Limu Kala | Cropped Longsleeve - tie dye

100% Organic Cotton | Longsleeve | Cropped Length | Designed in Hawaii | Made in the USA

Limu Kala
Ke paʻa ka mole o ke aloha ʻāina i loko nōkī o kākou, ʻaʻohe mea nāna e kulaʻi. He nui nā hiʻohiʻona o ia mea, a ʻo kekahi nō ka hilinaʻi ʻana i ko loko. Ke kākou paipai i nā kānaka o Hawaiʻi, a kahu i nā kumu waiwai ponoʻī o ka ʻāina, he holomua maoli ka loaʻa, ʻaʻole ʻo ka loaʻa paiālewa o ke kaukaʻi ʻana i nā waiwai a me nā kānaka no waho mai. Pēlā ka naʻauao o kekahi mea kākau nāna kēia mau huaʻōlelo (Ke Au Okoa, 26 December 1872): “ʻO ke kūlana paʻa, a me ko kākou mau ʻano maoli, e ka lāhui Hawaiʻi, ua maopopo nō iā kākou, he poʻe kākou i kanu ʻia i loko o ka mahina ʻai o ka lōkahi, i kīpulu ʻia me nā hau o ka noho maluhia, a i ulu a ohaoha, me ka pipili mau ʻana aku o ko kākou mau puʻuwai i ka hiʻipoi aloha aliʻi a me ke aloha ʻāina pumehana! ʻAʻole kākou he lāhui lana wale ma luna o ka lewa o ka wai, e like me kahi poʻe limu kala ʻāhiu o ke kai, i pae wale mai ma ko kākou nei mau kapakai, a lilo no lākou ke ao a me ka hoʻoulukū manaʻo kalalea ʻana mai, e hoʻāʻo ana e ʻōʻū i ka muʻo o ko kākou mau aloha aliʻi a me ke aloha ʻāina!” A no laila, e ka hū o ka ʻāina hoʻokahi, e paʻa ka lima i ka ʻōʻō, a e kala aku i ke au o ka manaʻo e kō ʻauana aʻe ana iā kākou e ʻimi i ka holomua ma nā mea o waho ala. Mai maliu i ka leo o ka manu kōlea a me ka ʻala o ka limu pae. Aia nō ka pono ʻo ka huliāmahi ʻana ma ka mahina ʻai o ka lōkahi.

Of the many types of limu (seaweed) that grow in the waters of Hawaiʻi, limu kala (comprising four endemic species of Sargassum) is the main kind used in rituals involving forgiveness and release, which are meanings of the word kala. In hoʻoponopono, or the process of setting things right, individuals in a family sit together to cleanse their hearts and forgive one another, then spiritual and symbolic closure are reached through the act of eating limu kala. As part of the steps in releasing dis-ease from the body, some practitioners make a lei of limu kala that the patient wears into the ocean. When the water releases the lei from the person’s neck, the disease leaves their body. Some kūpuna applied limu kala to eel bites or coral cuts. These spiritual and medicinal applications are the most powerful uses of this particular limu, as there are many other species of limu that are preferred for eating. It is a food much loved by the kala fish, however, and still used as bait by some lawaiʻa (people who fish) today. Mary Kawena Pukui talks about lei limu kala also being worn by hula dancers performing hula waʻa, dances that petitioned the gods of the sea to bless a fishing expedition. Integral to reef ecology, limu kala is found throughout the pae ʻāina (island chain) on reef flats and intertidal areas, but has been seen as deep as 600 ft.