Kalaeokahipa And
Nawaiuolewa
A large porous rock formation and ridge comprise the wahi pana of Kalaeokahipa and Nawaiuolewa. Some also believe that Kalaeokahipa refers to the cape near Kahuku Point.[1] The island of Oʻahu was said to have been an unstable land and was separated into two islands. Kahuku is where these islands were brought together.
Some say that Kahipa and Lewa were brother and sister and ruled two separated islands, eventually forming Oʻahu into one island by drawing them together through the hooking of their fingers.[2] Their union pulled the island of Oʻahu together as one, solidifying what was once an unstable land. Others say, they used special hooks named Kilou and Polou and that the area where these hooks were set was the covering of a secret cave called Pohukaina[3]
Lewa was said to be a “goddess of the region”, whose large breast is said to be represented by two giant stalactites near the protruding ridge called Kalaeokahipa. Lewa was said to have possessed breasts of large proportion but was so ashamed of this feature that she used winds and rains to drive off those who wished to enter her ahupuaʻa. It is said that water dripped from these stalactites until a white man removed one.[4] Others say the supernatural son of Kū and Hina removed the one breast by breaking it off and left just one to “move in the gusty wind.”[5]
The renowned heroine Hiʻiakaikapoliopele is said to have visited the land of Nawaiuolewa.[6] When the sister of Pele first arrived at Kahipa, she saw two figures crouching and eventually fleeing off before giving her and her party a proper greeting.[7] The two figures she noticed were named Punaheʻelapa and Pahipahiālua.
This rude gesture did not deter Hiʻiaka, nor did the gusty winds and rains caused by Lewa. As Hiʻiaka proceeded, Lewa sees her and is filled with fondness and warmth for she remembered Hiʻiaka as a child.[8] This woman was a young girl when she had accompanied Pele and her family on their journey from Kahiki. Mary Kawena Pukuʻi continues the story by saying:
Lewa sent her daughter who had the form of a bird to bring Hiʻiaka’s favorite food, luau. While the guest ate, Lewa told the girl why she sent the rainstorm, and Hiʻiaka told her that she was sweet and lovable at heart and that some day the very feature she was ashamed of would be the one that she would be remembered by.[9]
After the woman Lewa had passed, her breast endured at this place to this current day. To this day Kalaeokahipa and Nawaiuolewa remain a revered and sacred wahi pana. McAllister shares some findings that the old Hawaiians also used this place for burials.[10] Another account speaks of a secret cave belonging to Kaʻalaehuapi, the redhead mud hen, which is located at Kalaeokahipa and Nawaiūolewa.[11] These remarkable stories identity this wahi pana and its prominent features as a place of Hawaiian history and culture.
[1] George Pooloa, “Na Pana Kaulana o na Inoa o ka Mokupuni o Oahu”, Ke Aloha ʻĀina, Feburary 28, 1919. See Appendix A.1, A.2 and A.3 for original document.
[2] Kamakau, Moʻolelo o Hawaiʻi Part II, 4.
[3] Editorial, “Ka Hookumu Ana O Na Paemoku”, Ke Au Hou, June 28, 1911.
[4] McAllister, Archealogy of Oahu, 154.
[5] J. K. Apuakehau, “O Kahuku aina lewa”, Ka Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa, June 29, 1922.
[6] Hiʻiakaikapoliopele is a sister of Pele and is sent on a quest to retrieve Peleʻs lover Lohiʻau from Kauaʻi. Along the journey Hiʻiaka and her companion arrive at the sand dunes of Kahuku and do a customary request for entry.
[7] Emerson, Pele and Hiʻiaka, 97.
[8] Sterling and Summers, Sites of Oahu, 152.
[9] Ibid.
[10] McAllister, Archealogy of Oʻahu, 154.
[11] J. K. Apuakehau, “O Kahuku aina lewa”, Ka Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa, June 29, 1922.
[1] George Pooloa, “Na Pana Kaulana o na Inoa o ka Mokupuni o Oahu”, Ke Aloha ʻĀina, Feburary 28, 1919. See Appendix A.1, A.2 and A.3 for original document.
[2] Kamakau, Moʻolelo o Hawaiʻi Part II, 4.
[3] Editorial, “Ka Hookumu Ana O Na Paemoku”, Ke Au Hou, June 28, 1911.
[4] McAllister, Archealogy of Oahu, 154.
[5] J. K. Apuakehau, “O Kahuku aina lewa”, Ka Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa, June 29, 1922.
[6] Hiʻiakaikapoliopele is a sister of Pele and is sent on a quest to retrieve Peleʻs lover Lohiʻau from Kauaʻi. Along the journey Hiʻiaka and her companion arrive at the sand dunes of Kahuku and do a customary request for entry.
[7] Emerson, Pele and Hiʻiaka, 97.
[8] Sterling and Summers, Sites of Oahu, 152.
[9] Ibid.
[10] McAllister, Archealogy of Oʻahu, 154.
[11] J. K. Apuakehau, “O Kahuku aina lewa”, Ka Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa, June 29, 1922.