XXXVI.— THE HULA HOO-NA-NA 



The hula hoo-na-nd — to quiet, amuse — was an informal dance, 

 such as Avas joerformed without the usual restrictions of tabu that 

 hedged about the set dances of the halau. The occasion of an out- 

 door festival, an ahaaina or lumi^ was made the opportunity for the 

 exhibition of this dance. It seems to have been an expression of pure 

 sportiveness and mirth-making, and was therefore performed with- 

 out sacrifice or religious ceremony. "V^^iile the king, chiefs, and 

 aialo — courtiers who ate in the king's presence — are sitting with the 

 guests about the festal board, two or three dancers of graceful car- 

 riage make a circuit of the j^lace, ambling, capering, gesturing as 

 they go in time to the words of a gay song. 



A performance of this sort was witnessed by the author's infor- 

 mant in Honolulu many ^^ears ago; the occasion was the giving of a 

 royal luau. There was no musical instrument, the performers were 

 men, and the mele they cantillated went as follows: 



A pili, Ji [tili, 



A pili ka'ii iiuiini 



Ke kepau " o ka iihi-laau. 



Poai a ])utii. 

 T) Noho ana i imili-\va"a : '' 



Hooinru ka iiioiiiona a kt» alii. 



Eii-eli <■ k-o kapu ; ua noa. 



Noa ia wai? 



Noa ia ka lani. 

 10 Kan lilua,'^ kaohi ka maku'u 



E ai ana ka ai a ke alii ! 



Hoonn'u, lioonu'n hoonn'u 



I ka i'a a lie alii ! 



" Kcpfin. Gum, the bird-limp of tlie fowler, wliicli was obtained from forest trees, but 

 especially from the \i\ii. the breadfruit. 



'' Muli-ira'd innili. a term applied to a younger brotl;en. The idea involved is that of 

 separation by an interval, as a younger brother is separated from his older brother by 

 an Interval. Muliirai is an interval of water, a stream. UV/V(, the last part of the above 

 rompound word, literally a canoe, is here used tropically to mean the tables, or the 

 dishes, on which the food was spread, they being long and narrow, in the shape of a 

 canoe. The whole term, consequently, refers to the people and the table about which 

 they are seated. 



<" EU-cJi. A word that is found in ancient prayers to emphasize the word kapu or 

 the word noa. 



^ Lilua. To stand erect and act without the restraint usually prescribed in the presence 

 of royalty. 



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