My Beloved Mother Has Passed
("Kuu Mama Aloha Ua Hala", Ka Puuhonua o na Hawaii, January 19, 1917)
My beloved mama, the only true mother who I loved, has passed on, leaving me and her family to cry in grief for her. My dear mother, unable to speak to me. My mother, ever mindful to give every little thing to me, her beloved child. Oh, mother!
How dear is my mother’s voice that would come to my home. Your voice calling from outside would rouse me from sleep, and now you are in slumber!
“O Kaleohemahema1, Kaleohawawa2,
Voice that does not know the language,
Signified in the gestures of the hands,
In the bowing of the head,
It is the name of your voice.”
Oh, my beloved mother. I cry for the places I went with my dear mama. What affection for the facing cliffs of Lele-ko-ea, where my mother lived, the slopes of Puupueo and Keahuaala, the fields of Hokona and the cliffs of Kalepa. Farewell.3
Beloved Naopuu, where my mother relaxed. “Kaupo rain that makes one hide behind rock walls,” have you seen my mother? “Love-Snatching Wind,”4 of the land, have you seen my mama? Bring her back so that I may see her again. What heavy sorrow for my mother. Famous hill of my beloved land, “Kauiki, extending, arising into the calmness like the breast of the noio bird soaring across the ocean,” is my mother with you here? What sorrow! O Apuakea rain that sprinkles out on the ocean, o rain that creeps around the cliffs of Kauiki, may the two of you return my beloved mother. What affection I feel for the voice of Mokuhano,5 calling as if in my mother’s voice, saying, “Here I am at Papaloa, at the base of Kauiki, at Lepahu Point, on Puukii islet, in Kaahumanu’s cave,6 in the hollow of Naholomahana, at Kalepaamoa Point, on the sands of Kapueokahi, in the chilly waters of Punahoa,7 on the rustling pebbles of Waikaloa, at Nanualele Point and in the waves of Keanini.8 I ask after my mother, but she is not here! I am filled with grief. What love I have for the waves at Puhele—where one can surf to the shoulder and return to the peak—9 and Kumaka bathing pool10, where my mother would dive in and rinse off. How beloved.
What cherished thoughts I have of Alau islet, that land in the sea spray, and Kaiwiopele Hill, Kaihuakala in the uplands and Kahaula11 along the shore, and my home of kukui leaves, where my mother sleeps alone. How dear is this home.
My home is cold. You have passed on, my dear mother whom I could never forget. You are leaving me and our family, the scores of us from the Kahikinui region all the way to the Koolau cliffs. I weep tears to your everlasting memory, mama. Because of the overwhelming grief in reflecting on you, I will leave off these elegiac strains and explain known biographical details of my mother.
My mother was born from the loins of father Makahawai and mother Laukiamano. They gave birth to Kakuhihewa, my dear mother. She lived for 104 years until returning to the earth as has been proclaimed, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,12 but the spirit shall return unto the one who made it,13 since He gave, and He hath taken away. Blessed be the name Jehovah.”14
Issuing from the loins of John Kaleo Kepoo, my father, and Kakuhihewa, my dear mother, came 10 children as the seeds of their garden. Five have passed on, and still living are five sons: E. K. Kaleo, Jas. H. S. Kaleo, J. K. K. Kaleo, J. M. Kaleo and J. P. Kaleo. My dear mother ceased breathing in the presence of her three sons who are living in Hana, Maui, while I and the youngest are here on Kakuhihewa’s island.15
At peace, before she passed she expressed her love for her children—those before her and those not—as well as her daughters-in-law and grandchildren. Her final words were, “Live showing each other affection, that your days be long and you see the glory of God as I have.” Her eyelids closed, her breath glided off and her travails ceased at midnight on November 10, 1916. How great is the pain and love for our mother. She will not be returning to us again, but we will journey to her.
May God ease our sorrow and bring us peace.
Mournfully,
JAS H. S. KALEO,
Honolulu, Jan. 2, 1917.
Below is the obituary in the original Hawaiian:
Kuu Mama Aloha Ua Hala
O kuu mama aloha, kuu luaui makuahine hookahi wale iho no, a’u i aloha ai, ua hala, ua haalele mai ia’u ame ka ohana e uwe haalipo aku nona. Auwe kuu mama aloha, kuu mama leo ole mai ia’u, kuu mama hoomanao i kahi mea uuku e loaa ana na’u na kana keiki aloha, kuu mama hoi e!
Aloha ka leo o kuu mama ia’u e hiki aku ai i ka home i ke kahea mai a i kuu mama no hoi e hiki mai ai i o’u nei, e hoala mai ana oe ia’u mawaho me kou leoa e hea mai ana, ke moe nei no oe!
“E Kaleohemahema, Kaleohawawa,
Kaleo ike ole i ka olelo,
I ikea i ke kuhi o na lima;
I ke kunou mai o ke poo,
O ka leo hoi kou, o ka inoa hoi ko ianei,
E—o—a—-”
Auwe no hoi kuu mama aloha a— Ke uwe nei au i na wahi a’u i hele ai me kuu mama aloha. E aloha ae ana hoi i na pali hulilua o Lele-ko-ea kahi a kuu mama i noho ai, i ka piina hoi o Puupueo ame Keahuaala, ke kula hoi o Hokona ame ka pali o Kalepa. Aloha.
Aloha o Naopuu kahi o kuu mama e luakaha ai. E ka “Ua peepa pohaku o Kaupo” ua ike anei oe i kuu mama. E ka “Makani Kaili Aloha” o ka aina, ua ike anei oe i kuu mama. E hoihoi hou mai hoi i ike hou aku au iaia. Auwe ke kaumaha a me ka luuluu no kuu mama. E ka puu kaulana o kuu aina aloha. “E oni e lele Kauiki i ka malie me he umauma la no ka manu Noio aukai o ka moana,” eia anei me oe kuu mama aloha. Auwe luuluu wale. E ka Ua Apuakea e ko’iawe ae la i ka moana ame ka ua nihi pali o Kauiki e hoihoi mai hoi olua i kuu mama, kuu mama aloha hoi e. Aloha ae au i ka leo o Mokuhano i ke kahea mai me he leo la no kuu mama e i mai ana, eia no au i Papaloa, i ke Kumu o Kauiki, i ka lae o Lepahu, i ka puu o Puukii, i ke a-na o Kaahumanu, i ka poli o Naholomahana, i ka lea o Kalepaamoa, i ke one o Kapueokahi, i ka wai hui o Punahoa, i ka iliili nehe o Waikaloa; i ka lae o Nanualele a i ka nalu kai o Keanini, ke ninau ae nei au no kuu mama. Aole iho nei hoi a—! Auwe kuu paumako a. Aloha ae au o ka nalu hee o Puhele-ia nalu hee i ka muku hoi i ka lala, ame ka wai auau o Kumaka, ia wai luu poo a kuu mama e auau ai. Aloha no.
Aloha ae au i kahi ailana iki o Alau aina i ka ehu a ke kai, i ka puu o Kaiwiopele, o Kaihuakala ko uka, o ka puu o Kahaula ko kai, a o kuu home laukukui kahi a kuu mama e moe hookahi ai, aloha, aloha no ia home.
Ua puanuanu kuu home ua hala oe e kuu mama aloha, kuu mama poina ole hoi ia’u, oia ka hoi e haalele mai ana oe ia’u a me ka ohana, ka lehulehu mai kela huli o Kahikinui a i na pali Koolau, ke uwe nei au ma na waimaka poina ole ia oe e mama. No ka lihaliha ka manaonao me ka paumako ia oe e kuu mama ke kumu i kali ai keia mau kanaenae aloha, a hala lea ae hoi kekahi mau hiona poina ole no kuu mama.
Ua hanauia mai kuu mama mailoko mai o ka puhaka o Makahawai ‘k’ ame Laukiamano ‘w’ hanau mai o Kakuhihewa ‘w’ kuu mama aloha, ua piha hoi iaia na makahiki he 104, a hoi aku la i ka lepo elike me ke kauoha, “he lepo no oe, a e hoi aku no oe i ka lepo, aka, o ka uhane e hoi aku no ia i ka mea nana nana i hana,” no ka mea, Nana no i haawi mai a Nana no i lawe aku, e hoomaikaiia ka inoa o Iehova.”
Ua puka mailoko mai o ka puhaka o John Kaleo Kepoo kuu papa ame kuu Kakuhihewa ‘w’ kuu mama aloha, na hua o ko laua kihapai he 10 keiki, ua make aku he 5 a eia ke ola nei he 5 keikikane o ia o E. K. Kaleo, Jas. H. S. Kaleo, J. K. K. Kaleo, J. M. Kaleo ame J. P. Kaleo, a imua o ke alo o na keikikane ekolu e noho ana ma Hana, Maui, i pauaho mai i kuu mama aloha, oiai hoi au me ka muli o makou i ka moku o Kakuhihewa nei.
Me ka manao maikai no, a mamua ae o kona haalele ana mai, haawi mai la oia i ke aloha i na keiki i ke alo ame na keiki aole imua ona, na hunona ame na moopuna. O kana olelo hope. “He mea pono e noho oukou me ke aloha kekahi i kekahi, i loihi ko oukou mau la a e ike no oukou i ka nani o ke Akua elike me a’u i ike ai,” a upo’i iho la kona mau lihilihi, lele ae la ke aho, a o ka pau iho la no ia o kana hana, i ka la 10 o Novemaba 1916, hora 12 o ka po. Nui ka ehaeha ame ke aloha i ko makou makuahine, aole oia e hoi hou mai ana i o kakou nei, aka, o kakou ke hele aku i ona la.”
Na ke Akua no e hoomama mai i ko kakou kaumaha, a nana no e hoomaha mai.
Me ke aloha paumako,
JAS H. S. KALEO,
Honolulu, Jan. 2, 1917.
Footnotes
- “Graceless Voice”.
- “Awkward Voice”.
- All of the areas in the preceding paragraph are in the Kipahulu region. Hokona is identified in Land Commission Award 8986B.
- A poetic name for Kipahulu. See entry No. 1463 in the book “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings“.
- From the book “Sites of Maui” (Page 119), “There are other rocky islets standing on the eastern side of Kaʻuiki called Na-niu-a-Kane, Moku-mana, Pukiʻi and Mokūhano. Page 131: “Directly east is the base of Kaʻuwiki, where it ‘kisses’ Moku-hano.”
- “Her birthplace was in a large cave on the side of Kauiki Hill”, from “Sites of Maui” (Page 126).
- “Punahoa, a spring”, from “Sites of Maui” (Page 119).
- “Anini, a surf”, from “Sites of Maui” (Page 119).
- “Puhele, a surf for chiefs to surf on”, from “Sites of Maui” (Page 119).
- From “Sites of Maui” (Page 147): “Water can only enter the pond at high tide, and a grill of iron rods is still used [circa-1929] across the entrance to prevent escape of fish.”
- “Puu-o-Kauhala was a famous hill”, from “Sites of Maui” (Page 119).
- Genesis 3:19.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7.
- Job 1:21.
- That is, the island of Oahu. Kakuhihewa here refers not to the deceased but to an ancient chief of Oahu with the same name (see entry No. 1772 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”).