The host town of Hilo is preparing for the influx of hula fans to the 59th Annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival. This will be the first time since the pandemic began two years ago that hula dancers will compete before a live audience. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports.
Beauty in the Bark
Among Polynesians, the Hawaiians of old excelled in the making of kapa. Their distant daughters have begun to reclaim this once-lost ancient art.
January 1, 2014
Story by Shannon Wianecki | Photography by Nina Kuna
Halau O Kekuhi performing at the 2011 Merrie Monarch Hula Festival. This Hula was a dedication to traditional KAPA.
Whenever a storm rattles the trees on Maui, most island residents focus on battening down the hatches. Lei Ishikawa thinks of resin. Shortly after the gusts stop, she’ll venture out to a
kukui grove and look for damaged limbs.
Kukui trees produce a sticky resin in response to injuries. Ishikawa collects this fortuitous substance, and later applies it to her handmade Hawaiian