Ka Mo‘olelo O Hi‘iakaikapoliopele
And
The Epic Tale Of Hi‘iakaikapoliopele

The Trade Edition.

Hi‘iaka, the youngest and most daring of Pele’s sisters, accepts the challenge to retrieve Lohi‘au, lord of all Kaua‘i, whom Pele had met and loved during a dream journey.  Hi‘iaka‘s quest is filled with great trials, her powers and wits repeated tested by unruly spirits and dangerous supernaturals, by human intrigue and mortal obligation. 

She and her companions reach Kaua‘i only to find Lohi‘au dead, his spirit hidden away by the cliff-dwelling mo‘o women.  She performs the rituals to restore his life, and guides them all back to the crater, where Pele’s jealous anger brings about an earth-shattering climax of destruction.  Revenge, resolution and revival bring about an ending that is happy for most, but not final for all.

Ho‘oulumāhiehie's Hawaiian version of this grand tale makes up one volume of this pair of wonderful books, its companion text a full English translation by Puakea Nogelmeier. Each 500-page hardcover volume is the complete narrative of the tale, articulated with over 300 chants, and enhanced with an afterword, commentary and multiple indexes in the language of each text.  Both books, designed by Barbara Pope, are beautifully illustrated with fine, full-color reproductions of Solomon Enos' images, commissioned for this project.

Published by Awaiaulu Press, Honolulu, Hawai‘i

Paper dust jackets of the bookstore editions.

Click thumbnail to enlarge.

Hawaiian          English