Lei o Lanikūhonua Hula Festival 3/7-3/8/2025

Ua pōmaikaʻi nā haumāna o ke kula kiʻekiʻe i ke kono ʻia i kēia hanana kūmakahiki ma Lanikūhonua. ʻO nā haumāna o Nāwahī ka mua mai kekahi kula ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi a me ka mua mai kekahi mokupuni ma waho aku o Oʻahu. Ua aʻo ʻia lākou e nā kumu hula like ʻole o Oʻahu a ua paʻa he mau hula hou mai nā ʻano hālau ʻokoʻa. Ma hope o kēia hoʻonui ʻike, ua hele a nānā i ka Cultural Night ma BYUH. Ma kekahi lā aku i ʻikemaka ai i ka nui poʻe i ʻākoakoa ma Kualoa no ka piha makahiki 50 o ka Hōkūleʻa. Ua aʻo mākou i ka leʻa i ka hula, ʻaʻole pau ka ʻike i ka hālau hoʻokahi, a me ka mea nui o ka haʻaheo i ka ʻike Hawaiʻi.

We were very blessed to be invited to the 17th Annual Lei o Lanikūhonua Hula Festival on March 7-8. The students in our hālau from Nāwahī were the first Hawaiian medium students to ever attend and the first from an outer island. They were taught dances from different kumu hula and they performed those dances in the hōʻike held at the end of the day alongside peers from all over Oʻahu. After this experience, we attended the Cultural Night at BYUH and ended our trip with an outing to Kualoa Park where a gathering celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Hōkūleʻa was held.

Kauʻi Kawauchi-Takamine dances with Colleen Aiu’s group to a Pele number. The other kumu hula that our group learned from were: Olana ʻĀʻī, Kimo Alama-Keaulana, and Pōhai Souza.

Hīnano Kaʻawaloa dances with her group to a hula hoe taught by Uncle Kimo Alama-Keaulana and his alakaʻi Kaʻiuokalnai Damas and Kanoe Cadina.