Ka hanu o ke ola ua pāhola ia mai

Hohola ke aloha mai Līhauwaiʻekeʻekeikalani

I ka wai ʻolu ʻo ʻAuwaiawao

‘Olu ‘o Lāhainā i ka malu ʻulu o Lele

Lei ana i ke kālele no nā Hono A Piʻilani

The breath of life is spread

Love is unfolded from Līhauwaiʻekeʻekeikalani

In the refreshing waters of ʻAuwaiawao

Lāhainā is pleasant in the breadfruit groves of Lele

The Bays of Piʻilani are surrounded with support

This oli, chant, is an ode to Lāhainā on the island of Maui. The words are a display of our commitment of aloha to and support for those affected by the devastating fires of August 8, 2023, and the days that followed. The composition begins with a line borrowed from an oli hālau, Ka Hanu O Ke Ola, written by a haumana of the hālau, Kapāʻanaokalāokeola Oliveria. The oli was composed in honor of our kumu, our sources, - Ke Akua, ka ʻāina (Waʻahila and the surrounding vicinities), and our Kumu Hula, Mae Ulalia Long Loebenstein and Maelia Lani Kahanuola Loebenstein Carter.

Aunty Mae grew up on the island of Maui and studied hula from her mother, Ida Pakulani Kaʻaihue Kaianui Long, who learned from Kamawae, a hula master of Maui. The words, "Ka hanu o ke ola," honor the inoa given to Kumu Maelia by her grandmother, Aunty Mae. This is the life that is breathed into the hālau and the life that we, in turn, breathe into Lāhainā - her land, waters, and people.

The remaining four lines of the oli are newly composed to honor Lāhainā. Līhauwaiʻekeʻekeikalani is a longer variation of the name, Līhau, the piko, or peak of Mauna Kahālāwai, the West Maui Mountains. It is a prominent source of wai, fresh water, that provides sustenance and gives life to ʻAuwaiawao, an ʻauwai, or irrigation channel. ʻAuwaiawao was named for Wao, an aliʻi wahine, or chiefess, who ruled the island of Maui circa 1390 A.D. It is one of several irrigation channels that nourished the loʻi, the taro ponds, and loko iʻa, the fishponds, of Kahoma and Kauaʻula valleys, then flowed into the waterways and ponds that sustained Lāhainā. The abundance of water allowed for a myriad of cultivated foods, such as the lāʻau ʻulu, or breadfruit trees, referred to in the epithet, "ka malu ʻulu o Lele," the breadfruit groves of Lele, a poetic reference to Lāhainā, which was known in ancient times as Lele.

Nā Hono A Piʻilani, the bays of Piʻilani, is a poetic reference to Maui Nui. The appellation acknowledges a distinguished aliʻi nui, or ruling chief, of Maui Nui, Piʻilani, a prolific ancestor of many families of Lāhainā and Maui Nui. Like the bays of Piʻilani described in numerous songs and chants form a lei that encircles Maui Nui, the pule we send and the aloha we express form a lei that encircles, uplifts, and breathes life into Lāhainā. E ola!

Waʻahila for Maui Fundraiser

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