Ia Waʻa Nui
Photo— K. Connelly
Ia wa‘a nui
Ia wa‘a kioloa
Ia wa‘a peleleu
A lele māmala
A manu o uka
A manu o kai
‘I‘iwi pōlena
A kau ka hōkū
A kau i ka malama
A pae i kula
‘Āmama, ua noa!
That large canoe
That long canoe
That broad canoe
Let the chips fly
The bird of the upland
The bird of the lowland
The red Hawaiian honeycreeper
The stars hang above
The moon, too
And land ashore
Āmama, the kapu is lifted!
KE KUMU O KĒIA OLI
The purpose of this Oli
This traditional pule wa‘a or canoe prayer was revived for the 1975 launch of Hōkūle‘a and has become a standard among the ‘Ohana Wa‘a. At the launching ceremony at Kualoa, Hōkūle‘a was hauled into the water, paddled a good distance out, and finally returned to shore. About halfway to shore, the kahuna began this chant and crew members joined in, accompanied by the sound of the paddles against the hull.
“Instructions for the chant rhythm were as follows: ‘The stroke is slow. The paddle is struck a little in front of the paddler on the return of the paddle. The timing is thus: Ia wa‘a (thump) nui (thump), ia wa‘a (thump) kioloa (thump), ia wa‘a (thump) peleleu (thump)...’” – Polynesian Voyaging Society, pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu
The first ten lines are usually chanted through three times. Then, line 11 releases the kapu with the pre-Christian pule ending, “‘Āmama, ua noa!” In the accompanying audio file, the pule wa‘a text is chanted once.