Molokaʻi nui a Hina lae
Me ka ulu kukui
Aʻo Lanikāula lae e
Eia Kalamaʻula
Me kōna ulu niu lae
ʻĀina kaulana
I ka hoʻopulapula lae e
Haʻina ka inoa
Molokaʻi nui a Hina lae
Me ka ulu kukui
Aʻo Lanikāula lae e
Great Moloka`i, child of Hina, tra la la
With the protective kukui grove
Of Lanikāula, tra la la
Here is Kalama`ula
With its coconut grove, tra la la
Famous land
Of homesteads, tra la la
Tell the name
Great Moloka`i, child of Hina, tra la la
With the protective kukui grove
Of Lanikāula, tra la la
-
Kupuna Papa John Flores
Source: Nick Ronolo, Recorded by Manaʻo Company
- Molokaʻi was the great religious training center of old Hawaiʻi.
Lanikāula was the most powerful and famous prophet of his time.
His impending death was announced by a great bonfire on Lanaʻi
and constant drumming throughout the archipelago. Kahunas gathered
on every island and set sail for Molokaʻi to possess his great
mana by stealing his body. Lanikāula asked his three sons where
they would hide his body. The hiapo, a great hunter, promised to
take his remains to the highest mountain and bury it deep in a
secret cave. The second son, a famed fisherman, would take it to
the depths of the ocean and hide it in an underground cavern. The
youngest ʻīhepa son wanted to bury Lanikāula in a point on
the east end of Molokaʻi. He was given this remarkable task. When
the news of Lanikāula's death was confirmed, the hordes swept over
the island in search of his remains. They never found Lanikāula.
It is said that his body and spirit went into the kukui trees where
it overlooks and protects his land and his people. This is why
the kukui nut trees in the grove of Lanikāula bleed. This legend
was told by Papa John Koʻomoa Flores of Onealiʻi, Molokaʻi, make
1995, at age 101.