Moʻolelo

Ka moʻolelo o Lono lāua ʻo Kumuhonua

"Ma ka hanauna mua o Kumuhonua, oia ka mea mamua of ka hanauna akua a kanaka paha, mamua o ka honua i ka wa kahiko, aole i ikea na kanaka ma ka aina ia manawa kahiko. Nana mai ka ai a loaa i kekahi kanaka ano akua i kapa ia o Lono ka inoa. Lono he kanaka lawaiʻa ia ma Kona, ua noho ia ma Keauhou Kona Akau. He hana pai kana. Mahope iho oia mau la ana i hana ai i ka lawaiʻa moana. Aia kekahi koʻa lawaiʻa ma Keauhou, o Mauna kona inoa, oia kahi e lawaia ai. Pau na makau i ka mokumoku. Minamina oia me kona kuhihewa he mau ma ke koʻa a lekei ke kanaka ma lalo e nana. Ua hoopaa ia e ka wahine o Hina-kauo, ke kaikamahine o Kumuhonua. I aku la o Lono i kekahi kanaka, ʻE noho oe i ka waa o kaua.” Luu aku la ia a loaa ua wahine nei malalo. He aina ia a noho oia malaila. Ike oia i na mea hou, aole i ike mua, aka i ka ai ana a ike keia makemake i na mea ai, he uala, he kalo, he maia, he ko, he awa. Noho pu oia me laua malaila hookahi mahina a mahope malama oia ia mau mea a pau i mea kanu nana. Lawe mai la ia he kalo, he uala, he ko, he maia, he awa, a mahope ninau oia ka wa a me ka po i na mea e ku ai ke kanu i ka uala. He uala maka, kalo maka, pohuli maia, puna ko maka, uhi, me ka awa ka mea e ulu ai. Oia ka mea i haʻi ia mai iaia. E lawe i mea kanu nana a lawe mai la oia i na mea kanu a pau mai a Kumuhonua mai. Nana mai ka ai i loaa ai ia Lono keia mau mea a pau. Hoi mai la oia mai lalo mai o ka aina o Kamupapa, o ka aina o Kumuhonua i noho ai oia i ka mole o ka honua. Malaila o Lono i noho ai a puka aʻe la ia mai lalo mai o ka honua me na mea kanu a pau ana i hoomakaukau ai i mea, kanu nana. Ma Kona ke kanu mua ana i ka awa, a i Kaawaloa kanu i ke ko, aia i Kauhako. Mahope iho kani i ka uwala a me ke kalo, ka maia. Malaila no kahi i malama ia ai. Ua lawa ia manao, he koena no i koe i ka moolelo a ka poʻe kahiko maanei ma ka aina o Hawaii nei. I ka wa o Kumuhonua mamua aʻe o ka koomaka ana o ka hana ia ana o na kanaka mamua loa o ka honua." -Mary K. Pukui, “Moolelo Kahiko no Kumuhonua,” in Hawaiian Ethnographical Notes vol. 2. (Honolulu: Bishop Museum) 234-237.

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"In the generation of Kumuhonua [Earth Foundation] before the time of the generations of gods and men, or before the time of [population of the] earth in olden times, men were not numerous on the land then. It was through him [Kumuhonua] that a god-like man named Lono, brained food. Lono was a fisherman of Kona and dwelt at Keauhou in North Kona. He made fish basket traps. A few days later he wear to the ocean to fish. All of his fish hooks broke off. He regretted the loss of the hooks and thinking that they had caught on the corals he leaped into the sea to investigate. They were taken by Hina-kauo the daughter of Kumuhonua. Pono said to ta man, "Stay on our canoe." He dived and found the woman below. There was land there and there he remained. He saw new things that he had never seen before and when he tasted the foods he liked them, the sweet potatoes, taros, bananas, sugar canes and ʻawa. He lied with the two of them there for a month and then saved some of the food plants for him to plant. He took taro, sweet potato, sugar cane, bananas, and ʻawa and asked about the time and the proper nights for sweet potato planting. It was the raw sweet potatoes, raw taros, banana shoots, sections of sugar cane, (raw) yams and ʻawa that would grow, so he was told. He was permitted to and so took all kinds of plants from Kumuhonua. It was thought him that Lono obtained all these food plants. He returned from the land of Kanuʻupapa, the land where Kumuhonua dealt at the foundation of the earth. Lono lived there and came forth from under the earth with all the plants gathered for him to plant. ʻAwa was the first planted in Kona; sugar cane was planted at Kau-ha-ko at Kaʻawaloa. Later, the sweet potatoes, taros, and ʻawa were planted and they were cared for in that place."