Mary Kawena Pukui & Dietrich Varez. “Olelo Noeau.”
25 Aia akula nō i Ki‘ilau.
He is gone to Ki‘ilau.
Said of senseless chatter, aimless talk. A play on ki‘i (fetch) and lau (many), meaning to fetch much; that is, to fetch a lot to talk about. Ki‘ilau is a place in ‘Ewa, O‘ahu.
80 ʻĀina koi ‘ula i ka lepo.
Land reddened by the rising dust.
Said of ‘Ewa, O‘ahu.
105 Alahula Pu‘uloa, he alahele na Ka‘ahupāhau.
Everywhere in Pu‘uloa is the trail of Ka‘ahupāhau.
Said of a person who goes everywhere, looking, peering, seeing all, or of a person familiar with every nook and corner of a place. Ka‘ahupahau is the shark goddess of Pu‘uloa (Pearl Harbor) who guarded the people from being harrassed by sharks. She moved about, constantly watching.
123 Anu o ‘Ewa i ka i‘a hāmau leo e. E hāmau!
‘Ewa is made cold by the fish that silences the voice. Hush!
A warning to keep still. First uttered by Hi‘iaka to her friend Wahine‘oma‘o to warn her not to speak to Lohi‘au while they were in a canoe near ‘Ewa.
269 E ‘Ewa e—e kui nā lima!
O ‘Ewa—join hands!
This cry was a call of the men of Kona, O‘ahu, when they went with their chief to destroy his brother, the ‘Ewa chief.
274 E hāmau o makani mai auane‘i.
Hush, lest the wind arise.
Hold your silence or trouble will come to us. 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.
385 ‘Ewa kai lumaluma‘i.
‘Ewa of the drowning sea.
An epithet applied to ‘Ewa, where kauwā were drowned prior to offering their bodies in sacrifice.
386 ‘Ewa nui a La‘akona.
Great ‘Ewa of La‘akona.
La‘akona was a chief of ‘Ewa, which was prosperous in his day.
433 Halemano honi palai o uka.
Halemano smells the ferns of the upland.
At Halemano, O‘ahu, the breezes bring the fragrance of ferns from the upland.
437 Hamahamau ka leo o ka Waikoloa.
Hush the voice of the Waikoloa wind.
Be silent if you don’t want to be rebuked. The Waikoloa is a cold wind.
493 Haunāele ‘Ewa i ka Moa‘e.
‘Ewa is disturbed by the Moa‘e wind
Used about something disturbing, like a violent argument. When the people of ‘Ewa went to gather the pipi (pearl oyster), they did so in silence, for if they spoke, a Moa‘e breeze would suddenly blow across the water, rippling it, and the oysters would disappear.
661 He kai puhi nehu, puhi lālā ke kai o ‘Ewa.
A sea that blows up nehu fish, blows up a quantity of them, is the sea of ‘Ewa.
758 He lō‘ihi o ‘Ewa; he pali o Nu‘uanu; he kula o Kulaokahu‘a; he hiki mai koe.
‘Ewa is a long way off; Nu‘uanu is a cliff; Kulaokahu‘a is a dry plain; but all will be here before long.
Said of an unkept promise of food, fish, etc. O‘ahu was once peopled by evil beings who invited canoe travelers ashore with promises of food and other things. When the travelers asked when these things were coming, this was the reply. When the visitors were fast asleep at night, the evil ones would creep in and kill them.
1014 Ho‘āhewa nā niuhi iā Ka‘ahupāhau.
The man-eating sharks blamed Ka‘ahupāhau.
Evil-doers blame the person who safeguards the rights of others. Ka‘ahupāhau was the guardian shark goddess of Pu‘uloa (Pearl Harbor) who drove out or destroyed all the man-eating sharks.
1023 Ho‘i akula ka ‘ōpua i ke awa lau o Pu‘uloa.
The horizon cloud has gone back to the lochs of Pu‘uloa.
He has gone home to stay, like the horizon clouds that settle in their customary places.
1126 Huhui nā ‘ōpua i Awalau.
The clouds met at Pearl Harbor.
Said of the mating of two people.
1263 I Waialua ka po‘ina a ke kai, ʻo ka leo kā ‘Ewa e ho‘olono nei.
The dashing of the waves is at Waialua but the sound is being heard at ‘Ewa.
Sounds of fighting in one locality are quickly heard in another.
1330 Ka i‘a hali a ka makani.
The fish fetched by the wind.
The ‘anaeholo, a fish that travels from Honouliuli, where it breeds, to Kaipāpa‘u on the windward side of O‘ahu. It then turns about and returns to its original home. It is driven closer to shore when the wind is strong.
1331 Ka i‘a hāmau leo o ‘Ewa.
The fish of ‘Ewa that silences the voice.
The pearl oyster, which has to be gathered in silence.
1357 Ka i‘a kuhi lima o ‘Ewa.
The gesturing fish of ‘Ewa.
The pipi, or pearl oyster. Fishermen did not speak when fishing for them but gestured to each other like deaf-mutes.
1439 Kālele ka uwahi o Pu‘uloa.
The smoke of Pu‘uloa leans over.
Said in amusement of one who leans over, intent on his work.
1666 Ka wiliwili o Kaupe‘a.
The wiliwili grove of Kaupe‘a.
In ʻEwa, Oʻahu. Said to be where homeless ghosts wander among the trees.
1686 Ke awa lau o Pu‘uloa.
The many-harbored sea of Pu‘uloa.
Pu‘uloa is an early name for Pearl Harbor.
1698 Ke ho‘i a‘ela ka ‘ōpua i Awalau.
The rain clouds are returning to Awalau.
Said of a return to the source.
1721 Ke kai he‘e nehu o ‘Ewa.
The sea where the nehu come in schools to ‘Ewa.
Nehu (anchovy) come by the millions into Pearl Harbor. They are used as bait for fishing, or eaten dried or fresh.
1776 Ke one kuilima laulā o ‘Ewa.
The sand on which there was a linking of arms on the breadth of ‘Ewa.
‘Ewa, O‘ahu. The chiefs of Waikīkī and Waikele were brothers. The former wished to destroy the latter and laid his plot. He went fishing and caught a large niuhi, whose skin he stretched over a framework. Then he sent a messenger to ask his brother if he would keep a fish for him. Having gained his consent, the chief left Waikīkī, hidden with his best warriors in the “fish.” Other warriors joined them along the way until there was a large army. They surrounded the residence of the chief of Waikele and linked arms to form a wall, while the Waikīkī warriors poured out of the “fish” and destroyed those of Waikele.
1855 Kū a‘e ‘Ewa; Noho iho ‘Ewa.
Stand-up ‘Ewa; Sit-down ‘Ewa.
The names of two stones, now destroyed, that once marked the boundary between the chiefs’ land (Kua‘e ‘Ewa) and that of the commoners (Noho iho ‘Ewa) in ‘Ewa, O‘ahu.
2111 Make o Mikololou a ola i ke alelo.
Mikololou died and lived again through his tongue.
Said of one who talks himself out of a predicament. Mikololou was a shark god of Maui destroyed by the shark goddess Ka‘ahupāhau of Pearl Harbor for expressing a desire to eat a human being. He was drawn up to land where his flesh fell off and dried in the heat of the sun. One day some children found his tongue in the sand and played with it, tossing it back and forth. When it fell into the sea, the spirit of Mikololou possessed it and it became a living shark again.
2152 Mehameha wale nō o Pu‘uloa, i ka hele a Ka‘ahupāhau.
Pu‘uloa became lonely when Ka‘ahupāhau went away.
The home is lonely when a loved one has gone. Ka‘ahupāhau, guardian shark of Pu‘uloa (Pearl Harbor), was dearly loved by the people.
2357 ʻO ‘Ewa, ‘āina kai ‘ula i ka lepo.
‘Ewa, land of the sea reddened by earth.
‘Ewa was once noted for being dusty, and its sea was reddened by mud in time of rain.
2385 ʻOia mau nō nā ēwe a Kamaunuaniho.
The descendants of Kamaunuaniho are ever the same.
A play on niho (teeth) in the name Kamaunuaniho. Said of a nasty person.
2731 Pukana wai o Kahuku.
The water outlet of Kahuku.
Refers to the outlet of an underground stream that once flowed from Kahuku to Waipahu, O‘ahu.
2770 Ua ‘ai i ke kāī-koi o ‘Ewa.
He has eaten the kāī-koi taro of ‘Ewa.
Kāī is O‘ahu’s best eating taro; one who has eaten it will always like it. Said of a youth or a maiden of ‘Ewa, who, like the kāī taro, is not easily forgotten.
2918 Waipi‘o kīmopō.
Waipi‘o of the secret rebellion.
An epithet for the people of Waipi‘o, O‘ahu. After the death of Kahāhana, the chiefs of Waipi‘o plotted to murder the chiefs of Maui, who were then in ‘Ewa. Someone warned the Maui chiefs and all but one escaped. To throw off suspicion, the Waipi‘o chiefs claimed that the one was killed by someone from Kaua‘i. Later Kahekili learned that Elani, chief of ‘Ewa, was in the plot, so he launched a massacre that choked the streams of Niuhelewai and Makāho in Palama with the bodies of the dead.