Ka Puana–The Refrain: ‘Io Lani
Following are excerpts from Kapa‘au resident William S. Chillingworth’s book, ‘Io Lani: The Hawaiian Hawk. Used with permission.
I had been hiking with a camera in the wild eastern valleys for thirty years or more, and had seen ‘auku‘u, ‘ulili and kolea, but one day I heard a compelling, high-pitched call, and overhead was an ‘io, motionless in the trade winds, great wings extended. It was a moment Hawaiians describe as ho‘ailona (a strong signal or omen.)
I abandoned the shorebirds and followed the call of the royal hawk. It was as if by following this ancient, solitary native, I had found a way to connect more deeply with my own forebears.
My mother’s family came from Kamae‘e, forty miles east of Kapa‘au on the Hamakua coast, between Hakalau and Ninole. My great-great grandmother’s grandfather, whose name, Kanehoalani, refers to a god who rules the heavens, was a kia manu, a bird collector, and a feather worker who made lei hulu mamo melemele, one of them a wedding present for his granddaughter, Rebecca Ioela, when she married Benjamin Macy, recently arrived from Nantucket, at the Austin sugar plantation in Onomea, in 1873.
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Fortunately, when I began collecting the images, I knew very little about how difficult it would be. I had visions of my ancestors, na kia manu, and their similar process; first, find the bird, then get close enough to do the work. Patience was everything. I was very grateful that I wasn’t in a wet, cold windward rainforest in Kamae‘e, shivering under a rain cape of ti leaves.
My kia (staff used to trap birds) was a Nikon D5100 equipped with a 300mm lens. The main problem with the lens was the autofocus. If the bird was close enough, above the horizon line in clear sky, I sometimes was able to make an acceptable image. Below the horizon line, it was up to the gods. Often I had a lovely shot of ironwoods with a mysterious dark blob in the center.
Contact photographer William S. Chillingworth: WSChillingworth.com
‘Io Lani: The Hawaiian Hawk is available from the author and local bookstores.
