Nā Papakū o ka Moana | Walea - grey blue

Samuel Kamakau, Ke Au Okoa, 11 November 1869:

Nā wahi e pili ana ma ke kai

Ua kapa aku ka poʻe kahiko i ka inoa o kahi e pili ana i ke kai a hiki i ka moana, a hiki loa i ka lipo. ʻO kahi o ka nalu i poʻi iho ai a hohola ma ka ʻāina, he lihi kai ia, a he ʻae kai, a ʻo kahi i holo mai ai i ka ʻāina, he pāhola ia, he hohola, he pālaha, a ʻo kahi e poʻi iho ai ka nalu a hohola ma ka ʻāina, he puʻe one ia, a he poʻina nalu, a poʻina kai. ʻO ka inoa nui o kahi e pili ana i nā kai pāpaʻu e hele kū ana me ka lewa ʻole, he kai kohola ia, a he kohola. A ʻo kahi e pili ana ma uka o ke kohola, he kai ʻelemihi ia, a ma kai iho o laila he kai hāhā pāpaʻi ia, a he kai kāhekaheka a he kai kiʻokiʻo, a he hāpuna, a ma kai aku o laila, he kai hele kū ia, a he kai papa heʻe ia, a he kai ʻōhua, a ma kai o laila, he kai ʻau kohana ia. Ma kai o laila, he kai heʻenalu ia, a he kuaʻau, a ma waho iho o kuaʻau, he poʻina nalu a poʻina kai a ma waho iho, ʻo kuanalu ia, ʻo kūlana, a ma waho iho o laila, he kai kea ia, he kai luʻu, he kai paeaea, a ma waho iho, he kai ʻōleho ia, a he kai ʻōkilo heʻe ia, a he kai kākā uhu, a he kai kāʻili, a he kai lawaiʻa. A ʻaneʻane pōuliuli loa ke kai, he kai lūheʻe ia, a pōʻeleʻele loa ka uliuli o ke kai, he kai mālolo ia, a he kai hī aku, a ma waho aku o laila, he mau koʻa hī kāhala ia a me nā koʻa hī ahi, a ma waho aku o laila, he moana, he lepo, he lewa, he lipo, he kai pōpolohua mea a Kāne, a ʻo ka lewa i ka ʻōpua hīkiʻi.

 

Each one of us floated in nalu (waves, i.e. amniotic fluid) in the womb, thus humans are instinctively drawn to the ocean and many cultivate a deep, enduring relationship with this vast and powerful body that provides us with physical and spiritual sustenance. Our blood is 98% the same as seawater (aka “marine plasma”), so kahuna lomilomi Margaret Machado would have students drink a mixture of water from the deep sea (Kanaloa) and freshwater (Kāne) to replenish nutrients lost through sweat while in her famous steam house in Keʻei, Kona, Hawaiʻi. Her wisdom recalls the Kāne-Kanaloa water cycle embedded in the knowledge systems and lifeways of kūpuna Hawaiʻi who knew that healthy forests and rivers meant healthy oceans. They had names for every area and depth of the ocean from the lihi kai, or water’s edge, to the kai pōpolohua mea a Kāne, or the purplish-blue reddish-brown sea of Kāne (where the various kai ended and the moana of Kanaloa began). Mary Kawena Pukui refers to the different ocean depths as “nā papakū o ka moana” and historian Samuel Kamakau’s list of ocean names reflect the hana (activity) done in each ocean area. We’ve depicted a few of these in our design: the kuaʻau (surf-riding sea), kai kea (white sea beyond the surf break), kai hī aku (the dark blue sea where aku are pulled in), the kai pōpolohua mea a Kāne (mentioned above) and the wiliau, which speaks to the movement of currents and eddies in these ocean areas.