Ma kekahi huaka‘i kula i ka Hale Hō‘ike‘ike ‘o Bīhopa ma Honolulu, ua ilihia ‘o Manu a me kona mau hoa papa i ka pā‘ū mai ka wā kahiko loa, i haku ‘ia me ho‘okahi miliona mau hulu manu ‘ō‘ō, kekahi manu maoli Hawai‘i i kala loa kona nalowale ʻana. Ua maopopo iā Manu ka mana‘o o kona inoa Hawai‘i piha, Manu‘ō‘ōmauloa: “E mau ke ola o ka manu ‘ō‘ō.” Akā, no ke aha lā ‘o ia i kapa ‘ia ai i ka inoa no kekahi manu nalowale loa?

Ua ha‘i ‘o Manu i kona mau mākua no kona ‘i‘ini e ho‘onui a‘e i kona ‘ike no ka manu ‘ō‘ō, no laila ua ‘imi pū lākou ma ka pūnaewele. I ia lā a‘e, ua hō‘ike ko Manu kumu i nā ‘ike hou i kona papa. Nui nā mea e a‘o ai! I ke ahu ʻana o nā ‘ike hou ma loko ona, nui nā moe‘uhane lapakū o Manu i ka manu nona kona inoa. Ma hope o kekahi huaka‘i ho‘opūʻiwa i ka mokupuni ‘o Hawai‘i, kahi e ‘ike maka ai ka ‘ohana i nā manu maoli Hawai‘i o ka wao kele i ko lākou wahi noho, ʻakahi nō a maopopo iho ka mana‘o o kona inoa a me ke ‘ano e kōkua a kāko‘o ai ʻo ia i ke ola o nā manu a me nā wao kele.

‘O Manu, ke Keiki Aloha Manu he mo‘olelo no ka nalowale loa, ka maluō, a me ka ‘ike kupuna, i ha‘i ʻia maila ma o ka ‘ike o ke keiki a me kona noi‘ina. A‘o ‘ia ka mea heluhelu me Manu no ka manu mūkīkī nalowale loa nona ka inoa i kapa ʻia ai ʻo ia, kona ho‘oilina ‘ike kupuna Hawai‘i, a ka pilina ma waena o nā holoholona a me ke kaianoho. I ka ‘ōlelo hope, komo aku nō nā ‘ike kikoʻī o nā manu wao kele Hawai‘i a me nā hulu ali‘i o Hawai‘i, ka papa wehewehe ʻōlelo, a me ka papa no nā hana e kōkua ai. Ho‘owehi ‘ia me nā pa‘i palaka i pa‘a ‘ia me nā waiho‘olu‘u, hō‘ike kēia puke i ke akeakamai kaiaola ma ke ‘ano kupanaha, me ka wele pū mai i ala no kākou e ho‘ōla mau ai i nā holoholona a me nā kaiaola.

• Caren Loebel-Fried, Author

  Caren Loebel-Fried is an award-winning author and artist from Volcano, Hawai‘i. She has written and illustrated several previous storybooks, including Hawaiian Legends of the Guardian Spirits, A Perfect Day for an Albatross, and Legend of the Gourd, all of which showcase the ancient art of block printing. Her books have won the American Folklore Society’s Aesop Prize for children’s folklore and the Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association’s Ka Palapala Po‘okela awards for excellence.

• Blaine Namahana Tolentino, Translator

  Blaine Namahana Tolentino works at the University of Hawai‘i Press.