Mele & Oli 

Prayer for Focus: A pule/prayer for insight and knowledge of hidden meanings. Composed by Aunty Edith Kanakaʻole.

Traditional Chant Honoring Our Ancestors: Adapted from Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo (1951:11). A pule for protection, intelligence, wisdom, and strength. Pualani Kanahele composed second half, lines 11-20.

Gratitude Chant: by Kawika Mersberg.

Prayer for Eating: From the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation. This is a generic prayer said prior to eating to show gratitude for the food and the company.

Purification Chant: Adapted from Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo (1951:164), Completed 3x.

Traditional Prayer/Mele Pule: Asking the goddess of hula, Laka, for guidance and inspiration; permission to enter the forest.

Appreciation/Affection Chant: A chant to give as a makana, show appreciation/affection.

Greeting Protocol: inspired by Thomas Kaʻulukukui.

Traditional Prayer for Long Life: Adapted from Nā Pule Kahiko by June Gutmanis (1983:60). Ea by Pua Case.

Greeting the Sunrise: This chant was composed by the Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation for the August 1992 healing ceremony on Kanaloa -Kaho‘olawe. It continues to be chanted throughout our pae‘āina.

Honoring the Sun: Composed by the Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation for sun ceremonies throughout the year for Kānehoalani who is the father of Pele and sky guardian of their travels.

Gratitude Chant: by Kehaulani Smith/Camara. This chant, which is often repeated 3x in a row, expresses gratitude to nā akua and nā ‘aumākua. It can also be used to thank a place, a person, or a larger audience.

Prophecy of Change/ Oli Wāwana: A last prophecy from Kapihe, a great kahuna of Kohala, to the young Kamehameha I as he saw his discouragement after a series of failures in battle4. Kapihe was the last of the ancient Papa Kaula, the ancient counsel of prophets. Also in Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo (1951:115).

Adapted from He Lei No Emmalani by Keli‘i Bertlemann and Pua Case. (Nogelmeier, M. Puakea (2001) Hey Lei No Emmalani, Chants for Queen Emma Kaleleonālani. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, pp. 268)

Prayer for Healing of the Land: Adapted from Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo (1951:199). Completed in two mindful breaths/hā.

Traditional Cosmology Chant

Entrance Chant/Mele Komo composed by Manaiakalani Kalua specifically for the former Kahu Kuʻuna program and taught to the WKIP alakaʻi by Sean Naleimaile to use while visiting and working different wahi around Hawaiʻi Island.

Traditional Daily Prayer: Adapted from Nā Pule Kahiko by June Gutmanis (1983:60).

This prayer is done to recognize the interdependent relationships that exist between the living, our ancestors and our children and the kuleana that come with each relationship to care for the others. We must care for our kūpuna and pass on to our children the responsibility to care for us, and to teach their children the same. By doing so, we maintain the integrity of our ancestral, current, and future family members.

Chant for Working Together: Adapted from Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo (1951:186).

The ʻōlelo to this oli were composed by Larry Kimura and the leo by Kalena Silva, professors of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and haʻawina Hawaiʻi at Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani, College of Hawaiian Language. This oli speaks to the enlightenment of Hawaiʻi, likening the rising of the new day to the knowledge of our ancestors slipping with the moon set and rising with the dawn to meet the knowledge of today as tools that kānaka can harness and wield to create a better tomorrow. This oli was composed as an opening chant for a conference and may be used in opening protocols for conferences, piko, etc.

This traditional chant was used at the launching of Hokule'a on March 8, 1975. After the canoe was launched, it was paddled out, then back to shore. As the canoe approached shore, the crew paddled to the chant. The chant is slow – the paddle is struck a little in front of the paddler on the return stroke. The timing is: Ia wa'a [thump] nui [thump]; ia wa'a [thump] kioloa [thump], ia wa'a [thump] peleleu [thump]....And, after the canoe landed and the kapu on it was lifted, the kahuna asked: "Pehea ka wa'a, pono anei?" ("How is the canoe? Is it good?") ... And the paddlers responded, " 'Ae, maika'I loa ka wa'a Hokule'a." ("Yes, the canoe is very good indeed!") * The red Honeycreeper is a native Hawaiian bird; as a juvenile, it is polena (yellowish).

The chant opens by proclaiming that the canoe has indeed arrived. The first olelo is for the steersman, the second one for the captain. We chant of paddling together as one unit, bailing and paddling unity and synergy so that the canoe may reach its destination and return to it's homeland. You may notice the difference in the spelling of hiki/hiti in this chant. The t's and k's are interchangeable between Tahitian and Hawaiian. The word hiki/hiti means to arrive. You will quite often find and hear in songs where the letters will be switched between the first and second time a versus is sung or chanted to switch it up a bit and also give appreciation to our ohana south of the equator. (Chant twice then sing the whole thing together)