Kuulei Higashi
Kilauea, Hawai‘i
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Wā ‘Akahi

Moamoa
Ma Uka

‘O kāne iā Wai‘ololī, ‘o ka wahine iā Wai‘olonā
Hānau ke Kakalamoa noho i kai
Kia‘i ‘ia e ka Moamoa noho i uka
He pō uhe‘e i ka wawā
He nuku, he wai ka ‘ai a ka lā‘au
‘O ke Akua ke komo, ‘a‘oe komo kanaka

First Epic

Moamoa
Mountainside

Wai‘ololī the product of males, Wai‘ololā of females
The Kakalamoa gives birth, it is found in the sea
Guarded by the Moamoa in the uplands
The night becomes tumultuous
Ranting, plants are sustained by water
The Gods enter, man does not have access

Pi‘i A‘e au i Kuahiwi

Na Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

I kekahi lā, ua ho‘oholo nā kumu o ko‘u kula e huaka‘i i ka Luapele ma Kilauea. Ua makemake lākou e a‘o mai a hō‘ike aku iā mākou i kekahi mau mea i pili i ka luapele a me nā mea ‘epekema o ia wahi. Ua lawe aku kekahi alaka‘i iā mākou ma nā alahele like ‘ole i ‘ike mua ‘ia ‘ole e ka nui o nā haumāna.

Ua komo mākou i loko o ka nahele, ke kula, nā pae kūkaepele a pēlā wale aku. Eia na‘e iā mākou i ka‘alo a‘e i ka pae kūkaepele, ua hā‘ule kekahi o nā haumāna a ‘a‘ole i hiki iā ia ke hanu. Ua maopopo nā haumāna a pau, he hānō ko Keawe.

‘A‘ole ‘o Keawe i lawe mai i kona lā‘au lapa‘au hānō a ‘oiai ua pa‘a mākou a pau ma kekahi wahi i ‘ike ‘ole ‘ia e ka po‘e a he wahi mamao loa ia mai nā mea a pau o kēia ao, ua pono mākou e no‘ono‘o koke.

Ua a‘o mai kekahi kupuna iā mākou i ke ‘ano lā‘au lapa‘au o ka moamoa. E haku lei ana kekahi o nā haumāna me kekahi kupuna a ua ‘ako ‘ia nā mea kanu moamoa e ho‘okomo i loko o ka lei haku. I nā manawa a pau i haku ke kupuna wahine i kekahi mea kanu ua ha‘i mai ‘o ia iā mākou i kekahi ‘ike no ia mea kanu.

Laki nō mākou no kona ha‘i ‘ana mai no ka moamoa a me kona ‘ano ola i ka ma‘i hānō. Ua ho‘i koke kekahi o mākou i loko o ka nahele e huli i nā moamoa a inā ma‘a ‘oe i ka pi‘i i uka e ‘ako i nā lā‘au, maopopo iā ‘oe, inā pi‘i ‘oe i luna, e pule a noi no kēia mea kanu a e ‘ike koke ana ‘oe i ia mea. ‘A‘ole mākou i holo lō‘ihi a ‘ike ‘ia ka mea kanu. Iā mākou i ho‘i a‘e ua ho‘omākaukau ‘ia ka lā‘au a hā‘awi ‘ia aku i ke keiki hānō.

Ua hau‘oli nō mākou a pau i kona hanu maika‘i hou ‘ana a ua ho‘i mākou i kahi ho‘okahua e ho‘opau i ka huaka‘i.

A Trip Up to the Mountains

By Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

One day, our teachers of my school decided to take a trip up to Volcano National Park. They wanted to teach and show us some things about the volcano and the scientific things of that place. One of the leaders took us on all kinds of trails that most of us never knew existed.
We entered the forest, the plains, the sulfur fields and all kinds of places. However as we were passing through the sulfur fields one of the students fell down and he couldn’t breathe. All the students knew that Keawe had asthma.

Keawe didn’t bring his asthma medicine with him and since we were stuck somewhere that wasn’t well known to a lot of people and it was a far area from all the new technologies we had to think fast.

An elder taught us about the healing power of moamoa. One of the students was braiding a lei with her grandmother and moamoa was gathered to put inside the lei. Every time the grandmother would braid in a different plant she would tell us some facts about the plant.

We were lucky that she told us about the moamoa and how it can heal asthma. Some of us quickly returned into the forest to find the moamoa and if you’re familiar with climbing to the uplands to collect plants, you know that when you go up there, pray and ask for the plant and you will soon see the plant. We didn’t search for very long before we found the plant. When we returned, we prepared the medicine and gave it to the student suffering from an asthma attack.

We were all relieved when he started to breathe easily and we returned back to our campsite to finish our excursion.

Kekahi ‘Ike Hou A‘e

Inoa Hawai‘i: Moa, Moamoa

Inoa Pelekānia:

Inoa ‘Epekema: Psilotum spp.

Kona ‘ano: ‘A‘ohe lau o kēia mea kanu, eia na‘e he mau lālā ‘ano mānoanoa ‘ōma‘oma‘o. I kekahi manawa he ‘ano melemele ka lālā ke nānā aku. ‘A‘ole ikaika loa kēia mea kanu, hiki ke haki koke ‘ia. Ulu kēia mea kanu ma ka ‘āina a i kekahi manawa ulu pū ia mea kanu ma loko o nā kumu lā‘au.

‘Ikepili Hoihoi: Ho‘ohana ‘ia kēia lā‘au no ka lā‘au lapa‘au. Ke ho‘omākaukau ‘ia hiki ke ho‘ohana ‘ia no ka hānō, ka ‘ōkole hī a me ka ‘ea.

More Information

Hawaiian Name: Moa, Moamoa

English Name:

Scientific Name: Psilotum spp.

Description: This plant doesn’t have any leaves, however it has thick green branches. Sometimes the branches are yellow. This isn’t a very strong plant and it breaks easily. This plant grows on land and sometimes this plant also grows inside the branches of trees.

Interesting Fact: This plant is used for medicine. When it is prepared you can use it for asthma, diarrhea and thrush.