Ahu

Traditional K.K. Ku'ialuaopuna

Noho ana ke akua i ka lamalama

Ke akua poolua

He punana ka weuweu no ka lama

Liuliu ke kapu ma luna

E puali ka malo ula a ke akua

E hooulu ka ike i na haumana

In dedicating a halau or pa in which to practice one's art, whether it be for lawaiʻa, hula, lua or any profound occupation in Hawaii of old, the creation of an ahu is for the akua of that particular 'oihana. It is the center of the pa's foundation which connects the particular pa back to its origins, lineage and art. It opens up the space within the halau like a portal to a ancient practice that has been skillfully enhanced through numerous skilled minds which are layered upon each other like the firmaments of the sky, E nu'a i luna, e nu'a i lalo

(thickly stacked above and below). A hale for the akua is the kuahu

Puke wehewehe by Kawena Puku'i describes ahu as

 -nvs. Heap, pile, collection, mound, mass; altar, shrine, cairn; a traplike stone enclosure made by fishermen for fish to enter; laid, as the earth oven.

Cf.ahuwaiwai,ahuwale,Oʻahu. Ahukele, mud heap; muddy. Ahuka pula! A heap of excreta [hence worthless; sometimes shortened to ahu only or to e ahu ana] !

Ahuka ʻalaʻala! A heap of squid ink! Not worth much! Ahuwawā, a great loud un harmonious noise!

Ahuili, a large inheritance or transfer [said of reward, vengeance].

Ahuʻenaʻena, a red-hot heap [an oven]. Ahukapanaha iā Hawaiʻi ʻimi loa (Kep. 143)

 A mass of wondrous things in deep-delving Hawaiʻi. ho.ʻāhu To pile, gather, accumulate, heap up; to lay away, as goods for the future; collect; collection, mound.Fig., to resent, dislike.

 Hale hoʻāhu, storehouse, warehouse. Lumi hoʻāhu, storeroom. E hoʻāhu anai kahuhū ma luna o kēlā poʻe, heaping up anger against those people. (PPN afu.)

Pohaku o Kane

Kamakau states "The Stone of Kane was called a puʻuhonua, and "a gate to heaven," puka no ka lani. It was the kuahu altar where men talked to the [family] gods; where men were freed from defilement and wrong doing; a place at which to ask the gods for blessings… There were very many Stones of Kane in every ahupuaʻa from Hawaii to Kauai. The Pohaku o Kane were different from heiaus; different from the koʻa shrines set up for the increase of deep sea fishes (koʻa kuʻula hoʻoulu iʻa) and the koʻa to the god Kanekoʻa set up along the banks of rivers, streams, and shore and inland ponds (kuapa me na loko) for the increase of ʻoʻopu fishes (koʻa hoʻoulu ʻoʻopu); they were different from the heiaus to Kanepuaʻa and to Lono to increase food crops, the unuunu hoʻoulu ʻai, and the ipu-o-Lono heiaus; and different from the heiaus for Kukeoloʻewa [the Maui chiefs' "state" god, whose services were held in luakini heiaus]…" [Kamakau 1968:33]

The kuahu in some practices is housed in the halau or pa. In other practices the ahu was a significant pile of pohaku erected in the natural environment such as near the sea, on the pali of a land, in the forest or it could be a designated section of the natural land itself.

 In the years following contact from the foreigners and white man, kapu have changed, religious practices have changed, and concepts have changed. In the old times of strict tapu and rigorous rites, all an aliʻi would need to do was lift a hand and all the resources and manpower would be at his calling. The people under this chief would be so numerous that a pa would be erected and completely furnished in one day. Mountains would move to supply the timber, pōhaku and resources. Seas would supply the food and offerings and every stone would be set in place before the day was completed. This halau became a temple for the gods.

In that era, the halau and its ahu were a matter of prime importance. Everything was important in its construction, from the location it would sit, the direction it would face and the size and shape of its form. A formidable code governed the principles of its creation, function, and upkeep, all dictated by many expert kahuna who had polished their skills over generations of practice.

Today, a kuahu is sometimes placed in a halau or site that is chosen by desire and want rather than by strict protocols of old. In the days of our poe kahiko, the kahuna of the heiaus held position by the Aliʻi Nui’s appointment. These kahuna were selected in childhood from a lineage of experts; they formed a hierarchy by themselves, whereas the position of the olohe, kumu, kālai waʻa or a lawaiʻa practitioner, (who were also kahuna by practice), was open to anyone who fitted himself for it by training and study, and by passing successfully the ai-lolo ceremony. After that, the individual had the right to approach the ahu of their god with the prescribed offerings and to present the prayers to their gods of the practice.

Within historic times, since the ending of the old kapu system and the loosening of the archaic religion, there has been a lowering of former standards, in some instance a degeneration of the art. The old gods, however, were not entirely dethroned; the people of today's Hawaiian practices continue to maintain the form of divine service and still appealed to the akua for inspiration and intervention; but the soul of worship to a specific entity is not the same.

Today, the kuahu is to inspire and reconnect with the ancestral ties to one's profession. It makes these connections through the use of the specific laau that are placed upon the kuahu. The of role the laau used on the various kuahu reminds one of their place within the environment, in that we as practitioners of our 'oihana, are also part of the growth that resides in the environment, whether it be from the sea or aina. The upu and pule that are said during the practices of the kuahu also elevate the practice spiritually y and emotionally. The words, tone and ideas create a vibrational picture that empowers the practice and the practitioner to a elevated level that inspires growth and a connection to the source of the practice. This connection links us with the environment on a spiritual and emotional level as to where one becomes the plants and the water in motion. This of course, is in contrast to the dark and rigid heiau services, as most other practices of old Hawaii were consistent with happiness, pride of skill and devotion.

During the time the pa and ahu were being constructed, the kapu and rules that regulated conduct were enforced with the utmost strictness. The haumana of that school or pa were required to maintain the greatest propriety of demeanor, to suppress all rudeness of speech and manner, to abstain from all bodily pleasures, to deny themselves specified types of food, and above all to avoid contact with a dead body. If anyone, even by accident, suffered such defilement, before being received again into fellowship or permitted to enter the pa and take part in the work he must have ceremonial cleansing (huikala). The kahuna offered up prayers, sprinkled the offender with paakai and olena hiwa, commanded him to auau in the ocean, and he was maemae.

                                                   Koʻa, fishing ahu on Nihoa.

                                   This is a unu or altar for the kahuna of the lawaia profession.

         Kii: David Boynton

He ahu pōhaku i hoʻohana ʻia ma ka hoʻomana ʻana, kahi i kau ʻia ai ka mōhai.

  KUAHU

The kanaka lawaiʻa's ahu, or altar, is a unique and deeply rooted tradition reflecting ancient Polynesian practices, influenced by Samoa, Tonga, and the Society Islands, among others. These ahu, unu or koʻa, often featured raised platforms of beach pōhaku (stone) with various images of Ku'ula, the god of fish, carried in canoes as spiritual protection and guidance. The tradition emphasizes prayer, respect for 'Aumakua (ancestral spirits), and adherence to strict kanawai (rules), such as never speaking while holoholo (fishing voyage), acknowledging that the i'a (fish) can hear and respond to a lawaia's intentions. The practice underscores the spiritual connection between fisherman, nature, and divine forces, with offerings made after successful catches and a cultural emphasis on humility and respect—highlighted by the belief that fish have pepeiao (ears) and can hear a fisherman’s thoughts, reinforcing the importance of silence and proper conduct during holoholo.

    Kii: Lyman Museum

Traditional

He maia no Waioloolo,

E hoomana oe ia Alaikipunia i kuula.

He pōhaku mana, i poni ia i ka niu,

Ka maile, ke kūpaoa, laau o na ia

E ka ia nui, e ka ia ku, e ka ia kai, e ka ia puni

A ola ka maka pehu

Ke unu

A ola ka aina, a pau ka wi ia o ka aina Amama

A banana for Waioloolo

Grant strength to Alaikipunia at the kuula

A powerful stone, anointed with the sacred water.

The Maile, Kūpaoa, the plants that entice the fish.

The big fish, the fish that gather, the fish that travels, fish that surround.

Life, to those who suffer from hunger.

The land lives, the famine of fish is ended on land.

Inikiwai / Pahe'ehe'e

This unu or kuula is known as inikiwai or Ku'ula Pahe'ehe'e and it was originally larger than it is at present and was rectangular in shape. Its original north to south dimension was 40 feet, while its east to west dimension was 20 feet. It had a 4 foot high lava wall around it and was modified by erosion and negligent bull-dozing. The heiau was built on a raised hill of a'a. Inikiwai unu or ko'a is 10 feet above ground level and the top is paved with 'ili'ili.

Kii: William J. Toman

Some kuula were erected on the shoreline in the area where fishing was done. Others were erected inland on the kilo, or lookouts which were on the tops of mountain cliffs overlooking the ocean. The kilo on the heights of these pali were more for spotting different species of i'a such as the akule, and various species of inshore fish . The koʻa on the shore were for the small pua, reef fish, aku, and other various mea of the sea.

On this ko'a or fishing shrines, were various pōhaku poepoe ( round stones ) of different sizes. These various pōhaku poepoe, represented the different types of i'a that were sought after . These mea poepoe were all placed on the top of the ahu, each may have a different size. One mea poepoe may be for the pua or small fish such as weke, āholehole, or manini and the rest for the other fish such as 'ama'ama, papio, akule, aku or ahi. These i'a were those usually found within that areas locality. As the kanaka lawaiʻa went in search of a select type of fish, the proper mea poepoe was taken off the kuula and washed in the sea with the proper prayers or upu for that specific type of ia. The pōhaku was wrapped in a fragrant limu that was favorable and then it was replaced back on the ahu. The fragrance of the limu is similar to the fragrance of the plants that adorn the ahu of other Hawaiian practices. This 'a'ala or sweet smelling fragrance entices the akua and elements adding to an enhanced vibration and desire in one's request, as well as enlightening the environment for the akua.

Besides shrines there were sometimes images, at the shrines as well as stones that fishermen relied on to bring them luck. Margarett Titcomb with the collaboration of Mary Kawena Puku'i wrote in her book Native Use Of Fishes In Hawaii that " Whether these luck stones were always material dwelling places or locales of the fisherman‘s ‘aumakua, or sometimes that and sometimes merely lucky stones, charms, we do not know. But it is likely that the stones usually stood for the god of the fisherman or an ‘aumakua. Sometimes they were carved with human characteristics, sometimes not. Sometimes they were brought along when fishing, sometimes left at home. When left at home the “image” was always placed facing the sea. (Mrs. Pukui.) In the Fornander collection of Hawaiian writings (25, Vol. 3:174) there is the statement, “The fisherfolks’ deities throughout the islands were simply certain designated stones; in no case were they carved images.” However, at Bishop Museum there are a few stone images carved in the form of fishes and said to be fish gods. Three of them are grooved as if to provide for the lashing of a cord. They are too small for anchors for canoes, possibly they were fastened to fishlines in place of sinkers, with the idea that if lowered into the sea the god would be near the fish he was implored to affect. McAllister speaks of (59a, p. 35), “Several water-worn elongated stones brought from the shrine… undoubtedly akua (god) stones… all probably stood erect and were embedded in the earth. With several of them fragments of tapa or leaves or ferns were associated, undoubtedly all these stones were once similarly adorned…”

Besides formless images or those in fishlike form there are a few with human characters. McAllister found (ibid., p. 36) “five echinoderm spines from the Komohio shrine have been carved—one with unusual skill. The image carved on this spine is typical old Hawaiian and resembles the wooden images that were once placed on the temple walls…” The Kamohio shrine also yielded, “One wooden image, now lost, and the head of another… The image head that remains was wrapped in many folds of tapa and is so badly decayed that the features, a broad forehead, pointed chin, nose apparently long and narrow, pouches under the eyes, and evidence of a protruding tongue, are scarcely visible…” This head measures 5.7 inches from the chin to the top of the head. In his notes, Stokes speaks of this image (79a):—

“Then we went to what had apparently been a fish heiau of great importance. It was originally a large rock shelter in the front of which, to the north of the middle, had been set up a wooden idol and terraces of stone built up to it.” (Ms. notes on Kaho‘olawe in Bishop Museum by J. F. G. Stokes.) Mr. Stokes thinks this image may have represented the god of fish-hook-makers, not fishermen. (pers. comm.)

In Bishop Museum there is one wooden image marked “akua lawai‘a” (fisherman’s god) from Kailua, Hawaii, as well as the wooden god described by McAllister from Kaho‘olawe of very vague features.

Emory found no image on Lanai, but there was the memory of one (p. 71), “upon a great platform near the sea. A step, one foot high, runs along the front of the altar where once stood an image of the god Kuula, patron of fishermen. Natives who claim to have seen this stone idol, called Kunihi, describe it as two feet high, with ears, nose, mouth and arms… Ohua was one of several men instructed to hide the image by Kamehameha V during his visit in 1868.”

Maunupau, who accompanied Kenneth P. Emory on a trip to Kaupo, Maui, in 1922, writes of their finding more than one fishing heiau there, (67a):

We asked (Hawaiians living there) if they knew what was done at the fish heiau… Kenui…told us, “The fish heiau was for the purpose of making fish of all kinds multiply, according to one‘s desire. It was also called ku‘ula for a certain god of fishermen and also a ko‘a because fine coral was used to cover the spot for the offerings, coral from the beach…”

Dr. Emory (pers. comm.) supplements this statement, saying that the natives told them that there was a little house on the heiau, that is, a small shelter just large enough to cover a man. A fisherman would sleep in this small shelter and in his dreams would come directions as to where to seek fish.

Another point made was that several fisherman combined in worshipping at a heiau.

Emory says that Maunupau’s father, a renowned fisherman of Kona, Hawaii, used to offer fish at a ko‘a upon coming in from fishing—perhaps only 30 years ago.

Limu Lipoa

Kii: Waimanalo Limu Hui

Traditional K.K. Ku'ialuaopuna

Ke kahe nei ke au i Kapapa,

Ma kahi e kahe ai ka hee

I ka maha lipoa a La'a

He kole maka onaona o na kupa

Ke haa mai la o Mokolii

I ke kai o hee ko Kapapa,  moku o Hina

The tide flows to Kapapa,

Where the octopus smoothly glides

Among the lipoa grove of La'a

The favorite one of the natives

Mokolii dances

In the squid spearing waters of Kapapa, island of HIna

The lawaiʻa would then call upon the akua of the pohaku to bring in the selected i'a. These mea poepoe ( round stones) were very powerful and would draw the selected ia into the shoreline for the kanaka lawaiʻa. If Aku was wanted the mea poepoe for aku was washed and prayed to. If the ia was for weke then the proper pōhaku was known to bring in the weke to the shoreline. These pōhaku poepoe were hidden back in the sea by the kahuna lawaiʻa when these heiau or kūʻula shrines became relics of old. There was another type of kuahu or unu that had a pōhaku kū that stood upright on the unu. There was usually another flat pōhaku near it that was porous and in a reclined position near the pohaku Ku. This was the pōhaku Hina. This ko'a (or termed kūʻula) was the type most known. As the kanaka lawaiʻa brough up his catch of akule or opelu, he would save the first fish caught for the day as the offering to his gods at the ko'a, unu or kuahu. He would take the first four fish in his hand, the tails of the fish were held between his fingers of one hand, with the bodies facing down. This is called kuauna, which is one set of four (Hoʻokahi kuauna). This kuauna was the offering set aside for the kūʻula and his deity. The kuauna was placed on the kuahu with limu and prayers and left there as the offering. The remains of the i'a after a while were taken off the ahu and buried in the sand around the ahu, like the careful malama and placement of the greenery from the kuahu of hula and lua.

The first fish caught was always reserved for the gods and offered on the altar of the fish god on shore as soon as the canoe landed. McAllister (60, pp. 15-16) noted many remains of ko‘a, or fishermen’s temples, along the shores of Oahu; Bennett (7, pp. 48-49) has noted them on Kauai. After fish were offered, or set aside for offering by giving them to the priest, the best fish of the catch were set aside for the chief in an amount to provide generously for his personal needs and those of his numerous household. Then the various kahuna (recognized experts in branches of learning), next the konohiki (chief’s agent and overseer), and finally the people received their share. Division was made according to need, rather than as reward or payment for share in the work of fishing. Thus all were cared for. Anyone assisting in any way had a right to a share. Anyone who came up to the pile of fish and took some, if it were only a child, was not deprived of what he took, even if he had no right to it. It was thought displeasing to the gods to demand the return of fish taken without the right. What Hawaiians thought sometimes about this inevitable sharing of a hard won catch may be known from the following lines from the legend of Niho-o-leki (25, Vol. 1, pp. 492-494). There are more details to this type of kuahu lawaiʻa, or ko'a, but we look at this lawaia practice at another time. We will now look at another type of kuahu.

In every pa, halau, or training site stood a kuahu, a place dedicated to the akua of that 'ʻoihana or profession. The kuahu is a standing (upright) altar or shrine. The kuahu is the visible, temporary home of the akua, whose presence is the inspiration of the haumana and of the practice. A framework of wood, a structure of stone is embowered in greenery, sometimes the greenery was from both the land and the ocean, depending on the type of ahu it is, as well as its purpose in relation to the art practiced. For the pa lua the ahu was positioned on the hikina side of the pa. The gathering of the green leaves and other plants of nature for the adornment of the akua was a matter of so great importance that it could not be entrusted to anyone but those who were well trained and seasoned in the art of that profession. Nathaniel B. Emerson  writes in Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The Sacred Songs Of The Hula that "the prayers which the hula folk of old times chanted while gathering the material in the woods or while weaving it into shape in the halau for the construction of a shrine did not form a rigid liturgy; they formed rather a repertory as elastic as the sighing of the breeze, or the songs of the birds whose notes embroidered the pure mountain air. There were many altar-prayers, so that if a prayer, came to an end before the work was done the priest had but to begin the recitation of another prayer, or, if the spirit of the occasion so moved him, he would take up again a prayer already repeated, for until the work was entirely accomplished the voice of prayer must continue to be heard". This formality is similar for the ʻoihana of the lua people.

Traditional K.K. Ku'ialuaopuna

E Kuniakea, Kuwahailo, Ku’ialua

Noho ana i ka naau kahiko

Mai ka uka a i kai

Eia ka poo puaka a kau oihana

E hooulu I ka naanaau

E malu mai

O ke kani o ka moa

Ka nu a ka puaa

E hoohihi a hihi me ka maile o ka lau lii

O ka olapa o ka noe kolo

O ka nene’e o ka pali

O ka a a ka pala a

O ka pili o ka iwaiwa

Ka lua o ka palapalai

Unana ka lau o ke ki

O na ku’i olioli iho

O ke akua i kuahu nei

E noho i ke ahu o uka

Oh Kuniakea, Kuwahailo, Ku’ialua

Dwelling in the knowledge of the past

From the uplands to the sea

Here is the advanced one of your profession

Inspire me within

Protect us from

The crow of the cock

The grumbling of the pig

We are one with the small leaf maile

The flash of the creeping mist

The ohi’a of the steep cliffs

The heat of the palaa

The clinging grasp of the iwaiwa

The back biter of the palapalai

The paepae is interwoven

The throbbing rejoices inside

The one of this Kuahu

Dwell here in the ahu of the uplands

There were formalities that must be observed, prayers to be chanted, prayers to be recited. It is so important to remember, even today, that when one breaks the flowers, vines and leaves of these ancient growths, the body of the akua is being broken and removed from its natural environment. All care and respect must be looked at as these greeneries are a part of their bodies, bodies that reside in its natural form within the natural halau of the forest eepa. The plants are literally growing in natures kuahu or forest environment and these selected plants are relocated to the ahu within the various pa lua . We should look at this gathering season as not a time for despair and heavy in thought, as like those services on the heiau, but a moment of excitement and happiness, with the respect and honor still hanging over us. Chants are given and laughter is present in honor of gathering the ‘a ’ahu of the akua. We have not gotten to the ahu yet. We are preparing ourselves for the moment in this preparation of understanding.

The ahu of the lua is very similar to that of the ha'a in hula, so similar it may be considered part of the same practice. Some of the 'aiha'a dances of today are termed hula. In lua, the olohe was the instructor of the fighting arts in the night realm, the olohe also taught haa in the day. This was the dance form which incorporated the fighting 'ai. This is known as haa in Lua. The old man Lanai, who was Olohe Naluahine Kaopua's tutu, was born in the time of Kamehameha. He was an attendant for Kamehameha and was a clever lua fighter who was over seven feet in height. He was from Kona hema and taught ha'a in the day and at night he taught Lua in the old traditional pa.    

Kii: Richard Paglinawan

"Nāluahine Kaʻōpua of Kona was interviewed by Henry Kekahuna concerning Hawaiian fighting arts. Kaʻōpua lived on the Keauhou side of Keʻekū heiau (temple) on the sands of Mākoleʻā in Kahaluʻu, Kona. According to Kaʻōpua, his grandfather would teach hula in the day hours. When it became night, Kaʻōpua took candles into the lodge at ʻUmihale where the arts of Kuʻialua were taught. Kaʻōpua only observed, as his father forbade him from learning this terror-striking art form from his grandfather. All that he remembered was recorded by Kekahuna and preserved for the expert practitioners of these times.

Like all pa of old, the various plants used on the ahu are not all found in the same forest zones and climates. Some are unique to a specific place and environment. Many plants on the ahu in pa are slightly different from another, depending on a lot of things such as accessibility, climate zone, function, and availability. For the pa lua practice, plants also vary from land to land. In the island of Hawaii there can be found almost every plant needed. The climate can be a lush rain forest to a dry desert, as compared to the island of Niihau, where not many specific plants of lush vegetation can be found.

Certain protocols are necessary when gathering specific plant materials for the adornment of the dancer or the ahu. First and foremost is to always ask permission.

A chant for protection and forgiveness is recited before one steps into the realm of the forest dwellers. The protection is for both the dancers and the realm one is in, so that no party is injured, lost or abused. The gatherer must set their mind with the intent of concentration and awareness to the work at hand. If we are in the elemental realm, we need to be respectful and mindful of all elemental forces. We are the visitors, noise attracts unnecessary energies. We want to get in and get out. Chants to close our visit before departure, help to set the energies back to where they were before our visit. These chants or pule restore boundaries and sever ties, so that the energies are aware that they cannot return with us or hold any attachments. All is set back in its place of origin.

The ahu on the pa lua would consist of a raised upright structure of pōhaku neatly built. The height of the stone structure or ahu is variable, about 4 to 5 feet heigh.

The forest plants used on the kuahu lua are meant to adorn and embody the akua of the various 'ʻoihana. Each laau that embodies the ahu is very important and particular to the art of that pa itself.

The laau in each practice has been carried down from generations of halau that make up that pa's genealogical ties to its origins. The ahu becomes the forest environment itself. It’s important to know in ancient times, no one, can just step into any pa on their own without the correct password or without a invitation. They need to be invited in through the doorway. To just enter without permission would bring harsh consequences for the trespasser. A password was needed for all to enter. For the lua people of old, each pa was unique and all training within was secretive and well hidden from all outsiders.

Laau of the ahu

'Ie'ie

Kii: Forest and Kim Starr

ʻIeʻie is one of laau on the ahu. It is often the first plant set on the kuahu of Lua. Its name 'ie'ie means height, it winds its way up the forest canopy as it climbs upon the giant trees, reaching great heights.

The symbolism for the haumana is to weave the body and be limber and imitate the qualities of the 'ie'ie in skill and confidence.

E ‘imi wale no i ka lua o ka ‘uwa‘u ‘a‘ole e loa‘a. Seek as you will the burrow of the ‘uwa‘u, it cannot be found. A boast of one's skill in lua fighting, of the depth of one's knowledge, or of a skill that isn't easily gotten. A play on lua, a burrow, a pit, or an art of fighting. The burrow of the ‘uwa‘u bird is often deep. Bird catchers inserted a piece of the aerial root of the ‘ie‘ie, gummed at one end, to catch the fledgling 'uwa'u.

Kii: Division of Forestry and Wildlife

Palapalai

Kii: Forest and Kim Starr

Palapalai represents the back biter and two-faced opponent. This laau symbolizes the ability for one to recognize the character of someone who hides their true intentions. This plant is also known in lua as Kupukupu and Niʻaniʻau. This kupukupu (Palapalai) is not the same as the kupukupu fern that is well known amongst hula traditions.

Kii: Forest and Kim Starr

Palaʻā

Kii: Forest and Kim Starr

Pala'a represents the intense firery burining of one's opponent or adversary. The focus and determination that drives one to complete one's assignment and course is emulated in the Palaʻā.

Puke wehewehe gives this information:

1.Formerly a brown dye was extracted from the fronds. Also palapalaʻā and pāʻū-o-Palaʻe. (Neal 15, 16.)

2.A tapa of māmaki bark dyed brownish-red with palaʻā fern, of silky quality.

3. vs. Brownish-red.

4. n. Type of stone, used for sinkers for octopus fishing.

Kii: Forest and Kim Starr

'Iwa'iwa

Kii: Forest and Kim Starr

'Iwa'iwa represents the tenacious grip that the haumana needs to replicate. Iwaiwa grows on the pali and underside of many ana and pohaku. Hanging upside down with its tenacious grip, the iwaiwa's holding power is what the lua expert needed to attain.

Kii: Forest and Kim Starr

Maile lau li'ili'i

Kii: Division of Forestry and Wildlife: Forestry Program

Maile lauli'i for the lua practitioner represents the body odor of the living and the smell of the dead. The woody laau hihi is used on the kuahu as it entwines around the greenerey that resides there.

Kii: Division of Forestry and Wildlife: Forestry Program

ʻŌlapa

 Kii: Hawaii Forestry Extension

ʻŌlapa represents the casting aside of one's antagonist / opponent with ease, as the wind trembles the leaves to move, so does the skilled one to the opponent that is around him.

Kii: Hawaii Forestry Extension

Halapēpē

Kii: Maui Native Nursery

Wood of this tree is carved into ki'i, the branches with leaves are used on the kuahu of lua and in hula ; this wood used to represent Kapo'ulakina'u in some hula practices. For lua, this represents the pohaku that are suspended in a net above the ipuka into the pa. If an un-invited guest was to stick their head through the ipuka of the pa or to enter without permission, a net full of pohaku would be dropped on them crushing them. Within hālau hula, a branch of hala pepe was traditionally placed on the kuahu (altar) to represent the goddess Kapo (Abbott 1992).

He pēpē ʻōmaka no Hilo, pā i ka paʻakai, uāniʻi !

A crushing of the ʻōmaka from Hilo, touched with salt, stiffens!

This is a old saying which refers to those who were not of that pa. If they tried to enter into another pa lua without consent they would be crushed by the stones held in a net.

Kii: David Eickhoff

Halapepe

Kii: J.K. Obata via G.D. Carr

ʻŌhiʻa Lehua Nene'e

   Kii: Bishop Museum

ʻŌhiʻa Lehua Nene'e also ʻŌhiʻa  papa.

Represents the solid foundation of Papahanaumoku in which one stands on. Representing kūkia / steadfastness of one's physical and mental  balance in function.

Kii: Tim Kroessig

Kalamālō / Kāwelu / 'Emoloa

Kii: Sebastian Marquez

Kāwelu is placed on the kuahu of some pa lua. It represents the swaying of one's body and the ability to move with flexibility and bend in the force of wind. This is the representation of Ku and Hina. There is a step in Lua and hula named after this laau Kawelu.

Kāwelu holu o Lanihuli.

The swaying grass of Lanihuli.

At Nu‘uanu Pali can be seen the kāwelu grass on the slope of the hill, dipping, rippling, and swaying in the breeze. It is mentioned in many chants and poems.

Puke wehewehe by Kawena Puku'i describes Kāwelu as:

1. n. A wind-blown grass (Eragrostis variabilis), famous in songs of Nuʻu-anu pali; E. niihauensis on Niʻihau. Also kalamālō and ʻemoloa. (Neal 64.) See song, kehakeha.

2. nvi. A hula step, to do this step, which is said to be named for the grass: one foot taps time with the heel, the toes being stationary, while the other foot, flat, steps forward and then a little back, twice or more; the step is repeated reversing the feet. In English this is called the Ka-lā-kaua step because the step is used to begin the hula dedicated to Ka-lā-kaua: Ka-lā-kaua nō he inoa, ka pua mae ʻole i ka lā, a name chant for Ka-lā-kaua, the flower that wilts not in the sun.

3. n. A seaweed, perhaps Wrangelia penicillata, which resembles the flowering head of Eragrostis variabilis.

4. n. A type of house thatching.

5. vi. To hang loose, as long hair (Kel. 116).

Kii: Sebastian Marquez

Lama

Kii: Native Plants Hawaii

 A block of lama wood is sometimes wrapped in scented olena kapa, which is placed in the center of the kuahu, the lama wood embodies Laka the akua that is the deity of the hula or Ha'a profession. Similar to hula, Lua also has the same block of lama which sits on the kuahu in the pa lua. For some pa lua, the ili of the lama is left on, while the top and bottom of the lama is highly polished. The Lama is wrapped in kapa lena,( olena dyed kapa), which represents Ku for the Lua profession of old. 

Kii: dlnr.hawaii.gov

Toa

Kii: Ku'ialuaopuna

Toa for some pa represents the fearless character one needs in the various arts of the profession. The strength of the koa tree is emulated in the body of the haumana and the thought of one's mind set.

Puke wehewehe by Kawena Puku'i describes koa as,

 1. nvs. Brave, bold, fearless, valiant; bravery, courage. Cf. hoʻonakoa, puʻipuʻi. Aʻo nō i ke koa, aʻo nō i ka holo (saying, Kel. 45), learn bravery, learn to run [be brave but prudent in war]. hoʻo.koa Brave; to cause bravery. (PPN toʻa.)

2. nvs. Soldier, warrior, fighter; military, hero, martial. Kānāwai koa, martial law. hoʻo.koa To act as a soldier; to cause to be a soldier.

3. n. The largest of native forest trees (Acacia koa), with light-gray bark, crescent-shaped leaves, and white flowers in small, round heads. A legume with fine, red wood, a valuable lumber tree, formerly used for canoes, surfboards, calabashes, now for furniture and ukuleles. A small koa was sometimes added to the hula altar to Laka, goddess of the hula, to make the dancer fearless. (Neal 408–11.) The name koa may be qualified by the terms kā, kū ma kua, kū mauna. E ola koa, live like a koa tree [i.e. long]. (PPN toa.)

Kii: Forest and Kim Starr

The Kuahu is the embodiment of the natural forces that make up the world we, as Hawaiians live in. This environment is replicated within the pa or halau, bringing with it all the vibratory energy that abounds from the earliest beginnings. The energy is ensnared and magnified, as they practice and continue their traditions, their own energies and vibrations are added to the whole and the cycle goes on.

Traditional: K.K. Ku'ialuaopuna

E Lono e, e komo ma loko I ka hale

Ka hale o ka aha, ke alapii a ka opae

Aia ka nāhelehele o uka, i ta ua o Makalii

Hoonionio ia loko, o ka pua, ka puaa hiwa a Kane

He pukoa ku, he papa unaoa na Lono

Eia ka leo ula, he Alaihi kala loa

Eia no ka ula la, he ulaleo ia oe

He uku, he mohai, he alana

Hooulu mai

Elieli tapu, elieli noa

Ua noa a...

Lono enter into you hale

The house of cords, the path way of the shrimp

Here is the greenery of the inland

Bring excitement within the student, the sacred pig of Kane

A hard upright coral, the hard firmament of Lono

Here is my voice, a strong fish of the land

Here is sacred offering, a request to you

A payment, a sacrifice and a offering to you

inspire us

Deep is the sacredness, profound is the release

It its so released..