Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 2, 1 February 2023 — Ka Ho'oilina Kūmau o nā Wāhine Koa The Enduring Legacy of Female Warriors [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ka Ho'oilina Kūmau o nā Wāhine Koa The Enduring Legacy of Female Warriors

Na Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp

Iloko o nā mo'o olelo Hawai'i, he mea ko'iko'i nā wāhine ma nā kūlana like 'ole: he mau ali'i, alaka'i, loea, makuahine, kua'ana, kuhikuhipu'uone, kākāolelo, mea hana no'eau, mea kākau, a he mau koa kekahi. Akā na'e, ua ho'ēmi 'ia ka mana o nā wāhine. 'O Manono kekahi o nā wāhine koa kaulana loa. Komo pū nō 'o ia me kāna kāne e paio no ka ho'omau 'ana o nā kapu kahiko. Alaka'i akula 'o Kekupuohi i ka papa kīpū piha i nā ali'i wahine Hawai'i ma lalo o Kamehameha I a paio pū nō me ia ma kekahi mau kaua. I ka noho ali'i 'ana o Kūkaniloko, 'o ia ka Mōīwahine mua loa o O'ahu, komo pū akula nō 'o ia i ke kaua 'ana e paio no kona aupuni. Kākau 'ia i loko o nā nūpepa Hawai'i kahiko no Kanewahineikiaoha, ka wahine a Kawelo no Hanalei, he olohe lua 'o ia. Ua a'o nō kekahi mau ali'i wāhine i ka lua. 'Ike 'ia ka lua ma kekahi mau inoa e a'e: 'o ke kapu, ku'ialua, lua 'ōlohe, a me lua ha'iha'i. I ke kenekulia 'umikumamāiwa, nalohia ka hana lua 'oiai mau nō na'e kākau 'ia ma nā nūpepa kahiko e pili ana i ka lua ā hala nā 1920s. I kēia wā, a'o 'ia ka lua ma kekahi mau hui - a loa'a iā lākou he mo'olelo molekumu, nā kapu, a me nā loina ponoī. He lālā 'o Kumu Miehelle Manu o kēia mo'oku auhau o nā wāhine i ma'a i ka lua, a ua a'o 'ia 'o ia i loko o nā loina o ka mo'oku auhau 'o Kaihewalu. 'O ia ho'okahi ke kumu lua

wahine a puni ka honua i kēia manawa, a ua lilo iā ia ke kūlana alihikaua. No Manu, 'a'ole 'o lua he hana pilikino wale nō, akā he hana i pa'a i ka ho'omana kahiko o ko kākou mau kūpuna, e la'a me ka ho'ohana 'ana i kou mana ponoī, ka 'auamo kuleana 'ana, a me ka 'ike 'ana i kou pono. Mahalo aku 'o ia i kona kumu, 'Ōlohe Solomon Kaihewalu, nāna i ho'opa'a i kona kahua ma ka lua, i kona 'olu'olu e a'o i nā kānaka puni 'ole i ka palapala. He kōkua ka lua iā Manu me kona ho'oulu hou 'ana i kona kuleana Hawai'i a me kona ho'omaopopo 'ana i nā 'ao'ao 'elua o Kū lāua 'o Hina. Wahi a Manu, "īke 'ia ka lua ma kona 'ano he hana 'o'ole'a a makoa, he hana kohu iā Kū me kona 'ao'ao kāne. Akā 'a'ole ia he hana 'o'ole'a a ikaika wale nō. Pono e kaulike ka 'ao'ao Kū me ka 'ao'ao Hina, ka 'ao'ao palupalu a mālie.īke 'ia 'o Hina ma ka hanu iho 'ana ma mua iho o ka pale a i 'ole ke ku'i 'ana. 'O ke kūpa'a me ka ho'opili 'ana me ke ao kuano'o, 'o ia ia 'ao'ao Hina. 'O Hina pili i ka ne'ena o ka lua. 'A'ole nāwaliwali ka wahine. Ikaika a wiwo'ole nō ka wahine, a pēlā pū me ka māhū. E paio wiwo'ole ana nō mākou, a i ke pa'a kēia 'ike, 'oi aku ka weli." 'Auamo akula nō 'o ia i ke kuleana 'o ka ho'oulu ana i ka hanauna koa hou me ka ho'omau 'ana i kēia welo a nā wāhine koa o ka wā ma mua. "No'u iho, 'o kekahi mea nui i pili i ka lua 'o ia ke a'o 'ana i kēia mahele o ko kākou mo'o olelo i laha 'ole i kēia wā. He mea ia e ho ola ai ka lāhui, a he lapa'au ia no nā 'eha i 'ō'ili mai ma luna o mākou," i wehewehe 'ia e Manu. Ma ke kaua kūloko o Kuamo'o, ho'opuka a'ela 'o Manono ma hope iho o kona make 'ana, "mālama kō aloha," no ka mālama 'ana i nā kapu o ka wā kahiko. E ho'omana'o nō na'e kākou i ia māmala olelo, he kia ho'omana'o ia no ka mana me ka ikaika o nā wāhine koa o ka wā ma mua, a me ka wā e hiki mai ana. ■

Throughout Hawaiian history, women have played important and impactful roles as leaders, professionals, mothers, sisters, advisors, artists, writers, and as warriors. Too often, however, the role that women have played as warriors and political strategists is overlooked. Manono is probably our most well-known female warrior. She fought with her kāne (husband) to maintain the traditional Hawaiian religious system. Kekupuohi lead an all-women regiment under Kamehameha I and fought with him in various battles. In earlier times, the first reigning queen of O'ahu, Kūkaniloko, went to battle to protect her realm. Hawaiian language newspapers record that Kanewahineikiaoha, wife of Kawelo of Hanalei, was skilled in the Hawaiian art of lua and in weaponry. In fact, many of our female ali'i had some training in lua. īhe ancient Hawaiian art of lua is known by various names including kapu ku'ialua, lua olohe, and lua ha'iha'i. In the 19th century, lua went underground - although Hawaiian language newspapers continued to write about it through the 1920s. Today, lua is taught through several lineages - and eaeh has their own origin stories. kaou. Drotocols. and specializations.

Kumu Lua Miehelle Manu is part of a long tradition of women trained in these arts of lua and was trained within the Kaihewalu lineage. She currently is the only female lua instructor in the world and holds the rank of alihikaua. For Manu, lua is not simply a physical discipline but is deeply rooted within the spiritual practices of our ancestors, including learning how to engage in one's mana, holding kuleana, and being self-aware. She credits her kumu, 'Ōlohe Solomon Kaihewalu, with teaching her the fundamental aspects of lua and his openness to training anyone who was not into titles and certificates. Lua helped Manu reclaim her Hawaiian heritage and understanding of not just the elements of Kū, but of Hina. According to Manu, "Lua is seen as Kū, the masculine element, but lua is not all about Kū. There ean be no Kū without Hina. It must be balanced with Hina, the feminine element. Hina is that inhaling breath before making a hloek or a strike. Hina is about being centered, afhrmed, and tapping into the metaphysical. Hina is about the physics within lua. Being Hina, being a woman, does not mean being weak and vulnerable. Women and māhū are anything but weak, inferior, and 'soft.' When we need to protect what we love, we are dangerous even more so when trained." It has heeome her kuleana to nurture a new generation of warriors while honoring the illustrious history of the women warriors that eame before her. "Lua, for me, is also about opening up all of this history that we are not taught and healing our generational trauma," Manu explained. At the Battle of Kuamo'o, Manono with her last breath uttered the words, "mālama kō aloha" as a reminder to keep the love of our ancestral ways. But these words also serve as a reminder of the powerful legacy of the wāhine koa (women warriors) of yesterday and those yet to eome. ■

Kumu Luu Miehelle Manu is part of a long tradition of women troined in the orts of luo. She is currently the only femole luo instructor in the world ond holds the ronk of olihikouo. - Photo: Courtesy ofMichelle Mauu