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The Social Meanings of Hula

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The Social Meanings of Hula The social meanings of hula Hawaiian traditions and politicized identities in Hilo Eilin Holtan Torgersen Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the M.A. degree Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen June 2010 Front cover photograph: “Hula - Na 'Olelo O Ka Pu'uwai, Hula - The Language Of The Heart: Champion dancer Haunani Paredes moves to the chant Kui Wailua , from the legend of Pele, the Fire Goddess, and Pele's sister, Hi'iaka” (Braun 2008), used with the permission of the photographer. © Randy Jay Braun, http://www.randyjaybraun.com/woh.html. 2 Hula is the language of the heart, therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people - King David Kal ākaua 3 Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................6 Chapter One: Introduction Introduction.................................................................................................................................8 Central themes and problems......................................................................................................9 Resistance, identity and the continuity of cultural forms..............................................10 Knowledge, blood and Hawaiian identity.....................................................................13 Existing research on hula dance................................................................................................14 Methodology.............................................................................................................................16 Choosing research objective..........................................................................................16 Participant observation and experiential ethnography..................................................17 Understanding meaning through movement.................................................................19 Language and orthography......................................................................................................21 A terminology of social categories...........................................................................................21 Chapter outline..........................................................................................................................23 Chapter Two: A Hilo au (I was at Hilo) - Field location and ethnographic context Introduction...............................................................................................................................26 The Hawaiian Islands and the city of Hilo...............................................................................27 Geography and topography...........................................................................................27 Hālau hula o Halia.........................................................................................................32 A brief history of politics in Hawai‘i............................................................................35 A historical overview of hula....................................................................................................37 The Hawaiian Renaissance.......................................................................................................40 Concluding remarks..................................................................................................................43 Chapter Three: Native dance and foreign desires - In search for authenticity in hula dance Introduction..............................................................................................................................44 Hula in Hawai‘i: the tradition..................................................................................................46 Origins..........................................................................................................................46 Kumu hula and kuleana................................................................................................47 Making a living.............................................................................................................48 Haumana – a student of hula.........................................................................................49 Hula competitions........................................................................................................55 4 Hawaiian hula and the World...................................................................................................57 Waik īkī..........................................................................................................................60 Hula in Japan.................................................................................................................61 Hula in continental America and Europe......................................................................63 Hula, tourism and authenticity................................................................................................64 A prostitution of hula dance, or a challenge to preserve the tradition?.........................64 Searching for authenticity.............................................................................................65 Concluding remarks..................................................................................................................67 Chapter Four: Dancing the land - Relationships between people, land and hula Introduction...............................................................................................................................69 Hawaiians and land...................................................................................................................70 Land divisions of ancient Hawai‘i................................................................................70 The Great Māhele of 1848...........................................................................................71 Hawaiian struggle for land rights – the Kalama Valley Case.......................................72 Incorporating land in personal identification................................................................75 Landscape and anthropology...................................................................................................77 Hula and landscape...................................................................................................................80 Dancing the land...........................................................................................................80 Chants and spirituality..................................................................................................83 Concluding remarks..................................................................................................................86 Chapter Five: Children of the land - Hula as Hawaiian identity Introduction...............................................................................................................................88 Hawaiian identity......................................................................................................................89 Identifying the group.....................................................................................................89 The fifty percent blood quantum rule............................................................................92 Hawaiian kinship as identity.........................................................................................94 Performing a sense of self.........................................................................................................97 Hula as part of a performative structure.......................................................................98 Concluding remarks..................................................................................................................99 Appendix A: Glossary ...........................................................................................................101 Appendix B: On the kuleana of a kumu hula .....................................................................104 Bibliography ..........................................................................................................................110 5 Acknowledgements When studying hula in Hawai‘i as an outsider, open heartedness and patience from your teacher and fellow hula students is crucial for your understanding and continuing participation in the tradition. Without their welcoming embrace you stand alone in interpreting a tradition and a system of meanings far beyond your understanding. From the uttermost bottom of my heart, with the warmest aloha , to my kumu hula and my hula sisters for their unique kindness, their open hearts, sense of adventure and inspiring patience, ‘o wau n ō me ka mahalo . Thank you for our shared time in joy and sorrow, mahalo nui for teaching me the true meaning of aloha and for letting me take part in your lives. I humbly ask your forgiveness for replacing the names of some of you throughout this thesis, and wish to express my understanding for the importance of the meaning behind your names. I have carefully chosen pseudonyms that reflect my perception of your personalities: Akela - noble, Alamea - precious, Hokulani - star of heaven, Halia - memory of a loved one. I want to also thank my Hilo ‘ohana; Holli, Matt and Jason, for sharing the joys, frustration, adventures and love of everyday life in Hilo. I miss you all every day. Aloha a hui hou , may there
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