kānaka
1. nvs. • human being, man, person, individual, human, manly,
• party, mankind, population;
• subject, as of a chief;
• laborer, servant, helper;
• attendant or retainer in a family (often a term of affection or pride);
• human sacrifice (FS 111);
• physique;
• pregnant,
• inhabited;
• Hawaiian;
• private individual or party, as distinguished from the government.
• clientHE.
(Singular; cf. the plural, kānaka). 2. s. A man; one of the human species; one of the genus homo; the general name of men, women and children of all classes, in distinction from other animals. 3. A common man, in distinction from alii or chief. 4. People generally; persons; mankind. 5. In a vulgar, low sense as sometimes used by foreigners, a Hawaiian, a native, in distinction from a foreigner. 6. Own; self; person; aka, i makau ia kakou kanaka iho, but they feared us our own persons; kanaka e, another man, i. e., a stranger. Puk. 12:19. 7. v. To be or dwell as men; a e kanaka ole auanei. Zek. 9:5. Hookohukohu, a kanaka iho la kekahi poe no ke Akua. 8. Hoo. To act the man, i. e., to act courageously or firmly. 1 Sam. 4:9. 9. To observe rectitude of conduct. 1 Kor. 16:13. To show one's self a man, i. e., of common sense; not a fool; not silly. Isa. 46:8. 10. To act faithfully, firmly, courageously, and not faint-heartedly. 2 Oihl. 15:7. 11. adj. Manly; firmly; stable; ame ko lakou ano kanaka no ke Akua. 12. n. after end of the float of a canoe. 13. s. The end of the outrigger of a canoe. 14. n. clitoris. 15. nvs. Canada; Canadian. 16. human being, man...
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331
ʻEleʻelepī ka waha o kānaka.
The mouths of people make noises like mud crabs.
[Said of one who talks too much — all noise and no sense. The ʻelepī is a small black crab that makes a loud noise resembling a smacking sound made by the mouth.]
1149
I ʻāina nō ka ʻāina i ke aliʻi, a i waiwai nō ka ʻāina i ke kānaka.
The land remains the land because of the chiefs, and prosperity comes to the land because of the common people.
[Chiefs are needed to hold the land, and commoners are needed to work the land.]
1210
I ke kaua e ʻike ʻia ai nā hoaaloha a me nā kānaka koa.
It is in war that one learns who his friends are and who among them is brave.
[One learns who one’s friends are when one faces trouble. Said by Kaʻeo to the chiefs of Oʻahu, who were fighting against Kalanikūpule.]
1377
Ka iʻa pani i ka waha o ke kānaka.
The fish that closes the mouth of men.
[The pearl oyster, which was gathered in silence.]
1378
Ka iʻa pīkoi kānaka o Kālia; he kānaka ka pīkoi, he kānaka ka pōhaku.
The fish caught by the men of Kālia; men are the floaters, men are the sinkers. [Kālia is a fishing net with human floats, human sinkers. (PE)]
[In ancient days, when a school of mullet appeared at Kālia, Oʻahu, a bag net was set and the men swam out in a row and surrounded the fish. Then the men would slap the water together and kick their feet, driving the frightened fish into the opening of their bag net. Thus the fishermen of Kālia became known as human fishnets.]
1726
Ke kai kulaʻi kānaka o Poʻo.
The sea of Poʻo that knocks down men.
[The sea of Poʻo, Kauaʻi, was said to be very rough.]
1973
Lēʻī ʻo Kohala i ka nuku nā kānaka. [Lēʻī Kohala, eia i ka nuku nā kānaka. (PE)]
Covered is Kohala with men to the very point of land.
[A great populahon has Kohala. Kauhiakama onee traveled to Kohala to spy for his father, the ruling chief of Maui. While there, he did not see many people for they were all tending their farms in the upland. He returned home to report that there were hardly any men in Kohala. But when the invaders from Maui came they found a great number of men, all ready to defend their homeland.]
2139
Mānoa aliʻi, Mānoa kānaka.
Mānoa of the chiefs, Mānoa of the commoners.
[In ancient days an invisible line was drawn from the center of the low, green hill, Puʻu Luahine, at the head of Mānoa Valley, to the center of Rocky Hill back of Punahou School. Looking up into the valley, Mānoa of the commoners was on the right side. Here lived the commoners and here too, the excreta of the chiefs was secretly buried by the kahu moka (protector and keeper of the excreta). This was an important position, for if any of the excreta fell into the hands of an enemy, the chief might die through sorcery. On the left side of the valley lived the chiefs and their retainers.]