"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.
Alice Nāmakelua | |
|---|---|
 Cover art for Auntie Alice Ku‘uleialohapoina‘ole Namakelua, 1974 | |
| Born | 12 August 1892  Honokaa |
| Died | 27 April 1987 (aged 94) |
| Musical career | |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1927–1987 |
| Labels | Hula Records |
Biography
editNāmakelua 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
editSongs
edit- 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
edit- Namakelua, Alice; Lilikoi, Violet Pahu (1974). Ku'uleialohapoina'ole (vinyl LP). Hula Records. OCLC 900330872. HS 552.
Bibliography
edit- Namakelua, Alice (1973). "Aunty Alice" Namakelua's lifetime Hawaiian compositions (in Hawaiian). Honolulu: Hienz Guenther Pink. OCLC 1120749658.
References
edit- ^ a b c "The Honolulu 100". Honolulu Magazine. November 1, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ a b c Soboleski, Hank (February 8, 2015). "Hawaiian music great Alice 'Auntie Alice' Namakelua". The Garden Island. Archived from the original on June 20, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ "Ka Lahui o ka Pupuu Hookahi". Traditional Hawaiian. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ Imada, Adria L. (2012). Aloha America: Hula Circuits Through the U.S. Empire. Duke University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-8223-5207-5.
- ^ a b de Silva, Kīhei. "Kuahiwi Nani (Haleakalā Hula)". Hālau Mōhala ‘Ilima. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Repository Spotlight: Brigham Young University Hawaiʻi Archives". Association of Hawai'i Archivists. May 12, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Lifetime Achievement Awards". Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ Stagner, Ishmael. "Na Makua Mahalo ia: Mormon Influences on Hawaiian Music and Dance". Retrieved January 7, 2016.
External links
edit- Aoha "Auntie" Alice Nāmakelua (video)
- Alice Nāmakelua (video)
- Ka'ahumanu (audio)
- Lyrics to Aloha Ko'olau
- Ka Leo Hawaiʻi 103: Alice Nāmakelua. ulukau.org (radio interview). October 5, 1975. Retrieved January 16, 2023.