KA MOKU ʻO PUNADistrict of Puna

HWST 100

PUNA FACTS

• 499.5 square miles or 319,680 acres

• No permanently running streams

• Many subterranean lava tubes

• Endemic animals and plants can be found in Puna

`Amakihi

`Apapane

NĀ PALENA: BOUNDARIES

• Puna, mai `Oki`okiaho a MāwaePuna, from `Oki`okiaho to Māwae

The extent of Puna is from `Oki`okiaho on the Ka`ū side to Māwae on the Hilo side.

KA MAKANI: WindKA UA: Rain

• Wind:– Hali`ala– Pu`ulena

• Rain:– Moaniani lehua

`ŌLELO NO`EAU

• Puna, `āina `awa lau o ka manuPuna, land of the leafed `awa planted by the birds

• Puna, kai nehe i ka ulu hala.Puna, where the sea murmurs to the hala grove

`ŌLELO NO`EAU• Puna maka kōkala.

Puna of the eyelashes that curve upward like the thorns of the pandanus leaves.

The placenta of the newborn was buried under a pandanus tree so the child’s eyelashes would grow long like the pandanus thorns.

`ŌLELO NO`EAU• Puna paia `ala i ka hala.

Puna, with walls fragrant with pandanus blossoms.

Puna, Hawai`i is a place of hala and lehua forests. In olden days, the people would stick the bracts of hala into the thatching of their houses to bring some of the fragrance indoors.

`ŌLELO NO`EAU• Pō`ele ka `āina o Puna

The land of Puna is blackened (by lava flows).

• Lohi`au Puna i ke akua wahine.Puna is retarded by the goddessRefers to Pele, ruler of volcanoes. The lava flows she pours into the district retard the work and progress of the people

`ŌLELO NO`EAU

• Hilina`i Puna, kālele iā Ka`ūhilina`i Kaū, kālele iā PunaPuna trusts and leans on Ka`ū,Ka`ū trusts and leans on Puna

The people of Puna and Ka`ū are related

`ŌLELO NO`EAU• He iki hala au no Kea`au,

`a`ohe pōhaku `alā e nahā ai.I am a small hala fruit of Kea`au, but there is no rock hard enough to smash me.The boast of a Puna man – I am small, perhaps, but mighty.

`ŌLELO NO`EAU• E nihi ka helena i ka uka o

Puna; mai pūlale i ka `ike a ka maka.Go quietly in the upland of Puna; do not let anything you see excite you.Watch your step and don’t let the things you see lead you into trouble. There is an abundance of flowers and berries in the uplands of Puna and it is thought that picking any on the trip up to the volcano will result in being caught in heavy rains; the picking is left until the return trip. Also said to loved ones to imply, “Go carefully and be mindful.”

`ōhelo

`ŌLELO NO`EAU

• `Āina i ka houpō o Kāne.Land on the bosom of Kāne.

Puna, Hawai`i. It is said that before Pele migrated there from Kahiki, no place in the islands was more beautiful than Puna.