Na Lei O Hawaii - Na Moku Ewalu (The Eight Islands) - by Rev. Samuel Kapu

Hanohano Hawaii moku o Keawe

E lei ha'aheo nei i ka lehua

Kilakila o Maui Haleakala

Ua kapu roselani nau ho'okahi

Kaulana Oahu i ka 'ilima

Kohu kapa 'ahu'ula kau po'ohiwi

Kaulana Kauai i ka mokihana

Laua'e o makana kau aloha

Kaulana Molokai nui a Hina

I ka ulu kukui o Lanikaula

Lei ana Lanai i ke kauna'oa

Me he manu 'o'o hulu melemele

Pupu Niihau auhea 'oe

Hoike a'e 'oe a i ko nani

Eia mai au Kahoolawe

Ho'oheno ana au me ka hinahina

Hea aku makou o mai 'oe

Molokini 'alo ke 'ehu o ke kai

Ha'ina ia mai ana kapuana

Na lei o Hawaii e o mai

Ha'ina hou ia mai ana ka puana

Hi'iaka ia ka poli a o Pele

Majestic Hawaii, home of the great Keawe

Now proudly wearing garlands of lehua

Surmounting regal Maui, Haleakala

Reserved is roselani for you alone

Famed is Oahu for her 'ilima

Like a feather cape adorning the shoulders

Famed is Kauai for mokihana

Laua'e of Makana, garden of my homeland

Renowned Molokai, great isle of Hina

The kukui grove of Lanikaula

The lei of Lanai, sweet kauna'oa

Like the 'o'o bird's lovely yellow feathers

Shells of Niihau, where are you hiding

Pearls of the sea, show forth your beauty

Here I am waiting, Kahoolawe

Abounding are my shores in hinahina

We call upon you, oh give an answer

Molokini endures the foam of the sea

Now my story is thus completed

O garlands of Hawaii, waken to our song

And now I sing again, my song is over

Hi'iaka of the sea, beloved one of Pele

Source: Folk Songs Hawaii Sings by John M. Kelly, Jr Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc Library of Congress Catalog Card #62-14118 Composed in the 1890's, this is the earliest of several songs with the same title that celebrate the uniting of the islands into the kingdom of Hawaii. Red is the color of the big island of Hawaii and lehua (metrosideros macropus) is their flower. Keawe was a distinguished chief of this island. Pink represents Maui and the small pink rose or lokelani is their flower. Haleakala (house of the sun) is an extinct volcano on this island. The delicate ilima is the flower of Oahu and yellow is its color. Purple represents Kauai and the green mokihana berry (pelea anisata) found only on this island is their symbol. Laua'e o Makana is a sweet fern from Makana, Kauai. Green is the color of Molokai and the kukui or candlenut tree (aleurite moluccana) is their symbol. Hina was the goddess-mother of Molokai and Lanikaula was perhaps the greatest prophet of ancient Hawaii. Orange is for Lanai and the kauna'oa (cuscuta sandwichiana) is their symbol. Pupu shells and white honor the island of Niihau. Gray is the color of Kahoolawe and their symbol is hinahina (heliotropium anomalum) a low spreading beach plant with narrow, clustered silvery leaves and small white flowers. It is sometimes replaced with spanish moss. Molokini, a small, uninhabited island has no symbolic color or flower. Hiiaka, the youngest and favorite sister of Pele traveled extensively in the seas between the islands.