Lei Culture Article

When Hāwane Rios (@hawanemusic) was 19, she heard a story that would inform her life forever. It was the love story of Poliʻahu and Kūkahauʻula. The mo‘olelo was the first story she fully comprehended in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, passed on to her by her aunty. It also had a spatial connection as she grew up in Waimea on Hawai‘i Island, in view of Maunakea. Inspired, Hāwane composed her earliest songs dedicated to Polihaʻu. For the singer, the songs are “an ode to our kūpuna.” Through mele, she says, “we could connect to the deities like we connect to one another. So we could love them like we love one another.” At the link in bio, read more about how the Nā Hoku Hanohano Award winner’s artistry and activism are guided by her ancestral connection to Maunakea.