Mo'olelo
I ka wa ma mua; I ka wa ma hope
In the time before; In the time after
The future is in the past and learning from the past can guide our future
The moʻolelo of Kohala is rich with the history of Hawaiʻi. It starts at the very beginning with voyaging and the Koa Holomoana Heiau at Mahukona. It continues with the birth of Kamehameha Paiea born at Kokoiki to his mother Kekuʻiapoiwa. A prophecy foretold that he would be a great Aliʻi and warrior and the ruling chief of Hawaii island, Alapainui, ordered that he be killed upon birth. Naʻole, a chief of Kohala, took on the responsibility of safely carrying the Kamehameha from Kokoiki to ʻĀwini, past Pololū Valley, where Kahaʻōpūlani waited to receive him. Lineal descendants are deeply rooted in these moʻolelo of Kohala.
Moʻolelo is our kuleana.
Voyaging
Ko'a Holomoana Heiau
"Our elders did always say, you are a canoe people, you come from the canoe. We always knew that as we grew up and without the canoe, there would never had been a Hawaiian," says Tutu Marie Solomon. Koʻa Holomoana is a navigational heiau located on the bluffs of Kamanō bay in Māhukona. It is a cultural piko for Nā Kālai Waʻa Makaliʻi and the beginning and end of every voyage that the organization makes. Caretaking for this site has been shared with the Solomon family, lineal descendants of the heiau and Friends of Kohala Preservation.
For decades the Kohala community has been working to protect Mahukona. Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT) is working with the Kohala community and Nā Kālai Waʻa, the current stewards of Koʻa Heiau Holomoana, to ensure the land remains undeveloped, available for public coastal trail access and education, and an active place of Hawaiian cultural practice. Hawaiʻi Land Trust and the current private landowner have signed an agreement for Hawaiʻi Land Trust to purchase the land. For more information and donation click here.
Rest in Aloha Tutu Marie & Aunty Patti Ann Solomon
Paiea
Kamehameha Paiea
"I think it makes Kohala very unique. The entire district given place names to commemorate one of the most significant events as far as their concerned, the birth of the greatest warrior Hawaiʻi has ever known," says Kohala Historian and Kūpuna Uncle Fred Cachola.
Rest in Aloha Uncle Fred.