Alice Nāmakelua

Hawaiian composer and performer

  • slack-key guitar
  • voice
Years active1927–1987LabelsHula Records
Musical artist

"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

Songs

  • 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

  • Namakelua, Alice; Lilikoi, Violet Pahu (1974). Ku'uleialohapoina'ole (vinyl LP). Hula Records. OCLC 900330872. HS 552.

Bibliography

  • Namakelua, Alice (1973). "Aunty Alice" Namakelua's lifetime Hawaiian compositions (in Hawaiian). Honolulu: Hienz Guenther Pink. OCLC 1120749658.

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Honolulu 100". Honolulu Magazine. November 1, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Ka Lahui o ka Pupuu Hookahi". Traditional Hawaiian. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 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. ^ a b de Silva, Kīhei. "Kuahiwi Nani (Haleakalā Hula)". Hālau Mōhala ‘Ilima. Retrieved January 7, 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. May 12, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 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 January 7, 2016.
  10. ^ Stagner, Ishmael. "Na Makua Mahalo ia: Mormon Influences on Hawaiian Music and Dance". Retrieved January 7, 2016.

External links

  • 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.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Patrons
199519961998
19992000
  • Maddy Lam
  • Hawaiian Chanters: Keaulumoku, Ka`opulupulu, Kapoukahi, Kapihe and Hewahewa
20012002
  • Songs honored: Alika, Kalama'ula, Wehiwehi 'Oe
200320042005
20062007
2008
  • Joseph Ae'a
  • Elizabeth "Lizzie" Kahau Kauanui Alohikea
  • Anuhea Audrey Brown
  • Thomas Kihei Desha Brown
  • Alice Angeline Johnson
  • John Keola Lake
  • Albert Po'ai Nahale-a Sr.
  • Leo Nahenahe Singers
  • Palani Vaughan
  • James Kaʻupena Wong
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
20142015
  • Lokalia Montgomery
  • Lei Collins
  • Halekulani Girls (Alice Fredlund, Sybil Bright Andrews, Linda Dela Cruz)
  • Jerry Byrd
  • Darrell Lupenui
  • Thaddius Wilson
  • O'Brian Eselu
2016
2017
  • Richard “Babe” Bell
  • The Isaacs ‘Ohana
  • The Kanaka’ole ‘Ohana
  • Krash Kealoha
  • Jacqueline "Skylark" Rossetti
  • Kimo Kahoano
  • Karen Keawehawai’i
  • Melveen Leed
  • Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
2018
  • Beamer ‘Ohana (Nona, Keola, Kapono)
  • Bray ‘Ohana (Daddy and Lydia Bray)
  • Ho‘opi‘i Brothers (Richard and Solomon)
  • Kahananui ‘Ohana (Dorothy Kahananui and Dorothy Gillett)
  • Saichi Kawahara
  • Literary award: He Mele Aloha: A Hawaiian Songbook (Vicky Hollinger, Kimo Hussey, Puakea Nogelmeier, Carol Wilcox), The Queen’s Songbook (Dorothy Kahananui Gillett, Barbara Smith and Hui Hanai)
2019
  • Pua Haʻaheo
  • Marta Hohu
  • Leila Hohu Kiaha
  • David “Feet” Rogers
  • Harry B. Soria Jr.
  • Kauʻi Zuttermeister
  • Hawaiian Room musicians from the Lexington Hotel, NYC
2020
  • Paused due to the global pandemic
20212022