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The pre-history of Hanama`ulu is embodied in the legend of Kawelo, the son of a high chief. Born in Hanama`ulu and raised
in Wailua, Kawelo grew up to be a young man of strength and skill, who could out-do in spearing throwing his arch-enemy Aikanaka,
the son of the ruler of the island.
Strength and skill, challenge and competition, club and spear, fishing and canoeing, hula and chanting filled Kawelo's
boyhood and young adulthood. He learned all the arts of war, desirous to become a warrior of great skill and power.
At Kawelo's birth his grandfather chanted a prophecy while in a trance:
Hail to Kawelo, Roving Chief!
He will be a great warrior, this one:
Fight many battles,
Slay many foes,
And save his parents from oppression.
He will be ruler as Ali'i Nui, this one!
. . .
Kawelo was destined to move to Oahu to prepare himself and to return to Kaua`i to fight and conquer Aikanaka, who became ruler
of Kaua`i. The time came when Aikanaka attacked Kawelo's parents and drove them from their home, making it necessary for them
to take refuge on top of Ha`upu Hill. Successful in his conquest of Kaua`i, Kawelo became the undisputed ruler of the island.
He and his wife Wahine-iki lived quietly in Hanalei fishing and planting, without burdening the chiefs and the people, who
loved him.
Kawelo cared for his aging parents and he earned the name Kawelo-lei-makua --
Kawelo-beloved-of-his-parents.
SOURCES:
Pukui, Mary Kawena. "The Water of Kane and Other Legends of the Hawaiian Islands." Honoulu: The Kamehameha Schools
Press, c1951 (pp.97-111)
Thompson, Vivian Laubach. "Kawelo: Roving Chief." Illus. by Patricia A. Wozniak. Honolulu: Un. of Hawaii Press,
c1991. 90p.
Westervelt, W. D. "Hawaiian Legends of Old Honolulu." Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1970, c1963.
(pp.173-188)
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