1. nvt. Desire, want, wish; to want, like, prefer, favor, wish; willing (often replaced colloquially by mamake). See make 2. E mālama ʻia Kou makemake, may Thy will be done. hoʻo.make.make To cause or feign desire.

mah keh mah keh

I was looking in the Hawaiian dictionary for the correct word for will. My intent was to find the word for will, as in “last will and testament.” That turned out to be palapala ho‘oilina (legacy document) or palapala kauoho (document of testament/order). My thoughts weigh heavily this week on the rights and responsibilities of the Hawaiian people in their own homeland. Then I was drawn to the second meaning of will, that is, desire: makemake. Isn’t that what a will is? A desire to leave certain possessions, such as land, to someone, say, like the Hawaiian people. A will might also include the use of the properties and monies for certain purposes, to benefit a certain person or group of people. Makemake. And I think my makemake (desire) to use this week’s He Momi is rooted in the desire of MANY (and I am referring to all ethnicities, worldwide) to protect Mauna Kea. Our sacred mountain. Mauna a Wākea. The mountain of Wākea, sky father. When is it that the makemake (will, desire) of the protectors of our ʻāina (that which nourishes us) will be honored? When will we put the value of our land ahead of all economic gain? Is it after it is so polluted that we cannot grow anything on it (makes me reflect on the cyanide that was found in the soil at a school on my island) or the water is undrinkable because we didn’t manage our resources in a pono manner? If you wait till then how is your economic gain going to help you? Bad enough we import just about everything and buy bottled water. Gee. E hoʻi i ka makemake a ka poʻe aloha ʻāina – Return to the will of those that love the land. Makemake au e mālama i ka mauna – I want to take care of the mountain.

Kū Kiaʻi Mauna

Copyright: 2015 – Liana Iaea Honda. All rights reserved. All versions of He Momi e Lei ai”, in its entirety, past and present, is the property of L. K. I. Honda. Reproduction and use of any kind other than the sharing of this website is prohibited. Alteration to the original content in any form is prohibited in every and any instance, and use in any other variant is prohibited without written consent of the author. Adress inquiries to: hemomi [at] gmail.com. Definitions and wise sayings are from: Hawaiian Dictionary by Pukui and Elbert, 1986. ʻŌlelo Noʻeau – Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings by Mary Kawena Pukui, 1983.