2014 Merrie Monarch Winners- Hula Kahiko (Wahine Division)

Highlights of the 5 top finishers in the 2014 Hula Kahiko (ancient), Wahine (female) Division.

1st Place: Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe
Nā Kumu Hula: Tracie & Keawe Lopes

“He Aloha Nō Nā Pua”
“
He Aloha Nō Nā Pua” is a mele hula ʻōlapa that honors King David Kalākaua (1836-1891). In the mele the rosy
cheeks of young women are referred to as “Nā pua ʻōhelohelo.” In Hilo “Love is truly bountiful,” just like the
bubbling springs created by the heavy rains there. The puana, summary refrain, declares “...at the heights of Poulua,
there are two things admired...the suppleness of your body and the sparkle in your eyes.”

2nd Place: Hālau Nā Lei Kaumaka O Uka
Kumu Hula: Nāpua Greig

“E Hoʻi Ka Nani I Mānā”
William Seymour Lindsey, great grandfather of Kumu Hula Nāpua Greig, was an escort who accompanied Queen
Emma to Lake Waiʻau. “Yes, Queen Emma went into the pūnāwai o Waiʻau (spring of Waiʻau), she went upon the
back of Waiʻau Lima. He was a man of Kawaihae...She went upon his back, Waiʻau’s back, and he swam across this
spring, Waiʻau. He carried Queen Emma and set her upon a stone on the other side. The people were startled by this,
to see them swimming there.”—Kalani Kaʻapuni-Phillips, interview with Larry Kimura, 1-30-1967.

3rd Place: Hula Hālau ʻO Kamuela
Nā Kumu Hula: Kauʻionālani Kamanaʻo & Kunewa Mook

“Nani Hanohano Ke Kuahiwi O Kaʻuiki”
Hānaʻs beauty is defined by those places and special features for which this remote Maui area is well-known and
remembered. The mele was said to be composed for Kamuʻohounani, a kamaʻāina of Hāna with intimate knowledge
of land names, shorelines, upland pools, and winds carrying fragrances of maile, hīnano, palai fern and ʻawapuhi
blossoms. Coupled with each feature mentioned is a deep love and attachment, aloha ʻāina, for Hāna,
carried in the hearts of her people.

4th Place: Hālau Mōhala ʻIlima
Kumu Hula: Māpuana de Silva

“Kākuhihewa (Aia i Honolulu Kuʻu Pōhaku)”
This place- and generation-leaping, 19th century composition comes to us from Uncle Henry Moikeha Pa by way
of Robert Cazimero. It celebrates the 16th century chief Kākuhihewa and his line of Kūkaniloko-born ali‘i that
originates with Kapawa in perhaps the 12th century. It suggests, somewhat cryptically, that the anchor-stone of
Oʻahu’s loyalty to chief and land might now be found in Honolulu in the petals of the pua komela.

5th Place: Hālau I Ka Wēkiu
Nā Kumu Hula: Karl Veto Baker & Michael Lanakila Casupang

“Kāua I Ka Huakaʻi”
The mele was composed in the 1860s by Prince William Pitt Leleiōhoku. This mele hoʻoipoipo describes a love
affair and weaves together imagery of the passion and deep desire of two companions. More commonly known
today as the Hawaiian War Chant, it has gone through a transformation far from its original poetic intent and in this
presentation the Hālau hopes to hold steadfast to the past for its proper continuance into the future.


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The Merrie Monarch Festival
Fulfilling its mission to preserve and perpetuate the art of hula, each year the Merrie Monarch Festival provides a stage for the world’s finest hula hālau (schools) in order to showcase Hawaiʻi’s unique cultural art of hula. The 3-day competition is broadcast statewide from Hilo, Hawai’i, with millions following worldwide via live streaming and social media.