Wehewehe Wikiwiki

1. nvt., Bracelet, anklet; fetters, manacles, handcuffs; to put or tie on bracelets, anklets, fetters; to hogtie.

• Examples:
  • Kūpeʻe hoaka, bracelet as made of crescent-shaped hog's tusks.
  • Kūpeʻe hoʻokalakala, bracelet of boar's tusks; literally, sharp bracelet.
  • Kūpeʻe palaoa, bracelet of whale teeth, or a single pierced whale tooth on a string worn about the wrist.
  • I kō lākou kūpeʻe ʻana i nā hoe (Nak. 61), because they held back the paddles.
• Related:
  • Lāʻau kūpeʻe, stocks.

2. n., An edible marine snail (Nerita polita 🌐); the shells were used for ornaments, the rare ones by chiefs. Varieties are qualified by the terms ānuenue, ʻeleʻele, kāniʻo, mahiole, palaoa (literally, ivory, (rare), puna (rare), ʻula.