Video Reprise of Oli Exhibition Offered At Bishop Museum
Last May, before audiences of hundreds, Hawaiian cultural practitioners performed oli that were selected from the thousands of oli published in early Hawaiian language newspapers. If you missed those rare performances at the Pa Ka Leo oli exhibition but would like to see them again, you are in luck! Bishop Museum captured these dramatic and moving performances on video and will be screening the Pa Ka Leo film free of charge in Atheron Halau on September 20 at 5:30 p.m. Seating is limited and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The screening will be preceded by a presentation about Ho‘olaupa‘i: Hawaiian Newspaper Resource project and the history of the Hawaiian language newspaper repository, given by project manager Kaui Sai-Dudoit.
Hawaiian chanters including Hokulani Holt-Padilla, Leinaala Kalama-Heine, Kealii Reichel, and many others are featured performing selections of original oli written and published in Hawaiian language newspapers from 1834 to 1949. Pa Ka Leo was presented at the Dr. Richard T. Mamiya Theatre at St. Louis High School on May 5, 2007 The landmark concert benefited the Ho‘olaupa‘i: Hawaiian Newspaper Resource Project, a collaborative venture spearheaded by Bishop Museum with the goal of digitizing and placing on the internet tens of thousands of pages from the Hawaiian language newspapers of the 19 th and early 20 th century.
Hawaiian oli (chant) predates western contact and was the major art form for keeping oral histories and traditions such as genealogy, special places, important events, prayers, affection, births, and deaths by committing to memory passages that sometime took days to recite and passing them down through the ages. Thousands of oli were published in the Hawaiian language newspapers of the day, but have not been performed in decades.
From kupuna to opio, this extraordinary oli program will feature kumu hula and Hawaiian practitioners as well as youth from Ke Kula o Samuel M. Kamakau, a Hawaiian language charter school on Oahu performing chants that have not been heard in some cases, in more than 100 years.
Performers from Oahu scheduled to appear in the film include Cy Bridges, Leinaala Kalama-Heine and the ladies of Na Pualei o Liko Lehua, Mehana Hind, Kamehaililani Waiau, Paepae o Heeia, Ka Papa 2008 o S.M. Kamakau, and Ka Ohana de Silva; From Maui: Kealii Reichel with Halau Kealaokamaile, Kalei Tshua and Hokulani Holt-Padilla; From Hawaii: Lopaka Kaumakaiwa Kanahele; From Lanai: Lehua Matsuoka and Sol Kahoohalahala; From Kauai: Kehau Kekua and Aikane Alapai; From Molokai: Mikiala and Keoki Pescaia.
Thousands of oli were printed in the Hawaiian language newspapers between 1834 and 1949. Until now, these oli have been largely lost and unavailable to contemporary Hawaiians due to lack of access. Through efforts by the Ho‘olaupa‘i research team, 646 oli have been compiled for selection by the chanters for performance at Pa Ka Leo.
According to concert organizer and Hoolaupa: Hawaiian Newspaper Resource Project Manager Kaui Sai-Dudoit, “Our goal was to honor the composers by breathing life back into their compositions, through the talents of modern day practitioners, young and old. It is our hope that through these efforts we can help renew interest in an important cultural practice of our kupuna and raise awareness and much needed funding for the continuation of the Ho‘olaupa‘i Research Project.”
The Ho‘olaupa‘i Project is reconstructing a national archive. Using the internet and new digital technology, Bishop Museum is creating the world’s largest collection of written Hawaiian language material, making it available and easily accessible to millions at www.nupepa.org. During the 1800 and early 1900s, native Hawaiians amassed a large collection of newspaper publications equaling approximately 125,000 pages of text written in their native language. The traditional, cultural, historical, and political wisdom of this culture during this time period is contained within this repository. These newspapers represent the largest collection of native language writings of any Pacific peoples and were the product of a fully literate population, created by and for them.
Access has been extremely limited because of the state of the originals, which are deteriorating despite costly aggressive preservation techniques. Making the information available on the internet reduces the need for manual search which helps preservation efforts by reducing use of the originals in the archival collections.
Because the papers are written in Hawaiian, the language barrier has prevented even the most tenacious researchers from transcribing the vast collection of more than 125,000 pages of newspapers. Time was running out and there was great concern that this valuable resource would deteriorate before the important cultural information contained within was retrieved.
Recent technological advancements in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) have enabled Bishop Museum researchers to create digital images of the publications from microfilm or the original documents. OCR renders the whole Hawaiian language newspaper archive directly accessible by word search. Although the information is all in Hawaiian, OCR access can locate key content through Hawaiian word and phrase searching. This process facilitates further research and understanding of Hawaiian discussion on key topics during the 19 th and early 20 th centuries.
For the past four years, Ho‘olaupa‘i has operated quietly and methodically completing nearly 9,000 pages of the earliest Hawaiian newspapers under the leadership of project manager Sai-Dudoit. She and her staff have developed significant skills in comprehending the style of early Hawaiian language, which is used in the early newspapers. Through training and experience, they have earned a level of expertise and practical understanding that exists nowhere else. The work of the Ho‘olaupa‘i team has created a contemporary connectivity to the language, thoughts, emotions, and expressions of Hawaiians from a century earlier. They are creating an incredible source of materials for others to read and use in forming new interpretations of historical events and issues.
For more information about the free screening of Pa Ka Leo, or the Ho‘olaupa‘i project, call Kaui Sai-Dudoit at (808) 847-8282; or Ho‘olaupa‘i@bishopmuseum.org; or Bishop Museum at (808) 848-4126; or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.
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