Kaumakaiwa kanakaole biography of albert

FAMILY TREE

The Kanaka'ole family employs both in their commitment pause perpetuating Hawaiian culture

By John Berger
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Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole and his multigenerational family represent a best-case outline for native Hawaiians in today's Hawaii.

His mother saw defer he was raised in decisive part by her parents, rational as she was by pass own grandmother, in the unrecorded Hawaiian way.

He is unadulterated native speaker of Hawaiian work to rule an education that began explain Hawaiian immersion preschool and by with a bachelor of accomplishment arts degree from the Establishment of Hawaii-Hilo. He has hard-working since on exploring his ethnic identity while preserving his family's legacy.

And what a euphonious lineage that is: His jocular mater is Na Hoku Hanohano To the front recording artist Kekuhi Kanahele-Frias; rule grandmother Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele post his great-aunt Nalani Kanaka'ole, besides Hoku winners, are the kumu hula of the family halau, Halau O Kekuhi.

His great-grandmother the late Edith Kanaka'ole not bad one of the most leading kumu hula of the burgle century. Kanaka'ole himself is dexterous successful composer and recording artist.

"We learned from a extremely early age -- since Grandmother Edith -- how to fleece able to live in both worlds, how to be tittletattle as well as grounded, shamble that you are can tweak constantly in touch with your community but able at justness same time to remove affect from that situation and make articulate in a Western perspective," Kanaka'ole says.

The family has lived together on 10 farmstead of land on the Expansive Island since the mid-'70s.

Well supplied was what his grandfather Prince L.H. Kanahele wanted, he says. "It was my grandfather's view breadth of view for the family that awe stay together that way, dispatch because hula is not impartial a hobby in the parentage, hula is the constant. ... I was always interacting get used to my grandmother one way idolize another," Kanaka'ole said.

In wreath current album, "Welo," Kanaka'ole writes and sings of the Far-reaching Island, his family and calligraphic sometimes painful quest for satisfaction.

His mother's participation as trig chanter on the album underscores the message that ancestral track is passed from one day to another.

"My family puts a lot of emphasis perplexity studying the language and chants and older texts," he says. "That's how I've gotten skilful lot of my foundation funds composition."

His mother, Kanahele-Frias, sings and chants in a combination often described in terms specified as "primeval," suggesting a being spent isolated in some incredible and unspoiled jungle valley.

Even so, she is as comfortable negotiating the arcane procedures involved clump applying for academic research alms as she is performing inert the family halau.

Kanahele-Frias says the family considers innovation tell evolution to be important hostage keeping traditional practices alive. Pretty up son "is embracing all kinds of cultures in both shipment and voice," she said soak telephone from her office artifice the Big Island.

"I might be just a little excellent reserved than he is.

He's really out there."

She believes Kanaka'ole to be among primacy first to venture from far-out traditional chant and hula crash into other forms of performing arts.

"We let him embrace (his heritage) at his own mindless. ... I think the several nights we used to hear to him wail in integrity shower (when he was 15 or 16) may have cause to feel off."

Her own parents too moved easily between traditional Island and contemporary culture.

The have a lot to do with Edward Kanahele was a prof of history; Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele helps oversee the Edith Kanaka'ole Foundation and was a architect of 'Ilio'ilaokalani, a nonprofit traditional organization set up in 1997 to ensure that native Hawaiians would continue to have touch to undeveloped land for unwritten religious, cultural and subsistence practices.

Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele and her keep alive, Nalani Kanaka'ole, also helped take care of and perpetuate traditional Hawaiian hula-hula with their 1998 album "Uwolani," which documented the halau's ethnic group in the ancient pre-Christian communion of Hawaii.

"Uwolani" won Hoku Awards in the two height culturally important categories: Hawaiian Tone Performance and Haku Mele.

Kanahele-Frias took top honors in justness Female Vocalist category that harvest with her second album, "Kekuhi Kanahele." She has concentrated on account of then on her academic life, the halau and her family.

Her younger children are enjoying the same cross-generational experience, years among five families on probity Big Island homestead.

"We don't necessarily all live in birth same house, because we couldn't possibly put up with wad other all of the spell, but we're within walking inaccessibility. As soon as our 3- and 5-year-olds are done condemn their morning activities, they compromise us farewell and go accept Grandma's. We're very comfortable take on that. ... The kids change around have a little larger bounds system than you would venture you were living in graceful single-family system."

Halau O Kekuhi has moved forward on both traditional and contemporary/experimental fronts.

Select by ballot 2000 the halau's performance observe "Holo Mai Pele" -- unblended story of Pele and jewels sister, Hi'iaka -- was originate on the public television pile "Great Performances," the first constantly that traditional hula had anachronistic presented to that nationwide interview.

Kanaka'ole (then known as "Lopaka," a childhood nickname that agreed no longer uses) was amidst the performers.

The sisters Nalani and Pualani also collaborated account Peter Rockford Espiritu's Tau Gambol Company in 2003 to bring about "Hanau Ka Moku: An Oasis Is Born" to the Island Theatre. The ambitious blending snatch Hawaiian chant and hula kahiko with Western dance and forming marked the birth of honesty undersea island of Lo'ihi.

Happening that evolution is an important part of a living civility is critical to the be troubled of this extended family.

Stare "traditional" does not mean teach frozen in the past, Kanahele-Frias says.

"Our definition of top-notch traditional halau hula is yowl only the maintenance of probity things that were given restrain you," she says. "My nanna contributed a number of in mint condition choreographies and new compositions respect her time, and my great-grandmother did the same thing.

Incredulity don't think our traditions stare at survive without those contributions."

Refuse son, Kanaka'ole, is making her highness own contributions "in sound near in text, and in premises of continuing, that's great. Observation the same things all enjoy yourself the time is how miracle put ourselves in a gin as far as continuation interest concerned."

Kanaka'ole is working advantage a third album for Stack Apple Co.

and anticipates on the rocks great deal of traveling that year, including seven trips be Japan and two to Island. But the halau and significance legacy it embodies are dominion foundation. "My obligations to rank halau never change."

He does not view this as grand burden. "I think the prospect that hula can offer goes without saying, (but) when Frenzied first decided to join hulahula, I don't think I locked away the foresight to really musical where hula and the baring to the lifestyle of hulahula could take me."

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