Owana Salazar

Owana Kaʻōhelelani Mahealani-Rose Salazar (born October 30, 1953) is a Hawaiian musician and a claimant to the throne of the lapsed Kingdom of Hawaii.

Owana Kaʻōhelelani Mahealani-Rose Salazar
Princess of Hawaiʻi
Head of the Royal House of Hawaiʻi
Tenure18 September 1988 – present
PredecessorHelena Kalokuokamaile Wilcox
Heir apparentNoa DeGuair
Born (1953-10-30) 30 October 1953
Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii
SpouseRonald Kaʻimihale Walters
Warren Kaipohoʻohuaʻamaua DeGuair
IssuePrincess Kapumahana Kaʻahumanu Walters
Prince Noa Kalokuokamaile DeGuair
HouseLaʻanui
FatherHenry Mario Salazar
MotherPrincess Helena Kalokuokamaile Wilcox
ReligionRoman Catholic
OccupationMusician

A descendant of Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox and Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani Laʻanui, of the House of Keoua (the originating line of the House of Kamehameha), she has been involved in Hawaiian sovereignty issues for many years.

She is thought to be the only female steel guitar player in Hawaiʻi trained by Jerry Byrd.[1]

Birth, family and early life

Owana Kaʻohelelani Mahealani-Rose Laʻanui Wilcox Salazar was born in October 1953. Her parents were Helena Kalokuokamaile Wilcox and Henry Mario Salazar.

The only girl in a family of five, Owana grew up with an honest sense of place. "Our family discussions were vast... about many of our ancestors, about their roles in Hawaiiʻs history, about the crown lands, about Robert Wilcox, about Princess Theresa going to Washington, about Princess Elizabeth going to Washington to petition Congress to survey the crown lands."[2]

Owana Salazar was raised on the island of Oahu and graduated from Kamehameha Schools, where she sang with the Concert Glee Club,[2] and the University of Hawaii,[3] where she learned Kihoʻalu (slack key guitar).[4] Salazar studied hula with the Kumu Hula, Hoʻakalei Kamauʻu, Hoʻoulu Richards and Winona Beamer.[5] In addition to studying traditional western music theory, studied voice with Elizabeth Cole, and studied piano, string methods, guitar, Javanese dance and gamelan as well as continuing to study hula.[6]

Marriages and issue

Owana was married first to Ronald Kaʻimihale Walters. They later divorced. They have a daughter:

  • Kapumahana Kaʻahumanu Walters (born on 15 October 1979). Miss Hawaii Teen USA in 1997 (as Mahana Walters)

Secondly, she married Warren Kaipohoʻohuaʻamaua DeGuair, ca. 1980. They have a son:

  • Noa Kalokuokamaile DeGuair (born on 19 November 1981)

Music career

At the start of her public career, Salazar performed with Hawaiian headliners such as Don Ho,[7] Ohta-San, Ed Kenney and Charles K.L. Davis.[3] She was introduced to the world of Kihoʻalu by friend Nelson Hiu. Combining music theory with her repertoire of Hawaiian songs and slack key, Salazar developed her playing skills with help from her professors and other fellow musicians such as George Kuo, Bla Pahinui, Cyril Pahinui, Dennis Kamakahi, George Kahumoku Jr. and Sonny Chillingworth. Other musical influences include Joni Mitchell, Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis, Stevie Wonder, Genoa Keawe, Gabby Pahinui, Lena Machado, and Marvin Gaye.[8]

Her first recording in 1986, Owana and Kaʻipo, In Kona was nominated in the category of Most Promising Artist in the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, a Hawaiian music industry salute. The following year, her second recording, Owana, was a final ballot nominee for Contemporary Hawaiian Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. Pupukea describes the characteristics of the ocean on the North Shore of Oʻahu. Kula Morning takes you upcountry Maui, gazing from mountain to the sea. "Na Wai" is a playful poetic expression of love's experiences, full of Hawaiian kaona (hidden meanings). "Kalamaula" celebrates the early homesteading movement of the Hawaiian people. "Silhouette Hula" is a hapa haole piece, recalling the early jazz years of Hawaiian music.

For most of the 1980s, Salazar sang Hawaiian classics with the Royal Hawaiian Band and performed at venues in Waikiki and Japan. Jerry Byrd accepted Salazar as his student for formal study of Hawaiian steel guitar. Eventually, she received a full scholarship from the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association. In 1992, she became Byrd's only female graduate and has been called Hawaii's preeminent female steel guitarist. Besides Hawaii, Salazar has also performed in Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, and the Americas. In January 2000, she became the first woman to tour with the Hawaiian Slack Key Festival along with George Kahumoku, Jr., Keoki Kahumoku and Daniel Ho.

Discography (partial)
  • "Owana and Ka'ipo IN KONA" (1986), Nominated: Most Promising Artist of the Year.
  • Owana (1987), Nominated: Female Vocalist of the Year; Contemporary Hawaiian Album of the Year.
  • Wahine Slack n’ Steel (2003), Winner: Contemporary Hawaiian Album of the Year. Nominated: Female Vocalist of the Year; Album of the Year.
  • Hula Jazz (2005), Winner: Jazz Album of the Year; Nominated: Female Vocalist of the Year; Album of the Year; Song of the Year
  • Hawaiian Slack Key Masters: Volume III, Winner: Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album
  • Hawaiian Slack Key Masters: Volume IV, Winner: Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album

Cultural and sovereignty involvement

Owana Salazar was initiated into the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors, Mamakakaua, a lineage society of descendants of Hawaii's ruling chiefs.[9] Throughout her life, Salazar has promoted Hawaiian history, culture and sovereignty. She served as family liaison to the Mayor's Office of Culture and the Arts for two years, with the goal of planning, commissioning and unveiling a life-size bronze statue of her great-grandfather the Honorable Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox. His statue was installed at Wilcox Park in downtown Honolulu, on the corner of King and Fort Street.

Claim to the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom

Salazar is among many that believe the Hawaiian Kingdom still exists[10][2] and while some genealogists recognize the claims of Princess Abigail Kawānanakoa as a potential heir to the throne, Princess Salazar asserts her claim as a descendant of the House of Keōua Nui. A principle component of Salazar's claim is the 1844 proclamation by Kamehameha III that named Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau Laʻanui as one of the 15 children of high aliʻi descent sent to the Chief's Children's School that made them eligible to rule in different positions, including monarch. Elizabeth Laʻanui died without children and Genealogist Edith McKenzie stated that each person that ruled required approval from the House of Nobles although only two monarchs from those children actually did. Salazar dismisses the Kawananakoa claim due to her line through Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani Laʻanui, the daughter of Prince Gideon Kailipalaki Laʻanui and granddaughter of Prince Gideon Peleioholani Laʻanui.[2]

Owana is descended from the aliʻi line of Laʻanui, grandson of Kalokuokamaile, who was the first born son of Keōua Kalanikupuapaʻīkalaninui Ahilapalapa. Keōua's second son was Kamehameha I.[4] King Kamehameha III officially proclaimed that Kalokuokamaile's great granddaughter, High Chiefess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau Laʻanui was eligible to rule under the Laws of the Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom.[11][2]

After the passing of Elizabeth in 1928, her niece, Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻohelelani Laʻanui became the head of the House of Laʻanui and married Robert William Wilcox. The next primogenitor rights was to their son, Prince Robert Keoua Kalanikupuapaikalaninui Wilcox, having his first daughter, Princess Helena Kalokuokamaile who became the head of the royal house in 1944. Her daughter, Princess Owana Kaʻohelelani Salazar succeeded her and became the head of the royal house in 1988.

Reestablishment of the Royal Order of the Crown of Hawaiʻi


On February 3, 2017 in Fátima, Portugal, Owana Ka‘ōhelelani Salazar reestablished the Royal Order of the Crown of Hawai‘i in a protocol exchange with Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza and Head of the Royal Family of Portugal, and other members of royal families and nobility of Europe and Africa. This event was the first exchange of royal honors between foreign houses of royalty and the Hawaiian Kingdom since the overthrow 124 years ago.[12][13]

Honours

Hawaiʻian Royal House

Foreign Royal Houses

Family tree

References
  1. "Live Music by Owana Mahelalani-Rose Salazar | de Young". Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  2. Boylan, Dan (August 7–13, 1998). "Battle Royal". Midweek. Honolulu. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  3. Lorene Ruymar (1996). The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians. Centerstream Publications. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-57424-021-4.
  4. Amalu, Sammy (1955), "The Story of Hawaiian Royalty", Honolulu Advertiser, Lorrin P. Thurston-Ulukau: The Hawaiian Electronic Library
  5. "pasifika-artists.com". Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  6. "Princess Owana Salazar, Cindy Combs". Herschel Freemna Inc. herschelfreemanagency.com. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  7. "Aloha Concert Series". Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  8. "Bio - Owana Salazar". pasifika-artists.com. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  9. Council of the County of Maui (March 11, 2013). "POLICY AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MINUTES".
  10. Michael McCann (5 July 2017). Law and Social Movements. Taylor & Francis. p. 271. ISBN 978-1-351-56074-0.
  11. "Order in Council". Polynesian. (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864. July 20, 1844. p. front. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  12. "Portugal embraces Hawaii's royal house". pressreleasejet.com. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  13. Programa – O JANTAR DE REIS Guimarães 2017
  14. Royal and Hashemite Order of the Pearl
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