Hawaii Tribune-Herald Sunday, April 1, 2018 23
2018 Merrie Monarch Festival
told Kathy, ‘I’m going to honor
them next year.’”
Kawelu invited the 12 living crew
members of the 25 who made the original
voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti and
back. At Kawelu’s request, Oahu halau
Ka Pa Hula O Ka Lei Lehua, under
the direction of kumu hula Snowbird
Bento, will do a 45-minute set of music
and hula to honor the legendary canoe
and the modern-day voyagers who
sailed using traditional Polynesian
navigation without instruments.
“I’ve always dreamed of doing
the exhibition but I never thought
the opportunity would present itself
now,” said Bento, who will bring
kane and wahine. “I thought we’d
have 20, 25 of us and we’re now at
a performing group of about 50.”
One of the mele her halau will perform
is “Na Pe‘a O Hokule‘a (The
Sails of Hokule‘a),” a Keli‘i Tau‘a
composition from the 1977 album
“The Musical Saga of Hokule‘a.”
“My uncle is Kalani Whitford, who
played on that album,” Bento said.
“So I was lucky enough to be there as
a little kid at about age 3 when they
played for the launching of Hokule‘a at
Magic Island for the ’78 sailing where
we lost Uncle Eddie Aikau. I thought,
‘Na Pe‘a,’ it’s a classic. It’s something
we’ve learned from my connections at
Kamehameha Schools, being part of
student groups that were chosen to travel
around the Pacific. And through that
experience, my haumana are getting to
experience Hokule‘a, as well as having
their own connections to Hokule‘a.”
Another is “Kamalei a Paoa,” written
by Randie Kamuela Fong upon
the 1994 retirement of Myron “Pinky”
Thompson (1924-2001), a Bishop
Estate trustee overseeing Kamehameha
Schools. Thompson also served as
president of the Polynesian Voyaging
Society for two decades and was the
father of master navigator Nainoa
Thompson, who’s now PVS president.
The mele is one Bento danced on
the Merrie Monarch stage in 2002
with Ka Pa Hula O Kamehameha
and kumu hula Holoua Stender.
“We’d just lost Uncle Pinky that
December and we danced in April
at Merrie Monarch and we placed
with the wahine,” she said. “I’m trying
to get as many of the people in
HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald file photo
Kumu hula Robert Cazimero, left,
exults upon learning his Halau Na
Kamalei O Lililehua won the group
kane auana competition at the 2015
Merrie Monarch Festival.
my generation who are integral with
sailing, whether they’re Makali‘i
crew, or Kanehunamoku (Voyaging
Academy) or other of the wa‘a
(canoes) and the audience to take a
journey with us through the music.
“There are certain people I also
wanted to honor because they’re
my connections to Hokule‘a. We’re
going to do one kahiko number that
will honor Kamohoali‘i as one of our
greatest navigators and the navigator
of Pele’s canoe. And then, we’ll
go into a few songs that will take us
around different stops in the Pacific
for Hokule‘a. There’s one section
where we’ll do Maori songs that will
honor (Maori navigator and canoe
builder) Uncle Hector Busby and
(the canoe) Te Aurere and the people
of Waitangi, where they welcomed
Hokule‘a and the Hawaiian people
as the sixth tribe of Tai Tokerau.”
Bringing a hometown flavor to
Ho‘ike is Hilo’s Halau O Kekuhi, under
the direction of co-kumu hula Nalani
Kanaka‘ole Zane and Huihui Kanahele-
Mossman. The halau has peformed in
every Merrie Monarch Ho‘ike since
1997, and also will honor Hokule‘a.
“All of the mele we do has a wa‘a
theme, whether it was for migration,
Ho‘ike From page 22
See HO‘IKE Page 24