In November 2007, cultural practioners Kainani Kahaunaele and Halealoha Ayau made a gift of this mele, or name song, to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.
The mele was composed to celebrate the outstanding natural, historical and cultural resources of Papahānaumokuākea. The mele sings of the way the natural and cultural meanings are intertwined here.
When the mele is chanted, it honors and gives thanks to the place and to the kupuna, or elders.
No Papahānaumokuākea
By Kainani Kahaunaele and Halealoha Ayau
Mālamalama ka lā nui a Kāne puka i Haʻehaʻe
ʻApakau ke kukuna i ka ʻili kai o nā kai ʻewalu
He ʻike makawalu kaʻu e ʻanoʻi nei,
ʻO nā au walu o Kanaloa Haunawela noho i ka moana nui
He Huʻakai ka makani o Lehua ʻau i ke kai
Kūʻonoʻono ka lua o Kūhaimoana i ke kapa ʻehukai o Kaʻula
ʻO Kū i ka loulu, ulu aʻe ke aloha no Nihoa moku manu
Manu o kū i ka ʻāhui, he alakaʻi na ka lāhui
ʻO Hinapūkoʻa
ʻO Hinapūhalakoʻa
ʻO Hinakupukupu
ʻO Hinaikamalama
Hua ka ʻōhua, luʻu ke koholā
Aloha kahi limu kala, kiaʻi ʻia e ka ʻākala noho i uka
Hānau ka peʻa, puka ka peʻapeʻa i ke kai
He ʻīnaʻi ka ʻina, ʻono i ka huna o ka paʻakai
Manomano ka ʻike liʻu o ka houpo o Kanaloa
Koikoʻi lua hoʻi no ka lehulehu, ʻo kuʻu luhi ia
Hanohano wale ka ʻāina kūpuna, ʻo nā moku lēʻia
No Papahānaumokuākea lā he inoa
English Translation
The sunrise of Kāne at Haʻehaʻe shine bright
The rays of the sun spread throughout Hawaiʻi
I yearn for the deep knowledge
The knowledge of Kanaloa who lives in the ocean
The Huakaʻi wind is of Lehua that swims in the sea
Rich is the pit of Kūhaimoana in the seaspray of Kaʻula
Kū is of the loulu (endemic fan palm) and our respect grows for Nihoa, isle of birds
Manu o kū (white tern) flies in a bunch and leads the nation
The multiple forms of Hina of coral and moon
The ʻōhua (juvenile wrasse, tang, unicorn, parrot fish) spawns, the whale dives
Love for the limu kala,(Sarfassum seaweed) whose land counterpart is the ʻākala (Hawaiian raspberry)
The peʻa gives birth to the peʻapeʻa (starfish) in the sea
The ʻina (endemic sea urchin) is the seasoning, delicious with salt
The deep knowledge of our Kūpuna lies in the depths
Extremely important for us to grasp, it is my passion
Honored of the land of my ancestors, the abundant islands
A name song for Papahānaumokuākea