Highlights from our 8-6-17 fund-and-friend raiser at Ulupō Hui;. photos courtesy of Nicholas Tomasello at Nicasello Photography. In part, the words of the accompanying mele (attributed to Nīʻula in Samuel Kekoʻowai's moʻolelo of the Mākālei) ask that:
...the beloved ones of Mākālei return to their source
May the Mākālei generations move to each other
May they strive for the highest point
Until joined, until unified, until bursting forth.
Nīʻula explains it as both "he pule a he mele hoʻi" – as a prayer and a song. As pule, it addresses Haumea in her multiple forms and asks, through the metaphor of branch and fish, for the well-being of her people: enter, enter, enter; enter, nourish, and inspire; may your descendants prevail, wave after wave of us; may we again be united, persistent, and ever-committed to the nu‘u of thought and action.
As mele, it celebrates in lively, even humorous fashion the promise of rejuvenation at Hālauwai – all those fish packed to the la‘ola‘o bursting point in a spring-fed, upper valley pool. They have entered in droves, all in a leaping, jumping, pulsing, creeping procession, all enthralled by the irresistible ona powers of Ka Lā‘au Pi‘i Ona a ka I‘a. (Leo oli: Māpuana de Silva. Slide-video: KdS.)
...the beloved ones of Mākālei return to their source
May the Mākālei generations move to each other
May they strive for the highest point
Until joined, until unified, until bursting forth.
Nīʻula explains it as both "he pule a he mele hoʻi" – as a prayer and a song. As pule, it addresses Haumea in her multiple forms and asks, through the metaphor of branch and fish, for the well-being of her people: enter, enter, enter; enter, nourish, and inspire; may your descendants prevail, wave after wave of us; may we again be united, persistent, and ever-committed to the nu‘u of thought and action.
As mele, it celebrates in lively, even humorous fashion the promise of rejuvenation at Hālauwai – all those fish packed to the la‘ola‘o bursting point in a spring-fed, upper valley pool. They have entered in droves, all in a leaping, jumping, pulsing, creeping procession, all enthralled by the irresistible ona powers of Ka Lā‘au Pi‘i Ona a ka I‘a. (Leo oli: Māpuana de Silva. Slide-video: KdS.)