| 282 | E hiolo ana nā kapu kahiko; e hina ana nā heiau me nā lele; e hui ana nā moku; he iho mai ana ka lani a e piʻi ana ka honua. | The ancient kapu will be abolished; the heiau and altars willfall; the islands will be united; the heavens will descend and the earth ascend. |
| | [A prophecy uttered by Kapihe, a kahuna in Kamehameha’s time. The last part of the saying means that chiefs will come down to humble positions and commoners rise to positions of honor.] |
| 308 | Eia ua lani a Hāloa i pili ai ka hanu i ke kapu. | Here is a chief descended from Hāloa, whose kapu makes one hold his breath in dread. |
| | [A compliment to a chief. To be able to trace descent from Hāloa, an ancient chief, was to be of very high rank from remote antiquity.] |
| 368 | ʻEono moku a Kamehameha ua noa iā ʻoukou, akā ʻo ka hiku o ka moku ua kapu ia naʻu. | Six of Kamehameha’s islands are free to you, but the seventh is kapu, and is for me alone. |
| | [This was uttered by Kamehameha after Oʻahu was conquered. The islands from Hawaiʻi to Oʻahu, which included Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe, belonged to his people. But the seventh “island,” Kaʻahumanu, was his alone. Anyone who attempted to take her from him would be put to death.] |
| 658 | He kai kapu ia na ke konohiki. | A forbidden beach reserved for the konohiki. |
| | [A maiden who is spoken for.] |
| 674 | He kapu nā pōhaku hānau aliʻi. | A [sign of[ kapu are the stones at the birth of a chief. |
| | [The peal of thunder heralds the birth of a high chief. Thunder (pōhaku) was likened to the sound of stones rolling.] |
| 769 | He loko kapu ia, he awa ka iʻa noho; eia kā ua komo ʻia e ke ʻā kōkokī. | It was a pond reserved only for awa fish, but now a bait-stealing ʻā fish has gotten into it. |
| | [A woman who is the wife of a fine man of chiefly rank is now having an affair with a worthless scamp.] |
| 947 | He ʻuhā kapu. | A sacred lap. |
| | [Said of one whose kapu prohibited him or her from carrying a baby lest it wet the lap. An infant who wet the lap of such a person might be put to death. Such a woman was often unable to rear her own children.] |
| 1118 | Hua kanawao ka liko o ke kapu. | Kanawao seeds produce sacred leaf buds. |
| | [The seeds of the kanawao, a small tree, were believed to help in making a woman fertile. In royal chants, large families of chiefs were sometimes compared to kanawao trees and their seeds.] |
| 1473 | Ka malu ao o nā pali kapu o Kakaʻe. | The cloud shelter of the sacred cliffs of Kakaʻe. |
| | [Kakaʻe, an ancient ruler of Maui, was buried in ʻīao Valley, and the place was given his name. It was known as Na-pali-kapu-o-Kakaʻe (Kakaʻe’s Sacred Precipice) or Na-pela-kapu-o-Kakaʻe (Kakaʻe’s Sacred Flesh). Since that time, many high chiefs have shared his burial place.] |
| 1530 | Ka pali kapu o Kamohoaliʻi. | The sacred cliff of Kamohoaliʻi. |
| | [This cliff, at the crater of Kīlauea, is sacred to Kamohoaliʻi, brother of Pele. Smoke from the pit never swept over this cliff, even when the wind blew against it. Instead, the smoke rose directly upward due to the great respect Pele had for this beloved brother.] |
| 1537 | Ka pela kapu o Kakaʻe. | The sacred flesh of Kakaʻe. |
| | [The burial place of chiefs in ʻĪao Valley.] |
| 1682 | Keauhou i ka ʻihi kapu. | Keauhou, where strict kapu were observed. |
| | [Keauhou, Kona. This was the place where many of the highest chiefs resided and where Kamehameha III was born.] |
| 1775 | Ke one kapu o Kahamaluʻihi. | The sacred sand of Kahamalu ihi. |
| | [A city of refuge for those of Waimea, Mānā, and the Kona side of Kauaʻi.] |
| 1914 | Kūlia i ka nuʻu, i ka paepae kapu o Līloa. | Strive to reach the summit, to the sacred platform of Līloa. |
| | [Strive to do your best.] |
| 1982 | Lele kapu i kai. | The kapu has flown to the sea. |
| | [The kapu has been abolished.] |
| 2054 | Mai hopu mai ʻoe, he manu kapu; ua kapu na ka nahele o ʻOʻokuauli. | Do not catch it, for it is a bird reserved; reserved for the forest of ʻOʻokuauli. |
| | [Do not try to win one who is reserved for another.] |
| 2167 | Moe i ka moe kapu o Niolopua. | Asleep in the sacred sleep of Niolopua. |
| | [Dead. Niolopua is the god of sleep.] |
| 2249 | Nā lālā kapu a Lono. | The sacred branches of Lono. |
| | [Refers to the various branches of the chiefly families directly descended from the god Lonoikamakahiki.] |
| 2283 | Nā pahu kapu a Laʻamaikahiki, ʻŌpuku lāua ʻo Hāwea. | The sacred drums of Laʻamaikahiki — ʻŌpuku and Hāwea. |
| | [These were the drums brought by Laʻamaikahiki from the South Sea.] |
| 2356 | ʻO ʻAwili ka nalu, he nalu kapu kai na ke akua. | ʻAwili is the surf, a surf reserved for the ceremonial bath of the goddess. |
| | [Refers to Pele. There were three noted surfs at Kalapana, Puna: Kalehua, for children and those just learning to surf; Hoʻeu, for experienced surfers; and ʻAwili, which none dared to ride. When the surf of ʻAwili was rolling dangerously high, all surfing and canoeing ceased, for that was a sign that the gods were riding.] |
| 2451 | ʻO ke aliʻi lilo i ka leʻaleʻa a mālama ʻole i ke kanaka me ke kapu akua, ʻaʻole ia he aliʻi e kū ai i ka moku. | The chief who is taken with pleasure-seeking and cares not for the welfare of the people or the observation of the kapu of the gods, is not the chief who will become a ruler. |
| | [Said by Kekūhaupiʻo to Kamehameha. Advice to young people that success comes not by seeking idle pleasure but by living up to one’s beliefs and caring for the welfare of others.] |
| 2602 | Papani ka uka o Kapela; puaʻi hānono wai ʻole o Kukaniloko; pakī hunahuna ʻole o Holoholokū; ʻaʻohe mea nāna e ʻaʻe paepae kapu o Līloa. | Close the upland of Kapela; no red water gushes from Kukaniloko; not a particle issues from Holoholokū; there is none to step over the sacred platform of Līloa. |
| | [The old chiefs and their sacredness are gone; the descendants are no longer laid to rest at Ka-pela-kapu-o-Kakaʻe at ʻīao; the descendants no longer point to Kukaniloko on Oʻahu and Holoholokū on Kauaʻi as the sacred birthplaces; there is no one to tread on the sacred places in Waipiʻo, Hawaiʻi, where Līloa once dwelt.] |
| 2816 | Ua lilo i kai kuewa nā kai kapu i hoʻomalu ʻia. | The protected sea [shores] have become sea [shores] for wanderers. |
| | [Cherished daughters have been led astray.] |
| 2834 | Ua noa ke kai kapu, ua ʻaʻe ʻia e ke kuewa. | The forbidden sea has heen trespassed by a vagrant. |
| | [Said of a girl well raised by her parents who has now been won by a ne’er-do-well.] |