Alice Nāmakelua

"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.

Alice Nāmakelua
Cover art for Auntie Alice Ku‘uleialohapoina‘ole Namakelua, 1974
Born12 August 1892 Edit this on Wikidata
Honokaa Edit this on Wikidata
Died27 April 1987 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 94)
Musical career
Instrument(s)
  • slack-key guitar
  • voice
Years active1927–1987
LabelsHula Records

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. "The Honolulu 100". Honolulu Magazine. November 1, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  2. 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. 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.
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