Ka Mo‘olelo Hiwahiwa o Kawelo
FORTHCOMING DECEMBER 2009
Originally serialized in the Hawaiian language newspaper Kuokoa Home Rula from January 1909 to April 1910, this new edition of Ka Mo‘olelo Hiwahiwa o Kawelo presents Ho‘oulumahiehie's text in modernized Hawaiian with notes and an introduction by Native Hawaiian scholar Hiapokeikikane Kichie Perreira.
Ho‘oulumahiehie's telling of the Kawelo story is the longest and most comprehensively written in Hawaiian on this larger-than-life historical figure, from his exploits as a youngster to his battle for the rule of the island of Kaua‘i. Ho‘oulumahiehie masterfully weaves ha‘ako‘iko‘i (formal) and kauhale (informal) styles of language, utilizing oratorical expressions, exhaustive explanations, precise terminology, and conventional discourse—an addition to the corpus of Kawelo literature that is unparalleled in scope, depth, and literary artistry.
This work is intended as a useful guide for high school and college students, as well as other serious students of the Hawaiian language seeking a more comprehensive understanding of Hawaiian practices.
Ho‘oulumahiehie lived as a writer during the early 1900s when holding on to one's Hawaiian selfhood was very troublesome. It is not known if “Ho‘oulumahiehie” is a birth name or a pseudonym. He and his fellow writers of the time stood firm in preserving their mauli Hawai‘i (Hawaiian being) through fully recounting ancestral narratives for the generations to come.
Hiapokekikane Kichie Perreira is an assistant professor of Ka Haka ‘Uka Ke‘elikolani College of Hawaiian Language, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. In the spring of 2002, he became the college's first Master's graduate in Hawaiian language and literature. Ka Mo‘olelo Hiwahiwa o Kawelo is the first graduate thesis completed solely in the Hawaiian language. He lives in Ka‘umana, Hilo, with his wife Hanakahi and their daughter Keanokualani.
$24.95, hardcoverisbn 978-1-58178-077-2 $14.95, softcover isbn 978-1-58178-088-8
6 x 9, 448 pp.
Available at Bishop Museum's Shop Pacifica and other fine bookstores throughout the islands.
Tags: Bishop Museum Press, Hawaiian language, Hawaiian literature, Hiapokeikikane Kichie Perreira, Ho'oulumahiehie, Kawelo, Kuokoa Home Rula, mo'olelo
