Ka ua pe'e puhala o Hamakuapoko

Aloha mai e nā hoa aloha! Eia kekahi 'ōlelo no'eau. Today's 'ōlelo no'eau is Ka ua pe'e pūhala o Hāmākuapoko, the rain that makes one hide beneath the pūhala trees. From this one 'ōlelo no'eau we learn so much. First, we find a wahi pana, place name - Hāmākuapoko. We have learned that Hāmākuapoko is a moku or large land district on our island Maui. There are two Hāmākua, Hāmākualoa and Hāmākuapoko, long Hāmākua and short Hāmākua. When you look at these two areas on a map Hāmākuapoko is literally more poko, narrow and Hāmākualoa is longer and wider. Second, we learn that our kūpuna were very in tune with the natural environment. They watched the wind and the rain and its characteristics and based on those characteristics they gave them names. Through this 'ōlelo no'eau we learn that the ua, or rain of Hāmākuapoko must have come down hard, causing the people of that place to run and seek shelter under the leaves of the pūhala trees. Ka ua pe'e pūhala. Third, we can infer that this area must have had a significant number of pūhala, shorter hala trees, for it to be mentioned in this ancient proverb. This was the place where shelter was found when one was caught in the sudden rain. As we peel away each layer of this 'ōlelo no'eau we catch a glimpse of the Hawaiian worldview and we begin to see this wahi pana through the eyes of our kūpuna. Mahalo au i kēia 'ike i waiho 'ia na mākou, I am grateful for this knowledge that has been left for us.

Aloha nō, a hui hou . . .
Luana