ʻAkahikuleana A Ka Piko - Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett


He aliʻi nui ʻoe e kuʻu ipo
Nāu ʻAkahikuleana a ka piko

Hui:
O luna, O lalo,
O uka, O kai,
O kuʻu nui kino

Kapu ka pali lele manu o Līloa
Ua haku ka ipo na kuʻu aloha

Ua ʻeha ʻia i ka maka o ka ihe
Kū ke aliʻi kunou ke kānaka

Lei kāua i ke ānuenue
Hoʻokahi i ka pono a ke kilohana


You are a great chief, my sweetheart
For you, Akahi(a)kuleana a ka piko

Chorus:
Above, below
The uplands, the sea
My entire being

Sacred are the birds flying cliffs of Līloa
There my sweetheart and lover is master

Pained by the tip of the spear
As the chief rises and all others bow

We adorn ourselves with the rainbow
Truly as one beneath the tapa



Source: Hōkū Zuttermeister CD "ʻĀina Kūpuna" - ʻAkahiakuleana was the mother of well noted Hawaiʻi island chief, ʻUmialīloa. This mele tells of Līloa, a prosperous Hawaiʻi island aliʻi who became entranced with the beauty of ʻAkahiakuleana, said to have been a makaʻāinana (commoner). Couplings between these two social classes were shunned because the mana of the aliʻi child would be diluted. Still, Līloa followed his desires and from their union, ʻUmialīloa was conceived. (From Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau, "Ruling Chiefs of Hawaiʻi, Kamehameha Schools Press, 1992.)