ʻAhaʻaina Palakai ma Kailua, 1877

A Birthday Party in Kaʻelepulu Falls Way Short of a Guest’s Expectations

Palakai means “sickly, withered, stunted, puny.” The word is most often used in reference to unhealthy plants and people as in: “ua palakai nā huli kalo” (the taro stalks are stunted). But in this letter to the editor written by a very grumpy J. M. Maʻawe, palakai is used to characterize an ʻahaʻaina lā hānau, a birthday party feast for one of John Paoa’s children. Maʻawe complains that the guests did not get what they paid for. They were expecting a delightful meal of beef, pork, and the famous fat ʻamaʻama (mullet) and awa (milkfish) of Kaʻelepulu fishpond  What they got, instead, was a small serving of puaʻa that was still huluhulu: pig whose hair had not been removed before roasting. The celebration, Maʻawe continues, was further degraded by a “hana uso ole a ka pagana, oia ka hula, a me he la ua lilo ko lakou ao naauao ana ma ka hula, aole ma ka hua palapala” – by a worthless exhibition of paganism, namely the hula by children who seemed to have abandoned their schooling for darker pursuits. He ends with a plea to all who host such feasts: do so with good intentions, not evil.

Hawaiian language newspapers of the day often provided a forum for heated debate, for accusations and rebuttals, charges and counter charges. One such exchange occurred a few years earlier, in Nūpepa Kuokoa, when S. K. Pokea accused two Kailua residents of hiring a trio of kahuna kuni to conduct a ceremony that would prevent the haole from taking over Kailua and Kāneʻohe.[i] The three responded with a vehement denial: they did no such thing; they were not sorcerers, and Pokea should be prosecuted for lying,[ii]

Unfortunately, we have discovered no such rebuttal of Maʻawe’s bitter, thumbs-down review of the Paoa birthday party. We should read his piece, then, with certain reservations about the ability of a Hawaiian family in an impoverished, population-decimated Kailua to provide a feast commensurate with Pokea’s expectations. We should also remember that the most rigid, devil-hating, hula-disparaging Calvinists were often the Hawaiian converts of those missionaries. 

AHAAINA PALAKAI

Ma Kailua, Koolaupoko, he ahaaina la hanau kai malama ia no kekahi keiki ma ka poalima iho nei, Iune 8, na John Paoa. Ua hoala ia keia hana me ke kono ana i na mea a pau e hele aku me na kenikeni, a o ka manao o na mea a pau e like me ka olioli, olioli hoi ia ka mea ahaaina i na kenikeni, a olioli hoi ka poe mea kenikeni i na kaka puaa na kaka bipi a me na awa momona o Kaelepulu, a me na amaama. Owau pu kekahi i hele aku e like me ke ano mau o na poe e hele ana i ka ahaaina. A i ka hiki ana malaila, a nana i na mea a pau, aohe i kupono iki i kahi o ka olioli; a nolaila kela mau hua e kau ae la maluna. O ka palakai aʻu i ike, aole i lawa ka ai me ka ia; ua hoihoi no ka poe i manao aku no ka mea i konoia i ka lakou mau makana; no ka palakai ke kumu. A nolaila kaʻu mea e pane aku nei, aole e hana kekahi mea ahaaina penei. A o kekahi mea kaumaha o na opio i aoia i na hana uso ole a ka pegana, oia ka hula, a me he la ua lilo ko lakou ao naauao ana ma ka hula, aole ma ka hua palapala, a oia kaʻu e pane nei. Ua hoi no kekahi poe me kahi hoʻina, aka, ua kaniuhu kahi poe no ka ai ole a me ke kupono ole o kahi haawina no ka mea i makana iaʻku. Eia no hoi kekahi, aohe i makaukau na mea ai a pau, i ka la no i ahaaina ai, o ka la no ia i hoomoa ia ai na mea ai a pau, aohe no hoi he hoomakaukau mua i ka la mamua iho, a no ia makaukau mua ole, ua huluhulu ka puaa, a me ia huluhulu no i hoi aku ai kahi poe me kahi hoina kupono ole. A ke uwalo aku nei au i ka mea hana ahaaina, e hana me ka maikai, aole me ke ino. Me na Lunahooponopono a me na Keiki ulele hua metala ke aloha pumehana. 

J. M. MAAWE.

In Kailua, Koʻolaupoko, a birthday feast was held for a child last Friday, June 8, by John Paoa. This event began with the inviting of everyone to attend for a small fee  – kenikeni – with everyone expecting a delightful outcome – delightful for the host because of the kenikeni, and delightful for those with kenikeni because of the (anticipated) salted pork, salted beef, and fat milkfish and mullet of Kaʻelepulu. I was one who attended with the usual expectations of those who attend such feasts. But when I arrived and looked at everything, I realized that nothing at all lived up to my expectations, and this is the reason for the words that appear (in the article’s title) above. The palakai that I observed was a shortage of meat and fish, and this was an insult to those paid for what they thought they had been invited to enjoy; palakai was the cause. And this is the reason for my speaking out: ʻahaʻaina of this kind should never be held. And there was something else to discredit the event: (a performance by) children who had been taught a worthless, pagan activity, namely the hula, and it was as if their intelligence had been lost to hula rather than taken up with academics. Some of us left with parting gifts, but others left complaining about the lack of food and about not getting what they had paid for.  And here is yet another thing: none of the food was properly prepared. It was all cooked on the same day as the ʻahaʻaina; nothing was readied on the preceding day, and because of this failure of planning, the pig was still hairy, and for this reason, some people left without the expected formalities. And thus I say to those who hold ʻahaʻaina: do it well, not with evil intent. With warm affection for the editor and typesetters (of this newspaper), (I am) J. M. MAAWE.[iii]

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[i] S. K. Pokea, “Ahu kinohinohi o ke koolau i Kahuna Kuni Hawaii,” Kuokoa, November 4, 1871.  

[ii]W .H.Y. Nakookoo, Mr. Kanauakapuaa, Mrs. Kaikuaana, “Olelo pane a ka mea pani hakahaka,” Kuokoa, November 18, 1871.

[iii]Ka Lahui Hawaii, June 14, 1877. My translation. Maʻawe, in an earlier letter to the Kuokoa, castigated the District Judge of Koʻolaupoko for being soft on crime, particularly with regard to public drunkenness in Kāneʻohe and Heʻeia (“Make i ka pono! Kue i ka hewa!!,” October 23, 1869). That judge – W. E. Pu – responded angrily in the Nov. 13 issue of the same paper, calling Maʻawe: “he hoopuni, he lili, akiaki, holoholo olelo, niania, opuino, opukeemoa, opukopekope…” – a liar, hater, back-biter, gossiper, smooth talker, hard-heart, twisted chicken gizzard, and sour gut. On November 27, the editors of Kuokoa, having grown weary of the back-and-forth and faced with a new, lengthy piece by Maʻawe, shut them both down: no more of your letters will be published here; they are redundant, take up too much space, and are likely to bore our readers. If left unchecked, “lilo ka pepa i kahua heeholua no na mea elua wale iho no” – the paper will become a hōlua-sledding ramp for you two alone (“Na Palapala Mai i ke Kuokoa”).