Keola

Ho'opa'a
Hālau Hi’iakaināmakalehua
Merrie Monarch 2026

Kahiko Night Merrie Monarch 2026
Hālau Hi'iakaināmakalehua
Let hālau know how well they did in the comments 🤙🏽
Congrats Lehua Grove

Hālau Hi’iakaināmakalehua
Ke Kumu Robert Keano Ka’upu IV
Niuhelewai, Kona, O’ahu
“Hulihia Ka `Āpapa Ka Unu Ko’ako’a O Ka Moana”
The ocean floor convulses, fire rises from deep within Haumea’s womb, and Kama’ehu a Kanaloa emerges through heat, quake, and surging waters in this hulihia composed by Kaumaka'iwa Kanaka'ole. Volcanic power moves between submarine and terrestrial environments as Pelehonuamea breaks open sea and sky in a continuous act of creation. This mele affirms that life is born through fire, and regeneration and reconstruction are inevitable.

Hālau Hi’iakaināmakalehua
Ke Kumu Robert Keano Ka’upu IV
Niuhelewai, Kona, O’ahu
“Kau Kaha’ea Ke Ao Uahi I Luna”
Composed by Kekuhi Kanaka’ole, this hulihia for Kama’ehu a Kanaloa invokes a multitude of akua engaged in the creation of the submerged island still forming off the coast of Hawaii Island. The mele reveals Pelehonuamea as the master creator whose volcanic force shapes mountains and islands, just as a kalai wa’a carves their canoe. Here, she assumes the role of the carver, the adze, and the canoe.

Keoe Momilani Michiko Hoe
Hālau Hi’iakaināmakalehua
“Ia Moku Kele Kahiki”
Recounting the extraordinary birth of Kana amid rolling skies, flooding mountains, and surging seas, revealing him as a kāula, seer, whose very form embodies stretching, expansion, and his far reaching power. Raised by his grandmother, Uli, Kana becomes a prophetic navigator whose influence spreads throughout the Pacific. Vast fleets of wa’a carry Kana’s legacy over the moving realm of the sea.

Day 3 in the Lehua Grove of our Merrie Monarch journey