vi. To wander, drift, ramble, go from place to place; to stray morally or mentally. Cf. hula ʻauana. ʻAuana ka noʻonoʻo, delirium. hō.ʻauana To cause to wander, disperse, as a conqueror disperses an enemy.

Sometimes spelled ʻauwana, we hear this term more often in connection with hula, as in hula ʻauana. If you look up hula ʻauana in the dictionary you will find:

n. Informal hula without ceremony or offering, contrasted with the hula kuahu; modern hula.

How they came up with “modern hula” from hula ʻauana, I am not sure. Maybe when the concept or the style of dancing hula to songs was developed Hawaiians viewed it as a staying away from what was morally correct in our Hawaiian culture. Or maybe they saw it as a rambling way to hula. Cellophane skirts and coconut shell tops would cause me to think that way! Nevertheless, it is good to know its definition, at least to be better informed.

He kanaka ʻauana ʻo ia – He is a wanderer.

Ke ʻauana nei ke keiki i ʻō i ʻaneʻi – The child is wandering here and there.

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