Kayli Pascal-Martinez is the first recipient of KITV4’s Robert Kekaula Fellowship. Kayli was selected in the Fall of 2022 for this prestigious opportunity out of a broad pool of young applicants who are from Hawaii or currently living in Hawaii. She currently attends University of Hawaii - West Oahu where she is a junior studying Communications and New Media Technologies.
The new Edith Kanaka'ole quarter is officially in circulation today. What her granddaughter had to say about the monu-metal honor.
HONOLULU (KITV4) – A new commemorative quarter has been created depicting a portrait of former University of Hawaii instructor and late legendary kumu hula, Edith Kekuhikuhipuʻuone o nā aliʻi o Kohala Kanaka’ole.
Also known as “Aunty Edith,” Kanaka’ole is being honored on one side of the coin with her hair and lei po’o (head lei) morphing into the elements of a Hawaiian landscape that symbolizes her life’s work of preserving the natural land and traditional Hawaiian culture.
“I came to understand that her deep connection to the land, her home in Hawaii near the Mauna Kea volcano, played a large role in her life and work. To best honor the various ways she made an impact, I felt that the design should emphasize her relationship to that environment,” said Artistic Infusion Program Designer Emily Damstra.
Kanaka’ole was an Indigenous Hawaiian composer, chanter, dancer, kumu hula, and cultural icon. She also worked as a teacher at Hawaii Community College from 1971 to 1974 and at University of Hawaii Hilo from 1974 to 1979. During her time as a professor, she created courses and seminars that included the Hawaiian language, ethnobotany, Polynesian history, genealogy and Hawaiian chant and mythology.
As a kumu hula and an academic researcher, Edith developed her own chants for cultural preservation and academic work. She believed that the oli (Hawaiian chants), informed the basis of Hawaiian values and history and performed this art form in all the major styles of delivery.
There is a foundation in her name that is a Hawaiian cultural-based non-profit organization that was established in 1990. The foundation helps to maintain and perpetuate her teachings, beliefs, practices, philosophies and traditions.
A celebration of Kanaka’ole’s contributions and legacy will beheld at UH Hilo on May 6.
Kayli Pascal-Martinez is the first recipient of KITV4’s Robert Kekaula Fellowship. Kayli was selected in the Fall of 2022 for this prestigious opportunity out of a broad pool of young applicants who are from Hawaii or currently living in Hawaii. She currently attends University of Hawaii - West Oahu where she is a junior studying Communications and New Media Technologies.
