Welo Hou
Cover Image: Three ʻōlapa, hoʻopaʻa (seated with pahu and ipu heke), and onlookers posed in front of hale pili in Moanalua, Oʻahu ca. 1883. Photo by Frank Davey, Bishop Museum Archives. SP 42080.
Mele are an invaluable primary resource for Hawaiian scholarship and cultural connection. The Welo Hou: Building Connections to the Roberts Mele Collection project, funded in part by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, will improve the digitization, indexing, and accessibility of a unique and treasured collection of mele dating from pre-Western contact to the early 1900s. This pilot project will serve as a model for improved access to and increased engagement with the Bishop Museum Library & Archives’ other mele collections.
Welo Hou, or to unfurl once again, aims to provide more opportunities for researchers of all levels of Hawaiian language and cultural fluency to access the Roberts Collection with ease, and honors the connections between Hawaiian voices of the past and our community of the present.
Cover Image: Three ʻōlapa, hoʻopaʻa (seated with pahu and ipu heke), and onlookers posed in front of hale pili in Moanalua, Oʻahu ca. 1883. Photo by Frank Davey, Bishop Museum Archives. SP 42080.
Ke Kumuhana o ke Ola o ke Kanaka
[Kiaaina; Hawaiʻi; Photo by Theodore Kelsey; SP 39805] Ke Kumuhana o ke Ola o ke Kanaka Happy Mele Monday! “For the Hawaiian of the past,
Kāua i ka Nani o Hilo
[Photo: Seated hula dancers with ipu hula at ʻIolani Palace grounds for King Kalākaua’s birthday; Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The Royal bandstand can be seen in the
Ē Hina, ē Hinahele
[Photo: Pele Pukui Suganuma with gourd drum (ipu hula); Hawaiʻi; ca. 1962; SP 30108.] Ē Hina, ē Hinahele Happy Mele Monday! Today’s featured mele is
Aia i Makaoa ka Lua o ke Ala
[Photo: Pāʻū riders; Hawaiʻi.; ca. 1880; Photographed by H.L. Chase; SP 209717.][Photo: Pāʻū rider; Hawaiʻi; ca. 1900; SP 77131.][Photo: Pāʻū riders on the island of
Kanikau Nalimu
[Photo: Rev. H.B. Nalimu. Born in 1835; Pāpaʻaloa, Hawaiʻi. SP 215173.] Aloha ku‘u Haku i ka Ua Kanilehua Happy Mele Monday! Today’s mele kanikau was
Wa‘ewa‘e
[Photo: Young girl demonstrating Hawaiian string figures; Hawaiʻi; SP 103509.] Wa‘ewa‘e Happy Mele Monday! Today we feature a mele hei, or string figure chant, contributed
No Hilo ‘oe
[Photo: View of Hilo town looking towards Kamehameha Ave. on Waianuenue St.; Hilo, Hawaiʻi.; Ca 1947. SP 120087.][Photo: Aerial view of Niuliʻi; Kohala, Hawaiʻi; Ca
Honouli
[Photo: Nihoa Island from the air; Ca 1933. SP 86351.] [Photo: 11th Photo Sec. B-2396. W. Lehua Island. From W. 500 Ft.; July 10, 1924.
Hoʻoheno kēia no ka pua o Maleka
[Photo: Helen Roberts meeting with a mele informant at her cottage near Waimea, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, in 1923. SP 209936.] Hoʻoheno kēia no ka pua o
E Ho‘okonākonā, e wehe, e kala
[Photo: Sugar cane irrigation ditch; Hawai‘i. Photo by Elias Shura. SP 108819.] E Ho‘okonākonā, e wehe, e kala Happy Mele Monday! Contributed to the collection
Wa‘ewa‘e
[Photo: Young girl demonstrating Hawaiian string figures; Hawaiʻi; SP 103509.] Wa‘ewa‘e Happy Mele Monday! Featuring another request submitted through our Welo Hou mele survey, today’s
ʻAkahi hoʻi au a ʻike
[Two plantation luna on horseback in sugarcane field; ca. 1888. Waimānalo(?), Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. Photo by J. A. Gonsalves. SP_73201] ʻAkahi hoʻi au a ʻike Happy
He kao nui nō
[Photo: Hawaiian children eating sugar cane; Hawaiʻi. ca. 1890-1905. SLS_2071.] He kao nui nō Happy Mele Monday! We would like to express our sincere appreciation
He ‘awa i kanu ʻia e ke akua
[Grass House and loʻi on Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi. Photograph by Capt. James C. Ayers. SP 79999] He ‘awa i kanu ʻia e ke akua Happy Mele
Nani Kaʻala, he keiki na Kamaoha
[Photo: Aerial view of Waialua; ca. 1925. Waialua, Oʻahu. Bishop Museum Archives. SP 115919] Nani Kaʻala, he keiki na Kamaoha Happy Mele Monday! Contributed to
Kaulana mai nei Kaulaokeahi
[Hawaiian man digging sweet potatoes; Maui, Hawaiʻi. Photo by Ray Jerome Baker. SD_35158.] Kaulana mai nei Kaulaokeahi I ka ho‘olewa aku nei o Kūhelemai. Attended
