("Na Inamona o ka Ua Peepohaku o Kaupo", Kuokoa Home Rula, November 21, 1912)
Dear Kuokoa Home Rula, the treasure of the nation, I ask a favor that you place the topic mentioned above on your decks and bear it across the length and breadth of the lands from where the sun emerges to where it sets on the surface of the water at Lehua.
On election day in the 18th District of Kaupo, the candidates for the political parties of the county of Maui provided for the voters in Kaupo with the construction of two dining huts, one for both the Home Rule and the Democrats and the other for the Republicans. The first was erected where the water tank1 stands at Kumunui next to the government road. The dining tables were like "Halemano bedecked with rain of the lehua"2, and all the people were called to enter and feast on the smooth poi of the love-snatching wind3 that soothes the throat and the fat pigs of Kahualau4 that tickle the throat.
The tables were filled with joy, as was the hut of the Republicans erected in the yard of J. W. Kawaakoa. The decks of his hut were "Kohala, covered with people to the very edges of the land"5, with those who came to taste the sticky poi of Waikau6 and the beef and pig laulau. What a good time!
When the ballots were counted, the two parties of the Home Rule and Democrats were delighted that one of their candidates had won and one of the Republican candidates had lost. And there is nothing to grumble about or trouble the mind, since everything was weighed fairly in District 18.
On the 16th, another celebratory luau will be held for the candidates of the winning party without regard for the fact that not all candidates won. With warm regards for the young typesetters of the press.
HELANI7
- This water tank was built in 1910 to store water brought down by pipeline from upper Manawainui Valley.
- A variation of the common poetic saying for splendor, “Bedecked is Halemano with lehua leaves.” (Ohuohu Halemano i ka lau lehua.)
- A poetic reference to Kipahulu
- A gulch in the mountains above the Kumunui, and still known for its pigs today
- A common poetic saying for crowds
- A poetic reference to the taro-growing Keanae region in northeast Maui.
- A pseudonym, referring to a stream and waterfall high in the mountains of Kaupo
1 thought on “Delicacies from Kaupo, where one hides from the rain behind rocks”