“Kaao Hooniva Puuwai no Ka-Miki” (The Heart Stirring Story of Ka-Miki)

Perhaps one of the most detailed native traditions which includes rich accounts of place names and practices of natives of the land, and describing features of Mauna Kea, Humuʻula, Kaʻohe, Piʻihonua and the ʻāina mauna, is a historical account titled “Kaao Hooniva Puuwai no Ka-Miki” (The Heart Stirring Tale of Ka-Miki). The story of Ka-Miki was published in the Hawaiian language newspaper Ka Hoku o Hawaii between 1914 to 1917. It is a long and complex account that was recorded for the paper by Hawaiian historians John Wise and J.W.H.I. Kihe with contributions by local informants.

While “Ka-Miki” is not entirely an ancient account, the authors used a mixture of local traditions, tales, and family accounts in association with place names to tie together fragments of site specific history that had been handed down over the generations. The complete narrative includes historical accounts of more than 800 place names (many personified, commemorating particular individuals) around the island of Hawaiʻi While the personification of specific individuals in this account, and their associated place names may not be entirely “ancient,” such place name-person accounts are common throughout Hawaiian traditions (as noted in the preceding moʻolelo); and the locational documentation within the “story of Ka-Miki” is of both cultural and historical value.