Hoʻi Ke Ewe

10/11/2024

Hauʻoli lā hānau i ka lewa lani, e kuʻu kumu!

10/02/2024

Playing music for Kumu Pohaiʻs hālau was a fun change of pace! Huakaʻi Fundraiser for Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

10/02/2024

02 OCT 2024
Who would have thought that I would be playing Hawaiian music and singing at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikīkī at the Huakaʻi fundraiser for Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives? All part of hālau life...

09/09/2024

08 SEP 2024
Reprising here a short oli kāhea I composed for Kaʻala, to provide some examples weaving elements of what we experience in our visits there.

Milimilia ka ʻili e nā lima makuʻe o Kaiona
ʻili neʻe nei i ka nahele
me nā kolokolo o ka lau ke alani
Na ka lani ia lau, ʻaʻala o Niolopua
Pua puka hiʻi lani i ka limu uli o uka
A no uka hoʻi au e nā wahine noho mauna
He hoa kaʻana, he kahu kini akua
E hoʻi mai!
Our skins are fondled by the brown hands of Kaiona
as we tunnel through the forest here,
like leafminers in the alani leaves
Reserved for chiefs is the alani leaf, fragrance of Niolopua
A flower nestled, held in the moss of the uplands
And to the uplands I return o women residing on the mountain
A sharing companion, a guardian of the god-multitude
I must return!

NOTES: The trail through the plateau of Kaʻala is narrow, and the branches and foliage are constantly brushing against our skin, it is like tunneling through the dense foliage, like the scribbled pale marks of the small insects that tunnel through the leaves of alani (Melicope species), whose leaves are fragrant, and were used to calm the aliʻi if their sleep was troubled. The goddess of sleep is Niolopua. The flower of the alani emerges out of the stems, often poking through the thick dark epiphytic mosses that cover the branches of all growing things in the cloud forest. The women of the uplands here refer to both Kaiona (patron goddess of Kaʻala) and Niolopua who was just mentioned, but also evoke the epiphytic ferns called wahine-noho-mauna (Adenophorus spp). Their presence is to be welcomed, among the uncountable living manifestations of the gods that are found in the wao akua.

08/29/2024

Hauʻoli lā hānau no ka Mōʻīwahine!

For more information: https://www.hawaiiponoi.info/

08/05/2024

05 AUG 2024
Mahalo to our awesome loiloi for the Papa ʻŪniki ʻUlu of Hālau Mele: Kumu Sissy Lake-Farm, Kumu John Kuʻuhoamele Cuban, Kumu Kuuleilani Reyes, Mo'olono Kanani Harlytte Kahana-Reid, and (not shown) Kahuna P**e Kalama Cabigon. The official portrait and the relaxed. ♥️🌿

06/11/2024

11 JUN 2024
Pō Kūkolu o ke Kaʻaona
5th night of the month of Kaʻaona

Welcome to Kaʻaona, the 2nd month of the Kauwela [summer].
According to some, a good month for fishing mālolo [flying fish].

According to the writings of Rubellite Kawena Johnson and John Kaipo Mahelona (Nā Inoa Hōkū, 1975), the months are male stars in the sixth generation after male Ao (day) and female Pō (night). Each star-month has one or more star-wives. The males are born in succeeding generations starting with ʻIkuwā (Pohā-kōʻeleʻele), followed by Welehu, Makaliʻi (ʻAuhuhu-paʻina), Kāʻelo, Kaulua, Nana, Welo, Ikiiki, Kaʻaona, Hinaiaʻeleʻele, Māhoe Mua (Hilina Ehu), and Māhoe Hope (Hilina Mā). Variants are in parentheses in the above list.

Malo, in Hawaiian Antiquities, equates ʻIkuwā with October (and Kaʻaona therefore equating with June), but Emerson notes in Malo that Hawaiian month correspondences with the Western calendar differ according to islands and individuals.

05/01/2024

01 MAY 2024
On this Lei Day, here is a nice discussion of different lei-making styles from Kamehameha Schools:

It’s not too late to make or give a lei during this celebratory season! Here, Ho‘okahua Cultural Vibrancy Group Cultural Specialist Kaleonahe Kauahi-Daniels KSK’91 shares a tutorial on how to fashion a hilo-style tī leaf lei.

04/29/2024

This Wednesday, please join us next to Waikīkī Aquarium for our annual recognition of the changing of the Hawaiian seasons:

https://mailchi.mp/friendsofthewaikikiaquarium/aug-enews-4849716?e=8effc8c05f

04/29/2024

Another soaking wet hālau portrait from the Commemoration of the Battle of Nuʻuanu 27 APR 2024. The rain made it cleansing and memorable!

01/29/2024

Mahalo to Michael DeMotta for sharing this ad with me that includes, in background, our beloved Sabra Kauka offering an oli aloha. The ad even matches the length of her oli in entirety.

Follow Michael B. Jordan as he experiences more of the world with Chase Sapphire Reserve. More info at https://chase.com/SapphireReservePlay with Audio Descr...

04/07/2023

Hulo e Hanalei!