The valley of Mānoa, located east of downtown Honolulu on the island of Oahu, is known to be a lush, green valley with daily rain showers. Like all existing natural phenomena, a creation story is passed down through various generations in the local indigenous community. In this post, the book Ka-hala-o-puna, ka u’i o Mānoa: the beauty of Mānoa by James Rumford will be referenced.
The story begins with the wind, a man, and the rain, a woman, gave birth to a beautiful daughter named Kahalaopuna in Mānoa Valley. Kahalaopuna was extremely beautiful, with a rainbow following wherever she went; from this, she was called the girl of the rainbow and the beauty of Mānoa.
Kahalaopuna was promised in marriage to a chiefly ranked man named Kauhi, a man who loved to surf, and above all, was proud to be her to-be-husband. However, not all of Kauhi’s friends were happy about the fact that they were to be married; two of his friends in particular were very jealous of Kauhi and sought to destroy his relationship with Kahalaopuna.
The two friends, wearing leis, went to Kauhi and said that his bride-to-be had tried to lure them into her home with them; believing his friends and becoming angered, Kauhi went to the valley to where Kahalaopuna was oblivious to what had been happening. Despite Kahalaopuna trying to tell him that she loved him dearly, Kauhi did not listen and killed her at a small hill hidden from the sky named Pu‘Upueo. As he took her life, the rainbow vanished from the valley.
The story of Kahalaopuna does not end here, however; following her death, her guardian, an owl that was up in a tall tree watching the whole ordeal, flew down to spread its healing wings over the girl, reviving her. Noticing that the rainbow had once again appeared and an owl flying away, Kauhi returned to her home in a rage. Kahalaopuna attempts to reason with him, but Kauhi still believes in his friends, and once again, kills her atop Mount Ka’ala, a place far away from Manoa, the sky, and the owl.
The owl followed Kauhi and Kahalaopuna, and once he had left the scene, it used its powers once again to revive the girl. Kahalaopuna, who was now very weak, ran away to Mānoa Valley, where she met a young chief named Mahana. Taking pity on her, Mahana takes Kahalaopuna to a secret cave, which, in modern day, is known as the Ka-wai-a-Kahalaopuna, where over days, Kahalaopuna regained her strength. Eventually, the two fall in love, and live quietly in Kamōʻiliʻili for several years unbeknownst to Kauhi.
All happiness came to an end when the same two friends who convinced Kauhi that Kahalaopuna was unfaithful discovered that she was alive and now married to Mahana. Angered unlike anything he’s experienced before, he runs to Kamōʻiliʻili while Mahana is away, grabs Kahalaopuna, drags her to Waikiki, throws her onto his surfboard, paddled out to the waves, and directly under the sky, throws her to the sharks. Even Kahalaopuna’s guardian couldn’t save her anymore, and now, she was gone forever.
The gods of the sky seized Kauhi and his two friends, and it was then that Kauhi discovered that his friends lied about Kahalaopuna, to which he could not help but feel shame and sorrow. To pay for Kahalaopuna’s death, the gods told Kauhi to climb up to Wa’ahila Ridge, lie down on his back, and face them in shame forever. Kauhi eventually became the ‘sleeping giant’ that can be seen in the valley today, and his two friends were forever banished to the mountains.
When Mahana heard of the news, there was nothing left of Kahalaopuna in sight, and he wept at the shores of Waikiki Beach. The gods took pity on Mahana, explaining that Kahalaopuna was not gone, but now was in the form of a rainbow. Once Mahana’s time came, he was guided by the gods to the end of the rainbow where Kahalaopuna waited for him.
The story of Kahalaopuna continues to be a beloved story in the community to this day, with murals such as the image below (Noelani Elementary School) existing.
The author, James Rumford, is an illustrator and writer of children’s books living in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has lived in Africa, Afghanistan, Arabia, and America, enjoying travel and learning different languages. He owns a private press company named Mānoa Press and has published 27 books as of July 2024. You can find more information on his website here.
