Hawaiian Skies: Hikikauʻelia 2025
By Leilehua Yuen, Hawaiʻi Culture and Language Resident at Gemini / NOIRLab
Hikikauʻelia (Kēkēmapa 20, 2025 - ‘Ianuali 18, 2026)
Depending on the calendar you use, this year’s Gregorian 20 December might begin the Hawaiian month Kaʻelo, Hilinama, Kamahoehope, or something we haven’t found yet. Because the Hawaiian Islands have such a wide variety of environments and needs, the calendars that developed in each area reflect that. To provide consistency and make it easy for readers of this column, we have been using the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council calendar. This month, however, we are going to break stride and use the intercalary month Hikikauʻelia, which is what you will find on the star charts.
In Section 1.2, Introduction to the revised edition of Nā Inoa Hōkū, the authors say, “...conceptions of the heavens, and the naming of stars, were dynamic and constantly changing, continually reflecting social needs and developments…” So, as we follow the path our ancestors traveled before us, I will use the way they named and arranged their stories of the stars to try and see how they approached and met the challenges of their times.
Because the uses of the calendars are so integral to Hawaiian philosophy, spirituality, traditional cultural practice, religion, etc., I think it will be valuable to start with this PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Kalei Nuʻuhiwa.
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XXIX, Helu 48, Aoao 1. Novemaba 29, 1890.
Even among our honored kūpuna, opinion varied! While some said Kaʻelo is equivalent to January, J.W. Kalani staunchly held for ʻIkuā. He famously provided the 1890 Nupepa Kuokoa with a list of months and informed the editors, "That is the correct reckoning of the months; it is not like what was published in your paper of the 1st of this past November."
Click here to read the original article, for those who want to see it in Hawaiian.
According to J.W. Kalani, the year on Paeʻāina Hawaiʻi (Hawaiʻi Island) begins in Gregorian April, rather than January — at the end of the Makahiki season, rather than the beginning. So, while the practice is the same, the interpretation is different. Makahiki begins after the evening rising of the Pleiades, and on Paeʻāina Hawaiʻi it could last three to four months, ending the year, rather than beginning it. The mahina, the month, of Makaliʻi is moved to the setting of the Pleiades, instead of its rising.
The following is a chart of Hawaiian months to the start of Makahiki 2026. As you can see, if we include Hikikauʻelia, our months continue to line up properly when next year rolls around. Presumably the Kilo Hōkū would observe the drift of the kaulana mahina (placement of the moon in the heaven-lunar calendar) slipping farther from the kaulana hōkū (placement of the stars in the heaven-sidereal calendar), and part of the preparations for the upcoming Makahiki would be to let people know if there was to be a Hikikauʻelia that year.
2026 Dates for the Hilo Moon
November 21, 2025 Makaliʻi
December 20, 2025 Hikikauʻelia
January 19 Kaʻelo
February 18 Kaulua
March 19 Nana
April 18 Welo
May 17 Ikiiki
June 15 Kaʻelo
July 14 Hinaiaʻeleʻele
August 13 Mahoe Mua
September 11 Mahoe Hope
October 11 ʻIkuwā
November 9 Welehu
December 9 Makaliʻi
Click to view in detail. Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/L. Yuen
Starting with the first to rise, as they will be the first to set, Keoea (Vega) is followed by a small ulu hōkū, possibly ʻEhā-keoea (Lyra), which is said to be a diamond-shaped grouping.
To the West, our friends, the renowned navigator Humu and his sons, Au-haele (Tarazed) and Pai-kauhale (Alshain), prepare to sail beyond the horizon. Interestingly, another pair of companion stars share the names Au-haele and Pai-kauhale.
Lehua-kona (Antares) in Ka-mānai-a-ka-lani (Scorpius) is flanked by Au-haele (Alniyat) and Pai-kauhale (Pai-kauhale). Wait, what? Traditionally in the Arabic-speaking world, Antares was known as the heart of the scorpion, and the flanking stars together were al-niyāţ, the arteries. That’s right, Paikauhale is an “officially” recognized name for this star. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The name “Alniyat” was given to Sigma Scorpii, and they approved “Paikauhale,” which means “to go gadding about from house to house,” for Tau Scorpii on 10 August 2018.
Though Deneb is the next really bright star coming up, I’ve not yet found the inoa. It is so bright that I know there has to be one; it’s just a matter of sifting through everything that Johnson, Mahelona, and Ruggles organized and everything else that has come to light since.
Ahi-wela, or Fomalhaut, is the next prominent star we have a name for. Literally “hot fire,” figuratively, love as hot as a fire. What stories might be connected with that star? Now go listen to Braddah Iz’s medley of Twinkle Twinkle and Ahi Wela with greater understanding.
Koko-iki (Scheat) is the tutelary star of Koko-iki, Kohala, and its red hue calls to mind the red soil for which the area is famed and the fighting spirit of their renowned warriors.
Makulu (Saturn), a hōkū hele, a traveling star (planet), is making its way across the sky and will almost, but not quite, meet up with the ʻOle-Kūkahi moon on the 26th. Gather the ʻohana (family) and hoa (friends) for a stargazing evening and see how close Mahina and Makulu approach before the bright moonlight washes out Makulu!
Mūlehu (leading triangle of Cassiopeia) is one of my favorite ulu hōkū to use as an example of why we cannot give a one-to-one correspondence between the western constellations and Hawaiian ulu hōkū. Only three stars in Cassiopeia are used, so when we use language like, “Mūlehu is the Hawaiian version of Cassiopeia,” we give a very different impression of Hawaiian culture than if we go straight to, “Mūlehu is an ulu hōkū of three stars. The first is the blind aliʻi Polo-ahi-lani, who is being guided by his faithful companions Mūlehu and Polo-ʻula.” One of the things the moʻolelo behind this ulu hōkū tells us about Hawaiian culture is that people with disabilities were valued and cared for.
Kū-mau (Polaris) remains standing steadfast in its position. It is circled by the Little Dipper, which, in a folk tale, is ʻIwahine, a mother ʻiwa, or frigate bird, circling her nest. Her mate, ʻIwalani, is made from some of the stars in Cassiopeia. He chases Mālolo (Schedar, Fulu, Lambda Cassiopeiae, and HD 4222), the flying fish, to feed his family. The moʻolelo I was told as a girl is that he spends the winter flying near his mate, but in summer he flies out to sea.
When we see “Lehua” in a name today, we immediately think of the flower of the native Hawaiian Metrosideros tree, but the name is more a reference to red. Since there is a Lehua-Kona (Antares, a.k.a. Hōkūʻula), a southern red star, I started looking for an analogous red star on the opposite side of the ecliptic. After all, one wouldn’t generally bother calling something the southern whatever if there was not a northern version. So, giving a spin to Stellarium, right in the expected place, one finds Mirach. Do I have any documentation? No, just my hunch. Hence the question mark, but I will keep it as a placeholder
Kaʻa-lolo (Hamal) comes next. There are so many different ways to translate this name that there are not a lot of clues as to its use, and I have not yet found any moʻolelo. It is the tutelary star of Niʻihau.
Kane (Algol) is used by the priests in their studies of the portents found in the heavens. It also is the name of the 27th pō mahina, or night of the lunar month, and for followers of Kane and Lono is a time of prayer.
By now, Huihui-a-Makaliʻi (Pleiades) is well up in the sky at nightfall.
Makaliʻi (Aldebaran) is one of the stars that graces the Winter Circle. Named for the great navigator, Makaliʻi sets at the same time as Puana (Rigel), said to be the tutelary star of Maui. Makaliʻi is one of eight navigation stars associated with the story of Hawaiʻi-loa.
Nā Kao is a huihui (collection of stars), which translates to “The Darts.” Nā Kao is the belt and sword of Orion. They are a set of darts flying through the heavens. In some stories, the stars are holes in the heavens that the darts pierced when they were thrown.
Hōkū-lei (Capella) is listed as one of the wives of Makaliʻi, the other being Hōkū-ula. The question is, which Hōkūʻula? I suggest Betelgeuse, also known as ʻAua, Kāʻelo, Kau-lana-a-ka-lā, and Kaulua-koko. As a huihui, Makemson also has suggested that Hōkū-lei may also be Auriga. As I wrote last month, the more I look at this, the more I think there is a case for the Winter Hexagon. While both Auriga and the Hexagon are dramatic, to me, the way the Hexagon brackets Hikina, the east, on rising, and touches so many important stars makes it a strong candidate.
Kau-lana-a-ka-lā (Elnath) is yet another of those things that shows we need to regularly question what we have been taught. It turns out that it translates as “the resting place of the sun” and is a poetic reference to the west, most specifically on the summer solstice, coming up on Saturday, June 20, 2026, at 22:00 (10:24 p.m.). I was taught it is Elnath. Looking things up to double-check for this column, I find that Johnson suggests it references Betelgeuse or Elnath setting after the sun at the summer solstice. However, running that through Stellarium, I find they set before the sun. Perhaps someone occluding the sun with their finger would see them leading the sun down, one on each side, which would appear like an aliʻi being led to rest by attendants. But it is so close to dawn on this chart, we’ll let Elnath lead the sun to its place of rest for tonight. But let’s revisit this name come June!
Click to view in detail. Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/L. Yuen
ʻAʻā (Sirius) is such an important star, it has many names to reflect its many uses. It deserves a column all of its own. One of those inoa is Hiki-kau-e-Lono, reflecting its importance in this Makahiki season of Lono.
The huihui of Ka-māhana contains huihui within itself; it holds Ka-maile-mua and Ka-maile-hope, which in turn spring from Māhoe-mua (Castor) and Māhoe-hope (Pollux).
Kau-ʻōpae (Regulus) is at zenith, and Nā-hiku, the seven stars of the Big Dipper, have swung around, their handle pointing at Hōkū-leʻa (Arcturus), the star of joy, which is the navigational zenith star for Hawaiʻi. Continuing the arc of that handle, we come to Hikianalia (Spica), completing one line of navigational stars.
Circling around, we come to Meʻe (Corvus); it is seen as a happy singing mouth by the Polynesian Voyaging Society and as the hero Puakea in some folklore.
Heading all the way south, for this month I have chosen to depict Crux as the Kaulu tree. May we all find ourselves strongly rooted!
