At the Merrie Monarch Festival, hula’s most celebrated stage, one hālau‘s story of change and renewal rose to the top in 2026.

Hālau Hiʻiakaināmakalehua earned top honors at the 63rd annual competition in Hilo, sweeping major categories. The group earned first-place finishes in kāne (men) overall, kāne ʻauana (modern hula), and both wāhine (women’s) kahiko (ancient hula) and kāne kahiko.

The hālau is led by Kumu Hula Robert Keano Kaʻupu IV, a graduate of Honolulu Community College.

“I’m still in shock,” Kaʻupu said. “I’m not surprised because they worked hard and they did exactly what they needed to do, but I’m in shock. This year more than ever it was the purpose of the journey, more than the destination. And so I am really appreciative for the recognition. There are no words to really describe what I feel.”

Turning point

The win followed a year of deep change.

Kaʻupu and Kumu Hula Lono Padilla founded the hālau together. In 2025, Padilla stepped away for personal reasons. The departure reshaped the Oʻahu hālau.

Kaʻupu described it as a time of upheaval. One that pushed both him and his haumāna (students) to reflect and rebuild.

“That’s part of the process,” he said. “Acknowledging the catastrophe, acknowledging the upheaval, acknowledging the overturn. Our lives were deconstructed and now let’s find the processes to reconstruct, rebuild, regenerate, re-energize.”

That idea guided their performances at this year’s festival.

Hulihia, overturning

Kaʻupu chose mele (songs) that mirrored both his experience and that of his hālau. Their performances centered on hulihia, a Hawaiian concept that speaks to overturning and transformation.

In the kahiko category, the wāhine performed hula kālaʻau (dancing stick) to Kau Kahaʻea Ke Ao Uahi I Luna. The mele is a creation story, where akua (deities) shape a submerged island still forming off Hawaiʻi Island.

Kaʻupu‘s kāne followed with Hulihia Ka ʻĀpapa Ka Unu Koʻakoʻa O Ka Moana. Their performance evoked the ocean floor shifting and fire rising from below, as life emerges through heat and pressure.

Together, the pieces reflected a simple truth that change can be destructive, but it also creates space for renewal.

����Vlog�ٷ� roots

Kaʻupu, a Keaukaha native, attended ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo before moving to Oʻahu. He continued his studies at Honolulu CC, entering the cosmetology program and graduating in 2007.

“I thought I knew how to do hair until I went through the program,” he said. “They just expedited and transcended the technical skills for me. I am super, super grateful for that.”

For years, those skills helped shape his presence at Merrie Monarch, where he handled his dancers’ hair and makeup, an important part of the competition’s scoring. He also designs every costume, sketching ideas by hand before working with a seamstress to bring them to life. However, for each of his Miss Aloha Hula contestants, he sews each piece himself.

In many ways, that same cycle of creating, overturning and rebuilding reflects where Kaʻupu stands now, as he continues to grow into his role.

“Trust your gut, trust your kūpuna (elders),” he said. “Find the things that serve you and let go of the things that don’t. There’s always regeneration. You just have to trust the process.”

—by Moanikeʻala Nabarro

For nearly 20 years, Rachel Hualani Loo has graced the Merrie Monarch stage on ��ōʻ����� night as an ʻō�����貹, or dancer, with Hālau o Kekuhi. This year, she returned to the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in a profoundly different role: as the 2026 ��ōʻī Wahine (Queen) of the Merrie Monarch Royal Court.

A University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo alumna and the director of the , Loo has spent over a decade supporting Hawaiian students on their educational journeys. But when the Merrie Monarch Festival committee asked her to serve in this role, the weight of carrying this kuleana (responsibility) for her community felt different.

“Just to be included in all of this—not just the honor on an individual and personal level, but the real honor is continuing to be part of this community in a different capacity,” Loo expressed.

One of the most special things about being in Hilo during Merrie Monarch week is the opportunity to witness the community’s hospitality and ability to hoʻokipa, to host. Whether welcoming family, friends, or ��������� hula, �ᾱ����’s community shows up year after year to graciously welcome everyone. Growing up in Hilo and being part of the Merrie Monarch in different capacities has shaped Loo’s own commitment to this practice.

What the Merrie Monarch Festival and its stage represent isn’t lost on her. Loo recalled the words of her Kumu Hula ��������Ծ� Kanakaʻole Zane, whose legacy continues to permeate the festival: “She would remind us that this is the biggest stage for hula: an opportunity to share our language, culture, and dance in excellence. It’s an example of Hawaiian excellence at its highest level.”

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As Hilo prepares for Merrie Monarch, Hawaiʻi Community College is highlighting its associates in arts degree in with a hula concentration, rooted in the legacy of revered kumu hula Edith Kanakaʻole. Her philosophy: “Teach all who come to learn.”

Kanakaʻole established Hawaiian studies at Hawaiʻi CC in 1973. Her daughter, Pualani Kanahele, expanded this vision to revive hula rituals.

The program has strengthened students’ cultural identity and connection to ʻohana (family). Kekoa Gabriel, a 2025 honors graduate with multiple AA degrees, found the program clarified his kuleana (responsibility).

“Because of this program I feel a lot more connected to my ancestors, my ʻohana, my Hawaiian-ness, who I am as a Hawaiian,” Gabriel said. “I have a better look at where I want to go as a Hawaiian, who I want to be as a Hawaiian.”

Kamryn Kanoe Bosque, pursuing her degree with a hula focus, added, “I expanded my knowledge more than I ever could have, and I’m deeply grateful to be able to come here and learn more about my Hawaiian culture.”

The program includes unique hands-on practices, such as learning hula Pele (the Hawaiian goddess whose home is Kīlauea on the island of Hawaiʻi) where the volcano is active.

Hula, a ‘living practice’

“Studying hula here at Hawaiʻi Community College goes beyond choreography,” Kumu Hula Pele Kaʻio. “It exposes the learner to protocol, ceremony, traditional regalia, discipline and leadership.”

The program’s impact is evident during Merrie Monarch, where participation in the annual festival’s opening ceremony has grown from about 30 individuals to more than 400 ritual practitioners, including Hawaiʻi CC students, alumni and community members.

Taupōuri Tangarō, founder and advisor of the college’s hālau hula, Unukupukupu, said the Kanakaʻole ʻ�dz󲹲Բ�’s mission remains central.

“Hula becomes the doorway through which learners come to know their purpose,” Tangarō said. “Students come to Hawaiʻi CC not simply to learn hula as performance, but to experience hula as a living practice grounded in ritual.”

Related stories:

• Hundreds celebrate Edith Kanakaʻole at ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo, May 9, 2023
• Native Hawaiian advocates, educators, leaders awarded Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, April 20, 2023
• Native Hawaiian icon Edith Kanakaʻole honored in naming of library collection, July 22, 2025

A new exhibition honoring the life and legacy of legendary kumu hula and musician Robert Uluwehionāpuaikawēkiuokalani Cazimero opens at Windward Community College’s on January 23, 2026. The exhibition Ke Kilo Lani, reflects on Cazimero’s lifelong commitment to the continuity of Hawaiian cultural practice and knowledge.

A public reception is scheduled for 4–7 p.m. on opening day. The exhibition will be on view through May 15, 2026.

Focusing on mentorship

Ke Kilo Lani highlights the traditional foundations and evolving expressions of ʻike Hawaiʻi (traditional Hawaiian knowledge), and is presented in partnership with the Wāhea Foundation.

“Ke Kilo Lani inaugurates a series of exhibitions focused on mentorship as the foundation of cultural continuity,” said Kapulani Landgraf, Gallery ʻIolani director. “I see this exhibition engaging the ongoing practice of Robert Uluwehionāpuaikawēkiuokalani Cazimero—whose innovation as a kumu hula and musician continues to shape generations—and honoring perseverance as a lifelong commitment to holding, evolving and passing forward tradition.”

Tours, talk story, performances

In conjunction with the exhibition, Gallery ʻIolani will host several events, including:

• Guided gallery tours led by Hālau Nā Kamalei o Līlīlehua.
• Community talk story sessions.
• Scheduled performances in both Gallery ʻIolani and Palikū Theatre.

Gallery Information

Gallery ʻIolani is located on the Windward CC campus at 45-720 Keaʻahala Road, ����Ա�ʻ�dz��.

• Hours: Monday–Saturday, 1–5 p.m. (closed Sundays and holidays).
• More information: and the

The University of Hawaiʻi is mourning the death of Faith ��������Ծ� Kanakaʻole, a revered kumu hula, cultural leader and ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo alumna who also served as a former faculty member at Hawaiʻi Community College, and whose life’s work profoundly shaped Hawaiian cultural practice and Indigenous education across Hawaiʻi and beyond.

Born on March 19, 1946, and raised in Hilo, Kanakaʻole died peacefully at her home on January 3, surrounded by family. She leaves behind a legacy deeply rooted in ʻike kūpuna (ancestral knowledge), artistic excellence and an unwavering commitment to ensuring Hawaiian culture remains a living, evolving practice.

Kanakaʻole was part of an extraordinary lineage. The daughter of Luka and the legendary kumu hula and educator Edith Kanakaʻole, she stood in the fifth iteration of a direct line of kumu hula within a family whose traditions span eight generations. As the youngest of six siblings, she was part of an ʻohana whose influence on Hawaiian studies and cultural preservation is unparalleled.

She stepped into the kuleana (responsibility) as kumu of Hālau o Kekuhi alongside her sister, Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele, and later with her niece, Huihui Kanahele-Mossman. A guardian of the ancient ʻai haʻa (hula danced with bended knees) style, Kanakaʻole helped elevate hula as a classical art form while grounding it firmly in , genealogy and ceremony.

Hilo roots

A graduate of ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo, Kanakaʻole studied art history in the early 1970s during the same period her mother was pioneering Hawaiian studies courses on campus.

Together with her husband, Sig Zane, Kanakaʻole co-founded Sig Zane Designs in 1985, helping build a globally recognized brand rooted in Hawaiian values and cultural integrity.

After years devoted to family and co-founding one of Hawaiʻi’s most recognized fashion lines, she returned to ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo and earned her bachelor’s degree in art in 2001.

“��������Ծ� was an extraordinary cultural leader and ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo alumna whose dedication to perpetuating Hawaiian knowledge touched countless lives,” said ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin. “Her work elevating hula and Hawaiian cultural practices helped shape the broader movement toward indigenous education — a movement that has profoundly influenced our university’s mission.”

Merrie Monarch icon

Kanakaʻole’s leadership extended far beyond campus. In 1993, she and her sister were named National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts. She was also deeply connected to the Merrie Monarch Festival, serving as a respected judge for more than two decades.

“It’s a sad day for hula,” said Luana Kawelu, Merrie Monarch Festival president and ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo alumna. “She was reviewing plans for this year’s presentation just three days before she passed. That’s how committed she was to hula and to Merrie Monarch.”

Kanakaʻole

The Kanakaʻole family legacy is visible throughout ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo, from Edith Kanakaʻole Hall and its iconic mural to the Hale Kanakaʻole Fund, established with the ����Vlog�ٷ� Foundation to support Native Hawaiian students across the ����Vlog�ٷ� System.

• Related ����Vlog�ٷ� News story: Hundreds celebrate Edith Kanakaʻole at ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo, May 9, 2023

“Our ʻohana has lost a treasured kumu and cultural icon,” said ʻohana member and Interim Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Lei Kapono. “Through generations of haumāna—many of them ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo students—Aunty ��������Ծ� ensured that traditional knowledge thrives as lived practice, not merely performance.”

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The pageant title of Miss Hawaiʻi 2025 was bestowed on University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu alumna Emalia Dalire, who graduated in fall 2024 with a bachelor of arts in with a concentration in .

The Kāneʻohe resident, 19, was crowned on May 31 at Hawaiʻi Theatre by the , which provides women with the opportunity to promote platforms of community service, share their talents, intelligence, and positive values while serving as role models in our island communities, according to the organization’s website.

“Being crowned Miss Hawaiʻi 2025 is an indescribable honor and a dream come true,” Dalire said in an interview with the morning after being crowned. “I feel overwhelmed with gratitude, knowing I get to represent the beauty, culture and mana (power) of our islands. This moment is not just mine. It belongs to every person who believed in me.”

Dalire competed as Miss Kāneʻohe and topped 12 other competitors, called “delegates,” and will move on to represent the state at the Miss America competition in September in Orlando, Fla.

Hula lineage

It may come as no surprise that the talent Dalire showcased at the Miss Hawaiʻi competition was hula. She just competed and placed third in the category at the held in April in Hilo. Dalire dances for Keolalaulani Hālau ʻŌlapa O Laka under Nā Kumu Keolalaulani Dalire (her mother) and Regina Mākaʻikaʻi Igarashi Pascua.

Keep empowering yourself

The community service initiative that Dalire will focus on throughout her upcoming Miss Hawaiʻi reign is, “K.E.Y. to Life: Keep Empowering Yourself.” It’s a platform she holds close to her heart and the same one she promoted when she was crowned in December 2023.

“’The K.E.Y. to Life: Keep Empowering Yourself’ is my message of empowerment to all youth, especially Indigenous people, to be who they are,” Dalire had said in a previous article after winning her Miss Hawaiʻi Teen Volunteer title. “In the words of my mother, ‘The best person in life to be like is yourself,’ and learning about my Hawaiian culture and being proud of my Indigenous heritage, I gained the confidence and determination necessary to create my future, my story.”

Accelerated academic journey

As a freshman at Damien Memorial School, Dalire began attending Windward Community College, simultaneously taking high school and early college classes. The dual enrollment enabled her to graduate a year early from high school in 2022 at the age of 16, then in December of that year, receive two associate degrees from Windward CC in liberal arts and Hawaiian studies along with three certificates of completion.

The (APDF) is moving ahead—despite a last-minute loss of major funding. Just two weeks before its May 19 return to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the National Endowment for the Arts withdrew its $25,000 grant to support the festival’s programming.

“While this loss poses a significant challenge, the APDF team remains committed to delivering an inspiring celebration of dance, culture and connection, and this only strengthens our resolve,” said SheenRu Yong, associate director of APDF. “We’re not canceling—we’re coming together. The show will go on. If anything, this challenge is a call to gather for what matters, so come through.”

Hosted by ����Vlog�ٷ� ����ԴDz�’s , the festival runs through June 1, and brings together artists and dance traditions from across Asia, the Pacific and Hawaiʻi. Participants can take part in immersive workshops, attend performances and explore the cultural roots behind each movement.

The festival happens every two years and offers a deep, hands-on dive into storytelling through dance.

or by phone (808) 956-8246.

Festival highlights

Residents Artists

, under the direction of Kumu Hula Vicky Holt Takamine

from India/Canada, directed by Deepti Gupta

from Rotuma, Fiji, led by Letila Mitchell

Living the Art of Hula
Hālau Kilipohe Nā Lei Lehua
Thursday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Local Motion!: A Tribute to H. Wayne Mendoza
A celebration of traditional Filipino dance by Mendoza’s former apprentices
Sunday, May 25 at 2 p.m.

ʻIke Hana I & II
Two dynamic performances showcasing different works by this year’s resident artists
Saturday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 1 at 2 p.m.

“The public is warmly encouraged to attend this year’s performances, share the festival with others,” said Yong. “Every ticket, every social share, and every gesture of support helps sustain this work.”

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The is honoring the 2025 Merrie Monarch Festival with a weeklong celebration rooted in culture, creativity and connection.

Starting April 22, will bring together students, faculty and community members for a series of events at ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo that honor the legacy of hula.

Kahikuonālani is a poetic name for King Kalākaua, meaning “the seventh of the heavens,” honoring his chiefly lineage. As the “Merrie Monarch,” Kalākaua is celebrated for his dedication to revitalizing Hawaiian culture, hula and traditions during a time of great change.

“The University of Hawaiʻi at �ᾱ����’s celebration of the Merrie Monarch Festival allows us to honor the deep scholarship embedded in hula, elevate the voices of practitioners and scholars alike, foster community collaboration, and reaffirm our kuleana (responsibility) to use our ʻike (knowledge) to serve Hawaiʻi,” said Pelehonuamea Harman, director of Native Hawaiian Engagement at ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo.

April 22

Kahikuonālani Mākeke featuring local retail and food vendors
10 a.m.–2 p.m., Campus Center Plaza

April 23 and 24

Cultural presentations and special pop-up exhibit featuring Merrie Monarch history
11 a.m. Mookini Library

April 25

Live music and grab-and-go lunch (while available)
Noon–1:30 p.m., Campus Center Dining Hall Lānai

A free ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo shuttle will run on April 23 through April 26 connecting campus to craft fairs and the Merrie Monarch parade route in Hilo town. ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo will also host an outreach booth at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

Lei making, live music

����Vlog�ٷ� �ᾱ����’s , a major hub for the celebration, is offering hands-on experiences such as hula workshops, lei wili (twist-style lei making), and la����Vlog�ٷ�ala weaving.

“ʻImiloa exists at the intersection of tradition and innovation, and Merrie Monarch week is a powerful reminder of how our ancestral practices continue to evolve and inspire,” said Kaʻiu Kimura, executive director at ʻImiloa. “These programs are not just about observation—they’re about participation. We’re inviting our community to experience the depth of ʻike passed down through hula, storytelling and cultural practice in ways that resonate today.”

Full schedule of ʻImiloa events

Keepers of knowledge

A lineup of respected cultural practitioners will lead presentations throughout the week offering an immersive path into Hawaiian knowledge—whether through movement, material or moʻolelo (stories). Sessions will spotlight practitioners including Kekuhi Kealiʻikanakaʻoleohaililani, Taupōuri Tangarō, Kaʻea Lyons-Yglesias, Lehua Hauanio, Kaʻohu Seto, Kimo Keaulana, Pele and Kekoa Harman, Umi Kai, Keani Kaleimamahu, Cy Bridges, Leialoha Ilae-Kaleimamahu and Aulii Mitchell.

As a child, Miss Hawaiʻi Volunteer 2024 Makenna Kinsler first became aware of the hardships in her island home when she walked through Kakaʻako with her mom to help the homeless. Now a double major at the , Kinsler is still impacted by that experience.

“Seeing those vulnerable parts of our community that needed upliftment was really eye-opening,” Kinsler recalls. “I always remember to be grateful and give back where I can because recognizing what I have made me want to help others.”

Driven by her dedication to serve, Kinsler participated in , a scholarship program that promotes community service, academic excellence and leadership. Raised in Mānoa Valley and educated at La Pietra School for Girls, she remains closely connected to her community, from working knee-deep in loʻi kalo (taro patches) to mālama ʻ�徱�Բ� (care for the land) to feeding the hungry.

Merging science with ʻike Hawaiʻi (Indigenous knowledge)

Kinsler is pursuing degrees in and and is determined to merge both disciplines into her future career as an urban planner. Her vision is to create communities that are sustainable, resilient and rooted in Hawaiian values.

“In Hawaiʻi, we give a lot of importance to places and wahi (locations). I’m taking an ahupuaʻa (land division) class right now and it’s an interesting perspective of how we can model our communities today looking at the urban side of balancing nature and city as Hawaiʻi really rapidly grows our population,” said Kinsler.

• Related ����Vlog�ٷ� News story: Miss Hawaiʻi Teen Volunteer developed platform at ����Vlog�ٷ� West Oʻahu, June 21, 2024

Pioneer professors

Currently, Kinsler is immersed in researching climate change impacts for her global environmental science thesis. She finds inspiration from professors at ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa who are leading innovative projects addressing challenges such as sea level rise in the islands.

“It’s really cool to be in the same room as the pioneers of Hawaiʻi’s future and just seeing firsthand all the cool projects that they’re working on,” Kinsler said.

Hula is life

Kinsler said she is grateful for the opportunity to have stayed in Hawaiʻi for college, not only because it’s just blocks from her home, but it ensures she can continue another long-standing passion, hula.

The trained ʻō�����貹 (dancer) has studied under kumu hula Hiwa Vaughan and Hālau Hula Ka Lehua Tuahine since she was five. Kinsler has competed in the Merrie Monarch Festival two times, and she performed a hula for the talent portion of the Miss Volunteer America pageant in Tennessee this summer.

“Hula is such a big pillar of my life,” Kinsler said. “I really just wanted to transport people to Hawaiʻi and show my love.”

This fall at ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa, Kinsler plans to apply for the or BAM program, which enables students to start on their master’s during their senior year.

For the second consecutive year,, an Oʻahu hālau (school) led by nā kumu hula (hula teachers) Keawe and Tracie Lopes took top honors in both the group and solo divisions at the 61st Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Keawe is a Hawaiian language professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the director of the at the , and Tracie is a ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa alumna.

• Related ����Vlog�ٷ� News story: ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa kumu hula leads hālau to Merrie Monarch victory, April 24, 2023

The wāhine (women) of the hālau captured the competition’s overall award with 1,201 points, a combination of scores acquired in both hula kahiko (ancient) and ʻauana (modern) performances. Their score surpassed their closest competitors, Hālau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leināʻala, which finished second with 1,199 points, and Hula Hālau ʻO Kamuela came in third with 1,195 points.

Their mele kahiko (song), Auhea Wale ʻOe E Ka Liko, honored King Kalākaua and compared the Hawaiian monarch to the rising Sun, one who is destined for greatness.

In the kāne category, the hālau took fourth place in both kahiko and ʻauana categories. Their mele kahiko, Waiʻanae Kū Kilakila, praised the moku (district) of Waiʻanae on Oʻahu and Mauna Kaʻala (Mt. Kaʻala), standing tall with its broad shoulders.

4th consecutive Miss Hula

Awards for the hālau follows their soloist, Kaʻōnohikaumakaakeawe Kananiokeakua Holokai Lopes, winning the Miss Aloha Hula title on April 4. Kaʻōnohi, a graduate student at ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa, follows the footsteps of her mother (Miss Aloha Hula 1994) and sister Piʻikea Kekīhenelehuawewehiikekauʻōnohi Lopes (Miss Aloha Hula 2022). This yearʻs win marks the fourth consecutive solo title secured by Keawe and Tracie’s hālau.

A graduate haumāna (student) pursuing a master’s degree in at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa earned the Miss Aloha Hula title and Hawaiian language award at the 61st annual Merrie Monarch Festival. Kaʻōnohikaumakaakeawe Kananiokeakua Holokai Lopes competed alongside 12 other contestants in the solo category held at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in Hilo on Thursday, April 4.

Lopes’ parents, ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa alumna Tracie Lopes and ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa Director R. Keawe Lopes are also her kumu hula, leading Windward Oʻahu-based hālau Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe. 21-year-old Kaʻōnohi, who is fluent in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), also earned a BA from the university’s Hawaiian language department.

“One of the goals in Kawaihuelani is for our predominantly Hawaiian population of students to acquire their language and realize a sense of self through ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi,” said C. M. Kaliko Baker, a Kumu ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi at ����Vlog�ٷ� ����ԴDz�. “That sense of self was evident in the way that Kaʻōnohi carried herself last night. She absolutely knew who she was.”

Soloists are judged on a variety of criteria, everything from posture, expression, costume authenticity and mele (song) interpretation. Each contestant is required to dance both hula kahiko (ancient) and ʻauana (modern).

For her kahiko portion, Lopes shared mele Aia Ka Lani Kua Kaʻa I Luna, which transported audiences to Lanikūhonua, a revered cultural refuge at Ko Olina. The West Oʻahu abode, once frequented by aliʻi (royalty), holds great significance to her parents’ hula lineage.

Lopes’ mele ʻauana honored her namesake, the late Uncle George Ainsley Kananiokeakua Holokai, a revered kumu hula. Draped in golden strands of lei kukunaokalā, she danced Kanani Holokai, likening Uncle George to a gentle breeze that dances across the land.

Hula heritage earns 3rd ʻohana title

Lopes comes from an ʻohana deeply rooted in hula. Her mother Tracie won the Miss Aloha Hula title in 1994. This is also the fourth consecutive solo title secured by Keawe and Tracie’s hālau. Two of those were earned by ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa alumnae; Lopes’s older sister, Piʻikea Kekīhenelehuawewehiikekauʻōnohi Lopes (Miss Aloha Hula 2022) and Rosemary Kaʻimilei Keamoai-Strickland (Miss Aloha Hula 2021).

More hula excellence
• ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa kumu hula leads hālau to Merrie Monarch victory
• Face of Nike Indigenous collection is Kānaka ʻōiwi grad student
• ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa grad student captures 2022 Miss Aloha Hula title
• New Miss Aloha Hula 2021 honors ����Vlog�ٷ� kumu with dance

There are two more nights of hula competition with wāhine (women) and kāne (men) groups. Hālau from across Hawaiʻi and the U.S. continent will perform on Friday, April 5 (hula kahiko) and Saturday, April 6 (hula ʻauana).

is housed within at ����Vlog�ٷ� ����ԴDz�.

A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa medical school scientist is preparing to perform for the fourth time at the 61st annual Merrie Monarch Festival. Andrew Kekūpaʻa Knutson is a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Cardiovascular Research at the (JABSOM) and a member of Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe, under the direction of Kumu Hula Tracie and Keawe Lopes. Keawe is also a Hawaiian language professor at ����Vlog�ٷ� ����ԴDz�. Knutson along with the ���������’s kāne line will be competing for the third year in a row.

“As hula people, we say that ‘hula is life,’ and we really take that to heart,” said Knutson, who has been dancing since he was eight years old. “It permeates and touches every part of our lives, whether it be our families, how we interact with our environment, or even at work.”

Knutson first took the Merrie Monarch stage in 2002 with Kumu Hula Leimomi Ho and Kealiʻikaʻapunihonua Keʻena Aʻo Hula, when he was 14 years old. It would be 20 years before he would compete on that level again.

He attended college on the U.S. continent and pursued his passion for science when he returned. However, his love for hula never waned.

“Hula connects me to my history, my land, my culture, my kūpuna,” Knutson said. “In science, I’m studying biology, which is the study of life. So, hula is another aspect of studying life. It gives you a different perspective.”

Related ����Vlog�ٷ� News stories:

• ����Vlog�ٷ� educators dance in Merrie Monarch opening ceremony, April 2, 2024
• ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo celebrates Merrie Monarch, April 2, 2024

Hula: Lab stress relief

Hula centers me and grounds me in understanding why I’m doing what I’m doing.
—Andrew Knutson

While the rigors of hula can be mentally and physically taxing, Knutson said it’s a good outlet for the stresses that come from working in a lab, where he studies heart health, specifically how behavior and environment influence genes in the cardiovascular system, with a focus on chromatin factors (DNA and protein complexes).

“Hula re-energizes and reinvigorates me,” Knutson said. “There’s a mental and a spiritual aspect that takes me out of the worries and stresses associated with doing biomedical research. I’m working with mice and genetic and genomic techniques. I can kind of get lost in the minutiae of things. Hula centers me and grounds me in understanding why I’m doing what I’m doing.”

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“E hō mai ka ʻike mai luna mai ē” (Grant us the knowledge from above) chanted more than 300 students and members of Edith Kanakaʻole’s family in a special celebration in May. It was a vibrant day of hula, oli (chant), mele (song) and learning that honored the renowned teacher, dancer, singer and composer—a day of living out Edith Kanakaʻole’s rich legacy.

The Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation hosted the event in Keaukaha to honor the cultural icon, who is now memorialized in the Edith Kanakaʻole quarter. Students came from Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo Hawaiian Language Immersion Public Charter School, Keaukaha Elementary School and Ke Ana Laʻahana Public Charter School.

The festivities included Edith Kanakaʻole’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and representatives from the U.S. Mint, the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum and the National Museum for the American Indian.

“Just me being able to get out there and to hula for my grandmother to honor her in the ways of hula that are meant for her that really impacted me pretty hard today,” said great grandson Keao Killion, a Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo Hawaiian Language Immersion Public Charter School student. “Because of the fact that she left all these hulas, all of these dances, all of these songs, meles, not only for us to know but to pass on to our next generation and for us to teach, not for us to hold on to it or to let it die out.”

Kaniaulono Hāpai, a 10th grader, said, “I felt very humbled to dance in front of her kids because this is their legacy, this is Aunty Edith’s legacy, and I just wanted to make sure that everything happened as it should happen because this is our one chance to honor her.”

Edith Kanakaʻole’s legacy: Just do it

Edith Kanakaʻole taught at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College in the 1970s. Today, her granddaughter Huihui Kanahele-Mossman serves as executive director of Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation and ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo kuleana (responsibility) and curriculum development coordinator.

“I think it’s important for people to know that much like grandma did, we need to participate in ʻ�徱�Բ� (land), we need to know how to participate in ʻ�徱�Բ� through chant, through hula, through ceremony because that was one of the strongest points that she made while she was alive,” Kanahele-Mossman said. “What I want people to know is go ahead and feel free to do that at any point in time that they need to do that because that’s what she wanted part of her legacy to be.”

The Edith Kanakaʻole’s family recently established the Hale Edith Kanakaʻole Fund with the ����Vlog�ٷ� Foundation, in recognition of Edith Kanakaʻole’s numerous contributions toward the promotion of Native Hawaiians’ educational pursuits. The fund provides support to students enrolled at any campus within the ����Vlog�ٷ� System with a preference for students of Native Hawaiian ancestry. .

Always seek knowledge

The Keaukaha area is special and is where Edith Kanakaʻole helped to create a Hawaiian language program for a public school to perpetuate the Hawaiian language.

Workshops for the day included: hei, the skill of creating string figures; palaʻie, the loop and ball game; the hula “E komo ma loko a o Halemaʻumaʻu,” original choreography by Edith Kanakaʻole; “Pua Melie,” another of Edith Kanakaʻole’s famous songs; introduction to the art of ʻulana (weaving) lauhala (pandanus) leaves; and a virtual huakaʻi (trip) through Keaukaha, exploring the place names Edith Kanakaʻole describes and writes about in her song, “Nā Pana Kaulana O Keaukaha.”

“Remembering Aunty Edith is something very important to our community of Keaukaha, because she’s done so much, not only for the whole world but especially for us individually,” said Hāpai. “And ‘E hō mai ka ʻike’ is a famous line of hers that means, ‘to instill all the knowledge into us,’ and that is something that should be spread to everyone, to always seek knowledge.”

—By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch

“I think it’s good that they finally put a Native Hawaiian (woman) on a U.S. currency—that they recognize our culture,” exclaimed 10-year-old Opua Kern, holding her Edith Kanakaʻole quarter in a commemorative sleeve.

Kern joined about 1,000 who gathered to celebrate the iconic cultural practitioner’s legacy at the on May 6, 2023. Kanakaʻole worked as a teacher at and at ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo in the 1970s, creating courses and seminars on subjects including Hawaiian language, ethnobotany, Polynesian history, genealogy and Hawaiian chant and mythology. The legendary educator passed away in 1979.

“How to sustain ourselves on the ʻ�徱�Բ� (land), how to teach hula, how to oli (chant), how to speak Hawaiian—all of that was encapsulated in her and she positioned herself within the university system where she really needed to be,” said granddaughter Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, executive director of the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation (EKF) and ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo kuleana (responsibility) and curriculum development coordinator.

The U.S. Mint released the Edith Kanakaʻole quarter into circulation in March. The special coin was a collaboration between EKF, the U.S. Mint and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. Kanakaʻole is one of five American women being recognized in 2023 as part of the National Women’s History Museum’s American Women Quarters™ Program.

“It means a lot to the U.S. Mint,” said U.S. Mint Deputy Director Kristie McNally. “It’s showing America the history of Hawaiʻi and what a wonderful impact she made to the history here and holding the culture.”

E hō mai ka ʻike

In one of many chicken skin moments that day, hundreds rose to their feet to chant “E hō mai ka ʻike” (granting the wisdom) at the opening ceremony. The first line of Kanakaʻole’s well-known oli is also inscribed on the quarter that honors her.

“Aunty Edith knew that for Hawaiʻi to thrive as a vibrant Indigenous space, she had to be willing to share the knowledge and wisdom of her ancestors,” said ����Vlog�ٷ� President David Lassner. “Her philosophy was to teach all who come, because one never knows who will advance the knowledge. This is important wisdom for the University of Hawaiʻi, which is widely recognized as one of the nation’s most diverse universities.”

Kanakaʻole founded Hālau o Kekuhi, an internationally recognized dance company. The Edith Kanakaʻole Multi-Purpose Stadium in Hilo where the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival is held is named in her honor. She was also a singer, composer and Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winner.

“The most important thing for people to take away from Aunty Edith’s legacy is the fact that throughout her lifetime she really advanced and tried to perpetuate—we would today call traditional ecological knowledge,” said Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, associate curator for Native Hawaiian history and culture for the National Museum for the American Indian. “So this is really a celebration of that knowledge base that she worked very hard to pass down to not only her children but to anyone who was willing to learn.”

The next generation

A mural of Kanakaʻole adorns the wall of ����Vlog�ٷ� �ᾱ����’s Edith Kanakaʻole Hall where some of the festivities, including coin distribution were held. The mural is a collaboration between local artist Kamea Hadar, Kanakaʻole’s grandson Kūhaʻo Zane, creative director of Sig Zane Designs, with support from the ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Services. Attendees from keiki to kūpuna stopped to admire the artwork and found themselves enriched by the day’s activities.

“The amount that she has touched so many people is just astounding, not just through her hula, but through her teaching and through everyone that’s her legacy. I’ve never known anyone that had such a big legacy as Edith Kanakaʻole,” said Myles Walsh, a ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo alumnus.

Kanakaʻole’s 14-year-old great grandaughter Malu Killion said, “I think everything she did is important to me and my family, because without her, I donʻt think Hawaiʻi would be in the position it is today.”

The Kanakaʻole’s family recently established the Hale Kanakaʻole Fund with the ����Vlog�ٷ� Foundation. The fund recognizes Kanakaʻole’s numerous contributions toward the promotion of Native Hawaiians’ educational pursuits, and provides support to students enrolled at any campus within the ����Vlog�ٷ� System with a preference for students of Native Hawaiian ancestry. .

Mossman said, “For the next generation, they realize this is who she was and this is the person that the hall is named after and this is the person that the multipurpose stadium is named after and now we know who she is and now we have another Native Hawaiian hero to follow after.”

—By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch

The community is invited to celebrate the life and legacy of legendary educator and cultural icon Edith Kanakaʻole on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at the . Kanakaʻole worked as a teacher at from 1971 to 1974 and at ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo from 1974 to 1979. At both schools, she created courses and seminars on subjects including Hawaiian language, ethnobotany, Polynesian history, genealogy and Hawaiian chant and mythology.

“It was famously said of my Grandmother that she never turned down anyone who asked her to teach. She always said, ‘yes’ not only out of the goodness of her heart but because she felt an urgency to pass down this information and these traditions before they fade away and are forgotten,” said Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation executive director.

On March 27, the U.S. Mint (Mint) released into circulation American Women Quarters™ honoring the award-winning composer. Kanakaʻole is one of five American women being honored in new quarters in 2023 as part of the American Women Quarters™ Program. “He Kaʻao No Aunty Edith Kanakaʻole” attendees will be able to receive a Edith Kanakaʻole quarter.

The program starts at 10:30 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center for kīpaepae (welcoming ceremony) and hoʻokupu (ceremonial presentation of gifts and tributes). At 11:30 a.m., the event moves to the Edith Kanakaʻole Hall for various activities including:

• Edith’s voice: video loop of “Aunty Edith”
• Mint educational resources and coin board distribution
• Sharing of stories of Aunty Edith’s impact on the world and Indigenous cultures
• Sharing of stories among Hawaiʻi CC ʻohana
• Sharing of stories among ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo ʻohana
• Sharing of stories among Kanakaʻole ʻohana
• Educational crafts and activities

In addition, a hoʻolauleʻa (celebration) featuring various musicians and performers will be held fronting the parking lot. .

“Aunty Edith, as she was affectionately known, created an incredible legacy across the University of Hawaiʻi,” said ����Vlog�ٷ� President David Lassner. “We were truly blessed to have her so generously share her knowledge and wisdom with all who were interested and committed.”

The Edith Kanakaʻole Quarter

The coin features a depiction of Edith Kanakaʻole, with her hair and lei poʻo (head lei) morphing into the elements of a Hawaiian landscape, symbolizing Kanakaʻole‘s life’s work of preserving the natural land and traditional Hawaiian culture. The commemorative quarter also bears an inscription in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), “e hō mai ka ʻike” or “granting the wisdom.” The phrase comes from a well-known oli (chant) Kanakaʻole composed that asks for knowledge to be bestowed upon the chanter.

Kanakaʻole joins four other honorees in 2023 quarters including the first African American and first Native American woman licensed pilot Bessie Coleman; civil rights leader, reformer, former first lady and author Eleanor Roosevelt; Mexican American activist, journalist, and educator Jovita Idar; and America’s first prima ballerina who broke barriers as a Native American Maria Tallchief.

“It is an honor to celebrate the life and legacy of Edith Kanakaʻole at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo,” said Kristie McNally, Deputy Director of the United States Mint. “Edith Kanakaʻole—the first Indigenous Hawaiian woman to be featured on a United States quarter—worked diligently to preserve Native Hawaiian culture, teach environmental conservation, and serve the Hawaiian community at large. We are proud to recognize her accomplishments through the American Women Quarters™ Program.”

The American Women Quarters™ is a four-year program (2022–25) to honor the accomplishments and contributions made by women who have shaped our Nation’s history and helped pave the way for generations to follow. Each year, the Secretary of the Treasury selects the honorees following consultation with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, the National Women’s History Museum and the Congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus. In 2021, the public was invited to submit recommendations for potential honorees through a web portal established by the National Women’s History Museum.

“At a time when Native Hawaiians were discouraged from learning their language and cultural practices, Edith Kanakaʻole persisted in teaching and innovating upon her traditional knowledge base,” said Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, associate curator for Native Hawaiian History and Culture at the National Museum of the American Indian. “Her work laid the foundation for developing Hawaiian curricula that thousands continue to benefit from today. The Smithsonian works with her story in both telling the lesser known history about the U.S. takeover of Hawaiʻi and its aftermath to further understandings of Native Hawaiian and U.S. history.”

The Kanakaʻole family recently established the Hale Kanakaʻole Fund with the ����Vlog�ٷ� Foundation. The fund recognizes Kanakaʻole’s numerous contributions toward the promotion of Native Hawaiians’ educational pursuits, and provides support to students enrolled at any campus within the ����Vlog�ٷ� System with a preference for students of Native Hawaiian ancestry. .

Kumu hula R. Keawe Lopes, Jr. of Hālau said he is very proud of his dancers after winning the 2023 Merrie Monarch Festival. Lopes is a Hawaiian language professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the director of the at the .

“Very humbled for the honor of being selected the overall winner of the 60th anniversary,” said Lopes, whose wife Tracie is also a kumu hula for the ���������. “Just thankful that we were able to present something that the esteemed panel of judges thought worthy of the title, and we are just ecstatic about that, for sure.”

Lopes’ ��������� finished with 1,231 points edging out Hālau Nā Mamo O Puʻuanahulu, which finished second with 1,230 points. Hālau Ka Lei Mokihana O Leināʻala came in third with 1,229 points.

“I think every kumu hula and every dancer that makes a commitment to the Merrie Monarch needs to be congratulated because the huakaʻi, or the journey, to the Olympics is not an easy one,“ said Lopes. “My hats off to all that commit devoting their time and their efforts and their family and their support to making it to the Olympics of the hula.”

For the third straight year, a dancer from Lopes’ ��������� won Miss Aloha Hula, with Agnes Renee Leihiwahiwaikapolionāmakua Thronas Brown taking the 2023 title. His daughter, Piʻikea Kekīhenelehuawewehiikekauʻōnohi Lopes, a ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa graduate student, captured the 2022 title.

Three Native Hawaiian luminaries were recognized for their contributions toward the preservation and revitalization of the Hawaiian language and culture. Edith Kekuhikuhipuʻuoneonāaliʻiōkohala Kenao Kanakaʻole, Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett and Jerald Kimo Alama Keaulana were each awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at the April 20, 2023 meeting of the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents.

Edith Kanakaʻole

Legendary kumu hula and composer Edith Kanakaʻole (1913–79) worked as a teacher at Hawaiʻi Community College from 1971 to 1974 and at ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo from 1974 to 1979. At both schools, she created courses and seminars on subjects including Hawaiian language, ethnobotany, Polynesian history, genealogy and Hawaiian chant and mythology.

The recommendation letter stated: “Aunty Edith was a kumu hula, a master instructor for hula and an academic researcher developing her own chants for cultural preservation and academic work. Her contributions extend to the work of environmental scientists and Hawaiian universities that teach her philosophies and scientific methods and position Hawaiʻi, and the United States, in the global conversation on climate resilience.”

In March 2023, a commemorative quarter honoring Kanakaʻole was released into circulation by the U.S. Mint. She is one of five American women to be minted on new quarters as part of the 2023 honorees for the American Women Quarters™ Program.

�����Բ��첹ʻ�DZ���’s family will accept the degree and be recognized at the ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo and Hawaiʻi CC spring commencement exercises. The community is invited to celebrate �����Բ��첹ʻ�DZ���’s life and legacy, on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at ����Vlog�ٷ� Hilo.

Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett

An accomplished kumu hula, award-winning composer and singer, Frank Hewett is an advocate for the culture and arts of Hawaiʻi as well as an author, researcher and practitioner of Hawaiian medicine. While Hewett shares his wealth of knowledge with students as a Hawaiian studies lecturer at Windward CC, the recognition was proposed based on his numerous lifetime achievements.

The recommendation letter stated: “While teaching for the University of Hawaiʻi, Kawaikapu was still largely involved in promoting Hawaiian cultural traditions and values within the broader community. Not only was he a performing musician and hula dancer, but he also continued to work within the community to teach hula, culture, and the healing traditions that were taught to him by [Kahuna Emma] DeFries.”

As a member of the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts, Hewett has won numerous Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards as a composer and performer. He started his hālau in 1978 and continues to teach hula to students from around the world. Hewett is currently directing a project to document the learning experiences, teaching methods and upbringing of kumu hula who are considered kūpuna to preserve that knowledge for future generations.

Jerald Kimo Alama Keaulana

Jerald Keaulana has numerous accomplishments as a historian, musician, composer, kumu hula, educator, author, researcher, advisor, community leader and advocate. The Bishop Museum Kimo Alama Keaulana Mele Collection was named after him when he committed more than 1,000 mele to their archives.

The recommendation letter stated: “Within the ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa Kumu Keaulana has taught students, including our own faculty. is a multi-media mele repository and interactive resource within the Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language. It houses more than 600 mele from summer courses he taught, including video footage of him teaching melody to students conveying much treasured meaning and intent. This institute is celebrating 20 years of mele stewardship at the university this 2023 and will be celebrating 20 years of working with Kumu Keaulana. He embodies the university’s education mission as his teachings and guidance have inspired generations of Native Hawaiians throughout Hawaiʻi and the world.”

One of the letters of support stated: “Uncle Kimo continues to encourage others around him to realize their own potential and ability to promote the Hawaiian culture with integrity. He inspires countless people of all ages as a role model, choosing to remain in alignment with our Kūpuna in caring for their knowledge and using it to reach our cultural understanding. The etiquette and mannerisms he displays as a chosen guardian of ancient knowledge provides a sound template for others to clearly demarcate boundaries of conduct for when—and when not to invoke forms of artistic or creative licenses, lest we ignore ancient wisdom and lean on our own when convenient.”

More on honorary degrees

The ����Vlog�ٷ� Board of Regents may confer honorary degrees to individuals who are “distinguished with the equivalent of a national or international reputation. Scholarship, the arts, public service, the professions and business and industry are examples of general areas in which distinguished accomplishments may warrant the award of an honorary degree by the university.”

The mele (song) “Holo Mai Pele Mai Kahikina” (describing the journey of Pele from Kahiki) reverberated throughout the campus during a free workshop held on April 2. Kumu Taupōuri Tangarō from taught students, faculty, staff and community members the and oli (chant) “Holo Mai Pele,” strengthening the connection between the community and Hawaiian culture.

The workshop was offered as a part of Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Ao’s He Ukana Aloha Kā Kīlauea series, launched during the 2021–2022 school year as an online webinar. It acknowledges and celebrates the leadership accomplishments of regional aliʻi through historical accounts, stories and songs from the 10 ����Vlog�ٷ� campuses. ()

“I really liked that [Tangarō] said this hula helps us to energize ourselves because we have to excite our body to activate this hula,” said Maylyn Magno-Gomes, an attendee from the community. “I thought what a great way to also live; to remember to energize ourselves. To show up. To activate.”

More than 300 people of various backgrounds registered for the event, demonstrating clear interest from the ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa campus and communities in building pilina (relationships, connections) with Hawaiian culture.

This workshop series serves “to demonstrate that our ancient myths, like those of Pele and Hiʻiaka, can speak to the development of personal and collective vision, mission and imperatives, and that it can even address equity, wellbeing and leadership,” added Tangarō. “This is deeply rewarding for me and for those I serve. Higher education cannot just be about leaving one’s community to enter a university campus. It also means to take the university services into the community.”

Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Punihei Lipe, director of ����Vlog�ٷ� ����ԴDz�’s (NHPoLAO), coordinated with Tangarō to host the workshops at ����Vlog�ٷ� Mānoa and an NHPoLAO community organization partner, .

All participants said by learning the hula they gained new or additional perspectives and connections with themselves, another person, their ancestors and/or ʻāina (land) and would also recommend these types of workshops to others.

to learn more about future Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office events.