[From: “KUU KAMAAINA I KA UA KUKALAHALE.”]

Pekupekuiki.—This is the name of the first flagpole put up in the palace grounds; it was erected by King Kamehameha IV; and this flagpole stood on the Ewa side of the Kauikeaouli gate (the King Street gate); between the gate and Haleponi, “the Coronation Building” (the gazebo and bandstand that stands now). For this flagpole is the u-keke song composed by that spry one of Lahaina, David Hauola Makekau:

Auhea, uhea oe,
Auhea i uhea oe.
E kuu hoa, kuu hoapili,
E kuu hoa, kuu hoapili.
I ka leo uluulu,
I ka leo weliweli o na ʻliikoa.
O kuu hoa oe, o kuu hoa oe,
O ka malu ohai o Kanikauwepa.
O ka hae kalaunu o Pekupekuiki.

It was this D. H. Makekau who indeed composed this mele:

Aia i Leahi Daimana Hila,
Ka hoku ao ka ale ka i Mamala,
Malama pono oe i ka poe pele,
O ili kaua i ka apiki.
Ua ana pono ia na huahelu,
E pili aku ai i ka uwapo.
Haawi ke aloha lululima,
Me na huapala makaonaona.
Kau aku i ke kaa oni ka huila,
Pa iho ka uwepa iwakiani.
Aniani na hana i ka hookele,
I ka lawe no a kikiipau.
Hainaia mai ana ka puana,
Aia o Daimana Hila i Leahi.

He composed this song for Miss Makilo, a hanai child of Mr. Pinehaka [? William Pinehasa Wood], one of the well-known men of Honolulu nei, in those days he lived there [? oiai ua la o ke aina ae o ia].

The first four lines of the mele are what the Honorable J. K. Kalakiela recently took to as part of his election speech adding, “Have a heart!”

[The awesome things you find while watching Merrie Monarch! This description is found in an awesome treatise on place names of Honolulu, “My Familiarity with the Land of the Kukalahale Rain,” which runs in the Kuokoa from 12/20/1918 to 1/24/1919 (although it indicates there is to be more to come), describing famous places of Honolulu in days gone by, written by the Anela o Mekiko, Gabriel K. Keawehaku.

Mahalo to the boys of Na Kamalei o Lililehua for their lively hula inspiring me to do a little searching.

For more on the gates of Iolani Palace, click here for Nanea Armstrong Wassel’s post!

For more on the Hale Poni, again click here for Nanea Armstrong Wassel’s post!!]

(Kuokoa, 1/24/1919, p. 3)

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke LVII, Helu 4, Aoao 3. Ianuari 24, 1919.