Inoa | Name(s)

Kālai waʻa

Hōʻuluʻulu manaʻo

ʻO ke kālai waʻa kekahi hana a ke kahuna kālai waʻa o ka wā kahiko. Hoʻomana ʻia ke kālai ʻana i ka waʻa i ke akua. ʻO ke koa ka laʻau i koho nui ʻia no ke kālai ʻana, akā hoʻohana pū ʻia ka ʻulu, ke kukui, ka ʻōhiʻa hā, a me ka wiliwili. Inā hoʻomana maikaʻi ʻia ke koa e ke akua, piʻi aʻe nā mea kālai i kahi o ke koa me nā mōhai a waiho ʻia me ka pule pū. ʻOki a hina ke koa me ke koʻi a laila kālai ʻia me ka pule pū ʻana. Kālai ʻia ka waʻa ma uka a laila halihali ʻia i kai a hoʻopau ʻia ma kahi hālau waʻa. I kēia au nei, ʻokoʻa loa nā lako i hoʻohana ʻia no ke kālai ʻana i ka waʻa ʻoiai he ʻoihana ia i hōʻola hou ia akā he ʻoihana e hoʻomau ʻia nei e ka poʻe kālai waʻa o kēia wā.

Description

Carving canoes is a practice done by expert carvers in traditional times. Akua were petitioned before the carving was done. Koa was often the type of tree used to carve but other kinds of trees used included kukui, ʻōhiʻa, ʻulu, and wiliwili. When petitioned, akua would guide the carver regarding the use of a particular tree and the carvers would travel upland with offerings and prayer. The tree was cut down then carved in the uplands then carried down to be completed in a hālau waʻa. In contemporary times, different tools and materials are used to carve canoes, since it is a practice that was recently revived, however, it is a practice that continues today by the carvers of this era.

ʻŌlelo kuhikuhi

E koho i kēia huaʻōlelo no nā kumuwaiwai pili i ka ʻoihana kālai waʻa.

Instructions 

Use for resources related to canoe carving.

Moʻokūʻauhau | Genealogy 

Akua | Deity: Kūʻālanawao; Kūpulupulu: Kūmokuhāliʻi; Kūkaʻieʻie; Kūpalalakē; Kūkaʻōhiʻalaka; Lea; Kapūoalakaʻi

Hana | Practice: Hana koʻi

Lako | Materials + tools / implements: Koʻi pōhaku

Kūkulu | Built environment: Heiau

ʻAʻahu | Ceremonial clothing: Malo keʻokeʻo

Kūlana | Title/rank: Kahuna kālai waʻa

Kūmole | Source(s)

Malo, Davida, Jeffrey Paul Lyon, Charles Langlas, and Davida Malo. The Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi of Davida Malo. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2020.

Hoʻopili ʻia i | Applied to: The canoe making profession of ancient times; The evolution of traditional Hawaiian canoe builing, from pre-contact through the present

Mea haku | Created by: Keahiahi Long; Annemarie Paikai