Kai Iki Kai Nui | Wahine Tee - green

He ualo na Hawaiʻiloa i mua o Kila no ka holo ʻana mai o nā kānaka mai Kahiki mai me ko Kila hānua ʻana (Ka Holomua, 6 June 1914):

 

E ke aliʻi, ka Wohi mai ka pūkaha o Moikeha

Ke Ēwe, ke kolikoli mai Tahiti mai,

ʻO Tahititū, ʻo Tahitimoe, ʻo Tahitiʻaleʻale he ʻāina,

Hele mai ʻo Moikeha me nā mākua kāne he ʻumi,

Hiki i Hawaiʻi Nui Ākea, i laila noho aku ʻehā o lākou,

Alo aʻe ē ka moku o Kamalālāwalu, kāohi ka maka o Kanaloa, hoʻokahi,

Kaululāʻau ka i hoʻohihi aku, lawe aku a hoʻonoho i ka lae o Kaʻena,

He iki ʻulu ia i hoʻokahi nō naʻe,

Hoʻohihi aku i ka Moku, noho i ka Pōhina o Hina,

Hoʻōla loa aku i laila, hoʻokahi,

I ka Moku nei a ʻAhualua, hoʻololohe iho lākou nei ʻehā,

Koe hoʻokahi Moikeha, ʻau i ke kai

He kai loa Kaʻieʻie i ʻau hoʻokahi ʻia,

Pae i Wailua, i ka lulu i Waimāhanalua,

Loaʻa Hoʻoipoikamalanai, he papa,

ʻŌʻili Kila, he ʻiewe, he pua na Moikeha,

ʻO Kila ʻoe! ʻO Kila i uka, ʻo Kila i kai,

He leo kalokalo, he leo ualo naʻu, na Hawaiʻiloa,

E ola au, e ola ʻo Kawailoa, e ola iā Kila, he wohi, he Liliko mai ka pō mai!

 

Kai Nui, Kai Iki

Our take on a traditional motif, we call these designs kai nui (big ocean) and kai iki (small ocean) and they were some of the first at Kealopiko. Their combination is a play on the ʻōlelo noʻeau “ʻIke i ke au nui me ke au iki” (Know the large and small currents), which speaks to knowing the details of something. Our kūpuna took learning seriously and to be well versed in a subject one had to know all aspects. We also play here on the idea of knowing our “local waters” as well as experiencing the larger Moananuiākea (Pacific ocean). Travels in the Polynesian triangle were part of the inspiration behind starting Kealopiko. In Tahiti, they fearlessly express their sense of color and design on modern garments. In Rapa Nui, they proudly wear traditional adornments like hulu (feathers). In Aotearoa, tā moko (Māori tattooing) and wearable arts have been on the rise. Both fashion and language are vibrant in these places and seeing this at the outset of our business reinforced the pillars we'd chosen. Similarities in language and shared place names are powerful reminders that we all come from the same root. Stories of ancestors like Hawaiʻiloa and his head navigator Makaliʻi, Moikeha, Kamahualele, Kila, Laʻamaikahiki and Kahaʻi link us to our cousins around the Polynesian triangle reminding us that we all descend from kūpuna who cultivated a deep knowledge of the seas and currents, large and small, that allowed them to sail and inhabit the vast Moananuiākea. Flip for a chant Hawaiʻiloa performed before Kila about the arrival of Moikeha and others in Hawaiʻi and their settling on different islands.