ʻŌlohe

Naluahine Kekaaweokaahumanu Ka‘opua

A wealth of knowledge on so many subjects he was often sought for his wisdom and counsel. As a native resident of the Kahalu‘u area, Tutu was descended from the line of La-na‘i, who was the last formal priest of Ka-pua-noni Heiau. Naluahine held many titles of expertise:

cowboy

kahuna la‘au lapa‘au

lua master

Tutu Naluahine Ka‘opua was born July 4, 1857/1860, died April 13, 1961 at Kahalu‘u, Hawaii Island. He lived off of Makolea Beach Road near the Lonoikamakahiki’s Sacred Residence (shown in the Henry Kekahuna map). As a young man — he was part of a collective which formed the Ahahui Kalepa of Helani a business in N. Kona (1883). His wife Lucy (KAUALE) whom he married around 1895 preceded him in death in the 1950s and is buried with Tutu Naluahine in the unkept graveyard of Helani Makai, across the street from Kahalu‘u Bay.

1957-1958 Naluahine Kaopua, Kona Coast, Hawai

KUPA ʻAI AU

Despite having only completed 2nd grade, Naluahine was a man of extreme intellect and knowledge having practiced the oral tradition of history of Hawaiians. In the late 1940s, early 1950s, Theodore Kelsey and Henry E.P. Kekahuna (his nephew), both of whom did occasional work with Bishop Museum, and much more work on their own, mapped and recorded sites and histories in Kona. One of their main native guides and informants was an “elderly Hawaiian gentleman” by the name of Näluahine Ka‘öpua (Naluahine); through their efforts, a great resource of information was compiled. An excellent recap was published by the Kohala Center.

Mr. Naluahine Kaopua speaks of this rock [The Kaʻahumanu Stone] and Kaʻahumanu’s hiding in an interview he did with Dr. Emory of the Bishop Museum in 1956. Naluahine was thought to be 100 years old (perhaps older) at the time the interview took place. He was a kupa ʻai au (knowledgeable, long-time resident) of the Kona region being born in Kahaluʻu, North Kona around 1857 -1860.

Naluahine was the uncle and one of the main informants of renowned map surveyor, Henry Enoka Palenapa Kekahuna. It was Naluahine’s intimate knowledge of the lands of Hawaiʻi Island that allowed Kekahuna to produce some of the most informative survey maps that are of tremendous cultural value and importance.

[Bishop Museum Archives. HAW 66.1 – 66.2, Audio Collections: Interviews.]

LONGEVITY

Naluahine’s age has been greatly debated — it is widely accepted that he was indeed a centenarian, but when did he reach 100? If the 1959 article below is right, then his birthdate should be 1857 instead of 1860 but many sources use the 1860 date. The 1860 date can further be debunked since his half brother David Kewiki Spalding was born in October 1860 and it just isn’t possible for their mother Mary Ann Namaielua to have given birth in both July 1860 and October 1860. And in fact, each Census between 1910 and 1940 has he and his wife Lucy at different non-corresponding ages.

Police officers drove Naluahine, a 102-year-old resident of Kona, on the 3 1/2-hour journey to Kapoho to make an appeal to Pele. With the aid of crutches, the old man reached the lava flow and recited a prayer. Then, folding two dollar bills reverently, he tossed them on the lava. According to witnesses, the flow divided around the bills. Although Naluahine continued to pray for three-quarters of an hour, the money failed to ignite. But when Naluahine said in Hawaiian, “I guess Pele is really angry and will not accept my offering,” the bills caught fire. Naluahine seemed gratified and the residents relieved. (Source: http://vhca.info/1959.htm)

PANIOLO

Naluahine is listed as a Laborer of Odd Jobs in earlier census records and it is not until 1930 that he is listed as a cowboy on a cattle ranch. This could be attributed to his ability to be a “jack of all trades” as an accomplished sailor, skilled at fishing, herbal healing, and other talents. But it is undeniable that his skill as a Paniolo continued into his twilight years.

IN MEMORY OF

Naluahine Kaopua

1857 – 1961

Thomas White Ranch,

Wall Ranch, Hawai‘i born at Kahalu‘u, North Kona, Naluahine Kaopua was known as the man to beat in saddle bronc contests in the early 1900’s. He was a familiar presence at such events throughout the Territory of Hawai‘i. His greatest triumph occurred at Mo‘ili‘ili on O‘ahu. He competed against all comers, including professional riders from the mainland. Naluahine’s winning ride did not end in eight seconds. Failing to unseat Naluahine, the bronc jumped over the arena fence and took off down King Street. Naluahine finally brought the animal under control at Thomas Square. For this feat he was acclaimed Mohopuni O Hawai‘i Nei (Champion of Hawai‘i).

Naluahine’s association with the Walls began in the 1890’s when Allen Wall was the Manager of Shipman’s Meat Market in Hilo. Naluahine was Allen’s contact in Kona to organize a crew to trail cattle across Ka‘u to the slaughterhouse at Kea‘au. As a young man, Naluahine contracted with several ranches for moving their cattle. Later he would work exclusively for Thomas White and Wall Ranch.

Naluahine was descended from bird catchers and was knowledgeable of old trails, waterholes and ahupua‘a boundaries. Although illiterate, his was a superior intellect and he retained knowledge passed down in the oral tradition of traditional Hawai‘i. Respected as a cultural resource, he was consulted by academics and historians of his time. Recently at the Kona Historical Society there has cropped up new interest in Naluahine Kaopua for his cultural contributions in the last half of his life. Writings of present day Hawaiian scholars describe Naluahine as a sailor, a fisherman or a Kahuna lapa‘au (medicine man). He may have been all of those things at one time or another but he was first and foremost a paniolo. He continued riding horses to help with ranch work until in his eighties. He lived to the age of 104.

Source: http://www.hicattle.org/CMDocs/HawaiiCattle/PHOF/2011/Naluahine%20Kaopua%20bio%20formatted.pdf

LA‘AU LAPA‘AU

Naluahine’s great-granduncle Naihe of Kohala married Ka‘aha‘aina‘akahaku who was of the Ho‘a ‘ohana. She was a renowned and respected healer and master of La‘au Lapa‘au among other cultural talents. It is very possible that she was a contemporary and one source of his learning and was also a centenarian.

Naluahine was credited as one of the expert contributors in the standard primer on Hawaiian herbal medicine, Kahuna La’au Lapa’au: The Practice of Hawaiian Herbal Medicine by June Gutmanis (Hawaiian Bicentennial Library).

LUA MASTER

In the years following Hawaii’s contact with the West and the catastrophic decline of Hawaiian population and culture that followed, lua was banned along with hula and other native practices. The underground tradition was secreted away to a few families. By 1974, the Bishop Museum had classified lua as a “lost art.”

Naluahine’s great-grandfather Lana‘i was also known as Kahinu. He stood more than 7 feet tall and was a skilled lua master. His nickname was because he would oil his body for fighting with coconut oil. He was a messenger for Kamehameha I attending to his garments and armor.

Naluahine is also believed to have passed the ancient art of Lua down to hapa-haole writer Charles W. Kenn, who lived on Kahuna Lane in Mo‘ili‘ili. Kenn’s credentials read as such: “Charles W. Kenn. A Hawaiian-Japanese-German kahuna (expert or priest) born in 1907, Kenn was also a social historian, professor and author who was highly accomplished in a variety of martial arts, including lua. Kenn learned lua from several teachers—including two who had trained at a royal lua school established by King Kalakaua in the late 1800s. He also studied with renowned sensei Seishiro “Henry” Okazaki, who had learned lua ai from a Hawaiian practitioner after World War I and incorporated them into his Danzan-Ryu style of jujitsu.” Source: Hana Hou Magazine, Vol 6 Issue 2 April/May 2003

A Baptismal Font for the Modern Hawaiian Man

By Robert H. Commandon March 23, 2014

The preservation of the ancient art of lua can be attributed to a martial arts student who happened upon an article in a martial arts magazine. Jerry Walker, a Native Hawaiian who grew up in Kailua, Oahu, was intrigued by the 1966 piece in Black Belt Magazine written by Charles W. Kenn. But Walker, an avid student of martial arts, was too busy at the time to pursue the lead and instead tucked the information into the back of his mind as he tended to school and began a family. However, he remained interested in lua, learning over the years that Kenn was living in a high rise in the Moiliili section of Honolulu. Finally, in 1974, a mutual friend arranged a meeting for Walker with the “olohe lua,” or lua expert. For centuries, an elite class of Hawaiian warriors had practiced the art of lua under a veil of secrecy. They were as expert, renowned and revered as the military special forces of today. Kenn had learned lua sometime in the first half of the 20th Century from Naluahine Kaopua, a respected Kona man whom some describe as a kahuna, and Henry Seishiro Okazaki, an eminent therapist and martial arts expert who likely combined the tenets of lua, traditional jujitsu and other martial arts to create “danzan ryu,” the most common style of jujitsu in the United States today. But even by the late 1950s, [NOTE: Ka‘opua died in 1961 – the writer Robert Command was in error] both Kaopua and Okazaki were dead, leaving Kenn, living in a non-descript one-bedroom condo, as the only one left with the knowledge. Perhaps recognizing his own mortality and the sincerity of Walker, Kenn agreed to teach what he knew to 12 students who would commit to the years of training necessary to master the martial art. The obligation was rigorous, and the “haumana,” or students, dwindled. But it was through this handful of kanaka maoli — Richard Kekumuikawaiokeola Paglinawan, Mitchell Eli, Moses Elwood Kalauokalani and Jerry Walker — that the ancient and once secret art of lua was preserved. Now they take the responsibility of passing on the knowledge to future generations in “Lua: Art of the Hawaiian Warrior,” essentially an introductory text offering the history, philosophy, techniques, weapons and current training practices of the Hawaiian fighting art. In addition to being an essential resource for martial arts and practitioners, “Lua” also is valuable to students of Hawaiian history and culture, and to the modern Hawaiian man, whose traditional role as a warrior was been lost in modern times. But beware: Lua is graphic, with crippling or even fatal blows diagrammed in drawings. The construction of weapons, particularly the “leiomano,” or shark-tooth-studded club, are also detailed in the book.

‘OHANA

Naluahine’s parents according to a submitted genealogy at Familysearch.org says:

Father — Ka‘opua Kaikihookama/ Keikihookama b. 1830

Mother — Mary Ann Kealohapauole NAMAIELUA b. 1832

  Children:

   1. Naluahine Ka‘opua b. 1857

   2. Kaolelo Ka‘opua b. 1862

   3. Ikaaka Ka‘opua b. 1868

   4. Kaikihookama/Keikihookama Moses Ka‘opua b. 1870

   5. Isaac Kaolelo Ka‘opua b. 1877 d. 1931

   6. John Naihe Ka‘opua b. 1879

Jerry Walker, on August 27, 2013 at 12:30 am said:

Lanai (AKA Kahinu) was the high priest of Pua-noni heiau and his brothers were Naihe (lived in Kohala) and Laa-nui (lived in Puu-makani, Kau). Lanai oldest, Naihe 2nd oldest, and Laa-nui yougnest were brothers from Maui at the request of Kamehameha. Lanai was over seven feet tall, a man of strength, very proficient in lua, and in battle.

Lanai was also knowned as Kahinu, because of his using the coconut oil over his body, and he was the special messenger for Kamehameha going after his personal garments and war implements. When Kamehameha died he took care of Kuakini. When Kuakini died he took care of his bones at Poo-Hawaii.

Lanai was Naluahine’s great-grandfater.

This information is contained in a letter from Henry Kekahuna to Charles Kenn in 1950.