Ke Ao Kaha'ea | Tank - white

100% Organic gauzy cotton | Elastic at bottom | ʻĀina-friendly dye methods | Designed in Hawaiʻi | Made in the USA

Ka lilo ʻana o Mailelauliʻi i ao kahaʻea i mea e ʻimi ai i malumalu no Haʻinakolo a me Leimakani iā lāua ma ka moana: “ʻO ka wā nō ia i lele aku ai ʻo Mailelauliʻi i loko o ke kai, a nalowale akula ʻo ia i loko o nā ʻale haulani kūpikipikiʻō o ka moana. A ia wā i lohe aku ai ʻo Hāʻinakolo i ka leo o ke kaikaina e hea mai ana i loko o ka ʻehu a ke kai: E Haʻi—ē! ʻIkea kāua i ka ʻāina, I ka ʻāina lā ʻo Keōlewa, Lewa ke ao Kahaʻea, kau i ka lani, He malumalu no ua wahine, ʻo Haʻi, Papapae aku ʻoe me ka lei a kāua, Pae aku ʻo ka ʻāina, Ola i ka limu kala, Hoʻolono ʻo ka leo o ka ʻūlulu, ʻO ia manu holo ʻehu kai, Holo kaha one o ka ʻāina, Aloha—ā. Ua hala akula ʻo Mailelauliʻi i ka pōlio ʻia o ka moana. Pau kā kāua ʻike ʻana iā ia, e ka makamaka heluhelu, ma ke kino. A e kīkoʻo ana kā kāua nānā ʻana i ke ao uli o ka lani o ʻike aʻe kāua i ke ao Kahaʻea e kau ana, haʻupu aʻe kāua ʻo ke kino ao ia o Mailelauliʻi e hoʻopehupehu ana i ka lani, e hoʻomamalu ana i ke ao uli i loaʻa ona malu no ka haku kaikuaʻana ona a me ka lei aloha a lāua, he keiki, ʻo ia ʻo Leimakani. Aloha ʻino!”

When Keāniniʻulaokalani left Haʻinakolo and their baby boy a second time to be with another woman (see the Kōkō a Makaliʻi tag), Haʻinakolo felt total despair. She broke the ʻai kapu again, eating the forbidden foods and forsaking the gods. Then, Kanaloa offered her an escape from Kuaihelani: a canoe laden with food and water to paddle back to Waipʻo; the only condition was that she and Leimakani go alone­. On the fated morning, they boarded the canoe at dawn. Haʻinakolo ignored the cries of Mailelauliʻi, her sister and faithful companion, and paddled out into the deep blue. Determined to go, Mailelauliʻi called her ʻaumākua who created a rainbow pathway on which she ran out to the canoe. Haʻinakolo made it clear that they were ordered to journey alone, but Kanaloa was already angry. Conditions quickly became perilous, as he, Keaumiki, and Keaukā all tried to drown the canoe. Only the grandfather current Keaulawe worked to help Haʻinakolo mā, creating calm and recovering their canoe, paddle, and bailer. Mailelauliʻi decided to help by assuming the form of an ao kahaʻea, a type of cloud that could provide shade and water for her sister and nephew. The lines and dots on this piece were inspired by an old kapa design and used here to represent the clouds and life-giving rains of Mailelauliʻi in her ao kahaʻea form. We produced a new piece of kapa, using lapa (traditional bamboo liners) to recreate layers of sky space and the presence of water in the clouds, then lifted them out digitally to remix into this design. See Kealopiko Moʻolelo for this part of the story.