Pōhaku Kuʻi ʻai and Kalo

Moʻolelo o Hāloa

Kalo (taro) is one of the most significant plants in Kānaka ʻŌiwi culture because Kalo is thought of as a literal ancestor to kānaka. The moʻolelo o Hāloa tells of the Akua Wākea (said to be of the father of the sky) and the Akua Hoʻohōkūkalani (meaning “to star the sky”) had a stillborn child named Hāloanaka. They buried Hāloanaka in kapa cloth and lauhala and buried him in the ʻāina. Hoʻohōkūkalani, in grief, cried and watered the soil where Hāloanaka was buried with her tears. From Hāloanaka’s burial place, the first kalo plant grew. 

Hoʻohōkūkalani and Wākea conceived another child. This child was a health, thriving human child who was named Hāloa after his brother, Hāloanaka. Hāloa means “long, eternal breath.” 

When the kalo plant matures it creates an ʻoha or a corm. The ʻoha can be removed and planted to create a new plant. The word ʻohana meaning “family” comes from the word ʻoha, symbolizing that all kalo are family and originate from the same parent ʻoha. Hāloa as ancestor recognizes that Kānaka ʻŌiwi as a people are literally born simultaneously and in harmony with the land. Hāloa, symbolized in the kalo plant, gives long, eternal breath to Kānaka ʻŌiwi. 

 ʻĀina means “that which feeds.” In this mural we honor Hāloa (through painting the loʻi kalo) and Hāloa feeding us through kalo (i.e., poi and paʻi ʻai). The little girl muralized is of one of our Moʻolelo Murals’ artists, Bree Blake’s niece named Maile who is 3 years old. She is holding a pōhaku kuʻi ʻai (poi pounder) that is used to turn kalo into poi. The pōhaku kuʻi ʻai painted has a hole in it and is smaller than other pōhaku kuʻi ʻai. This type of pōhaku kuʻi ʻai is unique to Kauaʻi and Niʻihau in that it is not found on any other island. It is believed that this pōhaku kuʻi ʻai was made for female hands, which is special because the traditional kapu system that governed the Hawaiian Kingdom designated poi pounding as a kāne or male task, but on Kauaʻi and Niʻihau wāhine or women did this task too. 

Maile pounding kalo with a Kauaʻi specific poi pounder is symbolic of our ancestors literally feeding the next generation. 

Projects this Mo’olelo is featured in