Hawaiian Wetland and Watershed Words

Ahupuaʻa (land division extending from mountains to the sea and into the ocean)

`Āina Pulu (eye-nah poo-loo) = Wetland

Ali‘i nui (supreme chief, ruler)

Auwai (a water channel)

Awawa (gulch)

Haleakalā (the tallest mountain on Maui, a dormant volcano, and a sacred mountain).

Heiau (an ancient Hawaiian temple or sacred site)

‘Ili Ahupuaʻa  (each Ahupuaʻa was cut into smaller slivers of land which the commoners or Maka’ainana possessed)

Kahakai (beach, shoreline)

Kahawai (stream)

Kahoʻolawe (an island of Hawaii)

Kahu wai (one in charge of water rights)

Kai (sea, seawater)

Kapu (taboo)

Kilo (first-hand knowledge, wisdom, gained by experiencing and observing something, especially nature)

Konohiki (each Ahupuaʻa was managed by a headman called a Konohiki)

Kuleana (responsibility, a piece of land)

Kuleana wai (water rights)

Kumulipo (the Hawaiian creation chant)

Loʻi (irrigated wet flooded field/patch)

Loko I’a (fish ponds)

Loko I’a kalo (combines taro and fish ponds)

Loko kuapa (walled fish ponds)

Loko pu’uone (brackish water ponds)

Loko Wai (freshwater ponds)

Lolo kai (flood)

Māla (a non-flooded garden that receives sufficient moisture from rainfall)

Mālama ʻĀina (to care for the land)

Mana (pervasive supernatural or magical power)

Mo‘olelo (stories)

Mokupuni o Hawai’i  (Hawaiian Islands)

Moʻolelo (a story)

Muliwai (a wetland, pool, or estuary)

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian Language)

Poʻowai (stone dam)

Punawai (spring)

Puʻuone (sand dune)

Ua (rain)

Wahi (place)

Wahi Pana (storied places)

Wai (water, freshwater,

Wai ʻino (stormwater)

Wailele (waterfall)


KILO MAHINA (Observe the Moon) Event:
For those of you who missed our last Kilo Mahina event (and for those of you who want to practice your hua`ōlelo), here are the hua `ōlelo we talked about that evening:
`ĀINA PULU (eye-nah poo-loo)= WETLAND
MAHINA= moon
KILO= to observe
PŌ= night
LĀ`IELOHELOHE= the name of the pi`o wahine (sacred wife) of Pi`ilani; namesake of the wetland area mauka and makai of South Kihei Road)
PĀNĀNĀ- compass; specific place where we kilo consistently (our kino are also a pānānā)
HIKINA= East
KOMOHANA= West
HEMA= South
`ĀKAU= North
HŌKŪ`ULA= Mars
MAKALI`I= the Pleiades; Seven Sisters
NĀ KAO= Orion
AKUA= God/Goddess
KĀ`ELO= Betelgeuse
Ke Ala Polohiwa a Kanaloa (Winter Solstice)
Kilo Mahina at La’ie Wetlands, with Trinette Furtado