Big Blog #2: History of Hula

 Hello! Last blog of the term, woohoo! I hope you all enjoyed my lesson on Hawaiian music today, and if not, I hope you at least learned something new. Instead of doing an entirely new culture on top of this one, I decided to do a bit of a deeper dive into an aspect of Hawaiian music-- hula. I'm going to talk about a little bit of the history of hula, its cultural purposes and aesthetics, and hopefully showing you some cool videos! Lets get started :-) 

A Brief History of Hula: 

    Hula has been around for a long time-- perhaps even longer than the island of Hawai'i has been inhabited. It is believed to have come along with the Polynesian settlers that came around 400 BC. Several islands claim to be the birthplace of hula as we know it, but the true origin of it is unknown. What is known, however, is what the original intention and purpose of hula. Hula was used to tell stories and depict the actions of various gods and goddesses in myth. A big misconception about ancient hula is that only men were allowed to perform, which is not true at all! The journals of James Cook, the first known European to visit Hawai'i, tells stories of women dancing hula as well as men. This tradition of storytelling and depiction existed for thousands of years. 
    Another misconception is that Christian missionaries banned hula when they arrived in Hawaii. While they did disapprove of hula openly, they did not have the power or political standing to outright ban it. A ban on hula was enacted in 1830 by Queen Kaáhumanu, a recent convert to Christianity. However, this law was all but ignored by native Hawaiians, and after the queens death the law was all but forgotten. As Hawaii became more and more absorbed into the American world, and Queen Liliuokalani was removed from the throne, hula's growth was stunted for almost a century. In the late 60s and early 70s, Hawaiian culture experienced a rebirth and revival as native Hawaiians began to reclaim their culture and educate others about it. Today hula is taught and celebrated around the world, especially in Hawaiian schools and universities, as well as places that are open to the community. Today there are two main types of hula: hula kahiko (traditional) that is accompanied by chant and drums, and hula 'auana (modern) which is typically done with popular ukulele or slack key guitar songs. Both are cherished in the Hawaiian culture and continue to flourish. Here's a clip that shows some hula, as well as the legend/myth of how hula first came to be, and some elaboration on some things I discussed both here and in class: 

Traditional Hula Attire 

    Simon's question in class today prompted me to do a little more research into the traditional regalia worn by hula dancers. As Dr. Vaneman mentioned in class today, the image of grass skirts and coconut bras that is portrayed in western media is incredibly inaccurate and, at some level, disrespectful to the amount of history and culture that the traditional attire has within it. A quote from a Smithsonian article I read states: "Early hula kahiko costumes for women featured skirts made of kapa, or bark cloth. Men wore the skirts, too, or just a loincloth, called a malo. A lei for the head and its counterpart for the ankles and wrists—called kupe'e—were made of plants or materials such as shells and feathers. In hula kahiko, a circular lei would be worn on top of the head, whereas in hula 'auana, the dancer may affix flowers to one side of the head." There are a few other differences in attire for the different styles of hula, that you can probably imagine: dancers of hula 'auana, being a more syncretic and modern version of hula, often wear fabric shirts and pants or skirts. This is just a brief overview into what all goes into making, preparing, and dancing in these outfits. In fact, in some halaus (hula schools) believe that in order to become a true kumu hula (hula master), you need to master the art of hand-making these outfits, as well as learn the cultural and historical significance behind each piece of them. Wow! Speaking of being a hula master, here's a short documentary on Kayli Ka'iulani Carr, AKA Miss Aloha 2016, and the training she went through to earn her title: 

Hula: Then and Now 

In this blog and in class today I mentioned how Hawaii has influences from lots of different places: being smack in between the continent of Asia and North America, two already very diverse places, it's no wonder that Hawaii has taken different bits of a lot of different cultures and brought them into their own practices and customs. Hula is no different; we've already seen a few examples of this. The idea of hula 'auana, which is performed with the ukulele or guitar, two European instruments, and also wears more traditional western attire. Hula classes are also available all around the world, and even in Hawaii are mostly available to any one of any culture, save for some very traditional or conservative teachers and/or halaus that believe it should be kept within only the Hawaiian people and culture. Along with that, in recent years there have been some more modern and experimental hula practices that take ideas from Japanese dance, as well as some from central and south American dance. This practice is not approved of by everyone, however, with a quote from the same Smithsonian article saying "hula must be kept pure, wherever it is performed. It's up to us teachers to stress that where we come from is important...If the link is not maintained as it should, then we're not passing on something that is hula and we're not being true to our culture." Here's some... modern hula for you. Happy watching! 

Citation stuff in case you're interested...

Kirk, Mimi. “A Hip Tradition.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 31 July 2007, www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-hip-tradition-161029539/#:~:text=Early%20hula%20kahiko%20costumes%20for,such%20as%20shells%20and%20feathers.

“The History of Hula.” Ka`Imi Na`Auao O Hawai`i Nei Institute, kaimi.org/education/history-of-hula/.