A Eulogy for Our Deceased Child
("He Kanaenae Hoalohaloha No Ka Maua Keiki Hele Loa", Nupepa Kuokoa, July 29, 1921)
Dear Mr. Editor of the Nupepa Kuokoa, Greetings:—Please provide space in your columns of the treasured Kuokoa for a eulogy for our dear one who has passed on the road of no return.1
The house is broken, the mortal body where love called. The golden cord is severed; the pitcher is smashed at the cistern.2
A bond of love, a remembrance,
Departed and ascended,
In the unsettled wind and mist,
The sleep in which a spirit embraces in physical form,
Your spirit comes in the night,
We rise up with you,
A night in which love cuts short the breath,
Inside a person.3
Barnaby Kahalepaahao was born from our loins on Sept. 24, 1899, and passed on to the road of no return on May 23, 1921. He breathed in the cold air of this earthly realm for 21 years, 5 months and 29 days before returning to the place where all beings go.
A letter4 reported the sad news to us, the parents and family of our beloved child, that he had passed on to the road of no return, leaving the land of agony, Kalawao,5 the land with no friends save the helping hands of the government.
You who are sending the call of love for our child,
A roaring voice from Kane’s chest
A warm voice in the long night of winter,
Seizing the mortal body,
A child that was our beloved lei,
Passed on, to return to the Heavenly Father,
Oh, our dear child,
Our child!
Our child hailed from Kaupo, where the rain makes one hide behind rock walls, the land that supported you children and grandchildren in this era of enlightenment. You will not again see the famous rain of this land. Its light drizzles will no longer wet your delicate cheeks.
Farewell, Haleakala, standing majestic in the calm, with the rain creeping through the forest, and its dear companion, the land of Kaupo. The body of our beloved has gone alone on the road of no return.
O beautiful mountain of Haleakala and the rain creeping through the forest, our beloved will no longer ramble across your dark ridges that he knew so intimately. Your cold mountain dew drops will no longer dampen him.
Farewell, Kumunui, the home where you whiled away the time lovingly. Fond memories of the rain falling day and night and the sound of the water flowing from the pipe and pattering into the tank, a dear resource tended to by the parents.
Goodbye, Luakauhi, the home where we lived with your aunty and friends. What affection for Kahualau, where you would go to harvest coffee. With love for the fields of pili grass at Niniau, where you would go to seek necessities of life, the food from the trees. What heartache!
We patiently endured the hardship with our beloved caused by the sickness that separates families6 and which separated him from us. Our love for you will never dim. We reflect on the places where we were together with our children in our times of need and want. We were companions of the rain, the sun, the cold and the damp. You are gone, and the breast of the parent is cold. Farewell to the wind-facing cliffs of Kalepa and the frigid waters of Alelele where you traveled. You will no longer see them. The cold water of Alelele, with its shady ohia trees, will no longer dampen you. Farewell, Kipahulu, of the famous wind; we came as strangers and became natives of the love-snatching wind.7 Your feet will no longer walk through our beloved home. The gentle breezes of the wind of this famous land will no longer caress your delicate body. Alas!
Farewell, Hana, of the rain of the low sky,8, where Kauiki sits up in the heavens, above its bay and islands, a hill carved off at the base by the shaking of the earth. This was the last stomping ground of our beloved. He did not again see the family and everyone else in your land nor the numerous headlands in his homeland of Kaupo before going across the sea to the land of agony.9 How tragic!
As we close our eulogy for our beloved child, we offer all our love and gratitude to the medical staff of the hospital at Kalawao for tending to the cold remains of our beloved child and for informing us of the sad news that Barnaby Kahalepaahao had wearied of this fragile life, leaving a tearful memory for the two of us and rest of his family to grieve over on this side of the black river of eternal death.
With regards to the editor and the youths10 of the printing press.
MR. SAM KAHALEUWAHI,
MRS. SAM KAHALEUWAHI,
Kipahulu, July 18, 1921.
Below is the obituary in the original Hawaiian:
HE KANAENAE HOALOHALOHA NO KA MAUA KEIKI HELE LOA
E Mr. Lunahooponopono o ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Aloha oe:—E oluolu mai i kekahi mau kolamu kaawale o ka kakou hiwahiwa ke Kuokoa no ka maua mau kanaenae hoalohaloha no ka maua lei aloha i hala aku i ke ala hoi ole mai.
Ua naha ka hale ke kino o ke kanaka, kahi a ke aloha i kipa mai ai; ua moku ke kaula gula, ua naha ka pakeke ma ka lua wai.
He pili aloha keia he manao
Ua hele wale no a hala iluna,
I ka ulu-hua ohia ia i ka noe
Moe no o ka uhane honi pa-kanaka
O ko uhane ka kai hiki mai i ka po nei.
Ala pu no mua me oe—a
He po waiku ke aloha—
Inoho a kanaka ia no-e
Ua hanauia o Balenaba Kahalepaahao mai ko maua mau puhaka ponoi aku i ka la 24 o Sept. 1899 a hala wale aku la no i ke ala hoi ole mai ma ka la 23 o Mei 1921 a ua piha iaia he 21 makahiki a me 5 mahina ame 29 la o kona hanu ana i na ea huihui o keia ola honua ana a hoi aku ia ma kahi mau o na mea apau.
Na ka elele waha ole i hoike mai i ka lono kaumaha ia maua na makua ame ka ohana o ka maua lei aloha he keiki, ua hala i ke ala hoi ole mai, ma ka aina o ka ehaeha, ma Kalawao ka aina makamaka ole aohe he lehulehu, hookahi no makamaka o na lima kokua o ke aupuni.
O oe ka ia e walohia leo aloha o ka maua keiki,
Leo nakolokolo i ka houpo a Kane
Leo hoohi-a i ka po loloa o ka hooilo,
Hopu hewa ana i ke aka kino wailua,
O ka maua lei aloha he keiki,
Ua hala ua hoi me ka Makua Lani,
Auwe ka maua keiki aloha-e,
Ka maua keiki hoi a!
Ka maua keiki hoi mai ka ua peepapohaku o Kaupo, a ka aina hoi nana i hoolehulehu mai ia oukou na keiki a kani moopuna i keia ao malamalama. Aole oe e ike hou ana i ka ua Kaulana o ka aina, aole no hoi oia e hoopulu hou ana i kona mau kilihune ua maluna iho o kou mau papalina lahilahi.
Aloha no Haleakala Kuahiwi ku kilakila i ka malie, me ka ua nee mai ka nahele, hele kohana ke kino o ka maua lei aloha i ke ala hoi ole mai, a i pili aloha ai ka aina o Kaupo.
E ke kuahiwi nani o Haleakala, a me ka ua nee mai i kanahele, aole e hehi hou ana o ka maua lei aloha i kou mau kualono uliuli kahi ana i hele ai a kupa a kamaaina. Aole no hoi olua e hoopulu hou iho ana i na kulu kehau huihui o ke kuahiwi maluna ona.
Aloha Kumunui ia home au e luakaha ai me ke aloha. Aloha kahi wai o ka piula i ka owe mai i ke kula wai, a he waiwai nui ke aloha na ka makua e hiipoi nei, e loku hala ole nei i ka po ame ke ao.
Aloha Luakauhi ia home a kakou e noho ai me ia Aunty au, ame na hoaaloha hoi, aloha o Kahualau, ia wahi au e pii ai i ka ohi hua kope, aloha ke kula pili o Niniao, oia wahi e imi ai i pono no ke ola kino, mai ka ai kau mai iluna o ka laau, he laau hoi ka mea e loaa ai, auwe ke ehaeha o ka naau e!
Ua noho hoomanawanui ia e maua me ka maua mau lei aloha na inea he nui a na ka ma’i hookaawale ohana i hookaaawale aku iaia mai ia maua aku, auwe ko maua aloha poina ole ia oe e! E hoomanao wale ae ana no i na wahi a maua i pili aloha ai me na keiki iloko o ka hune ame ka nele he hoa pili no maua i ka ua me ka la i ke anu ame ko’eko’e; ko’ekoe ka poli aloha o ka makua ua hala oe. Ano aloha wale mai ana no na pali huli makani o Kalepa ame ka wai huihui o Alelele, oia wahi au e hele ai. Aole oe e ike hou ana ia laua aole no hoi e hoopulu hou iho ana na kulu wai huihui o ka malu ohia o Alelele maluna ou. Aloha no o Kipahulu i ka i ka makani kaulana oia aina a kakou i noho malihini ai, a lilo ai he kupa a he kamaaina no ka makani Kailialoha. Aole e hehi hou ana kou mau kapuai wawae maluna oia home aloha o kakou, aole no hoi e pa kolonahe hou mai ana na onini makani o ua aina kaulana ia maluna o kou kino lahilahi; Aloha wale!
Aloha no Hana, ua lanihaahaa, noho i ka lani Kauwiki, ilalo ka hono o na moku o Kauwiki ka mauna i ke opa’ipa’i e kalai ana a hina ke kumu o Kauwiki, ka aina hope a ka maua lei aloha i hehi hope loa ai, pau ka ike ana i ke ao aina, i ka ohana a me ka lehulehu, pau no hoi ka ike ana i na lae makawalu o ka aina hanau o Kaupo, a au aku la i ke kai no ka aina o ka e’hae’ha auwe no hoi ka walohia e!
I ko maua hooki ana i ka maua mau kanaenae hoalohaloha i ka maua lei aloha he keiki, ke haawi aku nei maua i ko maua aloha ame na hoomaikai ana he nui i na kahu malamama’i o ka halema’i o Kalawao, no ka lakou malama maikai ana i ke kino puanuanu o ka maua lei aloha he keiki, a me ko lakou hai ana mai i ka lono kaumaha no ka pauaho ana mai la o Balenaba Kahalepaahao i keia ola mauleule ana, a waiho iho la i ka puolo waimaka a ke aloha na maua me ka ohana e paiauma aku ma keia aoao o ka muliwai eleele o ka make mau loa.
Me ka Lunahooponopono ame na keiki o ka papapa’i ka welina.
MR. SAM KAHALEUWAHI,
MRS. SAM KAHALEUWAHI,
Kipahulu, Iulai 18, 1921.
Footnotes
- A common poetic saying for death. See entry No. 420 in the book “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings“.
- Ecclesiastes 12:6.
- The preceding lines closely match a portion of the chant He Mele no Lunalilo i Hooili ia no Kalakaua, from the 1886 book “Na Mele Aimoku, na Mele Kupuna, a me na Mele Ponoi o ka Moi Kalakaua I” (Dynastic Chants, Ancestral Chants, and Personal Chants of King Kalakaua I).
- Literally, the “messenger with no mouth” (ka elele waha ole).
- Land of agony (ka aina o ka ehaeha) was a common nickname for the Kalawao leprosy colony.
- A common euphemism for leprosy.
- A poetic name for Kipahulu. See entry No. 1463 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- A poetic name for Hana. See entry No. 1578 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- Another reference to the Kalawao leprosy colony.
- The typesetters.