Eō e Ka‘awaloa!

When I was growing up, we rarely came to Kona Hema because it was so far from where we lived in Waimea. So I only knew about this place through the stories of my mother. She would tell me about when she was younger, living in Kona as a student of Kumu ‘A‘ala Roy. They would frequent Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau to honor the temple with ho’okupu and hula. She would tell me of the people who still carried the spiritual gifts of the Kāhuna, the seers and wisdom keepers. As I got older, Uncle Kalani would tell me of the burial practices of this wahi and the pali and caves that still hold the iwi kūpuna of our ali‘i. This is why I always associated the entirety of Kona with the mana of the old ways of our people.

In my high school years at Kamehameha, I sang in the Bishop Memorial Choir. We took a trip to Kealakekua to sing one summer. While we were here we went to the ‘Captain Cook Memorial’ by boat. When I put my feet on the land, I could feel the stories of this place echo on my bones. We took a walk through the trees and saw an old stone structure. I put my hands on the pōhaku and thought of hands that put that rock there. I looked up at the pali and thought of the stories Uncle would tell me.

I didn’t know that this place is named Ka‘awaloa which literally means, “the place where bones of chiefs were hidden in caves.”. Now I understand it’s inoa. This is why returning the true names of our wahipana is so important especially in this time. These names carry the lands stories and tell us of who they are in what they mean. Stripping this land of its name was an attempt to strip us of our connection. And now, we are taking it back.

Pā mai ka makani Pilihala ‘o Ka‘awaloa. May the winds carry your name across the land and signal the return of your inoa.

Eō e Ka‘awaloa!