The features of the pūloʻu

 

According to the Hawaiian-English dictionaries, this is the definition o this type of rainbow:

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Pukui/Elbert:      2. n., Rainbow that arches but with ends that do not touch the earth.

 

Primary trait:            A rainbow fragment

Secondary trait:       A partial arc

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Perhaps the pūloʻu is another name for the ʻālewalewa. The pūloʻu is one of many forms taken by a supernatural body (a kino lau). For example it is a kino lau of Lononuiakea and is often seen at the start of the makahiki season (late October or early November).[2]

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           A pūloʻu (na Alex Girchenko | Dreamstime.com).                                                A pūloʻu (na Alex Girchenko | Dreamstime.com)

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The strata that the pūloʻu appears

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The strata of the pūloʻu are the same as the full arching rainbow, namely, the lewa lani, the lewa nuʻu, and a portion of the lewa lani lewa.

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The times that the pūloʻu appears

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The times that the pūloʻu appears are similar to that of the arching rainbows. 

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The signs/omens of the pūloʻu

 

There was only one example of a pūloʻu found in the sources that were analyzed. It is of an omen: In the month of August in the year 1891 the kāhili and the pūloʻu were seen by a man in his dream.  In that dream he saw an aliʻi perched precariously inside a large kāhili rainbow above Iolani palace.  At that very moment, the aliʻi fell and that man that was dreaming awoke with a start.[3]  The man understood this dream, and he thought, this dream was a sign for the falling of a ruling chief, or a time of overthrow that was coming.  In 16 months later after the printing of the newspaper article about his dream, the Hawaiian government was fraudulently overthrown by some missionaries and greedy American businessmen. 

 

[1] Wehewehe Wikiwiki. n.d. Ke Kulanui o Hawaiʻi ma Hilo. https://hilo.hawaii.edu/wehe/. (Pukui/Elbert).

[2]  Kalei Nuʻuhiwa 2020. Makahiki - Nā Maka o Lono; Utilizing the Papakū Makawalu Method to Analyze Mele and Pule of Lono and the Makahiki. Hamilton: University of Waikato. ʻaoʻao 215.

[3] ʻAʻole ʻike ʻia ka mea kākau. 1891. "He Moeuhane." Ka Leo o ka Lahui, ʻAugate 6: 2.