I am mountains rising high above the valleys
I am the in-between where trade winds ramble free
I am the red hot rock turning coal black in the ocean
I am the shore extending deep into the sea
I am the shore extending deep into the sea
Chorus:
`Äina, `Äina, Ua mau ke ea o ka `aina
i ka pono, `Äina
I am life to those who sink their roots
into me
I am the walls you build with stone cut from my heart
I am the shoulders on these roads you carve across my back
I am the very grounds where life foundation starts
I am the
very grounds where life foundation starts
`Äina, `Äina, Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka
pono, `Äina
`Äina, `Äina, Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka
pono, `Äina
I am the life of the land preserved in
righteousnessâ
I am a place my children proudly call their
home
I am the soil that men have fought to gain for
power
I am a resting place for bones of those long gone
I am a
resting place for bones of those long gone
`Âina, `Äina, Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka
pono, `Äina
`Äina, `Äina, Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka
pono, `Äina
- (repeat chorus)
Gordon Manuel Freitas
Source: Recorded by Gordon Freitas on "Local Folk" CD and Kahala Moon on "Collage" CD. Gordon Manuel Freitas, from Holualoa on the island of Hawai`i, is a local folk troubadour, whose compositions have found their way from elementary classrooms, to radio, and to audiences around the world. Uncle Gordon has worked with students at Wheeler Elementary and Helemano Elementary Schools and uses local folk songs to help the children become more aware of their individual cultural identities and how it all works together to exist in harmony. Students working with this song `Âina responded with essays, expressive art, field trips and the planting of a garden. Most of his songs paint portraits of island people and things they hold dear. `Âina revolves around the importance of the land while the refrain echoes the Hawai`i state motto: Ua mau ke ea o ka `âina i ka pono (the life of the land is preserved in righteousness). Visit Gordon Freitas, at: www.niu.com/gordon