A Puʻuhānau Wau
Contributed to the collection by J.P Hale, today’s featured mele originates from the Island of Maui and employs the ʻAlae bird as a metaphor to describe people who spread scandalous tales.
(Mele translation by Mary Kawena Pukui)
A Puʻuhānau wau, aha I was at Puʻuhānau, tra la
Ua hānau Maui i Waiheʻe Where Maui was born in Waiheʻe
Ahe ana kahi makani When a gentle breeze arose
He makani Kiliʻoʻopu, aha It was a Kiliʻoʻopu breeze, tra la
Kolonahe la i ka nahele That sneaked along to the forest
Ka nahele laʻi o ʻAlae, aha The quiet forest of ʻAlae, tra la
He ʻalae kani ao ʻoe, [aha] You are a coot that cries by day, tra la
A pō kau i ka haka And perches on a roost at night
A ao keʻukeʻu mai, [aha] During the day you cry harshly, tra la
A ʻo ka ʻAlae-a-Hina Your coots belonging to Hina
Ke kani ala i ka lewa, [aha] You cry out in the sky, tra la
Ua lele akula i kai As you fly toward the sea
I ke kanikani kau hale, [aha] To cry over the housetops, tra la
Ke ʻeli ala i ke one You dig into the sand
I ka hale o ka ʻōhiki, [aha] The home of the Sandcrabs, tra la
Hiki mai ʻo kani ka ʻula When the echo comes this way
Lohe au piʻi ka manene, [aha] I hear it and shudder, tra la
He manene i ka hilahila I shudder with shame
Ua hana hilahila ʻole ʻoe At your shameless deeds
Haʻina mai ka puana, [aha] This is the end for my chant, tra la
No ka ʻAlae-a-Hina For Hina’s coots
[Call Number: MS SC Roberts 2.1a , Pg. 42-46]
Mele are an invaluable primary resource for Hawaiian scholarship and cultural connection. The Welo Hou: Building Connections to the Roberts Mele Collection project, funded in part by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, will improve the digitization, indexing, and accessibility of a unique and treasured collection of mele dating from pre-Western contact to the early 1900s. This pilot project will serve as a model for improved access to and increased engagement with the Bishop Museum Library & Archives’ other mele collections.
Welo Hou, or to unfurl once again, aims to provide more opportunities for researchers of all levels of Hawaiian language and cultural fluency to access the Roberts Collection with ease, and honors the connections between Hawaiian voices of the past and our community of the present.
