He Moʻolelo no ʻUmi: Kekahi Aliʻi Kaulana o Ko Hawaiʻi Nei Pae ʻĀina.

A Moʻolelo for ʻUmi: A Famous Aliʻi of These Hawaiian Islands.

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Ua mahuka malu ʻo ʻUmi mā i ka nahelehele i uka o Hāmākua. Illustration by Haley Kailiehu, 2014.

No ka heʻe malu ʻana ʻo Umi mā mai o Hakau aku.
The Escape of ʻUmi & his Keiki Hoʻokama from Hakau

Helu 2 (Hoʻomau ʻia)

I ka make ana o Liloa, noho aku o Umi malalo o Hakau, a nui no hoi ko Hakau huhu mai ia Umi, a nui no ka hokae mai ia Umi. I ko Umi wa e heenalu ai i ko Hakau papa, i mai o Hakau ia Umi, "Mai hee oe i ko'u papa; no ka mea, he makuahine noa wale no kou ma Hamakua, he kapu ko'u papa, he alii au." I ko Umi hume ana i ko Hakau malo hokae mai o Hakau me ka i aku ia Umi, "Mai hume oe i kuu malo, he alii au; he makuahine kauwa kou no Hamakua." Pela no o Hakau i hoino ai ia Umi, ka hookuke maoli; alaila, hee malu o Umi mai o Hakau aku. Eia ko Umi mau hoa hele, o Omaokamau, o Piimaiwaa, o laua kona mau hoa hele mua mai Hamakua mai a Waipio.

I ko lakou hoi hou ana i Hamakua, mai Waipio aku, ma ko lakou ala i hele mua mai ai i ko lakou pii ana'ku ma Koaekea, hiki lakou ma Kukuihaele, alaila, loaa ia lakou o Koi, alaila, hele oia me Umi. I ko lakou hele ana'ku a hiki lakou i Kealahaka, oia ko Umi wahi i hanau ai, aole lakou i kipa i kona makuahine; no ka mea, ua manao lakou e hele kuewa wale aku.

E na hoa heluhelu, e oluolu e hoomaha kakou ma keia wahi o ke kuamoo o ke alii kaulana nona keia moolelo, a e huli kakou e nana aku i kekahi lala o keia kuamoo olelo. Wahi a kekahi mea kakau kaulana o Hawaii, o Samuel M. Kamakau, i Waikoekoe ma Hamakua i loaa ai o Koi ia Umi ma i ko lakou hele mua ana aku i Waipio mai Kealakaha aku. Ia Koi e koi ana ma kae alanui, loaa o Umi iaia a ua lilo ihola o Koi i keiki hookama na Umi. Eia ka Kamakau i kakau ai no ko Umi hee malu ana mai o Hakau aku. (Mea Kakau) 

Chapter 2 (Continued)

Upon the death of Līloa, ʻUmi lived under Hakau. Great was Hakau's anger towards ʻUmi, as were his attempts to completely erase ʻUmi from existence. When ʻUmi went surfing on Hakau's board, Hakau said to ʻUmi, "Do not surf on my board, because you have a commoner mother in Hāmākua, and my board is kapu. I am an aliʻi." When ʻUmi girded Hakau's malo, Hakau seized ʻUmi and told him, "Do not gird my malo. I am an aliʻi. You have a lowly servant mother from Hāmākua." That is how Hakau mistreated ʻUmi, with the true intention of driving him away. Therefore, ʻUmi sought protection in escaping Hakau. ʻUmi's traveling companions were ʻŌmaʻokāmau and Piʻimaiwaʻa, those who had first traveled with him from Hāmākua to Waipiʻo.

In their return to Hāmākua from Waipiʻo, along the path they traveled in their ascent of Koaʻekea, they arrived at Kukuihaele. It is there that they found Kōī, and he went along with ʻUmi. As they traveled back towards Kealakaha, the place where ʻUmi was born, they did not stop to visit his mother, for it was their thought to simply wander for a while.  

Oh reading companions, if you will, let us now rest at this place along the path of the famous aliʻi for whom this moʻolelo is written, and let us turn now towards another branch of this path of tradition. According to another famous writer of Hawaiʻi, Samuel M. Kamakau, it was at Waikoʻekoʻe in Hāmākua that ʻUmi and the others found Kōī, while they were first traveling to Waipiʻo from Kealakaha. While Kōī was playing kōī (a children's sliding game) alongside the trail, Umi found him and Kōī became a keiki hoʻokama of ʻUmi. Here is what Kamakau wrote about ʻUmi's escape from Hakau. (Author's Note)

Nolaila, ua mahuka o Umi a Liloa me kana mau keiki hookama, a no ka makau no hoi kekahi o Umi o make i ka pepehiia e Hakau, nolaila, ua mahuka malu o Umi ma, ma ka nahelehele mauka o Hamakua, a o loaa hoi kekahi ke hele ma ke alanui, a ma Puuaahuku [Puaahuku] ko lakou mahuka ana, a komo i ka lae laau, a o ke akamai o Piimaiwaa i ka uhai manu o ka nahelehele, a ua loaa no hoi ka ia a me ka lakou ai, a hiki o Umi ma i uka o Laumaia Kemilia, o Laumaia Kenahae, a noho lakou nei ilaila, alaila, hoouna mai la o Umi ia Piimaiwaa e hele mai e hai ia Akahiakuleana, aia ko lakou wahi i noho ai i uka o Humuula, aohe e hiki ia lakou ke hoi mai e noho pu lakou me na makua o Umi a Liloa, aka, ua olelo o Akahiakuleana, aole pono e hoi mai e noho pu, ua hiki aku ka imi a na Luna o Hakau ilaila. Olelo aku o Akahiakuleana, aole he pono ka noho ana ma na palena o Hamakua, e pono ke hele ma na palena o Hilo, no ka mea, ua kukaawale ka moku o Hilo ia Kulukulua, aole he mana o Hakau ma Hilo. A lohe o Umi ma i keia mau olelo a Piimaiwaa mai ka makuahine, ua hele aku lakou a noho ma na palena o Hilo e kokoke mai ana i ka palena o Hamakua, o na Waipunalei ka inoa oia mau wahi ahupuaa, a noho iho la o Umi a Liloa ma ua wahila, he nui na kanaka, a he nui no hoi ka wahine maka hanoahano, a mau kaikamahine makua oia wahi, a he poe kanaka ui wale no, a o Umi a Liloa aku no ka oi o lakou i ka oi o ka ui a me ke kanaka maikai, a nolaila ua loaa papalua, a papaha ka wahine ia Umi, a i na keiki hookama, ua loaa ia lakou na wahine. 

I ko lakou noho ana ilaila, ua olelo aku na keiki hookama ia Umi a Liloa, "E noho malie no oe o makou no ke mahiai, a ke kahu imu nana wahine a me na makuahonowai o kakou, e noho malie no oe." 

Nolaila, e na makamaka heluhelu, e noho pu kakou no ka manawa a e pupu ai kakou i keia hunahuna moolelo a he inai ono io no ia o na kupuna o kakou. E hoomau aku kakou i ke kuamoo o ke alii kaulana nona keia moolelo i keia pule ae, a e ike ana no kakou i na hana pono a Umi e hooko aku ai i ke kauoha kaulana a kona makuakane a Liloa, "E noho me ka haahaa." (Mea Kakau)

(Aole i pau)

Therefore, ʻUmi-a-līloa fled with his adopted sons, because of ʻUmi's fear of being killed by Hakau. That is why ʻUmi them sought protection, fleeing to the forest in the uplands of Hāmākua, else they be captured while traveling along the trail. Puaʻahuku is where they fled to first and entered into the forest point. It was Piʻimaiwaʻa's skill in catching birds of the forest that allowed them to obtain their "fish" and food until they arrived in the uplands of Laumaiʻa Kemilia, Laumaiʻa Kenahae. They stayed there and ʻUmi sent Piʻimaiwaʻa to go to tell Akahiakuleana that the place they were staying was in the uplands of Humuʻula, and that they could not return to live with the parents of ʻUmi-a-līloa. Akahiakuleana told him that it was not good for them to return to stay with them because the scouts of Hakau had arrived there. Akahiakuleana further said, "It is not good to stay within the boundaries of Hāmākua. You must go within the boundaries of Hilo, because the district of Hilo remains independent under Kulukuluʻā. Hakau has no mana, no power, in Hilo." When ʻUmi and the others had heard these words of Piʻimaiwaʻa from his mother, they went to live within the boundaries of Hilo, nearby the boundary of Hāmākua. Nā Waipunalei was the name of these ahupuaʻa, and this is where ʻUmi and the others stayed. There were many people there. There were many women of magnificent appearance, and many well-developed women of that place. They indeed were a beautiful group of people, and ʻUmi-a-līloa was the most handsome of them all in appearance and physique. Therefore, the women of ʻUmi were twice, and four times as many in numbers as others. And so too for his adopted sons. They were taken by women as well.

While they stayed there, his adopted sons said to ʻUmi-a-līloa, "You stay and rest here. We are the ones who will farm, and our wahine and their parents will tend to the imu. You stay and rest."

Therefore, oh reading companions, let us stay here for the time being, and let us pūpū on this bit of our moʻolelo, a delicious relish of the ancestors of ours. We will continue along the traditional pathways of the famous aliʻi for whom this moʻolelo is written next week, and then we will come to know of the pono deeds of ʻUmi as he sought to fulfill the famous command of his father, Līloa, "Live with humility." (Author's Note)

(To be continued)

(Kamakau excerpt from "Ka Moolelo Hawaii," Helu 49. Ke Au Okoa. Nov. 17, 1870.)

ʻUmi-a-līloa's journey from Waipiʻo to Laumaiʻa and Waipunalei, Hilo, Hawaiʻi.

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* "He Moolelo no Umi." By Simeon Keliikaapuni. Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Feb. 8, 1862.