Hula mounds, shoddy roads, and inclement weather in Hilo, 1887.

Mr. Editor.

The road supervisor [luna alanui] of Hilo has not passed by these days; the road to the north of the twin cliffs [na pali mahoe] is left damaged and filthy. Perhaps he is on vacation these weeks as the public schools are on vacation; haiole [?], you are the best.¹

From Onomea until Aleamai, there are three Hawaiian hula mounds [pa hula] where men and women are being taught for the upcoming 12th. There are two green pa hula that are got on with anklets [kupee] on the legs as the women turn this way and that, while they rotate about [poahi apakau] their torsos; some people sit below while rasping [wa’uwa’u] against the outside of a gourd and then their various voices reverberate forth.

For over a week, there was a storm covering the docks here in Hilo, bewildering the ship captains on the Paliku side.

D. I. Wailana, Jr.

¹The Road Supervisor in Chief for Hawaii Island that year, according to Thrum, was C. N. Arnold.

(Kuokoa, 4/30/1887, p. 2)

Mr. Luna Hooponopono.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XXVI, Helu 18, Aoao 2. Aperila 30, 1887.

1 thought on “Hula mounds, shoddy roads, and inclement weather in Hilo, 1887.

  1. Mahalo for this helpful correction sent in by Puakea Nogelmeier:
    “From Onomea to Aleamai there are three schools of hula being taught for men and women for the upcoming 12th. Two are schools of the ‘uli’uli dance, and one is a school of the standing dance with adornments on the ankles that make the women frisk about, spinning their torsos around while others sit scraping at the outsides of gourds and then all their different voices growling.”

    [Commentary and corrections are always welcomed here. It would be a much more educational site (for me included) if more people would add their thoughts and ideas and related information!]

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