Kaulana Moloka`i - by Alice Johnston 

Kaulana Molokaʻi
Molokaʻi nui a Hina lae
Me ka ulu kukui
Aʻo Lanikāula lae e

Eia Kalamaʻula
Me kōna ulu niu lae
ʻĀina kaulana
I ka hoʻopulapula lae e

Haʻina ka inoa
Molokaʻi nui a Hina lae
Me ka ulu kukui
Aʻo Lanikāula lae e
Famous is Moloka`i
Great Moloka`i, child of Hina, tra la la
With the protective kukui grove
Of Lanikāula, tra la la

Here is Kalama`ula
With its coconut grove, tra la la
Famous land
Of homesteads, tra la la

Tell the name
Great Moloka`i, child of Hina, tra la la
With the protective kukui grove
Of Lanikāula, tra la la

 

Kupuna Papa John Flores

 

 

Source: Nick Ronolo, Recorded by Manaʻo Company - Molokaʻi was the great religious training center of old Hawaiʻi. Lanikāula was the most powerful and famous prophet of his time. His impending death was announced by a great bonfire on Lanaʻi and constant drumming throughout the archipelago. Kahunas gathered on every island and set sail for Molokaʻi to possess his great mana by stealing his body. Lanikāula asked his three sons where they would hide his body. The hiapo, a great hunter, promised to take his remains to the highest mountain and bury it deep in a secret cave. The second son, a famed fisherman, would take it to the depths of the ocean and hide it in an underground cavern. The youngest ʻīhepa son wanted to bury Lanikāula in a point on the east end of Molokaʻi. He was given this remarkable task. When the news of Lanikāula's death was confirmed, the hordes swept over the island in search of his remains. They never found Lanikāula. It is said that his body and spirit went into the kukui trees where it overlooks and protects his land and his people. This is why the kukui nut trees in the grove of Lanikāula bleed. This legend was told by Papa John Koʻomoa Flores of Onealiʻi, Molokaʻi, make 1995, at age 101.