What does Ku'ai aku nui o med kuleana lako mean?

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Request for Question Clarification by tar_heel_v-ga on 13 Oct 2004 08:43 PDT

Just on a hunch, I took a shot that the phrase was Hawaiian, so here we go:

Ku'ai-To Purchase
Aku-Away from me
Nui-Number (quantity)
o-of or yes
med-no translation
kuleana-Right, claim, property, interest
lako-supplies

This doesn't make much sense, does it. "aku nui" may be "haku nui"
which is manager. Ku'ai may be Ku'e which is against

Can you give the context of the sentence?

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Clarification of Question by cakasper-ga on 13 Oct 2004 09:24 PDT

Apparently the context of the sentence is:

This is what King Kamehameha said to his warriors when they conquered Maui.

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Request for Question Clarification by tar_heel_v-ga on 13 Oct 2004 12:28 PDT

In researching, I found this quote attributed to him at the Battle of Kepaniwai:

"Imua! Imua e na pokii, a inu i ka wai ?awa?awa. ?A?ohe hope e ho?i mai ai.?

or

"Go forward! Go forward little brothers, and drink the bitter waters.
There is no turning back."

http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/makua.html