Ki‘eke pa‘akai pu‘upu‘u (A satchel of course sea salt) -na Kalimapau

 
Mai kākou e pu pa‘akai
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                                     Come and share salt with us...

In the days of Ka Poʻe Kahiko - "The People of Old" of pre-contact Hawai‘i, the ancients used salt gathered from the seas in their daily  lives. With no refrigeration, they used salt to preserve their foods; thus, the sweet bland taste of poi cleared their palates for the next morsel of food in their meals. Sea salt was also used to make their lāʻau – medicines, by combining them with specific healing plants; this a knowledge kept sacred by the kahuna – the experts.  But the most unusual but common use of sea salt was for hoʻomaʻemaʻe - cleansing and to ward off evil - kalakū.  Kahuna would use salt to clear the space of those who were sick – pūlimu before they would begin their healing work.
 
Today, on your visit to Kūkaniloko Birthstones State Monument as our guests for a Piko Listening Journey site interpretation, we share ki‘eke pa‘akai pu‘upu‘u (a satchel of course sea salt) with a tiny prayer by saying, mai kākou e pu paʻakai – come and share salt with us.  In this century, when we share salt, we ask  for your assitance  in preservation of our Hawai‘i as we recognize our mea ola kanaka mauli… living human beings imbued with the spirit of I‘o; mo‘olelo - traditional comprehension; ‘āina - our families, lands and seas; nā mele - our music, songs and chants; pule - our prayers; hula – our dance; and meaʻai - our foods. 

​We share the salt off our brows and the salt off our backs as we "Hoʻohana Ana Pū - work together" to perpetuate our Hawai‘i with ALOHA, the greatest truth of all...FOREVER   eō

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"e kūkaʻawe i nā kapu o Kūkaniloko nō ka mea aloha nō hoʻi kākou iā lākou i nā kau a kau..."
“to guard the kapu of Kūkaniloko because we love them for all time…”