Carissa O'Connell
March 18, 2025
O ke aliʻi lilo i ka leʻaleʻa a mālama ʻole i ke kanaka me ke kapu akua ʻaʻole ia he aliʻi e kū ai i ka moku
Literal translation: “The chief who is lost in pleasures and does not care for the people according to the sacred kapu of the gods is not a chief who will stand in the land.”
This ʻōlelo noʻeau reminds us that leadership in Hawaiʻi was never meant to be self-serving. A leader’s kuleana is relational—grounded in care for people, devotion to sacred responsibilities, and respect for inherited wisdom.
The saying warns that when leaders pursue prestige over service, they weaken their own standing. True leadership is sustained through mālama: tending to community, honoring spiritual and cultural law, and living in right relationship with place.
Reference
Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Dietrich Varez. ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Sayings. Bishop Museum Press, 2018.
Carissa O'Connell
Avid explorer of all things related to Hawaiiana, Polynesian, and Asian culture
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