Community celebrates the life, legacy of Edith Kanakaʻole

VIDEO NEWS RELEASE

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Kelli Abe Trifonovitch, (808) 228-8108
Chief Communications Officer, UH Office of Communications
Posted: May 7, 2023

Ceremony in UH Hilo Performing Arts Center
Ceremony in UH Hilo Performing Arts Center
2023 American Women Quarters coin board with Edith Kanakaʻole quarter.
2023 American Women Quarters coin board with Edith Kanakaʻole quarter.
Edith Kanakaʻole mural at UH Hilo.
Edith Kanakaʻole mural at UH Hilo.
Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation executive director
Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation executive director
Opua Kern (left)
Opua Kern (left)

Link to video, sound and stills (details below):bit.ly/42aJilz

WHO: About 1,000 community members/attendees

WHAT: “He Kaʻao No Aunty Edith Kanakaʻole” Celebrating the life and legacy of legendary kumu hula, composer and educator Edith Kanakaʻole.

WHEN: May 6, 2023, Edith Kanakaʻole Day 

WHERE: Edith Kanakaʻole Hall at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, where Kanakaʻole taught in the 1970s.

HOW: Activities included:

  • Edith’s voice: video loop of “Aunty Edith”
  • U.S. Mint educational resources and coin board distribution
  • Sharing of stories of Aunty Edith’s impact on the world and Indigenous cultures
  • Sharing of stories among Hawaiʻi Community College ʻohana
  • Sharing of stories among UH Hilo ʻohana
  • Sharing of stories among Kanakaʻole ʻohana
  • Educational crafts and activities

OTHER FACTS: 

  • Attendees were also able to receive an Edith Kanakaʻole quarter.
  • On March 27, the U.S. Mint released into circulation American Women Quarters™ honoring the award-winning composer. 
  • Kanakaʻole is one of five American women being honored in new quarters in 2023 as part of the American Women Quarters™ Program. 
  • The American Women Quarters™ is a four-year program (2022–2025) to honor the accomplishments and contributions made by women who have shaped our nation’s history and helped pave the way for generations to follow. 
  • Each year, the Secretary of the Treasury selects the honorees following consultation with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, the National Women’s History Museum and the Congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus.
  • Local artist Kamea Hadar, Kanakaʻole’s grandson Kūhaʻo Zane and Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Services students are working on a mural of Kanakaʻole on the walls of the Edith Kanakaʻole hall.
  • The Kanakaʻole’s family recently established the Hale Kanakaʻole Fund with the UH Foundation. The fund recognizes Kanakaʻole’s numerous contributions toward the promotion of Native Hawaiians’ educational pursuits, and provides support to students enrolled at any campus within the UH System with a preference for students of Native Hawaiian ancestry. Donations to the Hale Kanakaʻole Fund can be made via the UH Foundation: https://giving.uhfoundation.org/funds/13026904 

VIDEO: TRT: 2:42

BROLL: 1:48

:00-52 Shots of kipaepae/ceremony in theater (E hō mai nat sound throughout)

:52-1:02 Shots of mural of Edith Kanakaʻole on the walls of Edith Kanakaʻole Hall

1:02-1:20 Shots of hula

1:20-1:48 Shots of quarter distribution

SOUND:

Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation Executive Director (:19)

“For the next generation, they realize this is who she was and this is the person that the hall is named after and this is the person that the multipurpose stadium is named after and now we know who she is and now we have another native Hawaiian hero to follow after.”

Opua Kern (10-years-old) (:08)

“I think it's good that they finally put a native Hawaiian person on a U.,S. currency—that they recognize our culture and stuff.” 

Myles Walsh, UH Hilo alumnus (:15)

“The amount that she has touched so many people is just astounding, not just through her hula, but thorough her teaching and through everyone that’s her legacy. I’ve never known anyone who such a big legacy as Edith Kanakaʻole.”

Malu Killion, Kanakaole’s great granddaughter (;09)

“I think everything she did is important to me and my family, because without her, I donʻt think Hawaiʻi would be in the position it is.”