Moʻolelo Monday
On the first Monday of the month a traditional or modern moʻolelo depicting the jculture, values, language or traditions of Hawaiʻi, will be shared through a virtual platform. These mo‘olelo promote literacy within the classroom and home, and encourage ʻohana to read and learn together. Moʻolelo are shared by staff and guest storytellers.
Moʻokalaleo
In the 1820’s, Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III was the catalyst for the rise of literacy in Hawaiʻi. He stated, “ ʻO Koʻu Aupuni, he Aupuni palapala koʻu. My kingdom shall be a kingdom of literacy”. Within our moʻokalaleo, we share a literacy component that extends our moʻolelo journey.
The rats of Heʻeia were known for being great fighters. They fought off many rats from the moku of Kona and Waialua who would make theirway over to steal the moist and lush crops that the Heʻeia rats cultivated.
One day, Makaʻiolenānāwai, the leader of the Heʻeia rat pack noticed some crops had been eaten carelessly without regard. Makaʻiolenānāwai also noticed a distinct red tinge to the paw prints around their missing crops and went to check with the rest of the Heʻeia rat pack, who all had white paws. They followed the paw prints leading up to the ridgeline and discovered it was coming from the moku of ʻEwa, which is well known for its red clay soil.
Tracing the prints all the way up Kaiwikeʻe ridge, they devised a plan of attack against their ʻEwa adversaries to teach them a lesson of imposing on kamaʻāina, rather than coming with aloha. Sure enough, the ʻEwa rats followed by ʻIolekaʻa came strolling by. Blinded by ignorance, the malihini rats continued to impose their greed by heading down to eat more of the Heʻeiacrops. Sticking to the plan they had devised, the Heʻeia rats told the ʻEwa rats that they were taking the long route and that they would show them a shortcut.
The Heʻeia rats ran down the path, jumping and skipping along the way. However, since the ʻEwa rats never took the time to get to know the area and their feet werenʻt used to the terrain, they lost their footing and rolled down the cliff. ʻIolekaʻa stopped just before tumbling down, only to face doom from Makaʻiolenānāwai. The Heʻeia rats reigned victoriously. This is one moʻolelo on how Iolekaʻa got its name.
