Honokahua Nani E - Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell, Sr.
Music by Kenneth Makuakane, Hawaiian lyrics by Malia Craver

 

Ahe `âina nani o Honokahua
Ka hono kaulana a o Pi`ilani
Me nâ pu`u one ku i kâ mâlie
Hali`i mau ana nâ ` iwi kupuna

Ua `ike makou i nâ waiwai nui
O na mo`olelo a ke au kahiko
Mai ho`oni`oni i ka nohona lâ
I ka lahui e a o Amelika

Hui pu mei kakou no nâ kupuna
E malama pono i ke one hânau
E hui hou kakou a hali`alia
I ke one kaulana o Honokahua

E malama e ka`ehu kai
Me ka ahe makani kupa o ka `âina
Hui pu mei kakou no nâ kupuna
E malama pono i ke one hânau

Ha`ina `ia mai ana ka puana
E Honokahua `âina nani maoli
Na Hono kaulana a o Pi`ilani
`Ia wahi kapu nâ kupuna e

`Ia wahi kapu nâ kupuna e

`Ia wahi kapu nâ kupuna e

This beautiful land of Honokahua
The famous bay of Maui`s King Pi`ilani
With its peaceful sand hills
That covers the bones of our Kupuna

We have always known
This place contains the history of our people
It shall not be disturbed
By the people of America

People of Maui, unite for our kupuna
Protect our history, the place of my birth
May all unite in recalling
Famous sand of Honokahua

Drenched with sea spray
That fetches the wind of the land
People of Maui, unite for our Kupuna
protect our history, the place of my birth

Tell the story, give praise to
The beautiful land of Honokahua
With its famous bay of Pi`ilani
It shall not be distrubed,
this place where our ancestors sleep
It shall not be distrubed,
this place where our ancestors sleep
It shall not be distrubed,
this place where our ancestors sleep

 

Source: Pandanus Club CD "Ho`ike" Copyright Pandanus Club, Written January 4, 1987, verse 3, stanza 2 & verse 4, stanza 4 refer to the composer's birthplace of Napili, 1 mile from the Honokahua Burial Grounds. Hawaiians are lovingly connected to their keiki or future generations and also to their kupuna through their ancestors' iwi (bones, remains, life). This forms the Hawaiian circle of life. Honokahua was being developed when ancient bones and gravesites were uncovered. The people of Maui united to stop the digging at the site. Reports of the find were constantly denied by the developer and the Maui Planning Commission, who gave the developers permission to remove the iwi, with every assurance that the sacred iwi would not be disturbed. A photograph of the construction site was released to the media showing the iwi curled up in a grave. Hawaiians throughout the state gathered at Honokahua and the State Capitol in protest. John Waihee, then governor of Hawai`i, after several days of negotiating with the composer and others, immmediately stopped the digging. Eight hundred bodies were removed. A ceremony was held at the lab where the sacred iwi was housed with Papa Kawika Kaalakea officiating. Before the pule, Papa Kaalakea announced, "who knows their song, this people have been dead over 15 hundred years? Who knows their song? Pua Kanahele chanted, Papa Kaalakea prayed and 7 were selected, including the composer, to re-wrap the remains of more than 1200 articulated iwi. There were over a thousand still in the ground, untouched. That night , as Charles Maxwell watched the news about Honokahua, he increduously called out to his wife and proclaimed, "I have their song , I wrote their song a year ago"! He went to his computer, called Ken Makuakane and faxed him the song. Makuakane asked Malia Craver to put the Olelo Noeau to the translation. Charles Maxwell and his wife, Auntie Nina, journeyed to Kona to attend the Keiki Hula festival. There, Kihei De Silva presented the Hawaiian lyrics to the composer. Overwhelmed with emotion, tears were shed; the song was perfect. Two weeks later, Ken Makuakane called Charles Maxwell at 1:00 A.M. and played the song while Roddy Lopez of Pandanus Club sang it to the answering machine. The Ritz Carleton was moved away from the burial site and there was a celebration. Many witnesses will verify the lightning and thunder when the Pandanus Club performed this song at the dedication of the Ritz Carleton Hotel. Federal and State laws have since been enacted to protect Hawaiian burial sites and the iwi of nâ kupuna. Visit Charles K. Maxwell, Sr. at http://www.moolelo.com