Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 4, 1 April 2019 — MERRIE MONARCH: WHAT IS HULA? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MERRIE MONARCH: WHAT IS HULA?

A ke kuahiwi, i ke kualono Ku ana o Laka i ka mauna Noho ana o Laka i ke po'o o ka ohu O Laka kumu hula. . . In the forest, along the ridges Laka rising in the mountain Dwelling in the source of the mist Laka is the source of hula. . . This is the beginning of the mele "He Kānaenae no Laka", a chant of praise for Laka. Laka is widely known as the god of hula, the deity responsible for inspiring the hula practitioner. When I began to leam the chants for the kuahu hula, the hula altar, I began to see a pattern of information that had to do with a healthy forest and water cycle, I was further trained to understand what the kuahu hula is. The first kuahu is the forest itself. The second kuahu is the one that we build and adorn with the forest plants in our hālau hula. The third kuahu is the body of the 'ōlapa whieh is adorned with the kuahu plants also known as the kinolau of Laka. Let's step back for just one moment and look to the mele again. "Noho ana 'o Laka i ke po'o o ka ohu, o Laka kumu hula." An epiphany ! Laka is the process of creating that mist in the forest. Laka is the critical element in the water cycle in our forest called transpiration. It is this process that is significant for hula people to ho'omana in our pule. Hula, therefore, in its most primal function, is the continual observance of and protection of the water cycle. Hula practitioners could be considered our traditional hydrologists. - Mehanaokalā Hind M

Merrie Monarch 201/, Hōlau Hula Olana Kumu Hula ■ Howard and Olana Ai, Shelsea Ai Apana. ■ Photo: KWO Pile