Nani Nuʻuanu i ka ua pehi lehua a ka puʻulena

[Photo: Solomono Huihui, ca. 1923; Lunalilo Home, Honolulu, Oʻahu. SP 115402.] Nani Nuʻuanu i ka ua pehi lehua a ka Puʻulena Happy Mele Monday! Today’s mele was composed by a man named Penimana and contributed to the collection by Solomono Huihui of Honolulu. A resident of Lunalilo Home, Solomono was one of nine kūpuna who […]

Kīlauea ke aloha

[Photo: Mokulau, Maui and interisland steamer, Kīlauea; Hawaiʻi, May 1922. SP 50114.] Kīlauea ke aloha Happy Mele Monday! “On June 28, 1860, the Kilauea, a screw steamer of 414 tons built for the [Hawaiian Steam Navigation Company] in East Boston, arrived at Honolulu and soon afterward began her long and varied career in the interisland […]

Pehea mai ʻoe, ē Malulani?

[Photo: Mr. George Beckley (seated) with Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole (standing); Hawaiʻi. SP 54164] Pehea mai ʻoe, ē Malulani? Happy Mele Monday! Today’s featured composition keeps us basking in the afterglow of Father’s Day. This mele, composed by Mrs. Kinoole Pittman, was written for William C. Beckley and dedicated to his son George Beckley. (Mele […]

ʻIke iā Hawaiʻi he ʻāina nui

[Photo: Group of Hawaiian fishermen and children posed in front of outrigger canoes, ca. 1905; Puna, Hawaiʻi. Photo by H.R. Hanna. SP_103652] ʻIke iā Hawaiʻi he ʻāina nui Happy Mele Monday! Contributed to the collection by Thomas E. Cooke of Hilo, todayʻs featured mele recalls significant places on Hawaiʻi island, namely in the Puna district. […]

Aia i Kohala kaʻu aloha

[Photo: View of coastal Kawaihae, Hawaiʻi; ca. 1908; SP 101273] Aia i Kohala kaʻu aloha Happy Mele Monday! Contributed to the collection by Kapeliela Malani of Kawaihae, Kohala, today’s composition is a mele aloha. Alluding to emotions of grief and hope, the composer of this mele expresses the deep pain of discovering the unfaithfulness of […]

Aloha au ʻo kahi wai o Peleʻula

[Photo: View up Nuʻuanu Valley toward the Pali. Pauoa Valley is on the right, and Rooke Valley is on the left behind the Country Club. Puʻu Konahuanui (3105 ft.) is visible on the upper right, and Puʻu Lanihuli (2775 ft.) is at left center; ca. 1929, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Photo by the 11th Photo Section, Air […]

Kū ka ʻoliʻoli i nā moku

[Photo: Lunalilo Home; Makiki, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. SP 30899] [Photo: Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Smith with a group of Hawaiians from Lunalilo Home, ca.1915; Hawaiʻi. SP 41676] [Photo: Portrait of King William Charles Lunalilo in uniform, seated; Hawaiʻi. Photo by H. L. Chase, Bishop Museum Archives. SP 41665] Previous Next Happy Mele Monday! “Never before had […]

Lāhainā Noon

Lāhainā Noon Home Page Twice a year, in May and July, the Sun passes directly overhead in Hawaiʻi. On these two days, around local noon, the Sun will be exactly overhead, at a 90o angle, and an upright object such as a flagpole will have no shadow. This phenomenon only occurs in the tropics; the Sun […]

Nani wale ka huila o Kīlauea

[Photo: Visitors at Kīlauea Point Lighthouse; Kīlauea, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi. Photo by Laurence Hata, Bishop Museum Archives. SP 216360] Nani wale ka huila o Kīlauea Happy Mele Monday! Completed in 1913 and situated at the northernmost point of Kauaʻi, the Kīlauea Lighthouse was the first landfall seen by vessels sailing in from the west. Beaming at […]

Butterfly Fish

Butterflyfish Home Page Dr. Richard Pyle and E.H. Chave first reported the presence of a species the butterflyfish genus Prognathodes in the Hawaiian Islands at depths of 106–187 meters, based on video and observations from research submersibles operated by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL). They noted its similarity to P. guezei, a species then […]