NATIVE HAWAIIAN CHANTER/HIGH PRIESTESS OF HULA-IOLANI LUAHINE DIED
Harriet Lanihau, born on January 31, 1915, in Nāpoʻopo’o on Hawaii Island, was adopted & taught hula by a great aunt who danced in Kalākaua’s & Lili’uokalani’s courts. She took the name “Iolani,” meaning “Heavenly Hawk,” after an eye illness. At the University of Hawaii, she learned traditional hula from Mary Kawena Pukui and, opening her studio in Honolulu in 1946, gained international acclaim. Luahine served as advisor in creating the Miss Hula competition (now part of the Miss Aloha Hula Festival). A co-recipient of Hawaii’s 1st State Order of Distinction for Cultural Leadership (1970), she performed 3 times at the National Folk Festival, and was named a “Living Treasure” (1972). The ‘Iolani Luahine Hula Festival” was established in her memory. The subject of 2 documentaries: Iolani Luahine, Hawaiian Dancer (1976); and Keepers of the Flame: The Cultural Legacy of Three Hawaiian Women (2005), in 2017, Hawaiʻi Magazine named her one of the most influential women in Hawaiian history.
Sources:
Eric Stinton, “Remembering Hawaii: Remembering Iolani Luahine, the high priestess of hula,” Khon2, 12/10/2019. Retrieved 1/28/2024, https://www.khon2.com/remembering-hawaii/remembering-iolani-luahine-the-high-priestess-of-hula/
Wikipedia
Photo: Jeff Kubina, 8/15/1995. Permissive Use.
Indigenous America Calendar 