Description
In one telling of the mythology of Pōhuehue and Kaunaoa, the two lovers lived near Kahana, Oahu where they fished and played together. After an argument Pōhuehue fled in anger by canoe, making his way to Lāna‘i. Several years passed; Kaunaoa worried that Pohuehue had forgotten her but waited patiently, hoping that her lover would return.
One night, Pōhuehue dreamt of Kauanoa in the waters of Kahana. Thinking of her, he scattered the flowers of the hau tree into the ocean. The flowers made their way to Kahana where Kaunaoa was swimming. She called upon her ‘aumakua for guidance and followed the path of the flowers to Pōhuehue on the shores of Lāna‘i.
Their eternal love and their reunion is said to be the reason pōhuehue vines are found interlaced with the strands of kaunaoa on the beach and also are used intertwined in lei. The flower and lei of Lāna‘i.