Nā 'Ouli Hānau Ali'i | Kahikikū Aloha Shirt - light blue

100% Organic Cotton | Button down | Slimmer cut | Straight bottom edge with side slits | Front pocket | Coconut buttons | Designed in Hawaiʻi nei | Made in the USA

Each piece is unique in its art placement. 

Nā 'Ouli Hānau Ali'i
“I loko o ia mau lā e hāpai nei ʻo Hina, ke hōʻike mau maila nō nā ʻōuli o ka lani, pēlā nō ko ke kai a me ko nā kuahiwi mau ʻōuli no ka hānau ʻana mai o ka hua mua o ko Hina pūhaka. E piʻo mau ana ke ānuenue ma luna pono o ka hale o Hina, i ke ao a me ka pō; ʻaʻohe wā e mao ai. [Kūkulu ʻia he mau hale no Hina lāua ʻo kū ma Kapahi, i uka o ʻŌpaelolo, a ma laila lāua i hoʻi aku ai e noho.] I ka noho ʻana o Kū a me Hina i uka o Kapahi a hōʻea i ka wā i hānau ai ʻo Hāʻinakolo, ka uʻi pua kāmakahala o Waipiʻo, ua mau nō nā hoʻomāʻikeʻike ʻana a nā ʻōuli kupaianaha o ka lewa a me ko ka ʻāina; a ʻo ka ʻoi loa aku naʻe, ʻo ka lā i hānau ai ʻo Hāʻinakolo. Ma ia lā, ua kuʻi ka hekili, ʻōlapa ka uila, ua ka ua, kahe ka wai ʻula, a kū ka pūnākea i uka. I ka ʻike ʻia ʻana o kēia mau kāhoaka kamahaʻo, ua hoʻomaopopo aʻela nā mea a pau o Waipiʻo, mai nā aliʻi a nā kānaka, ua hānau ko lākou aliʻi wahine ʻōpio, ʻo Hinaʻaiulunui. I ka hānau ʻana mai nō hoʻi o Hina, he kaikamahine, no laila ua kāhea ʻia ihola kona inoa ʻo Hāʻinakolo, e like me ka makemake o Kūʻaikauaakama. Ua hānai kapu ʻia ʻo ia e kona mau mākua. ʻO ka wai o ka pua lehua, ʻo ia kona wai e hōʻauʻau ʻia ai; a ʻo ka hāwane ʻiʻo o ke kuahiwi, ʻo ia kekahi o kāna meaʻai e hānai ʻia ai e kona lūauʻi makuahine, ʻo ia ʻo Hina. Ua ulu aʻela ʻo Hāʻinakolo i loko o ka nani a me ka uʻi. ʻAʻohe uʻi hou aʻe ma Waipiʻo a pau, a ma ka mokupuni holoʻokoʻa nō hoʻi o Hawaiʻi.” Hoʻoulumāhiehie, Ka Nai Aupuni, 26 Pepeluali 1907

In the days of Hawaiʻi’s deep past, when “the bays, ridges, valleys, nooks, and beloved heights of Hawaiʻi were filled with the extraordinary and marvelous presence of supernatural and ancestral power” (Hoʻoulumāhiehie, 1 January 1907), the ability of our ancestors to communicate with the “natural world” was unhindered. Through keen attention and observation over time, they built highly developed relationships with akua (deities) and ʻaumākua (transitioned ancestors) in their elemental forms. This afforded them insights and connections of all sorts, including the ability to see and interpret ʻōuli, or signs in the environment of things happening or events to come. In moʻolelo Hawaiʻi, the birth of an aliʻi is almost always heralded by the gods, who assume specific forms, such as rainbows (ānuenue), thunder (hekili), lightning (uila), downpours (ua loku), the resulting runoff (wai ʻula), and raging seas (kai kūpikiʻō) that cause coral to be throw onto the shore (kū ka puna kea i uka). So it was with the birth of Haʻinakolo. All these ʻōuli were present as the akua announced her arrival, showing their awesome power in the sky, earth, and sea. This is how all the people of Waipiʻo knew that Hinaʻaiulunui was giving birth and that the newest of the aliʻi would take their place among the ranks of those before them. These ʻōuli identified Haʻinakolo as an aliʻi with mana and their absence would have also had its own meaning. ʻŌuli (signs and omens) both obvious and subtle were observed in many aspects of life in old Hawaiʻi. Art inspired by kapa by Kawaila Purdy of the All Aloha team in Kalamaʻula.