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Honokahua Nani E - Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell, Sr.
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Ahe `âina nani o Honokahua Ua `ike makou i nâ waiwai nui Hui pu mei kakou no nâ kupuna E malama e ka`ehu kai Ha`ina `ia mai ana ka puana `Ia wahi kapu nâ kupuna e `Ia wahi kapu nâ kupuna e |
This beautiful land of Honokahua We have always known People of Maui, unite for our kupuna Drenched with sea spray Tell the story, give praise to |
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Source: Pandanus Club CD "Ho`ike" Copyright Pandanus Club, Written January 4, 1987, verse 3, stanza 2 & verse 4, stanza 4 refer to the composer's birthplace of Napili, 1 mile from the Honokahua Burial Grounds. Hawaiians are lovingly connected to their keiki or future generations and also to their kupuna through their ancestors' iwi (bones, remains, life). This forms the Hawaiian circle of life. Honokahua was being developed when ancient bones and gravesites were uncovered. The people of Maui united to stop the digging at the site. Reports of the find were constantly denied by the developer and the Maui Planning Commission, who gave the developers permission to remove the iwi, with every assurance that the sacred iwi would not be disturbed. A photograph of the construction site was released to the media showing the iwi curled up in a grave. Hawaiians throughout the state gathered at Honokahua and the State Capitol in protest. John Waihee, then governor of Hawai`i, after several days of negotiating with the composer and others, immmediately stopped the digging. Eight hundred bodies were removed. A ceremony was held at the lab where the sacred iwi was housed with Papa Kawika Kaalakea officiating. Before the pule, Papa Kaalakea announced, "who knows their song, this people have been dead over 15 hundred years? Who knows their song? Pua Kanahele chanted, Papa Kaalakea prayed and 7 were selected, including the composer, to re-wrap the remains of more than 1200 articulated iwi. There were over a thousand still in the ground, untouched. That night , as Charles Maxwell watched the news about Honokahua, he increduously called out to his wife and proclaimed, "I have their song , I wrote their song a year ago"! He went to his computer, called Ken Makuakane and faxed him the song. Makuakane asked Malia Craver to put the Olelo Noeau to the translation. Charles Maxwell and his wife, Auntie Nina, journeyed to Kona to attend the Keiki Hula festival. There, Kihei De Silva presented the Hawaiian lyrics to the composer. Overwhelmed with emotion, tears were shed; the song was perfect. Two weeks later, Ken Makuakane called Charles Maxwell at 1:00 A.M. and played the song while Roddy Lopez of Pandanus Club sang it to the answering machine. The Ritz Carleton was moved away from the burial site and there was a celebration. Many witnesses will verify the lightning and thunder when the Pandanus Club performed this song at the dedication of the Ritz Carleton Hotel. Federal and State laws have since been enacted to protect Hawaiian burial sites and the iwi of nâ kupuna. Visit Charles K. Maxwell, Sr. at http://www.moolelo.com |
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