Descriptions of Environmental Mauliola Found in the Kuluwaimaka Collection
Dates
Publication Date
2022
Summary
This exerpt comes from a Bishop Museum collection called, “The Chants of James Palea Kapihenui Kuluwaimaka.” The explanation about words found in traditional and modern pule and mele is an example of the rich environmental information that continues to be found in Hawaiian resources that are often overlooked or not considered valuable. James Palea Kapihenui Kuluwaimaka (Kuluwaimaka) was born in Naʻalehu, Kaʻū, in 1845. He had an incredible memory and could recant 1,500-1,700 lines within an ancient chant effortlessly (Honolulu Advertiser, 1937). He was the court chanter for King David Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani. Kuluwaimaka continued to serve the queen even after deposed whenever she made appearances publically or to preside [...]
Summary
This exerpt comes from a Bishop Museum collection called, “The Chants of James Palea Kapihenui Kuluwaimaka.” The explanation about words found in traditional and modern pule and mele is an example of the rich environmental information that continues to be found in Hawaiian resources that are often overlooked or not considered valuable. James Palea Kapihenui Kuluwaimaka (Kuluwaimaka) was born in Naʻalehu, Kaʻū, in 1845. He had an incredible memory and could recant 1,500-1,700 lines within an ancient chant effortlessly (Honolulu Advertiser, 1937). He was the court chanter for King David Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani. Kuluwaimaka continued to serve the queen even after deposed whenever she made appearances publically or to preside over honorific events at Hawaiian affairs.1 In his latter year Kuluwaimaka eventually became a featured chant instructor at a school that operated within the Lalani Hawaiian Villiage located in Waikiki (Honolulu Advertiser, 1937). He met Theodore Kelsey
who appears to have been fascinated with capturing information about ancient Hawaiʻi and started recording Kuluwaimakaʻs voice, chanting styles, and pule using a dictaphone. During the transcription of the various voice recordings, Theodore Kelsey interviewed Kuluwaimaka again, requesting longer explanations of words, epistemologies or nuances that each line of all the chants provided. Some of the explanations were short, curt, and to the point while other explanations were extremely detailed. These transcriptions became the two volumes of chants utilized for this study. The transcriptions are the property of the Bishop Museum. Written permission to publish parts found in the volumes must be obtained prior to publication. Out of the 220 transcribed chants, sixteen of which had multiple versions, two main themes
emerged. The first theme comprised largely of descriptions that focused on the components or natural indicators necessary to identify a healthy and thriving environment. The second theme comprised of descriptions of extreme weather events or natural phemomena. Happily there were some references and explanations that revealed new words for drought or environmental conditions that describe lands that were in a drought-like condition. This study will list indicators between hulihia chants where extreme weather events are noted to cause drought to ensue and kulia chants where restoration of damaged lands were identified to bring balance back to people suffering from drought conditions. The study shows that the word wī is translated as both drought and famine. It is the researcher’s conclusion that wī is used to determine that the lack of water and food are the main distinctions for drought. The other words, pānoa, ʻalaneo, and māloʻo are descriptions of dry, arid, and desolate areas that do not necessarily mean a drought is happening in the area. Pānoa, ʻalaneo and māloʻo are often used to describe conditions, seasons, or features of the enviornment and do not necessarily mean drought from a Hawaiian perspective. The point that this paper is attempting to make is that drought and famine are synonymous to Hawaiians. If an area is dry or
desolate, then it is called pānoa, ʻalaneo, and māloʻo but does not necessarily mean drought is occurring.
