identifies it in this way.

The people of O`ahu reckoned from the time when the sun set over Pu`u o Kapolei until it set in the hollow of Mahinaona and called this period Kau, and when it moved south again from Pu`u o Kapolei and it grew cold and the time when young sprouts started, the season was called from their germination (oilo) the season Ho`oilo. There were therefore two seasons, the season of Makali`i and the season of Ho`olio.” (S.M. Kamakau, Mo`olelo Hawai`i, Vol. 1, Chpt.2, p. 23.)

Kamakau then states that when the sun set over Pu’uokapolei in the Mahinaona that was the division of the seasons or the marker for the “change of seasons”. But where was the observer standing on May 1 in order to see the setting sun over Pu`u o Kapolei? A hint came from Hawaiian Historian Emma Nakuina Metcalf.

It was determined from the work of Nakuina that the observer would have made this observation from the Opunaha Kuahu which was in the area of where the present Waikiki Aquarium is now located. Every year on or about May 1 and 2 there is a joint celebration with Kumu Hula Keola Lake’s Halau at the Waikiki Aquarium and members of the Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club at Pu’uokapolei celebrating the setting sun over Pu’uokapolei in the Mahinaona (Pu’u Pala’ila’i).

Puu Palailai as observed from the Waikiki Aquarium, May 2, 2007. Photo by Dr. Lynette Cruz

This alignment of the setting sun as observed from the Waikiki Aquarium was integrated into the design of the hula mound as it faces Pu’u Pala’ila’i. Attached is the architect’s drawing of the hula mound with the integration of that lineal view plane. If one were to draw a straight line connecting the Opunaha Kuahu (Waikiki Aquarium) and Pu’u Pala’ila’i (Mahinaona), that line would pass over Pu’uokapolei, the hula mound, cultural mound and map stone.

Sadly Aunty Olga and Noah Kalama are not with us today. Aunty Olga passed away within a year after this memorable day and Noah followed her shortly after. But make no mistake they are still with us. I hear her in the rustle of the leaves as the wind blows through the native garden. I hear her footsteps as I look over my shoulder. I smell the scent of the flowers in her hair. I see her smile as she stands on the hula mound in approval of all that we have done…………..…Aloha no Aunty Olga.

This story was first published on myadvertiser.com in January 2008.

As a young boy growing up I never gave the cultural aspect of Hawaii any thought. I grew up doing what most boys my age were doing and that was wandering around the neighborhood eventually ending up at the park playing barefoot tackle football. That’s basically how we all tried to prove to each other how tough we were.

As the years passed by I started wearing shoes and doing other more meaningful things. It wasn`t until many years later that I realized that I knew so very little of our ancient past. It was at about the same time that I came to realize how special a people we are who live in Hawaii.

I know that most people say that about their special places and their origins but I really mean that about us here in Hawaii. I hope that we can take care of that which makes us special.

Kapolei is one of those special places. Historian John Papa I’I, who was born and raised in ‘Ewa during the early 1800s, has shared many stories with us regarding what life was like during those early years.

He makes many references to the heat of the ‘Ewa sun. After having lived in Makakilo for some 35 years I have come to feel that maybe John I`i was right. I think we here in Kapolei can say that we see it more often that anyone else. When it is raining or obscured by clouds elsewhere it makes its presence known to us on the leeward side.

It seems to be the central theme of this region. I can recall a friendly conversation I had with Kapolei High School’s principal several years ago when commenting on the school’s logo. It seems a decision was made to select the “Huricanes” as the high school’s logo. I thought that it was unusual that the “Huricanes” was selected especially when we only have a hurricane maybe once every 10 years. Interesting though the Ewa sun beats down on us everyday. I had quietly thought to myself how interesting the Kapolei “Suns” or “Blazers” or even the Kapolei “Heat’ sounded.

We are not the only people who have come recognize the significance of the sun besides simply warming our lives. The sun was held in high regard to the ancient people or po`e kihiko of the whole island of O`ahu and maybe all of the islands. But it was especially important to the ancient people of the Ahupua`a of Honouliuli and the po`e kahiko of the area we today know of as Kapolei.

Gilbert McAllister, who was an archaeologist for Bishop Museum, did the first archaeological survey for the island of O`ahu in 1930. In addition to his field work and notes he relied heavily upon the writings of Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau. Kamakau like other Hawaiian historians was commissioned by Kamehameha III to study the ancient history of these islands. Kamehameha III like others of his time had come to realize that so much of the past was being lost to the simple fact that our history was an oral one and with the death of so many people, for so many reasons, so went our ancient past.

He, like other educated Hawaiians of their time, received a western education and learned nothing of their origins. Kamakau was tasked with identifying as many Kupuna he could find who had been living prior to western contact or prior to 1778.

Sam Kamakau did much of his research during the mid 1800s. McAllister’s work included much of Kamakau’s writings. McAllister agreed with Kamakau when he identified Pu`uokapolei as the single most sacred and most important place in all of the Ahupua`a of Honouliuli based on the interviews Kamakau conducted with people who lived in the area at the time of western contact.

It was identified as a special place for several reasons. It served as a landmark to travelers in ancient times. There were only 3 ways to travel from Honolulu or anciently known as Kou, to Wai’anae. One was by way of Kolekole today through Schofield Barracks. Another was by way of Pohakea, which is midway between Makakilo and Wahiawa through the Wai’anae mountains. Third, by way of Pu`uokapolei.. Farrington Highway is that ancient foot trail that passed just mauka of Pu`uokapolei.

Pu`uokapolei also served as the residence of Kamaunuaniho. When Kamapua`a killed Olopana and assumed control of the island of O`ahu, he placed his grandmother Kamaunuaniho to serve as konahiki at Pu`uokapolei. She resided in a rock shelter on the makai side of the Pu`u.

McAllister further states that in 1930 remnants of the foundation of her home, a rock wall surrounding her home, and her grave could still be seen. Interesting though today an elevated stone platform can still be seen amongst the weeds, grasses and trash where her residence once stood. The approximate location of her grave according to McAllister would place it in the area of where the Kamaaha Street Extension lies today.

It was also identified as a special place by the ancients because there once existed the largest heiau in the Ahupua`a of Honouliuli at Pu`uokapolei. In 1930 archaeologist Gilbert McAllister said that the heiau had already been destroyed. McAllister further states that in 1920 there was a rock crusher on the mauka side of Pu`uokapolei. That rock crusher would have been right in the area of where the Kapolei skateboard park is today.

The stones from the heiau at Pu`uokapolei were crushed and today the heiau lies in the foundation of Farrington Highway and the former irrigation ditches of the old sugarcane fields of Ewa.

Pu`uokapolei was the first quarry. After Pu`uokapolei the next quarry was at Pu`uPala`ila`i. It eventually became a landfill and today the Hawaiian Waters Adventuire Park lies on the southern portion of that quarry and landfill.

Today that rock crusher is at Pu `uMakakilo. These are the 3 Pu`u that gave birth to Kapolei. No one today knows the nature and significance of that heiau however it is believed that it was dedicated to the sun.

The next and perhaps most important reason that Kamakau refers to Pu`uokapolei as the most sacred place in all of this region is because it served as the marker of the seasons.

In his discussion with Kupuna from this area who lived prior to western contact, they tried to convince him that he was wrong in his understanding that we had four seasons. He understood from his western education that there were the fall, winter, spring and summer seasons. They insisted there was only two seasons. One when the sun was in the north when the days were long and hot. It was a period of very little rainfall. Not much water. “Not the time to plant Kalo, Sam.” They referred to this season as the season of the Makali’i.

The other season was when the sun was far away. When the hot days were short and long nights cool. This was the season of a lot of rainfall and a lot of water. “This was the season to plant Kalo, Sam.” They referred to this season as the season of the Ho`oilo.

What we have to remember is when our voyaging ancestors started to venture into the northern latitudes they were leaving behind the stars, constellations and relative location of the sun and moon. They were entering waters whose location of stars they were not familiar with. When they arrived on these precious shores the first thing they had to do was mark the location and direction to the homeland of those stars. The same method they had used to find their way over those long distances of ocean they used on land with a series of markers.

Our Kupuna never had a calendar as we know. Their calendar was the relative location of the sun, moon and stars with respect to either geographic features or rock structures.

“…The people of O`ahu reckoned from the time when the sun set over Puuokapolei until it set in the hollow of the Mahinaona and called this period Kau, and when it grew cold and the time when young sprouts started, the season was called from their germination the season of Ho`oilo.

There were therefore two seasons, the season of Makali`i and the season of Ho`oilo.” (S.M. Kamakau, Mo`olelo Hawai`i, Volume 1, Chapter 2, p. 23.)

Therefore to the po`e kahiko the cold season was the Ho`oilo and the warm season was the Makali`i. Welo, corresponding to April, was the last month of the Ho`oilo and Ikiiki, corresponding to May was the first month of the Makali`i. The sun is reported by Kamakau to be seen setting over Puuokapolei during the period corresponding to the end of the Ho`oilo and the beginning of the Makali`i.

This however continued to puzzle contemporary cultural thinkers. We know now that Pu`uokapolei served as a marker for the season when the sun set over Pu`uokapolei in the Mahinaona. We also know that the division of the season was the first day of May. However the question was where would the observer have to stand to make that observation and what was the Mahinaona.

Historian Emma Nakuina Metcalf who lived in the early 1900s help unravel some of the mysteries by sharing the following with us: “There were sun-worshipers among the original arrival in Hawai`i, and there were two temples dedicated to the sun on O`ahu – one at Kaneloa (close to where the Waikiki Shell and Bandstand is today), and one at Kau`o Kala, Waianae). These temples were not for the whole population, but for only a few who claimed it as a privilege…”(Nakuina, Emma Metcalf, Hawai`i – Its People, Their Legends; Honolulu, 1904. pg. 8).

Associated with the Kaneloa Heiau is the Opunaha Kuahu which was located at the location of the present Waikiki Aquarium. Its location and that of the Kaneloa Heiau can be seen on maps at the Survey Office of the 1840. Many observations have been made from the former location of the Opunaha Kuahu and on May 1 the sun can be seen setting in a crown.

Mahinaona has many definitions as many Hawaiian words do. It could mean a peak of a mountain, a bottom of a V such as a valley, a Pu`u or a crown. A crown could also be a lei.

When one stands at Puuokapolei and looks east he can see a very distinguishable crown…Mount Leahi, or Diamond Head. When one stands at the site of the former Opunaha Kuahu, directly below Diamond Head and looks west he can see another crown…that is, PuuPala`ila`i. One cannot see Puuokapolei as the sun sets but one can see PuuPala`ila`i as the sun sets in it directly behind Puuokapolei on May 1.

PuuPala`ila`i is the mirror image of Diamond Head however with the peak reversed. Diamond Head`s peak of the crown is on the makai side facing the ocean. The crown of PuuPala`ila`i is on the mauka side facing the mountains.

However the big question is this…a Mahinaona can also mean crown as in a lei. Our Kupuna would not celebrate something as superficial as the presentation of a lei. But they would celebrate the coming of the cooler seasons, the coming of the rains and the time for planting Kalo.

Perhaps May 1 or Lei Day is not a mere celebration of wearing a lei but rather the celebration of the change of seasons of when the sun sets over Puuokapolei in the Mahinaona. Perhaps Lei Day is really …Pu`uokapolei Day.

Every year on May 1 there is a celebration of the change of season at both the Waikiki Aquarium and Puuokapolei. Kumu Hula John Keola Lake and his halau at the Waikiki Aquarium and the Ahahui Siwila Hawaii O Kapolei (Kapolei Hawaiian Civic Club) at Puuokapolei jointly celebrate the setting of the sun over Puuokapolei in the Mahinaona (Pu`uPala`ila`i).

Come and join us on May 1, 2007 as we celebrate this cultural event that played an important role in Kapolei’s ancient past.

This essay was first published on myadvertiser.com in December 2006.

I remember as a young boy my mom and dad driving along the only road to Waianae by way of Farrington Highway. After only a brief stop at Arakawa’s store along Waipahu Depot Road we would make the long drive through fields of sugar cane towering over us to Nanakuli. As a young boy it seemed as an extremely long ride with nothing to see but sugarcane. That was a mere 56 years ago.

Today many of us still think of the Ewa and the Kapolei areas in terms of its plantation history. However, prior to sugar, prior to cattle, before there was a military presence in Ewa, before an industrial park, a resort and today the new city of Kapolei, there existed a cultural landscape that extended from Pu`u Palehua to Kualaka`i.

Almost equal distant from both Pu`u Palehua and Kualaka`i existed a little known hill by the name of Pu`uokapolei. There are many aspects that made this little hill perhaps the most sacred place in all of the ahupua`a of Honouliuli. Today I want to share just one. Most people pay little attention to it in their daily drive to and from work. It is perhaps even safe to say that most people do not even see it. It is the most neglected place in all of Kapolei. Beer cans, broken glass bottles and trash litter its landscape. Interesting though it is in the exact center of the new city of Kapolei. From a cultural perspective it is “Piko” of Kapolei.

Kekuapo`i was the wife of Kahahana who was the last ruling Mo`i or chief of the island of O`ahu. He died as a result of injuries he suffered in the assault on the island of O`ahu by Kahekili, Mo`i or chief of the island of Maui. He died in Puuloa and his body was taken to Waikiki where he was sacrificed at the Heiau Apuakehau that once stood on the present grounds of the Moana Hotel.

Kekuapo`i wrote a Kanikau in honor of her husband. A kanikau is a chant that is done in a wailing or crying manner as if to mourn the passing of a loved one. Kekuapo`i in her husband’s kanikau mentions all the places that was special to Kahahana.

In her reference to Pu`uokapolei as a special place to her husband we find an interesting quote. It seemingly puzzles most contemporary cultural thinkers. In this reference she refers to Pu`uokapolei as a conduit to another place in the after life.

In our attempt to understand this reference let`s take a look at our ancestors beliefs regarding how life, death and sleep overlap. In the oral traditions there is an interesting reference to places known as Aokuewas and Leina Ka Uhane. The traditions refer to an Aokuewa as “places of wandering spirits” for lack of a better explanation. A Leina Ka Uhane is referred to as “leaping places” into the afterlife.

In an explanation of how life, death and sleep overlap we need to first understand how our ancestors perceived this aspect of their lives. In their understanding we as human beings had two energies in us. One energy is referred to as a “dream spirit”. In contemporary beliefs it would be safe to say that maybe this reference is regarding one’s spirituality or from a Christian sense one’s soul? When one sleeps this “dream spirit” is allowed to travel. It may even visit one’s departed ancestors or one’s departed grandparents.

For example if a woman was with child or pregnant and she dreamed that she met her departed grandmother and the last thought she had was a name, she would take this dream or visitation seriously feeling that she had actually visited her grandmother and her grandmother was sharing the new child’s name with her. She would give this name to her new child. However in order to wake from a sleep this dream spirit would have to return.

The other energy within all of us is the energy that sustains our lives. It was the energy that would allow our hearts to pulse and allow us to breath. If however that dream spirit does not return, that would define death. This would bring about chanting in an effort to kahea or summon that dream spirit back into the body of the loved one. Early explorers to our shores witnessed this event when they observed individuals chanting over a departed loved one.

If an individual lived a good life. If he was respectful of his aumakua, if he was respectful of his parents, if he was a good person, he would have the benefit of his aumakua carrying him off to a Leina Ka Uhane. On the island of O`ahu the Leina Ka Uhane is at Kaena Point. It is here that one’s aumakua would help he or she “leap” into the afterlife.

If he was not respectful of his aumakua, if he was not respectfulof his parents, if he was a bad person, one would not have the benefit of one’s aumakua carrying him to the Leina Ka Uhane. He would be banned to “barren or desolate places”. These places are referred to as Aokuewa. On the island of O`ahu the Aokuewa is Kaupea or the area surrounding Pu`uokapolei.

Upon further investigation Pu`uokapolei is approximately the same distance from the southwest end of the Waianae Mountains as the Leina Ka Uhane at Kaena from the northeast end of the Waianae Mountains. Perhaps Kahahana’s wife Kekuapo`i is correct in her reference to Pu`uokapolei as a conduit to the after life.

In a Christian sense there are 3 places in the after life, heaven, hell and limbo or purgatory. In a Christian sense purgatory is somewhere else. From a Hawaiian cultural perspective purgatory is………here. That is the area that surrounds Pu`uokapolei……”the Wiliwili groves of Kaupea.”

It is not something to fear…….but to embrace…………..for this is the story of our new City of Kapolei………..

This essay was first published on myadvertiser.com in December 2006.