Napkins | Kōkō a Makali'i - teal - *ASF*

He aliʻi wahine ʻo Haʻinakolo no Waipiʻo mai; ʻo ka uʻi pua kāmakahala nō ia o ka wailele ʻo Hiʻilawe. E like me ka makemake o kona makuahine, o Hina, hoʻāo ʻo Haʻinakolo me Keāniniʻulaokalani, ke keiki a Hiʻilei (ko Hina kaikaina). He aliʻi kiʻekiʻe ʻo Keānini no Kuaihelani mai. Iā lāua ʻo Haʻinakolo naʻe i hōʻea aku ai i laila, hoʻokolohe ʻia maila nō e ka makua hānai o Keānini, e Makaliʻinuikūakawaiea, “ke kupua o Kūkulu o Kahiki” a ʻo ke aliʻi kapu hoʻi o Keaoʻōlino. ʻO ia nei ka mea “nāna ke pā ipu i kapa ʻia ka huhui o Makaliʻi, i paʻa i nā kaula ʻaha i like ko lākou mau waihoʻoluʻu me ko ka lihilihi o ke ānuenue...A ʻo nā hōkū i kapa ʻia nā huhui (huihui), ʻo ia nō nā ʻā ipu a ua ʻo Makaliʻi.” ʻO Hāpaimemeue ke kaikamahine ponoʻī a Makaliʻi lāua ʻo Maʻū, a hoʻohihi ʻo ia iā Keānini. A no laila, ʻo ka hana aloha kā Makaliʻi mā. I kekahi pō, iā Keānini e noho ana ma ka hale me kāna wahine a me kā lāua lei aloha, “...ua iho maila nā kōkō a Makaliʻi, ʻo ia ke ala muku, a ʻo ke ānuenue hoʻi a kākou e ʻike nei, a hului akula iā Keāniniʻulaokalani.” Lilo ʻo ia iā Hāpaimemeue a noho pū lāua ma ke “aupuni ānuenue.” Naʻauʻauā kahi Haʻinakolo a ʻo kona hele akula nō ia i ka nahele e ʻaʻe ai i ka ʻai kapu me ka hoʻohuhū aku i nā akua nui. ʻUpu aʻe ko Haʻinakolo manaʻo e hoʻi i Waipiʻo a lele ʻo ia i luna o ka waʻa me kāna keiki, me Leimakani. Mai laila aku ʻo ia e alo ai i nā ʻīnea like ʻole ma ka hoʻi ʻana mai i Hawaiʻi a ma ke kaʻi ʻana nō hoʻi i ke ala o ka nohona...

 

Makaliʻi, the constellation of chiefly star ancestors above (“nā kūpuna Hōkū Aliʻi o luna”), is celebrated in many stories and songs. In the moʻolelo of Haʻinakolo, Makaliʻinuikūakawaiea is the chief of Keaoʻōlino, an ancestral realm above that sits amongst luminous clouds obscured by red mist. He’s also the keeper of a great calabash (pā ipu) that’s suspended in the kōkō a Makaliʻi, a carrying net made of sennit cords the colors of the rainbow and lit up by his stars. If we imagined opening this net up against the night sky, we could envision a grid upon which constellations could be plotted, much like how celestial knowledge is said to be studied using a net cast over a bowl of water in which the stars are reflected. Hawaiian life on earth reflects the heavens, so kōkō are used to suspend calabashes and gourds full of food and other precious items. Haʻinakolo’s kāne, Keāniniʻulaokalani, is a chief from Kuaihelani who is also the hānai son of Makaliʻinuikūakawaiea and his wife Maʻū. They use hana aloha (love magic) to make Keānini fall in love with their own daughter, Hāpaimemeue. One night while at home with his wife and son, Keānini is taken up in the kōkō a Makaliʻi, which is another name for a rainbow. The stolen chief is suspended in an “aupuni ānuenue” (rainbow realm), held in the tight embrace of Hāpaimemeue. Angry and devastated, Haʻinakolo goes into the forest where she breaks the ʻaikapu and angers Kāne, Kū, and Lono. From there, she must navigate the ups and downs of heartbreak as well as the treacherous stretch of ocean that lies between Kuaihelani and Hawaiʻi so she can return home to Waipiʻo.