Alice Nāmakelua

"Auntie" Alice Kuʻuleialohapoʻinaʻole Kanakaoluna Nāmakelua (1892–1987) was a Hawaiian composer and performer. Nāmakelua was also a kumu hula dancer and lei-maker.[1] She was an expert performer of the slack-key guitar and a master of the Hawaiian language.[2] Nāmakelua was a mentor of other musicians and wrote around 180 songs of her own.[1] She was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 2011.

Biography

Nāmakelua was born in Kīhālani on Hawaii Island.[3] As a teenager, she sang for the deposed queen, Liliuokalani.[2] She was taught hula in her teen years by David Kaho'aleawai Kaluhiakalani, who had been the chanter for Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole.[4] Nāmakelua spent most of her life on O'ahu.[5]

Nāmakelua worked for the City of Honolulu's Parks and Recreation department, and some of her songs were composed for the Kamehameha Day Parades.[5] Nāmakelua would work on the Maui float for the parade, starting in 1944.[6] While working for the city, she also taught hula, Hawaiian language and music classes.[7] She was also the playground director.[1]

She taught hula, song and the ukulele for a short time on Kauai in 1959, where she resided with mayor Francis Ching and his wife.[2] In the 1970s, she was part of the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance and noted for her guitar playing.[8] In 1978, she was one of the special award winners of the Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts.[9] In 1980, she received a Na Makua Mahalo ia award, which was originally developed to recognize the musical accomplishments of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.[10]

Selected works
  • Haleakalā Hula (originally, Kuahiwi Nani 1941)
  • I‘iwi a‘o Hilo (1950)
  • Aia i Hilo ka Ua Kani Lehua (1956)
  • Hanohano nō ‘o Hawai‘i (1958)
  • Aloha K'olau (1959)
  • Lei Hala O Kaua'i (1959)
  • Polynesian Welcome (1967)
  • Ka'ahumanu (1973)

Album:

  • Auntie Alice Kuʻuleialohapoʻinaʻole Nāmakelua, Hula Records, HS 552 (1974)

References
  1. "The Honolulu 100". Honolulu Magazine. 1 November 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  2. Soboleski, Hank (8 February 2015). "Hawaiian music great Alice 'Auntie Alice' Namakelua". The Garden Island. Archived from the original on 20 June 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  3. "Ka Lahui o ka Pupuu Hookahi". Traditional Hawaiian. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  4. Imada, Adria L. (2012). Aloha America: Hula Circuits Through the U.S. Empire. Duke University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-8223-5207-5.
  5. de Silva, Kīhei. "Kuahiwi Nani (Haleakalā Hula)". Hālau Mōhala ‘Ilima. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  6. Stillman, Amy Ku'uleialoha (1994). "'Na Lei O Hawai'i': On Hula Songs, Floral Emblems, Island Princesses and Wahi Pana" (PDF). The Hawaiian Journal of History. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  7. "Repository Spotlight: Brigham Young University Hawaiʻi Archives". Association of Hawai'i Archivists. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  8. Forss, Matthew J. (2011). "Pacific Islander Americans: Heroes and Heroines". In Lee, Johanthan H. X.; Nadeau, Kathleen M. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Asian America Folklore and Folklife. ABC-CLIO. p. 928. ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5.
  9. "Lifetime Achievement Awards". Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  10. Stagner, Ishmael. "Na Makua Mahalo ia: Mormon Influences on Hawaiian Music and Dance". Retrieved 7 January 2016.
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