E hamau o makani mai 'auane'i . . .

Welina me ke aloha! He momi kēia! E hāmau o makani mai auane'i. Hush, lest the wind arise. Hold your silence or trouble will come. When the people went to gather pearl oysters at Pu'uloa, they did so in silence, for they believed that if they spoke, a gust of wind would ripple the water and the oysters would vanish. Pu'uloa is the traditional name of the area known today as Pearl Harbor. This 'ōlelo no'eau has a few meanings. First, it reminds me of another saying, He pepeiao ko ka i'a. The fish have ears. Hawaiian tradition teaches us that whenever we prepared to gather anything from ma kai, from the ocean, we would do so silently. As a matter of fact, the silence began before we even reached ma kai. We didn't say out loud, "Eh, we going fishing", instead, we would say that we're going "holoholo". If you talked too much about going and gathering, the fish would hear us and there would be no catch. Now i'a translates as fish, however it can mean any delicasy of the sea. On another level we can relate this 'ōlelo no'eau to ourselves. Sometimes it is better to just be silent. The gust of wind can be compared to an argument or tempers flaring. When we choose to be silent we prevent that gust of wind from whirling through. Not an easy task at times, but it works. When we are silent and do not allow ourselves to become engulfed in the gusty wind we show self restraint, self control, humility and maturity. Oh, how I love these gentle reminders our kūpuna have left for us.

Aloha nō, a hui hou!
Luana