Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 6, 1 June 1998 — Nā Leo Hawaiʻi Kahiko: Master Chanters of Hawaiʻi & Songs of Old Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Nā Leo Hawaiʻi Kahiko: Master Chanters of Hawaiʻi & Songs of Old Hawaiʻi

By Manu Boyd BISHOP MUSEUM'S Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program recently released one of the most significant recordings in the history of Hawaiian music on compact disc. "Nā Leo Hawai'i Kahiko" is a fascinating eolleehon of chants and music recorded in the 1920s and 30s by territorial ethnomusicologist Helen H. Roberts, museum anthropologist Kenneth Emory and scholar Theodore Kelsey. It

provides cultural insight and knowledge onee only available to a select few. Originally released in 1981 as an LP, the recording has served as a fundamental tool in the redevelopment of Hawaiian chanting, whose unique characteristics and inflections set it apart from other vocal expressions. With the reawakening of interest in Hawaiian culture and the development of such programs as the King Kamehameha Hula Competition. whieh

was the first to feature an oli (solo chant) division, the desire to learn traditional vocal stylings has surpassed the availability of kumu (teachers) well-versed in the art form. Tools such as "Nā Leo Hawai'i Kahiko" have helped a new generation of chant practitioners gain insight into fragile traditions obscured over time by outside influences. One of Hawai'i's most celebrated chanters was James Kapihenui Pālea Kuluwaimaka, ancestor of the Lā'iebased chanter and kumu hula, Cy Bridges. Bom in Ka'ū in .1845, Kuluwaimaka maintained an extensive mele (chant) repertoire in the courts of Kamehameha IV and Kalākaua, and continued to perform

well into the 20th century. In this recording, made in the 1930s by Vtvienne Huapala Mader, Kuluwaimaka, then nearly 90, performs examples of a healing prayer, a prayer chant addressing Hi'iaka, a genealogy chant for Kamehameha I, a love chant performed in the ho'āeae style and many others. The well annotated, 40-page CD booklet offers an overview of the numerous styles and functions of traditional mele. Olioli, kepakepa, kāwele and hō'uwē'uwē are some of

the ancient chant styles that are occasionally heard today. Consultants on the original recording were cultural experts Pat Nāmaka Bacon and her hānai mother, the late Mary Kawena Pūku'i. The projects re-release on compact disc, delighted Mrs. Bacon. "It's good to hear different styles of chanting. You'll notice that eaeh chanter doesn't sound exactly like the next. I remember young kids years ago listening to the recordings at the museum. They'd try to sound like old men. Leam the traditional framework and pattems, but understand that vocally, you are an individual," she said. "My sister Pele (Pūku'i Suganuma), along with 'lolani (Luahine) and Lokalia

(Montgomery) all leamed chanting at the same time from Malia Kau at Moanalua — but they eaeh had individual voices, Bacon concluded. The cover design by Jon de Mello is a collage of Bishop Museum images of well-known, 19th century-bom chanters. The CD booklet description reads, "James Kapihenui Pālea Kuluwaimaka, ea; 1934 (top left). Wahinekeaouli Pā (center). K. Pa'ikulu, photographed by Helen H. Roberts, 1923. Kamuela Akoni Mika, photographed by Helen H. Roberts, 1923 (farright).

Writing to Kenneth I Emory, Dec 1, 1923, | Roberts said, 'I have had a most interesting time with a man (Akoni Mika) up on | homesteads who gave me the hula kā lā'au, whieh he played with a tin pan in 1 lieu of the two sticks, so that it could be heard on the maehine. Nothing of wood in the way of instruments of percussion will | record on the phonograph. This man is part Hawaiian, | part Mexican Indian, and I has most interesting features.' Peter K. Ka'awa, ; playing the 'ūkēkē (musieal bow), photographed by Helen H. Roberts. 1923.

Photographs from the collections of Bishop Museum." "Nā Leo Hawai'i Kahiko, "produced by the Bishop Museum and originally compiled by Dr. Eiizabeth Tatar, is distributed exclusively by the Mountain Apple Company. Enjoy the recording, if not as a tool to leam older Hawaiian traditions, then as a window of understanding into the rich heritage of a remarkably poetic and expressive people. ■

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Graphic at top: Edison Cylinder Recorder, used by Helen Roberts in 1921 to record chanters, featured in CD booklet.