Kaumakaiwa Kanakaole expresses the true meaning of hula from a native Hawaiian perspective on the Island of Hawaii.
Kanakaole is a force of nature. She’s won multiple Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, which are Hawaii’s highest musical honor, and has traveled the world performing. Her transcendent voice comes from one of Hawaii’s most esteemed lineages. Her great-grandmother, Edith Kanakaole was a pioneering leader during the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 60’s and 70’s. Her grandmother, Pualani Kanakaole Kanahele is a Ph.D and kumu hula (hula teacher). Her mother, Kekuhi Kanahele-Frias is also a Hoku award winning artist and educator.
She calls herself a hula haka, or hula medium – the means in which hula moves through. It’s a way for her to connect to her legacy, and more importantly, to the land. She defines hula as the constant rhythm that nature has. Hula is movement at its most primal. For native Hawaiians, hula is a bridge to authenticity and identity.
Kaumakaiwa defines oli (chant) as a vocal or harmonic alchemy. She says it’s the ability to manifest change in your environment. Hula facilitated the connection between her and the land, and reaffirms her commitment as a native Hawaiian.
Cultural practitioner, Greg Solatorio lives off the land on the island of Molokai just like his ancestors did, 1,000 years ago.
The island of Molokai is truly unique because it is frozen in time. No other place in Molokai exemplifies this more than Halawa Valley. It has no fancy resorts, restaurants, or golf courses.
Greg and his family are the last original family left in the valley. His father was the last elder, born and raised here. Their lineage connects them back to the first Hawaiian settlers on Molokai. Today, through the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the entire valley, from the peaks to the ocean, still belongs to the Solatorios.
Although the nearest store to get supplies is 29 miles away, the valley is rich with bountiful fruit, fish and vegetation. It supported a village for more than a thousand years and it supports the Solatorios today. Greg operates the Halawa Valley Falls Cultural Hike. When asked why it’s important to share his way of life, he says his family traditions in the valley are his expertise. He was taught from his elders, that culture is not a secret it is sacred. For him, culture needs to be shared.
In Halawa Valley, he practices sustainability the way he was taught, by working with mother nature. For him, instead of taking from nature, you must ask and borrow – to stay pure, you must use the gifts she gives.
Cultural Liaison Anela Evans expands upon how a photograph of Lanai will never compare to seeing something with your own eyes.
Evans was raised on Lanai, and grew up loving hula and hunting deer. She rode horses on Koele Ranch but also started driving on Lanai’s dirt roads at 12 years old. During these holoholo (travels), from the white sands of Polihua Beach to the rocky, alien landscape of Keahiakawelo (known as The Garden of the Gods), her father would tell her stories of the legends of the small island.
Even for Hawaii’s locals, not much is known about Lanai except for its Four Seasons Resort and its pineapple plantation history. However, Evans wants to change that. She wants locals and visitors to ike maka, or “see with one’s own eyes” the Lanai that she knows and loves.
When asked what makes Lanai so special, she says Lanai is different from other islands because of its untouched beauty. The entire island is off the beaten path, and often feels likes you have stepped back in time because it looks like what it looked like hundreds of years ago.
In both her professional life and personal life, she feels it’s her responsibility to preserve and perpetuate the culture and the essence of Lanai.
