100% Organic cotton | Organic dye | Designed in Hawaiʻi | Made in the USA | Dimensions: 70" long x 44" wide
Haumea II. - 'Awa
Ka Pule Hailona ʻAwa a Haumea
Eia ka ʻawa, e ke akua,
He ʻai nāu, e ke akua,
He ʻai na kini, na ka mano a me ka lehu o ke akua,
ʻO ke akua i ka pō loa,
ʻO kini o ke akua, lau a menehune ke akua—
Mai ka hikina a ke komohana,
Mai ka lā kau a ka lā komo,
Mai kai Koʻolau a kai Kona,
Mai ka paʻa i luna a ka paʻa i lalo,
Mai ka hoʻokuʻi a ka hālāwai,
E hālāwai a pau, eia ka ʻai, ke ō,
Eia lā he ʻawa— He ʻawa nānā pono, nānā hewa,
He uli pono, he uli hewa,
He ola, he make, Huaʻina ke ola o ke kanaka, ʻ
O ke ola nui, ʻo ke ola loa āu,
A ke akua, Ola kuʻu aloha,
Ola loa nō— ʻĀmama—Ua noa—Lele wale
As a kaikuahine (sister) to Kāne and Kanaloa, Haumea’s relationship to ʻawa stretches back into ke au iō kikilo loa (the distant past). In the koʻihonua for Ahukai Kaʻuʻukualiʻi (Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, 20 June 1868), Kāne and Kanaloa journey over the ocean to Hawaiʻi. After their arrival, they ʻālana (offer) to Haumea the “pū ʻawa hiwa” and she conceives a child to them, purported in this chant to be her first. We know, however, that the great, fertile mother of all has several kāne to whom she bears children. One of the most notable is Wākea, with whom she lives in Kalihilihiolaumiha. When Wākea gets in a debacle for taking wild bananas that supposedly belong to the unkind chief, Kumuhonua, he is taken for execution. Haumea (Papa), who is fishing during Wākea’s capture, must then ascertain whether or not he is alive. Her chosen tool for hailona (divination) is the ʻapu ʻawa. Kaliʻu, a man she meets on her path to find her kāne, has the ʻawa she needs, but no water. Haumea chants to her kūpuna, throws a stone deep into the mountains, and a spring opens, filling the pool known as Pūehuehu. The text in this design is the first two lines in that pule: Ō kokolo ke aʻa i ka pō loa (Creep along, root, in the generative darkness), Ō puka ka maka i ke ao loa (Come forth, shoot, into the light). Kaliʻu prepares the ʻapu and over it Haumea does another pule (flip to read). When she gazes into the ʻapu, the pūnohu of the ʻawa is on the right side, indicating that her beloved Wākea is still alive. This powerful story shows us Haumea’s ability to use ʻawa, a tool gifted to her by her brothers, to commune with the akua and receive answers in a time of need.