Panel Finding Aid: Iolani Luahine Festival Panel, 2005

Abstract

For several years, HPS worked in partnership with Uncle George Naope and his alakaʻi, Kumu Iwalani Kalima, on the annual He Lei Hiwa No ʻIolani (ʻIolani Luahine Competition and Festival), held in Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi. This is one of the panel discussions featured after the competition portion was completed, and the hope was that through hearing the stories of the elders who knew her, and seeing her hula and movements in the film, the ʻōpio in the competition would feel closer to this legendary namesake of the Festival. At this year’s Festival, HPS featured three elders who reflected on the time spent with their Kumu, “Auntie ʻIo” going back to the 1940s. HPS also arranged for filmmaker, Tip Davis, to show his 30-minute piece “ʻIolani Luahine, Hawaiian Dancer” which featured Auntie ʻIo and her hula. They shot the footage together in the 1970s, and it aired once on public television after her passing in 1978.