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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 04/15/2010 : 2:06:50 PM
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We were listening to sweet Martin Pahinui sing thig this lovely and poignant mele. I am wondering if anyone has any mo`olelo to share about the story of Pa`ahana. Like did she want to be with the cowboy or was she forced into that liaison. Why she thought it better to live in the uplands of Wahiawa. I know the sotry is that her stepmother mistreated her, but it seems she went to very extreme methods to get away from her and lived on starvation diet, practically and made her clothing of ti leaves.
Here is what huapala says. Martin does not sing all these verses on the Hui Aloha recording. The liner notes in the Hui Aloha CD do not exactly match huapala's talk story about the mele. Martin singing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFNkpPN3444
He inoa keia nô Pa`ahana
Kaikamahine noho kuahiwi
Mele he inoa no Pa'ahana
Na`u i noho aku ia wao kele
Ia uka `iu`iu Wahiawa
Mele he inoa no Pa`ahana
`Opae `oeha`a o ke kahawai
`O ka hua o ke kuawa ka`u `ai ia
Mele he inoa no Pa`ahana
Mai kuhi mai `oe ka makuahine
A he pono keia e noho nei
Mele he inoa no Pa`ahana
`O kahi mu`umu`u pili i ka `ili
`O ka lau lâ`î ko'u kapa ia
Mele he inoa no Pa`ahana
Pîlali kukui kau lâ`au
Lau o ke pili ko`u hale ia
Mele he inoa no Pa`ahana
I hume iho au ma ka pûhaka
I nalo iho ho'i kahi hilahila
Mele he inoa no Pa`ahana
I ho`i iho ho`i au e pe`e
`Ike `ê `ia mai e ka `enemi
Mele he inoa no Pa`ahana
Lawa `ia aku au a i Mânana
Mâka`ika`i `ia e ka malihini
Mele he inoa no Pa`ahana
Ha`ina `ia mai ana ka puana
He mele he inoa no Pa`ahana
Mele he inoa nô Pa`ahana
This is a name song for Pa`ahana
The girl who lived in the hills
Namesong for Pa`ahana
I lived in the rain forests in
The distant uplands of Wahiawa
Namesong for Pa`ahana
Clawed shrimps of the streams and
Guava fruits my food
Namesong for Pa`ahana
Don't think about the mother
I live here and am glad
Namesong for Pa`ahana
A single mu`umu`u clings to my skin
My blankets are ti leaves
Namesong for Pa`ahana
Kukui gum on the trees
And pili grass my home
Namesong for Pa`ahana
I bind my loins
And hide my private parts
Namesong for Pa`ahana
I came and hid but was
Seen by the enemy
Namesong for Pa`ahana
I was taken to Manana
And visited by strangers
Namesong for Pa`ahana
Tell the refrain
A song, a name for Pa`ahana
Namesong for Pa`ahana
Source: Na Mele o Hawai'i Nei by Elbert & Mahoe - This hula tells the story of a young girl mistreated by her stepmother. She ran away from home to the hills above Wahiawa where she lived on river shrimp and guava until she was found by a cowboy. She was taken to Manana, the present site of Pearl City.
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 04/15/2010 2:09:25 PM |
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alika207
Ha`aha`a
USA
1260 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2010 : 01:40:53 AM
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| Natalie Ai Kamauu also does a beautiful version of this mele. Check the "'I" CD for the recording and the liner notes. |
He kehau ho'oma'ema'e ke aloha.
'Alika / Polinahe |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2010 : 05:47:29 AM
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I have found out a little more history about this most beautiful and sad mele. Maybe now I should not be sad, but happy the paniolo found her.
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Pa'ahana, my great grandmother, as a young woman ran away from home to live in the mountains of Wahiawa. She survived by living off the fruits of the land and whatever she could catch in the streams. A paniolo, Hawaiian cowboy, named Ambrose heard about this woman and went to seek her out. He found her, fell in love, married her, then brought her back to the city to live. The song "Pa'ahana" was written about her and is also in the book "Na Mele o Hawai'i Nei 101 Hawaiian Songs" collected by Samuel H. Elbert and Noelani Mahoe. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2010 : 1:31:44 PM
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Thats a facinating story behind the song. mahalo for posting the lyrics and translation.
You said you should be glad the paniolo found her? From the Lyrics it sounds more like she was happy living off the land. the Lines about 'hiding from the enemy' and being found and taken among strangers does not sound like a happy end for her, or the one she wanted. Is there any more to the story?
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2010 : 2:43:22 PM
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| Bau - that's is what I am trying to do -- is to find more about her story and am not having much success. I suggested that in the end she must have been happy with the paniolo who found her because she married him. It was supposedly the paniolo who wrote the mele, according to legends. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2010 : 3:30:38 PM
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ah, from my impression it sounded like it was a marriage she was forced into or something.
for me personaly, I would much rather stayed and lived off the land instead of moving to a city ;)
I found a link to that same quote
http://alohasdhomes.com/Aloha_20_Spirit.html
mabee you could write to this person and they would be willing to tell you more about her? |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2010 : 4:26:34 PM
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| Lawaʻia aku should be lawe ʻia aku. I think the ʻenemi was the womanʻs step mother. Living off the land in the manner of the song is no picnic. It rains almost every night in the hills above Manana. Without proper clothing it would be quite an ordeal. If you only eat guava you can get constipated. This song is a tale of hardship that turns out well. Romanticizing it might not do it justice. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2010 : 12:20:43 AM
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I did write to the person but no answer.
Al - the reason I am so fascinated by the story of the mele is that someone cared for her and her story enough to write a mele inoa to that her name would NEVER be forgotten. That is what really touches me about it, although the story somewhat sounds like a story in every culture -- a girl abused by a mean step mother and rescued by the handsome prince, so to speak. But yep, I still get a feeling about it that she was "married" by a complete stranger. I wonder if they put her on display like a wild person as a curiosity? That's what I am trying to find out about and if then the "marriage" was with one of her captors.
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2010 : 01:53:34 AM
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In my continuing search for more history about the mele Pa`ahana, I have found Pa`ahana's great-grandson. He is a real estate broker in California and he said that his grandmother was abused terribly by her step-mother. That is why she ran away and lived in the forest. She went willingly with the paniolo and they fell in love and married. However, some years later, they did divorce. He said as his family is aging, there are fewer who know the story of his grandmother and that the younger generation does not seem interested in the family history. (Auwe, that is so true no matter if Hawaiian or hillbilly like me - kids get bored listening to we old folk try to talk history to them). He was genuinely appreciative that someone was interested in his grandmother's story. I told him to listen to how Martin sings the mele, that Martin brings great honor to his grandmother. And I for one will work hard to keep her name alive, because I frequently sing that song. I have a junk voice and cannot sing well but that does not stop me from singing.
I do have a song in my heart always and its got to get out.
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2010 : 02:25:35 AM
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ah so you finaly got response.
thats nice that the story had a somewhat happy ending, though not that they got divorced <:(
there must be a lot of lost stories out there.
a song sung from the heart sounds the most beautiful :) |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2173 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2010 : 11:03:18 AM
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All cultures sing the Blues, life is difficult, if not hard.
As far as passing history on, you can't put old eyes in a young head, or a quart in a pint for that matter. "Most people would rather die than think, and most people do." -Robert Benchley |
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mike2jb
Lokahi
USA
213 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2010 : 7:51:02 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by wcerto
kids get bored listening to we old folk try to talk history to them
So true, Wanda. Hopefully we old folks stay around long enough that the kids aren't kids any more and one day they come calling on us for some real history. Thank you so much for sharing your research on this mele. |
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Pa`ahana
