Before departing Chuuk for Satawal in 2007 on the Kū Holo Mau Voyage, we sat in a meeting with all crews and discussed the importance of that leg. We knew that run would be special and significant; we were going to the the home of the master, we were going home. At that time, both Nainoa and Shorty told us that we were gonna work for every inch, foot, and mile of that sacredness. From that time, the last 12 years prepared us for this day, for this Kulu a Kaʻaona: for this Keala Polohiwa a Kāne...
The last three years prepared us to become Ua Kana, well provisioned for the sacredness of this leg, this voyage to Mokumanamana. Tonight we rest well knowing, that we stand on the shoulders of great teachers.
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As the ʻohana stands watch the physical island and the floating islands, we stand watch here at home. We remain in pule for health, safety, peace of mind; we remain in pule for DNA to bring forth memory, for intelligence to take its place; we remain in pule for life force and joy; we remain in pule for the focus to be them and to be us.
MAKALIʻI
Under a blanket of stars, men and women anticipate the elapsing time of stars, rain, wind, and waves~
Her hulls encase a millennia of memories that are coursed into her being
with the rising of the sun, as new day approaches~
In the sails that she wears are the stories once lived by our predecessors,
generations ago; as they tune their bodies to the flow of the wind, they retell the stories the first voyages so long ago;
They tell of oceans deep; they tell of the life force in the ocean and how
their animations become guides to those who search the atmosphere
and sea scape for their brilliance and guidance~
She is the Puaharatau, the great voyager who holds the stories about canoes who once traversed the deepest of oceans; her movement is the elapse of time~
We steer by her weight; as she drops into the her wake, we are transported
back into the lines carved by our ancestors, each dip a memory~
Her hū, hū, hū crests the rim of the ancient ipu hoʻokele waʻa; the intelligence in optical,
used to see the stars forward and backwards, upside down and right side up while sitting and standing upon the deck of the canoe~ . She is the child of Hōkūleʻa, the soulmate to Mauloa and Eala, the sister to the great navigator, Hawaiʻi Loa; Te Au o Tonga, Te Aurere, Takitumu, are her kin from the time and space of No Nā Mamo~
They are ʻohana waʻa. She is ʻohana waʻa, we are ʻohana waʻa.
Makaliʻi is the boarder between worlds, birthed through the consciousness
of Kaulupulehu, Kaukaweli (Waiemi),Waikoloa, and Kawaihae~
She is teacher, sister, sibling, kupuna, mother, mama, reflection, hope, desire, teacher, friend~ She is birth, she is life force, she is the sacred.
As the double rainbow appears into the limitless sky, we chant...piʻo kalua lani, poho pono
nā peʻa~ When the double rainbow arches, and the sails are full,
the wisdom of our kupuna lives~
The navigator is the eyes
The captain is the discipline
The crew is the way
The provisions, the health that feeds the spirit and the heart
The Pwo the generations, the Lono, the intelligence, the bridge
The Waʻa the womb, the remembrance, the movement, the protection
Each dependent upon the other. Without the other, we have nothing.
OLA i ke au a Kanaloa!
photo credit: Jason Patterson, oiwi TV. June 14, 2019