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Mālama Kapālama
Mālama Kapālama
Our vision: The Mālama Kapālama initiative is a way for us as a KS ʻOhana to reconnect with our ahupuaʻa, to physically put our hands, sweat, and aloha back into this ʻāina, to remember and honor our moʻolelo, and to restore the health and wholeness of who we are.
Our vision: The Mālama Kapālama initiative is a way for us as a KS ʻOhana to reconnect with our ahupuaʻa, to physically put our hands, sweat, and aloha back into this ʻāina, to remember and honor our moʻolelo, and to restore the health and wholeness of who we are.
Kapālama means, the-enclosure-(of)-lama. An enclosure made of the sacred wood from the lama tree, surrounded an establishment in which the young aliʻi, chief and cheifess, were kept just before pairing off for offspring. Because the first born child of a high ranking aliʻi of old Hawaiʻi, and in order to secure such an offspring, the selected chief and chiefess were placed under keepers in separate establishments. After religious ceremonies had been performed and the mating accomplished, the chief and chiefess were allowed to leave.
Kapālama is said to have obtained its name from just such an establishment which was once located there. (Malo, Hawaiian Antiquities, pp.135-139)
Kapālama, grandmother of Lepeamoa, gave her name to the place where they lived. Thrum More Tales, p 170
Waiwai Kapālama
Waiwai Kapālama
Inspired by the bountiful ahupuaʻa of Kapālama, "Waiwai Kapālama" is an original song written and composed by the nine high school students in the 2019 Project Kuleana class at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.
Students learned about the traditional practices and applications of mele, Hawaiian poetry in song, and developed their composition through technological video components and audio production. The process of combining traditional and modern techniques of composition created "Waiwai Kapālama," an expression of the 21st-century Native Hawaiian experience.
"Waiwai Kapālama" plays its part in the movement to reinvigorate a consciousness for the ahupuaʻa of Kapālama, both for Kamehameha Schools and the multi-generational lāhui at large. Performed with live audio recordings on location, "Waiwai Kapālama" follows the water from uka to kai: beginning in the mountains of Nāpuʻumaiʻa, to the steady streams of Keanakamanō, flowing to the kalo at Niuhelewai, passing the cultivating and enriching site of Kaiwiʻula, and finally flourishing in the waters of Mokauea.
Waiwai Kāpalama - ko kākou ʻāina momona, mai uka a ke kai!
Project Kuleana Kamehameha- Facebook
KS Kapalama Kai Mural
KS Kapalama Kai Mural
Kumu Auliʻi Hopeau and haumāna were inspired by the original composition of Waiwai Kapālama during the summer of 2019. Their ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi assignment was to research at least five facts about the wahi and create their own moʻolelo using these details. Book Creator helped to bring their ideas to life.
Kumu Auliʻi Hopeau and haumāna were inspired by the original composition of Waiwai Kapālama during the summer of 2019. Their ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi assignment was to research at least five facts about the wahi and create their own moʻolelo using these details. Book Creator helped to bring their ideas to life.
Love Letter to Kapālama - 8th Grade English / Kauka Christy Mishina
Love Letter to Kapālama - 8th Grade English / Kauka Christy Mishina
Plants in the drawing:
Lehua: The lehua in this drawing represents a fire/ the burning flame of knowledge that Pauahi left for us. This is the never-ending flame of wisdom and knowledge that will be continued for generations to come.
Kukui: The kukui leaves that were used in this drawing are meant to represent hope for us as a lāhui Hawaiʻi. We as a lāhui now have hope for the upcoming generations in many different ways.
Fern: The fern used in this drawing is symbolizing a place of learning, or the sprouting of wisdom, because Kapālama is a place of education where you learn many different things.
Background: The background is symbolizing rain because even though it’s raining the knowledge and fire [lehua] isn't being put out instead it is glowing, this is what I think/see of Kapālama a place that glows. Kapālama holds a lot of wisdom many other places donʻt.
Dots: the dots represent us and how Kapālama now is thriving with Hawaiians!
ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: this ʻōlelo noʻeau connects to the lehua and kukui, it is interpreted as the forever burning knowledge. For my project, I decided to make a small drawing to symbolize my affection for Kapālama. This drawing is focused on the hope Pauahi had for us, Hawaiian education. I chose three plants that grow here on Kapālama, and they each represent something meaningful to me. I chose this creative outlet because I wanted to give Kapālama a hoʻokupu with images that come from its ʻāina. This connects me back to ʻike kupuna and aloha ʻāina, I am using resources from the land, and making a traditional hoʻokupu as my kupuna did. I have highlighted three different things I learned in my work about Kapālama which is the kind of plant they are. For example, our ʻŌhiʻa Lehua is native/endemic whereas the kukui drawn in this drawing is Polynesian introduced and lastly the fern used in this drawing is introduced or indigenous.
Copy of Kahai_Art.pdfCopy of Kaena_Art.pdfʻO Lepeamoa ka Moʻolelo
ʻO Lepeamoa ka Moʻolelo
A chief of Kaua‘i, named Keāhua, traveled to O‘ahu to take Kauhao, the daughter of Kapālama, as his wife. He angered the kupua (supernatural being that can change form) called Akuapehuale (god of swollen billows), who forced the couple to hide in the uplands of the Wailua River valley of Kaua‘i.
Some time passed and Keāhua had a daughter, who was born as an egg. She was adopted by the chiefess Kapālama to raise on O‘ahu at her home, also named Kapālama. When the egg hatched, Lepeamoa appeared as a bird with feathers all the colors of the rainbow. She was able to turn herself into a beautiful young woman wearing a feather lei. The girl was so beautiful that a rainbow was always present above her. The girl was guarded by her ancestress, Keaolewa (“the moving cloud”), who could also change forms between human and bird. The lower ridge separating Kapālama and Nu‘uanu (‘Ālewa Heights) may have been named for this ancestress.
The parents of Lepeamoa had another child, a son called Kau‘ilani, who was so strong that he was able to defeat the kupua who had threatened his parents. On Kaua‘i, there are several place names associated with this story. Kauhao (meaning “the scooping”), is the name of a deep valley in the ahupua‘a of Miloli‘i in the Waimea District. Lepeamoa is a point at the mouth of Ka‘auhau Valley in the same ahupua‘a. The valley in Wailua Ahupua‘a in the Puna District where Kau‘ilani defeated Akuapehuale was named Keāhua (meaning “hillock”) after the chief, his father (Wichman 1998:81, 158).
After Kau‘ilani’s victory over the kupua, he went to O‘ahu to find his sister, searching for the rainbow sign of her presence. In her compound, he found Kapālama, who advised him to hide in Lepeamoa’s house, wait until she was asleep in her bird form, and catch and hold her until she acknowledged him as her brother. Her advice worked, and Lepeamoa lived with her brother thereafter (Westervelt 1923:164-184).
Additional stories are told of Kau‘ilani and his magical sister Lepeamoa. In one story, the Maui chief, Mauinui, had a fighting rooster. This rooster was also a kupua that could change forms; by the use of its magic it always defeated any challenger. The O‘ahu chief Kakuhihewa was hosting the Maui chief at his residence in Waikīkī and was losing many goods while betting on the cock-fighting, which the Maui chief’s rooster always won. Kakuhihewa had heard about the hero Kau‘ilani and asked him if he could find some way to defeat the Maui rooster. When Kau‘ilani agreed, Kakuhihewa gave him his daughter in marriage. Kau‘ilani asked for the help of his sister, who turned into a beautiful hen to fight the rooster. The two combatants both changed forms several times during the battle, but eventually Lepeamoa won. The daughter of the king had a child, called Kamano, who Lepeamoa took back to Kapālama to care for (Westervelt 1923:227-245).
* The two sources for the information provided include Project Aloha ʻĀina 2009, Pacific American Foundation and An Ethnohistoric Study of Kapalama Ahupuaʻa, Honolulu District (Kona Moku), Island of Oʻahu 2009.
Third link from the bottom of the page provides XXIV Lepe-A-Moa. The site is also valuable for many other moʻolelo. Click on the icon above.
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