Mapulehu

Photo: Gourmet Hawaiian Kawa

He Upu Papai'awa a Papa

Eia Ka awa e ke akua, he ai naunau e ke akua

He ai na kini, na ka mano a me ka lehulehu o ke akua

O ke akua i ka po loa, o kini o ke akua lau a menehune ke akua

Mai ka hikina a ke komohana, mai ka la kau a ka la komo

Mai kai Koolau a kai Kona

Mai ka paa i luna a ka paa i lalo, mai ka hookui a ka halawai

E halawai apau, eia ka ai ke o, eia la he awa

He awa nana pono, he awa nana hewa

He uli pono, he uli hewa

He ola, he make, hu aina ke ola o ke kanaka

O ke ola nui, o ke ola loa

Au a ke akua

Ola kuu aloha, ola loa no

Amama ua noa lele wale

Here is the awa, masticated for the gods

Food for the many, the multitude of gods

Gods of the late night, the many that gather for a purpose

From the east to the west, from the highest noon to the setting

From the Koolau side to the Kona side

From the firmanent above to that below, from the deep celestrial to the horizion

Gather everyone here, here is the food, here indeed is the awa

Awa to see the rightous path, and the incorrect path

A favorite sign, a bad sign

Life, peril, the land surges life into man

A great and long life

The currents of the gods

My love for life, a long life

free is the tapu, it has flown

Mapulehu was found growing along the stream in the ahupua‘a of Mapulehu in the southeast coast of Moloka‘i. Mapulehu is not the traditional name of the 'awa. It was named after the area and stream at which it was found. According to the book Hawaiian 'Awa - views of an ethnobotanical treasure, " [p]lants were found inland from the Ili‘ili‘ōpae Heiau along an historic trail that extends from Pūko‘o over the mountain and down to the bottom of Wailau Valley. This area is uka of Kaunakakai. This same variety has been found in abundance in Wailau Valley on Moloka‘i's north shore".

Puku'is Hawaiian dictionary says " Mapulehu is a

Land division, stream, and former place of refuge, Hālawa qd., south Molokaʻi; perhaps a contraction of māpu (wafted scent) and pūlehu (broil)".

Mapulehu is medium to tall in height with long green punapuna or internodes, which are the long sections between the aka or knuckles of the stems. These punapuna contain some dark spots or kīkohukohu also termed pu'upu'u by older Hawaiians . There maybe a dark triangle patch above the aka in some punapuna of the plant. This is one way to identify this variety.

Photo: by Harry Brevoort