Design
Honoring Connections
The Wahi Pana logo was created by Native Hawaiian artist Cory Kamehanaokalā Taum. Inspired by the mo‘olelo (story) of Hi‘iaka's epic journey, Cory developed a design that symbolizes the weaving of a lei, an adornment for a cherished guest.
This design embodies the project’s overarching message of respect and care for both the land and its people. In the mo‘olelo, Hi‘iaka chants the many verses honoring the sacred landscapes (wahi pana), teaching us how to respectfully engage with our surroundings and one another. It reminds us how to be excellent hosts and visitors, weaving a lei that symbolizes an intentional connection to both place and community.
Hi‘iakaikapoliopele
A Tale of Grief, Kinship, and
the Healing Power of Connection
The epic of Hi‘iakaikapoliopele tells the tale of Hi‘iaka, a goddess who navigates the delicate balance between healing and destruction. Her journey threads through the sacred landscapes (wahi pana) of the islands, where she mends those with whom she finds kinship and lays waste to those who dare to stand in her way.
Her odyssey on O‘ahu begins with the breath of the windward breeze as she sets forth to retrieve Lohi‘au, the beloved of her sister Pele, from the distant shores of Kaua‘i. Bound by Pele’s decree, no one may lay a hand upon Lohi‘au in intimacy; Hi‘iaka consents to this pact, but with a solemn plea: that if anger swells within her, Pele will spare the shores of Puna where her cherished companion Hōpoe dwells.
After fetching Lohi‘au from Kaua‘i, Hi‘iaka and her companions travel along the Kona side of O‘ahu, moving through Wai‘anae and ‘Ewa. Hi‘iaka loyally follows the decree of her elder sister by fetching Lohi‘au and protecting his kapu. Yet, in the version told by Ho‘oulumāhiehie, Pele, consumed by her own jealous flames, shatters this promise. As Hi‘iaka and her companions Wahine‘ōma‘o, Pa‘uopala‘ā, and Lohi‘au make their way back to Hawai‘i Island, Hi‘iaka pauses on the heights of Pōhakea. From there, she beholds Kīlauea’s fires blazing with a furious intensity, a harbinger of her sister’s wrath. In that searing moment, Hi‘iaka knows that Pele, in her rage, has laid waste to her beloved Hōpoe. Heartbroken, she lifts her voice in a kau, a haunting chant of grief and loss, her lament rising like smoke into the darkened sky.
Kau Ho‘okahi Haneri a me Kanaonokumamākahi o ka Mo‘olelo o Hi‘iaka1
Nani Pālailai, he anaina kapu na ka wahine,
Ke kūkulu nei au i ka pahu kapu a ka leo,
ʻO ka leo o ke kai kaʻu e hoʻolono ē, Ua lono akula ke kupa, ke ēwe o ka ʻāina,
Ua inu ihola nā manu i ke koena wai lau noni,
Kūnewanewa aʻela nā ʻōpua i ka mālie,
Pua ʻō maila ke ahi i Hawaiʻi iaʻu, E ʻī mai ana paha iaʻu e hoʻi ē,
Hoʻi a hui me ka ʻināʻinau i ke aloha, Ua alohe ʻoe!
ʻO wau nei, ʻaʻole!!
I build the sacred drum of the voice, For the voice of the sea I heed,
The natives, the kin of the land, have heard, The birds drank the remaining water from the multitudes of the noni leaf,
Weary are the ʻōpua clouds in the calm, Appearing to me out yonder the fire of Hawaiʻi, Perhaps it beckons me to return,
Return and reunite in love-making, You were loved!
For me, It was not so!!2
In a grief-stricken state, Hi‘iaka descends from Pōhakea to Keahumoa, where she sees two women picking ma‘o, stringing the vibrant flowers into lei. Bedecked in lei ma‘o, the women entice Hi‘iaka’s desire to be adorned in these lei. She calls out to the women in a kau.
Kau Ho‘okahi Haneri a me Kanaonokumamākahi o ka Mo‘olelo o Hi‘iaka3
E lei ana ke kula o Ke‘ehumoa i ka ma‘o,
‘Ohu‘ohu wale na wahine kui lei o ka nahele,
Ua like nō a like me nā lehua o Hōpoe,
Me he pua kolili lehua ala i ka lā,
Ka ‘ohi pua koai‘a i ka pali,
I nā kaupaku hale o ‘Āpuku,
Ke kū nō ‘o ke alo o ka pali o Pu‘uku‘ua,
He ali‘i nō na‘e ka ‘āina,
He kauā nō na‘e ke kanaka,
I kauā nō na‘e au i ke aloha,
Na ke aloha nō i kono e haele nō māua,
E hele nō wau ē
The plain of Keʻehumoa is adorned by the maʻo flower,
Bedecked are the women who string garlands of the forest,
It is like the lehua blossoms of Hōpoe, As if to be the fluttering lehua in the sun, The plucked koaiʻa flower on the cliffside
In the ridge pole homes of ʻĀpuku,
When the face of the cliff of Puʻukuʻua stands,
But the land is the chief,
The human is the slave,
Yet I am a slave to love,
Love invites that we two may go forth,
I go forth,
Hearing this lament, the two women offer their lei with love to Hi‘iaka, who is malihini to their lands. The women invite Hi‘iaka to eat with them at their home. Hi‘iaka kindly refuses, stating that she is already full by the love of these kama‘āina. Knowing her grief, these women perform an act of kindness that satiates for a moment the emptiness felt by Hi‘iaka’s loss.
This passage explores themes of community, connection, and reciprocity between visitors (malihini) and locals (kama‘āina) through the story of Hi‘iaka. The offering of a lei symbolizes love and compassion, representing the bond and understanding between these two groups. Hi‘iaka’s response—declining food and stating that she is already nourished by the love of the kama‘āina—reflects how their kindness temporarily eases her sorrow.
1 Ho‘oulumāhiehie, Ka Mo‘olelo o Hi‘iakaikapoliopele, ed. and trans. Puakea Nogelmeier (Honolulu: Awaiaulu Press, 2006), 286.
2 All translations were done by Kaiminaauao Kahikina. Review of translations were done by Kauwila Mahi.
3 Ho‘oulumāhiehie, Ka Mo‘olelo o Hi‘iakaikapoliopele, 287.
