Posted on October 26, 2009.
Uncle George Na'ope smiles and poses last year with Darlene Ahuna. (Hawaii247
photo special by Tim Wright)
Karin Stanton/Hawaii247.org Contributing Editor
George Lanakilakekiahiali'i Na'ope, co-founder of the Merrie Monarch hula
festival, died Monday, Oct. 26 in his Waiakea Uka home after a long illness.
He was 81 and last year had lung surgery.
Tributes already are pouring in from across the state and around the world,
hailing the pint-sized man with the giant heart and unwavering passion for
Hawaii’s performing arts.
‘Uncle George’ was internationally famed and renowned as a hula master, chanter
and performer, as well as co-founder of the world’s premier hula festival and
ambassador for Hawaiian culture.
Na'ope, with Dottie Thompson and Agnes “Aunty Agney” Kalanihookaha Cope, founded
the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo in 1963 after a trip to a Whaling Festival
on Maui.
Na'ope, in a wheelchair, and Thompson were in attendance at the 2009 Merrie
Monarch Festival.
He was born Feb 25, 1928, in Hilo and was already beginning his hula career at
age 3.
He began teaching hula by the time he was 13. Over his lifetime, the kumu hula
taught the kahiko hula, or ancient hula, in Europe, Japan, Australia the
mainland and South America.
Na'ope also recorded several albums, but mostly was know for his deep love of
the pageantry, protocol and pomp of hula.
His passion shined in the presence of at least two U.S. presidents as he greeted
Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy on their island arrivals. Na'ope also
was called to share the aloha at the wedding of (then crown prince) Emporer
Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan.
He was honored with the “Living Golden Treasure” designation by the governor and
state Legislature of Hawaii in 1960, and named in the Smithsonian Institute as a
“Treasure of Hawaii” by President George Bush, Sr.
In addition to thousands of students and fans, Na'ope is survived by three
sisters, Eileen, Bernie and Emma, a brother, Frank, numerous nieces and nephews,
and a hanai grandson, Hoapili Bower.
Services are tentatively set with a Nov. 6 viewing, and a Nov. 7 celebration and
memorial, at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo.
—
Lyman Medeiros invites everyone to call KonaFM between 5:30 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 27 to share memories of Uncle George Na'ope. Call 296-5422.
Uncle George Na'ope 1928-2009 (Hawaii247 photo special by Tim Wright)
Published: 5:13PM GMT 30 Oct 2009
Na'ope fostered his mission to introduce hula to people around the world through
the annual Merrie Monarch festival he co-founded with Doris "Dottie" Thompson.
This developed into the world's most important hula competition, and he also
travelled to several continents to teach hula, giving classes in Britain and
Japan.
Although best known in Britain in the context of the embarrassing 1950s craze
for hula hoops, in Hawaii the hula dance is a sacred ritual. According to some,
it was danced only by men, but both legend and historical sources suggest that
both sexes took part. Quite different from other Polynesian dances, it began as
a form of worship during religious ceremonies, only gradually evolving into a
form of entertainment.
Every movement in hula has a specific meaning, and every expression of the
dancer's hands has significance. The movements might represent certain plants or
animals, or even war. In imitating a shark or waving palm tree, the true hula
dancer believes he or she becomes the shark or palm.
The dance is accompanied by chants which help to explain the dancer's story, and
traditionally it was the words, rather than the hand gestures, that counted.
Today, however, so few people understand the language of the chants that greater
emphasis is placed on movements and gestures.
Na'ope was also a celebrated kumu hula, someone considered qualified by
another kumu (instructor) to teach the techniques and traditions of the dance.
Akumu hula commands enormous respect. Those who studied under Na'ope
emphasised his significant contribution to Hawaiian culture, referring to him as
the last living hula lo'ea, or hula master.
George Lanakilakekiahiali'i Na'ope was born in Kalihi, a working-class
neighbourhood of Honolulu, on February 25 1928, and began studying hula at the
age of three. His family moved to the historic town of Hilo when he was a
teenager and he began to teach hula at the age of 13, earning 50 cents a lesson
to pay for his schooling.
After graduating from high school he moved back to Honolulu, where he opened the
George Na'ope Hula School. As a young man he also travelled the world as the
featured chanter for the Royal Hawaiian Revue and the Ray Kinney Band.
By the 1950s Na'ope had established a hula studio on the second floor of the
KHBC radio station building in Honolulu, and in 1962 he co-founded the Merrie
Monarch festival, a week-long festival of traditional Hawaiian arts, crafts, and
performances featuring a three-day hula competition. The festival is named after
David Kalakaua, king of Hawaii from 1874 to 1891, who was known as "The Merrie
Monarch".
The festival rapidly grew in popularity, becoming one of the biggest events in
Hawaii and being credited with playing a major role in a Hawaiian cultural
renaissance. A dapper man who sported colourful clothes and huge rings, Na'ope
was a fixture at the festival and its many auxiliary events. He was often to be
seen sitting in a huge peacock-style chair having his picture taken with
visitors from Japan.
In his dotage, he drew cheering crowds to their feet when he took the Merrie
Monarch stage to perform a hula during the festival's finale.
According to one of his students, Na'ope "believed in the word aloha [a
greeting meaning love, peace, compassion or mercy]" and helped spread that
message throughout the world through hula. On news of his death, the Office of
Hawaiian Affairs quickly posted a fond Aloha 'oe ("farewell to thee") on its
website.
In 1960 the state of Hawaii acclaimed Na'ope a "Living Golden Treasure". He was
also designated a "Treasure of Hawaii" by President George W Bush and the
Smithsonian Institution.
George Na'ope is survived by a brother and three sisters.