Ka Wa'a Hawai'i | Kāne Tee - brown

100% Organic Cotton | Standard tee | Designed in Hawaiʻi nei | Made in the USA

Model is wearing an xlarge.

ʻImihia ka waʻa a uka lilo,
I ke kuahiwi, i ke kualono, i ke awāwa,
I ke kahawai, i ka manowai,
I laila ka lāʻau kua o ka wao ʻeiwa,
He lāʻau no ka wao koa,
He koa no ka wao opuaianea,
ʻO ke koa e kū i Kalamaheka,
E kū i lalo o Hanakua,
Kū mai ke kahuna,
Iā ia ke kua o ka waʻa
ʻO Keaʻau nui i ka paiaa o ka moku
***
He paukū kēia no loko mai o “He Mele Koʻihonua No Kekāuluohi” (Kuokoa, 12 Sept 1868). He kaikamahine ʻo Kekāuluohi na Kaheiheimālie lāua ʻo Kalaimamahū. Ua pālama ʻia ʻo ia ma lalo o nā kapu kahiko a i ka hiolo ʻana mai, piʻi aʻela ʻo ia i ke kūlana kiʻekiʻe a lilo aʻela i Kuhina Nui. Ua pumehana nā lā hope o Kamehameha I iā ia nei a laila lilo aʻela i wahine na Kanaʻina. ʻO kā lāua keiki mai ʻo Lunalilo a ua paʻi hou ʻia kekahi māhele o nei mele ma lalo o “He Inoa Waʻa no Lunalilo” (Ko Hawaii Ponoi, 22 October 1873). He kīpapa ʻana paha kēlā i ko Liholiho ala o ka lilo ʻana i mōʻī? Kālai waʻa, kālai moku, kālaiʻāina. Kāʻele hoʻi nā akamai o nā kūpuna!

Can you imagine riding a roughly hewn log down a big hill, thousands of pounds of koa that you and other experts are trying to hoʻokele (steer) without crashing or being crushed? Not to mention pulling it up the inclines. Kīauau ē, holo auau ē! That first voyage of a waʻa, from the wao ʻeiwa, wao koa, or wao maʻukele (forested areas where these monarchs grow) down to the wao kanaka, is one of the trickiest. According to the kūpuna, Kona, Hilo, and Hāna had the best koa trees and were the easiest places to navigate them out of. E ō mai e nā ʻāina poʻokela o ke kaʻele! Once down safely, the kaʻele (roughly hewn hull) was left to cure and the waʻa completed after that. ʻUlu, kukui, and wiliwili were also used for hulls, but for larger canoes that held six or more paddlers, koa was preferred. Woods like hau and wiliwili were used for the ʻiako and the ama. The moʻo, kupe, manu, and pale kai were made from a variety of woods including ʻaiea, ʻahakea, ʻōhiʻa, alani, hōlei, and kōlea. ʻAha (coconut sennit) was the cordage to lash it together. Every step of the process, from tree selection to hoʻolana (launching) was guided by pule and the appropriate offerings. While the wet to mesic forests provided koa, dryforests provided the many of the other woods needed. Although less than 4% of Hawaiʻi’s dryforests remain, places like ʻAuwahi on Maui still house 13 tree species used in canoe-making.