Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 2, 1 February 2023 — Ola ka 'Olelo Hawai'i i ka Pā Hula The Hawaiian Language Lives in the Hula Academy [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ola ka 'Olelo Hawai'i i ka Pā Hula The Hawaiian Language Lives in the Hula Academy

V KA NA'AUAO O NA KUPUNA ^ THE WISDOM OF THE KŪPUNA '

Na Kalani Akana, Ph.D.

Aloha e nā hoa o ka olelo Hawai'i E 'ae 'olu'olu mai ia'u e kā'ana i kekahi mau mo'olelo e pili A ana i ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i.

I ku'u kula 'ana ma ke Kula 'o ■ Kamehameha ua ho'okomo hewa 'ia au i loko o ka papa 'ōlelo Ha- 1 wai'i e kekahi lolouila no ka'u keleki olelo. 'O ka olelo Palani ka'u koho. Akā maika'i kēlā koho hewa no ka mea

ua loli ko'u ola mai kela wa a hiki i keia manawa.

'O kekahi o ko'u hoa papa olelo Hawai'i 'o Palani Kahala. I kekahi lā, iā māua e kakali ana iā Kumu Quick (Sarah 'Ilialoha Keahi), ua nīnau 'o Palani ia'u inā makemake au e a'o mai i ka hula. Hō'ole koke au. Pane 'o ia, "'Eā e Kalani, inā makemake 'oe e ho'okā'oi i kāu olelo na ka hula e kōkua iā 'oe." 'Oia'i ua ka'uka'u ka'u pane 'ana, ua 'ae a komo au i ka hui hula ā Palani i ho'omaka ai. Ua pololei ko'u hoahānau 'o Palani. Na ka hula nō i ho'omālamalama i ku'u maopopo i ka olelo Hawai'i. Ma hope o ka'u puka 'ana mai ke kula ki'eki'e, ua huli au i kekahi hālau hula a ua loa'a mai ka inoa 'o Ka Pā Hula Hawai'i. 'O loea Kaha'i Topolinski ke kumu hula a 'o kēia ka piha makahiki he 50 o kāna a'o 'ana i ka hula. Ho'omaika'i e Loea Kaha'i me Ka Pā Hula Hawai'i! Koe wale ka olelo Hawai'i ā Kaha'i i lohe ai mai kona makuahine a me kona 'ohana, 'a'ole 'o ia i poeko a 'a'ole wali kona 'ōlelo Hawai'i i kēlā manawa. Akā, ma muli o ka ho'okaiapuni 'ana i nā mele like o ka hula a me ke oli ua pa'a ka olelo Hawai'i iā ia. I kēlā mau makahiki, aia au ma ke Kula Nui

ma Manoa ke pa'u nei i ke a'o 'olelo Hawai'i 'ana, no laila, ua huli 'o Kaha'i ia'u m"

ko'u kaikua'ana hula 'o Keoni DuPont e paka i nā mele āna i haku ai. Ua

nomineka 'ia kekahi mele, 'o ia ho'i 'o Lei 'o Kohala, no Nā Hōkū Hanohano. He mea kōkua nui

kēia nānā 'ana i kāna mau mele ia'u kekahi. Ua ho'okumu 'o Kaha'i i ka papa olelo Hawai'i i ka hālau. Pēlā ka hana ma nā hālau like 'ole. Nui ho'i nā haumāna 'ōlelo Hawai'i i komo i ka hālau hula like 'ole a ua ho'i kekahi mau kumu hula i ke kula nui e a'o i k;

'ōlelo. Ua 'a'ā ka pu'u o ke kanaka e inu i ka wai ola o ka olelo Hawai'i. Pēia e ola nei ka olelo Hawai'i i ka pā hula. ■

Aloha friends of the Hawaiian language. Allow me to share stories. At Kamehameha Schools I was incorrectly enrolled in Hawaiian language class by some computer for my language credit. French was my ehoiee. The mistake changed my life then until now. One of my Hawaiian language class-

mates was Palani Kahala. While we were waiting for Mrs. Quick (Sarah 'Ilialoha Keahi),

Palani asked me if I wanted to learn the hula. I immediately said no. Palani responded saying, "You know, Kalani, if you want to excel in Hawaiian then hula will help." Although I was hesitant, I joined Palanis hula club. Hula has enlightened my understanding of the Hawaiian language since. Upon graduating, I searched for a hula school and found Ka Pā Hula Hawai'i. Kaha'i Topolinski was the kumu hula and this is his 50th anniversary of teaching hula. Congratulations Loea Kaha'i Topolinski and Ka Pā Hula Hawai'i! Aside from the Hawaiian language that Kaha'i heard from his mother and family, he was not fluent in the Hawaiian language then. However, being immersed in the chants of the hula grounded him in Hawaiian. As I was studying Hawaiian at UH-Mānoa, Kaha'i often turned to me and my hula brother Keoni DuPont to edit his compositions. One of his songs, Lei 'o Kohala, was nominated for a Nā Hōkū Hanohano award. This editing process also helped me. Kaha'i established a Hawaiian class in the hālau. Classes cropped up in other hālau. Many students of

Hawaiian joined halau and many kumu hula enrolled in the university to learn the lan-

guage. There was great thirst for the language. This is how the Hawaiian language surely lives in the hula academy. ■

Kalani Akana, Ph.D., is a kumu of hula, oli and 'ōlelo Hawai'i, and a research analyst at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. He has authored numerous articles on Indigenous ways of knowing nd doing.

Kahū'i Topolinski, loea hula of Ko Pō Hulo Howoi'i. - Courtesy Photo