MOʻOLELO
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The Battle of Kepaniwai
The Battle of Kepaniwai
In his conquest to unite the islands as the kingdom of Hawaiʻi, Kamehameha I travels to Maui in 1790 to wage war with Kalanikūpule, son of Kahekili and mōʻī of Maui.
After landing his fleet in Kahului, Kamehameha I and his warriors dismantled the waʻa from which they came, separating ama from ʻiako and ʻiako from kaʻele. By doing so, it was understood that there would be no turning back from battle; they will have to fight till victory or till death. Kamehameha I gathered his warriors on the sands of Hopukoa and commanded these words that would later become known to us as the ʻōlelo noʻeau:
“Imua e nā pōkiʻi a ʻinu i ka wai ʻawaʻawa.
Forward, my young brothers, until you drink the bitter water" (Pukui, 134).
Kamehameha I moved onward to meet Kalanikūpule's force in Wailuku, and it was there that the battle first erupted. With the use of rifles and his cannon, Lopaka, Kamehameha I and his army pushed the Maui chiefs up into the valley of ʻĪao.
After a brutal battle, Kalanikūpule and his forces were defeated in ʻĪao. The loss was so devastating that it became known as The Battle of Kepaniwai, meaning "the damming of the water," for the multitude of bodies were "so many as to choke up the waters of the stream of ʻĪao," (Fornander 237).
Nā Pali Kapu o Kakaʻe | The Sacred Cliffs of Kakaʻe
Nā Pali Kapu o Kakaʻe | The Sacred Cliffs of Kakaʻe
"Ka pali kāohi kumu aliʻi o ʻĪao - The cliff of ʻĪao that embraces the chiefly sources" (Pukui 165).
In the 1400's, ʻĪao Valley became the burial site of a high chief of Maui named Kakaʻe. As described by Mary Kawena Pukui in ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings, this valley was given the name Na-pali-kapu-o-Kakaʻe (Kakaʻeʻs Sacred Cliffs) or Nā-pela-kapu-o-Kakaʻe (Kakaʻeʻs Sacred Flesh/Remains). Nā Pali Kapu o Kakaʻe became a burial site for many other aliʻi of high rank.
It was a common cultural practice for kānaka to take their own lives when their responsibility of burying the bones of these chiefs was fulfilled. The secret of the burial place is taken with these kānaka into death, and it is for this reason that the resting place of Kakaʻe remains undiscovered.
mōʻī – ruler, soverign, monarch waʻa – canoe, ship ama – canoe float ʻiako – crossbeam kaʻele – canoe hull
ʻōlelo noʻeau – proverb, poetic saying aliʻi – chief/chiefess kanaka – person, individual
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