As told by Leilehua Yuen
There are many stories which tell how the naupaka blossom came to have its unusual shape. This is the one I have chosen to share because I believe it is one of the oldest. The chant on which it is based was composed in the mid 1600s or early 1700s for Oʻahu’s Chief Kualiʻi.
| O Opuʻukahonua, o Lolomu, o Mihi, O Lana ka wahine. Noho Wakea, noho ia Papa Noho ia Kanananuʻukumamao Hānau ka Naupaka, ku i ke kahakai O ʻŌhikimakaloa ka wahine O Hoʻopiʻo, o Hulumaniani, Ku i ka ʻena, a naia ilalo. O mehe pā laoa, O Naholo, Mehe kai olohia a Manu, Oia alakai honua Ku. O Lanipipili, o Lanioaka, O Lanikahuliomealani, O Lono, o Hekilikaʻaka, O Nakoloailani, O Kailolimoana, O Waia, O Hikapoloa, O Kapoimuliwaa, O Kane, O Ahulukaaʻala, O Kaueikamakaukau, Alua anahulu wau ia oe e Ku-e; E Kualiʻi. | Opuʻukahonua, Lolomu, Mihi, Lana the wife. Wakea lived and took Papa, Lived with Kanananuʻukumamao. Naupaka was then born, which stands by the seashore. ʻŌhikimakaloa the wife, Hoʻopiʻo, Hulumaniani, Heat rose up, he became insecure [Overcome by jealousy] Like one choking on a bone. Naholo, Like the broad calm sea of Manu, The one who led Ku to earth. O Lanipipili, o Lanioaka, O Lanikahuliomealani, O Lono, o Hekilikaʻaka, O Nakoloailani, O Kailolimoana, O Waia, O Hikapoloa, O Kapoimuliwaa, O Kane, And Ahulukaaʻala; Kane who is ever ready. Twice ten days am I with you, o Ku, O Kualiʻi. |
The moʻokuʻauhau, or genealogy, of the great chief Kualiʻi, who lived in the 1600s, opens with the three co-husbands, Opuʻukahonua, Lolomu, and Mihi, and with Lana, the wife and progenitress of the family line. The chant then leaps back in time to the mating of Wakea, the Sky Father, with Papa, the Earth Mother. This mating created all things in the cosmos as we know it today.
Wakea then mated with Kanananuʻukumamao, establishing a lineage of chiefs. This lineage included Kualiʻi of Oʻahu, famed for his battle prowess even into old age. When he was old, he became unable to walk. He ordered his men to weave a net for him. Placed in the net, he was carried into battle so he could continue to lead his warriors and to fight. Eventually, through conquest, marriage, and gifts, he became ruler of all the islands from Kauai in the north to Hawaiʻi in the south.
Kuali`i’s genealogy eventually led to Kamehameha Paiʻea, who united the Southern Hawaiian Islands into one kingdom, and negotiated with Kaumualiʻi, ruler of the northern Hawaiian islands, (Kauai, Niʻihau, Lehua, Mokumanamana, and the small islets) which became a tributary state.
An early ancestor of note is the legendary Naupaka, symbolized by the native plant which grows on the Hawaiian shoreline. Naupaka kahakai, Scaevola taccada, is indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands. It is found in coastal areas throughout the Pacific. Hardy and attractive, it is a commonly used landscaping plant. There are at least five different species of naupaka. All but the naupaka kahakai are endemic to Hawai`i, and evolved from it, moving up the mountain slopes into unique niches in the Hawaiian ecosystem.
The Naupaka of legend married the beautiful, but lower ranking, ʻŌhikimakaloa, named for the small crab which lives in the makaloa sedges growing in the intertidal zone.
Hoʻopiʻo (High Ranked Birth) had wanted ʻŌhikimakaloa as a lover. Hulumaniani (Feather Fan), had wanted to marry Naupaka. Hoʻopiʻo spread evil gossip about the bride, careful to be sure that Naupaka heard it. Hulumaniani fanned Naupaka’s jealousy, and he allowed his jealousy to overrule his reason.
ʻŌhikimakaloa, not understanding his anger toward her, tried to win back her husband with soft words and flower lei she wove with her own hands, but he would have nothing to do with her. She followed him from shore to mountain, and back again, entreating him with her words and gifts, but he tore them from his heart and neck, letting the broken blossoms fall to the ground where they grew into shrubs that continue to bloom with torn flowers today. Eventually ʻŌhikimakaloa headed back down the mountain.
Returning to her home in the sedges, she pined away, becoming more and more withdrawn until she looked like a small crab hiding in its shell.
At last, Naupaka returned to the sea, thinking he would distract himself with surfing. But the sea was flat and calm, not a wave in sight, brooding like himself. Hulumaniani came to him and tried to place a lei about her neck, but he rebuffed her. She then placed the lei on the neck of Hoʻopiʻo, and together they chanted a song of victory. Naupaka suddenly realized what had happened. He ran to the sedges where ʻŌhikimakaloa lived, but could not find her.
Walking back up the beach alone, he sat staring out to sea until he turned into the shrub which bears his name. His face has the shape of the torn blossom, but you can tell he is still a chief, because under his chin he still wears the lei niho palaoa, emblem of royalty, that he wore as a man.
ʻŌhikimakaloa continues to live as a little crab in her sedge home at the water’s edge, but now that Naupaka understands the truth, she often runs up the beach to visit him and take shelter in the embrace of his branches and roots.