In 1830, Queen Kaʻahumanu, acting under pressure from Protestant missionaries who had arrived in Hawaiʻi just a decade earlier, issued an edict banning public hula performances. The dance that had for centuries recorded Hawaiian genealogy, mythology, and history was suddenly illegal. Yet hula did not die. It went underground, passed quietly between generations, until King David Kalākaua restored it to public life in the 1870s. This article examines what hula actually is — not the tourist-postcard version, but the spiritual, historical, and living tradition that has survived suppression, adaptation, and globalization.
“Hula is the language of the heart and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.” — King David Kalākaua, as recorded in the history of the Merrie Monarch Festival
Hula is far more than a performance art — it is a spiritual practice, an oral-historical system, and a living connection to Native Hawaiian identity. But it is not a monolith: the form has evolved through suppression, royal patronage, a 20th-century renaissance, and now global practice, and its meaning varies between hālau (schools), islands, and generations.
| Category | Period | Instruments | Accompaniment | Purpose | Status Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hula Kahiko (ancient) | Pre-contact to late 19th century; revived in modern form | Pahu (sharkskin drum), pūʻili (bamboo rattles), ʻiliʻili (stone castanets), ipu (gourd drum) | Oli (chant) only; no melodic instruments | Religious ritual, genealogy, oral history, honor to gods and chiefs | Performed at festivals and competitions; requires deep cultural knowledge |
| Hula ʻAuana (modern) | Emerged late 19th century, dominant 20th century onward | Guitar, ʻukulele, piano, bass; western instruments | Mele (song) with melody and harmony | Entertainment, storytelling, contemporary expression | Widely performed globally; more accessible to learners |
The two categories are not rigid — many performances blend elements, and individual hālau maintain distinct stylistic lineages. Understanding the difference matters because it shapes what you see and how you interpret it.
The Spiritual Roots of Hula
Multiple Hawaiian islands tell competing stories about hula’s origins. Some link the dance to the goddess Laka, patron of hula, love, and forests. One legend holds that Laka gave birth to hula on the sacred hill Puʻu Nana in Kaʻana on Molokaʻi. Other traditions point to a pan-Polynesian navigator and hero. Four islands — including the Big Island and Kauaʻi — claim to be hula’s birthplace, a debate that remains unresolved and reflects the decentralized nature of pre-contact Hawaiian society.
Before European contact, Hawaiians had no written language. Hula and chant served as the culture’s archive, encoding mythology, genealogy, astronomy, and political history in movement and rhythm. Each dance told a specific story, and errors in choreography or chant were considered serious — not aesthetic failures but breaches of accuracy in transmitting sacred knowledge. This is why practitioners today often describe hula as a form of worship. Kaleonani Kalauokaʻaeʻa-Kahele, a kumu (teacher) for Hālau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua, has said that when she dances, she feels closest to God.
A common misconception: the hula hoop has nothing to do with Hawaiian hula. Its origins trace to ancient Greece, around the fifth century. The name is a 20th-century marketing coincidence.
Suppression and Survival: The Road Through the Ban
Protestant missionaries arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1820. They were shocked by what they saw — open dancing, chants to deities, and bodily movements they considered indecent. Within a decade, they convinced Queen Kaʻahumanu, wife of Kamehameha I, to outlaw public hula in 1830. The edict was never formally rescinded before her death in 1832. Some chiefs quietly stopped enforcing it, and in 1834 Kamehameha III openly defied the kapu (law) by allowing a public performance. But in 1851, a licensing system was introduced, requiring a heavy fee per show — a different kind of suppression.
King David Laʻamea Kalākaua, who reigned from 1874 to 1891, changed everything. Known as the Merrie Monarch for his patronage of the arts, he made it his mission to ensure Hawaiian language, chant, and hula would survive. His 1883 coronation and his 1886 Silver Jubilee — a grand two-week celebration of his 50th birthday — both featured public hula performances for the first time in decades. Kalākaua’s reign marked the official return of hula to public life, but the decades of suppression had already reshaped the practice. The hula that re-emerged was not identical to what had gone underground.
The Merrie Monarch Festival and the Hawaiian Renaissance
The Merrie Monarch Festival, named in Kalākaua’s honor, began in 1963 in Hilo on the Big Island. Helene Hale, then chairman of the County of Hawaiʻi, initiated it as an economic stimulus during a downturn. The first competition was modest. By 1971, when kumu hula Johny Lum Ho entered for the first time, it had begun to take shape as the premier hula event worldwide. Today the weeklong festival culminates in a world-renowned competition that draws hālau from across Hawaiʻi and around the globe.
The festival was part of a broader Hawaiian Renaissance that gained momentum from the early 1960s through the late 1970s — a cultural resurgence that also revived Hawaiian language, navigation, and traditional arts. The Merrie Monarch’s mission, as stated on its official site, is “to preserve, perpetuate, and promote the art of hula and all Hawaiian culture.” It remains the most prestigious stage for both hula kahiko and hula ʻauana.
Hula as a Living Tradition Today
Hula is now practiced and studied in Japan, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and across the United States mainland. The 2006 Japanese film Hula Girls, based on a true story of young women using hula to save a mining village in Iwaki, reflects how deeply the practice has traveled. In 2008, the Obama Hula Girls troupe from Obama, Japan, celebrated President Barack Obama’s election — a name coincidence that became a cross-cultural connection.
But global spread raises questions about cultural ownership and authenticity. Hula practitioners in Hawaiʻi emphasize that the dance remains essentially Hawaiian — steadfastly uninfluenced by other ethnic traditions, according to some elders. Others note that adaptation has always been part of hula’s history, from the incorporation of western instruments in hula ʻauana to the modern competition format. This is not a settled debate.
For Native Hawaiian practitioners, hula continues to function as what Kaleonani Kalauokaʻaeʻa-Kahele calls “a way to put everything that you’re going through — all your feelings, all your emotions, all your stress, all your good, bad, everything — into something beautiful.” She danced in seven Merrie Monarch competitions with Hālau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua, first at age 13 in 1991, and was Lum Ho’s Miss Aloha Hula contestant in 1996. Her seven daughters now carry the tradition forward.
If you attend a hula performance in Hawaiʻi, watch the dancers’ hands and eyes — hula tells specific stories through hand gestures (hālo) and facial expression. Each movement has a meaning. Do not applaud during a chant; wait for the performer to finish. Many hālau consider this a sign of respect for the oli as a sacred form.
Context and Comparison: Hula Through Eras and Across Communities
| Period | Status | Who Controlled Practice | Instruments | Key Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-contact (before 1779) | Open, sacred, communal | Kahuna (priests), hālau | Pahu, ipu, pūʻili, ʻiliʻili | Captain Cook’s arrival (1779) — first European contact |
| Missionary era (1820–1874) | Suppressed or underground | Christian converts, secret practitioners | Minimal; chants preserved orally | Queen Kaʻahumanu’s ban (1830); licensing system (1851) |
| Kalākaua revival (1874–1891) | Public, celebrated | King’s patronage, hālau | Traditional + western instruments begin appearing | Coronation (1883) and Silver Jubilee (1886) |
| Early diaspora (1890s–1950s) | Tourist entertainment | Hawaiian performers on U.S. mainland tours | Steel guitar, ʻukulele | Grass-skirt stereotype solidified in popular culture |
| Renaissance (1963–present) | Revived, competitive, global | Hālau, festival organizers, global practitioners | Both traditional and modern | Merrie Monarch Festival founded (1963); first competition (1971) |
The table above traces how hula’s form and meaning shifted under different pressures — colonial, political, economic, and cultural.
The Merrie Monarch Festival’s 2024 installment was its 61st. The festival maintains teachings of kūpuna (elders) and strives to perpetuate Hawaiian history and culture respectfully, according to its president Luana Kawelu, who has stated that “the hula is so spiritual to the people of Hawaiʻi.”
- Hula served as Hawaiʻi’s written record before writing existed — it encoded genealogy, history, and cosmology in movement and chant.
- The practice was nearly eradicated by missionary influence and legal bans but survived through secret transmission and royal revival.
- Contemporary hula is not a single form but a spectrum from kahiko (ancient, chant-based) to ʻauana (modern, song-based), with ongoing debate about authenticity and adaptation.
- Global practice of hula raises real questions about cultural ownership that the Hawaiian community continues to navigate.
Questions Readers Ask About Hula
Is hula a religious practice?
It depends on the context and the practitioner. Hula kahiko originated as a spiritual practice tied to Hawaiian deities, especially the goddess Laka. Many contemporary dancers describe it as a form of worship or connection to the divine. However, hula ʻauana is often performed as secular entertainment. The line is not always clear-cut.
Can non-Hawaiians learn and perform hula?
Yes, and many do — globally. But respectful engagement means understanding that hula is not just a dance style but a cultural practice with protocols. Many hālau welcome serious students of any background who are willing to learn the language, history, and proper etiquette. Casual participation without cultural context is often seen as appropriation.
What is the difference between a hālau and a dance studio?
A hālau is more than a studio — it is a school structured around a kumu (teacher) who holds specific lineage and knowledge. Students typically learn not just choreography but chant, language, and protocol. The relationship between kumu and haumāna (students) is often lifelong and involves cultural and familial responsibilities.
Where can I see authentic hula in Hawaiʻi?
The Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo (April) is the most prestigious venue, but tickets are extremely limited. Many hotels and cultural centers host public performances year-round. Look for performances introduced with an oli (chant) and that include both kahiko and ʻauana segments. For a deeper experience, consider a guided cultural tour that includes hula as part of a broader Hawaiian history context.
Is the hula hoop from Hawaiʻi?
No. The hula hoop originated in ancient Greece, around the fifth century. The name “hula hoop” was a marketing invention by the Wham-O toy company in the 1950s, inspired by the hip movements that reminded them of hula. The two are unrelated.
What Hula Reveals About Cultural Survival
Hula’s story is not a simple arc from sacred to commodified, or from suppressed to revived. It is a story of deliberate choices made under constraint — by kumu who kept chants alive in secret, by a king who staked his legacy on cultural restoration, by families who passed movements from grandparent to child across decades of pressure to assimilate. The practice survives today because it was never just a dance. It was a way of holding knowledge, identity, and relationship to place when every external force told Hawaiians to let those things go. That is what makes hula a spiritual journey, whether or not you ever set foot on a stage.
For more on the spiritual dimensions of Hawaiian culture, read about the soul of aloha and ancient Hawaiian spirituality.
Sources and further reading
Maui Divers Jewelry. “The Meaning Behind Hula.” 🔗
Roberts Hawaiʻi. “Hawaiian Hula Dance 101.” 🔗
Big Island Now. “Hula is Life: Uniquely Hawaiian Dance Plays Important Role in Perpetuating Native Hawaiian Culture.” March 31, 2024. 🔗
Merrie Monarch Festival. Official site. 🔗
Related reading on IslandHopperGuides
Beyond the Beach: Discovering Hawaii’s Hidden Temples and Sacred Sites — explores the sacred geography that grounds Hawaiian spiritual practice.
The Beauty of Hawaiian Language in Everyday Life — how ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi carries the same ancestral knowledge that hula encodes.
The Powerful Legacy of Aliʻi Chiefs in Hawaiian Culture — the chiefly system that supported hula before and after contact.
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