The singers Ke’eaumoku and Uilani Kapu (left, wearing caps) perform the song, “E Hoʻi ka Nani i Mokuʻula.” The photograph for the cover includes members of the couple’s ‘ohana. Courtesy photo

A new recording of a 19th-century song celebrates the history and rebirth of Lahaina as once the center of Hawaiian royalty.

Maui couple Ke’eaumoku and Uilani Kapu’s performance of the song, “E Hoʻi ka Nani i Mokuʻula” (Return the beauty, the glory, the splendor to the sacred islet Moku’ula), also serves as a call for the restoration of Moku’ula island and Mokuhinia Pond, where King Kamehameha I established his center of power.

The song, part of the future documentary “Ea,” was released last week.

The documentary is being produced by Lance D. Collins and directed by Noah Keone Viernes, with assistance by engineer Joel Katz. Both Collins and Katz are multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano music award winners.

The words to the song, composed in 1862 by P.H. Kekuaiwa, were put to music by Hawaiian cultural advocate Akoni Akana, who helped to organize the Friends of Moku’ula group in the 1990s to support the pond’s and island’s restoration.

The pond spanned 17 acres and was among West Maui’s large network of coastal wetlands, according to www.mauirecovers.org.

In the early 1900s, the pond and islet were filled and a portion eventually became the county’s Malu’ulu o Lele Park.

Akana helped to secure grants in the 1990s and to direct an archaeological study confirming the partial location of the pond and island beneath a ballpark and a parking lot.

Friends of Moku’ula also conducted tours of Lahaina that included its efforts to restore the pond and islet.

In the early 2000s, Maui County Mayor James “Kimo” Apana supported restoration efforts and successfully opposed development on part of the lands for a shopping center.

In 2024, Gov. Josh Green transferred some state lands at Moku’ula and the pond to Maui County to help in cultural and economic restoration.

The Maui County Department of ‘Ōiwi Resources is developing long-term plans for the restoration of the island and pond as part of the Lahaina Royal Complex recovery.

The Kapus taught this mele for many years at Nā ʻAikāne o Maui Cultural at the north edge of Mokuhinia pond.

In 2017, more than 140 representatives from every Hawaiian island and from 16 Pacific nations

learned the mele while visiting Mokuʻula, grounding their gathering in the presence of this sacred place.

To stream the song, go to https://ehoikanani.hearnow.com.