Hawaiian Word of the Day
ahu: Heap, pile, collection, mound, mass; altar, shrine, cairn; a traplike stone enclosure made by fishermen for fish to enter; laid, as the earth oven. Cf. ahu waiwai, ahuwale, O’ahu. ahu kele, mud heap; muddy. Ahu ka pala! A heap of excreta [hence worthless; sometimes shortened to ahu only or to e ahu ana]! Ahu ka ‘ala’ala! A heap of squid ink! Not worth much! Ahu wawa, a great din. Ahu ili, a large inheritance or transfer [said of reward, vengeance]. Ahu ‘ena’ena, a red hot heap [an oven]. Ahu kupanaha ia Hawai’i ‘imi loa, a mass of wonderous things in deep delving Hawai’i. ho.’ahu. To pile, gather, accumulate, heap up; to lay away, as goods for the future; collect; collection, mound. Fig., to resent, dislike, Hale ho’ahu, storehouse, warehouse. Lumi ho’ahu, storeroom. E ho’ahu ana i ka huhu maluna o kela po’e, heaping up anger against those people. (Pukui & Elbert, 1971)
Aunty Puanani Rogers replaces a piece of coral at the kuahu, at the Mahunapu’uone Heiau at Wailua Beach February 2012
kapa kulture 