The Hawaiians inherited from the Polynesians their complex cosmology or
world view. Most archaeologists agree that migration from Polynesia to
Hawaii was in two parts, probably from the Marquesas in the sixth century
A.D. and from the Society Islands eight hundred years later. Thus, fleet
wooden double-hulled canoes made the volcanic islands of Hawaii a northern
extension of the rich Polynesian cultural area.
Like the ancient Greeks, the Polynesians had a pantheon of gods and a body
of myths describing the supernaturals, usually human, often divine. (For
more information please click on “Gods and Myths”)
Hula was part of the Polynesian culture. Stories about the gods, and
historical events were passed on in the oral tradition by oli
(chants) and mele (songs accompanied by music and dance). The
apo (male or female chanter) was able to recall and repeat chants for
hours without error. In this way, sacred lore passed from one generation
to the next. Oli and mele were similar to modern poetry; they utilized
interior rhyme, hidden meanings, multi-leveled symbolism, unifying
repetition, anger, embarrassment, joy, grief, honor – and humor.
Dances were an integral part of the culture when Captain Cook landed on
the Island of Kaua`i in 1778, discovering for the Euro-American
Civilization this last outpost of Oceanic Islands. With the arrival of
Western ideals in the islands, the dynasties of the Hawaiian kings
alternately cherished or crippled the indigenous culture. Western ideals
flourished alongside the people’s growing impatience with kapu and
restrictions of the ancient religion.
Forty years after Cook’s appearance, the ruling Queen Ka’ahumanu became a
Christian, and in a move leading to the end of formalized Hawaiian
rituals, ordered all heiau (sacred temple sites) and images
destroyed. The significance of the dances had gradually been lost to
general understanding.
Hawaiian hula went underground. Dancers glorified the gods and entertained
friends and families in remote sections of the islands. Kumu
(teacher) instructed and haumana (student) performed, but in
secret. Once suppressed, hula became a titillating idea that the more
enterprising white entrepreneurs exploited. They presented exotic dances
surreptitiously for seamen’s amusement. The Hawaiians were delighted to
take part, since to them all hula had equal importance. It was at this
point that hula began to accumulate its forlorn reputation of exotic
and/or bawdy entertainment for sailors and tourists.
In 1830’s, King Kamehameha III issued an edict guaranteeing religious
freedom and tried to re-establish the centrality of hula in Hawaiian
culture. At this time the missionaries recognized that Hawaiian dance
could not be quelled, but countered with the condition that dancers wear
the Victorian-style high necked, long sleeved gown (holoku) that
they had substituted for the pa’u.
The personage of King Kalakaua, however, elected to a puppet leadership in
1874, was a temporary light. He healed his culture and raised hula to a
national symbol. Fun loving, politically astute, he enjoyed celebrations,
festivals and world traveling, earning himself the title of “The Merrie
Monarch”. He linked waltzes and classical music with traditional hula at
great royal celebrations. What appeared as frivolity was a wisdom that
forged a permanent place for hula in Hawaii's future culture.
King Kalakaua said: ”The hula is the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.”
After Kalakaua’s death and without the nurturing of Hawaiian royalty, hula
resumed its former character of superficial entertainment in an enigmatic
culture. Tourism promoted hula as a national symbol, as a product drained
of meaning and focused on vacuous words, music and movement.
Meanwhile, the kumu guarded lore, chants and movements of the sacred hula
and transmitted them to the haumana. In the twentieth century, young women
and men continued to be trained in the secrets of the traditional hula,
instilling the value of tradition. Hula will not become lost.
Visit the Hula Preservation Society's Online Hula Library to learn
more.
http://www.hulapreservation.org/hulalibrary.asp
