No ke Kākāʻōlelo ma ka Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi Kahiko a i ka MH 1860

Abstract

This article examines the various meanings of the term kākāʻōlelo as encountered in books and articles written or edited by Hawaiians prior to the year 1861. Before considering this evidence, the lexical definitions found in the standard dictionaries are compared in which there is a consensus that the word carries a meaning similar to orator or oratory. This sense, however, is not borne out when we see how the word is generally used by the earliest Hawaiian writers. Following the examination of the lexical definitions, all examples of the word as used by Hawaiian writers are carefully examined, including those from Davida Malo's Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian translation of the Bible (whose word choice was decided by Hawaiian advisors), and articles printed in the Hawaiian-language newspapers prior to 1861, i.e., up until the appearance of Ka Hoku o ka Pakipika and Ka Nupepa Kuokoa. While the first two sources, and most of the third, understand kākāʻōlelo as an advisor to royalty, it is in some of the newspaper articles that we first begin to see the connection with skilled oratory.