Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The Sacred Songs of the Hula

by Nathaniel Bright Emerson

XXX.—THE HULA KOLEA

There was a peculiar class of hulas named after animals, in each one of which the song-maker developed some characteristic of the animal in a fanciful way, while the actors themselves aimed to portray the animal’s movements in a mimetic fashion. To this class belongs the hula kolea. [⁴¹¹] It was a peculiar dance, performed, as an informant asserts, by actors who took the kneeling posture, all being placed in one row and facing in the same direction. There were gestures without stint, arms, heads, and bodies moving in a fashion that seemed to imitate in a far-off way the movements of the bird itself. There was no instrumental accompaniment to the music. The following mele is one that was given with this hula:

Kolea kai piha! [⁴¹²]

I aha mai nei?

Ku-nou [⁴¹³] mai nei.

E aha kakou?

E ai kakou. [⁴¹⁴]

Nohea ka ai? [⁴¹⁵]

No Kahiki mai.[415]