Ka Pali Lele Koa'e

Kii: Volcano National Park Service- Koae kea

Kii: Pada Photo Journey - Koae ula

Traditions and knowledge are recorded in various ways for all indigenous people. These important events can be passed down in many ways, including song, dance, stories and chants.

Hula and Lua are similar in style yet unique to the many individual halau of old. One's specific practice, such as hula, lua, or other arts, employs specific styles to commemorate past events, which may be in dance form or oral recitation.  For Hawaiians, these past events or experiences hold mana or power and are to be remembered, for they are important to the art and its lineage.  These chants, upu, and stories may have a supernatural intent, which is used to connect our present realm with another. These realms can include those of the ancestors, spiritual guides, kupuna, nature, or the universal energies, which are many and are only accessible to certain individuals who already possess the necessary tools to accomplish this. All people can connect to these realms, but most are not aware of their existence, so no attempt is even considered. Communication between realms is done through the mind's eye and through knowledge learned.

Here is a traditional upu of the 'aihaa people of old. Its meaning is well-known to those who are initiated in the science. For others, it will just be a riddle to be unraveled. This upu shows the connections of Puna to the chiefs of Tahiti and Oahu.

 Koa'e - Traditional K.K. Ku'ialuaopuna

E ike i ka lua o ke Koae

He aihaa no ia

O Koae Ula a Kea

He mau ano Ku laua

Ka Aeae o uka a kai

O ka Ohiki ka paepae

Ka mea a ka lihikai

O Malolokai ka upena

Ka ai a ka hoa paio

Ma Panau, ua ike no ia

Puka mua mai la ma Puuloa

Ka umeke o Keaunui

Kai koo ko Puna i ka la

Ka ai Kani Lehua

He hoapili a ka lua

Heheo ana i ka nahele

A ka luna o Kapukapu

Kahi a...  e aihaa ai

Ka pali lele koae

Ua ike no a...

Come to know the art of Koa'e

A dance form it is

The red and the white birds

Both forms of Ku

Aeae is of the inland and of the sea

The crab is the foundation

The form of the shoreline

Malolokai is the net

The stroke of the antagonist

It is known at Panau

Emerging first at Puuloa

The gourd of Keaunui

Puna's waters are powerful

The strike called Kani Lehua

A companion in battle

Undulating in the forest

Above the ridge of Kapukapu

The area we dance

Where the Koae soar

It is known indeed.

Kii: bishop Museum- Malolokai

    Kii: Robs Plants - Maia A'ea'e/, Mai'a Manini

Kii: Malama Pupukea-Waimea- Manini

Kii: Kupuna Kalo- Kalo Manini

Kii: Kirsten Carlson- Ohiki