Aia la o Puna

Kii: Ku'ialuaopuna

This upu speaks about a time when Moa'ula Heiau was re built from a small heiau for agricultural growth and prosperity into a marae of strictly regulated tapu. This transformation and expansion was at the time of Pa'ao. Paao was a chief and priest of Tahiti issland. Waha'ula was the name of this newly reconsicrated heiau. In Lua tradition, Waha'ula was the first heiau ever consecrated for human sacrifice. This new religious practice from Raiatea, Tahiti, re-shaped Hawaiian civilization.

Kii: Ku'ialuaopuna

Traditional K.K. Ku'ialuaopuna

Aia la o Puna i ka nahelehele.

Ka paia ala i ka hala.

Pua ka ala i ke ahi.

Aia ma kai kai o Poupou,

Holo mai ke kapukapu

Ka lamalama a Ku.

Ke kuahu a ka lua.

Ma Kahauale'a ka niu lelo,

Ka ulu niu o ka lani.

Ma Pulama ka ula.

Moe kahi ka uahi a ka lua

Heahea mai ka leo huna i te po.

Aia o Ilea i ka pouli o Waipoli

I ka waha o ka ula

Ka ikena o Kailiili

E hoolohe i ka makani, i te au o ka oio.

Noho ka mu ao Kahauale'a

Kukulu ka pahu

Kahi ana i kukulu ia ai

Mai ka po mai.

Aia la i Poupou ka ai a ka lua

Elieli kapu,

Elieli noa,

Ua noa..

Puna is abundant in greenery

The fragrant walls of hala

The fragrance of smoke rises in the fire

At the coast of Poupou

Came the burning laws,

The torches of Ku.

The upright stone of the pit

At Kahauale'a grew the tree of Ku,

The grove of the chiefs

At Pulama was the kapu

The smoke rests low on the land.

The voice of the ancestors calls

Ilea rests in the bosom of Waipoli

In the opening of the heiau

Kailiili is in view

Listen to the ancestors , the realm of spirit.

The silence is at Kahauale'a.

The staff is erect.

Where it has been stationed

From remote times

There indeed at Poupou is the Lua.

Profound is the kapu,

Intense is the release,

 It is free.

Waha'ula

Kii: National Park Service