A grass skirt is a costume and garment made with layers of plant fibres such as grasses and leaves that is fastened at the waistline. [1] [2]
A grass skirt is a costume and garment made with layers of plant fibres such as grasses and leaves that is fastened at the waistline. [1] [2]
Grass skirts were introduced to Hawaii by immigrants from the Gilbert Islands around the 1870s to 1880s [3] although their origins are attributed to Samoa as well. [4] [5] According to DeSoto Brown, a historian at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, it is likely Hawaiian dancers began wearing them during their performances on the vaudeville circuit of the United States mainland. Traditional Hawaiian skirts were often made with fresh ti leaves, which were not available in the United States. By the turn of the century, Hawaiian dancers in both Hawaii and the US were wearing grass skirts. Some Hawaiian-style hula dancers still wear them. [3] The traditional costume of Hawaiian hula kahiko includes kapa cloth skirts and men in malo (loincloth) however, during the 1880s hula ‘auana was developed from western influences. It is during this period that the grass skirt began to be seen everywhere although hula ‘auana costumes usually included more western looking clothing with fabric-topped dresses for women and pants for men. [6] The use of the grass skirt was present in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago where Hawaiian hula dancers played into American stereotypes by wearing the costume. [7]
From the late 19th-century to World War II, grass skirts in Polynesia became a "powerful symbol of South Sea sexuality". [7] [8] In the Pacific theater, grass skirts were sought after souvenirs by servicemen abroad. [9] The end of the war saw many sailors returning from their duties in the Pacific. Polynesian culture had begun to take root in the US through such things as James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific and its subsequent musical and film adaption, as well as Don the Beachcomber opening in Hollywood. The war had helped to create a national interest in Polynesian food and décor. [10] [11] The tiki culture continued, spurred on by Hawaii's statehood in 1959 and Disney's opening of the Enchanted Tiki Room in 1963 as well as popular film and television shows like "Hawaiian Eye" in 1959 and Elvis Presley's Blue Hawaii in 1961. [10] [11]
In Fijian culture, both women and men traditionally wore skirts called the liku made from hibiscus or root fibers and grass. [12] [13] In Maori culture there is a skirt-like garment made up of numerous strands of prepared flax fibres, woven or plaited, known as a piupiu which is worn during Māori cultural dance. [14] In Nauru culture the native dress of both sexes consists of a ridi, a bushy skirt composed of thin strips of pandanus palm-leaf that can be both short, knee- and foot-long. [15] [16] [17] In Tonga, the grass skirt was known as a sisi pueka and was worn in dance performances. [9]
The Sotho people traditionally wore grass skirts called the mosotho. [18]
Haka are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. Haka are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. Haka have been traditionally performed—by both men and women—for a variety of social functions within Māori culture. They are performed to welcome distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions, or funerals.
Hula is a Hawaiian dance form accompanied by chant (oli) or song (mele). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form.
The Merrie Monarch Festival is a week-long cultural festival that takes place annually in Hilo, Hawaii during the week after Easter. It honors King David Kalākaua, who was called the "Merrie Monarch" for his patronage of the arts and is credited with restoring many Hawaiian cultural traditions during his reign, including hula. Many hālau hula (schools), including some from the U.S. mainland and some international performers, attend the festival each year to participate in exhibitions and competitions. The festival has received worldwide attention and is considered the most prestigious of all hula contests.
A folk costume expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicate social, marital or religious status. If the costume is used to represent the culture or identity of a specific ethnic group, it is usually known as ethnic costume. Such costumes often come in two forms: one for everyday occasions, the other for traditional festivals and formal wear. The word "costume" in this context is sometimes considered pejorative due to the multiple senses of the word, and in such cases "regalia" can be substituted without offense.
Native Hawaiians are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
A tutu is a dress worn as a costume in a classical ballet performance, often with attached bodice. It may be made of tarlatan, muslin, silk, tulle, gauze, or nylon. Modern tutus have two basic types: the Romantic tutu is soft and bell-shaped, reaching the calf or ankle; the Classical tutu is short and stiff, projecting horizontally from the waist and hip.
A lavalava, also known as an 'ie, short for 'ie lavalava, is an article of daily clothing traditionally worn by Polynesians and other Oceanic peoples. It consists of a single rectangular cloth worn similarly to a wraparound skirt or kilt. The term lavalava is both singular and plural in the Samoan language.
The culture of the Native Hawaiians encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms practiced by the original residents of the Hawaiian islands, including their knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits. Humans are estimated to have first inhabited the archipelago between 124 and 1120 AD when it was settled by Polynesians who voyaged to and settled there. Polynesia is made of multiple island groups that spread from Hawaii to New Zealand across the Pacific Ocean. These voyagers developed Hawaiian cuisine, Hawaiian art, and the Native Hawaiian religion.
Māhū in Native Hawaiian and Tahitian cultures are third gender people with traditional spiritual and social roles within the culture, similar to Tongan fakaleiti and Samoan fa'afafine. Historically māhū were assigned male at birth (AMAB), but in modern usage māhū can refer to a variety of genders and sexual orientations.
The ʻōteʻa is a traditional dance from Tahiti characterized by a rapid hip-shaking motion to percussion accompaniment. The dancers, standing in several rows, may be further choreographed to execute different figures while maintaining the hip-shaking. The hip motion itself may in some choreographies be synchronized amongst multiple dancers and may be further coordinated with the accompanying percussion arrangement.
Margaret Maiki Souza Aiu Lake was a hula dancer, kumu hula, hula teacher, and influential figure in the second Hawaiian Renaissance because of her revolutionary teaching techniques. Because of her work she was recognized as the "Mother of Hawaiian Renaissance." Many of her students became teachers themselves making her the "most important hula teacher of the 20th century."
Adrienne Lois Kaeppler was an American anthropologist, curator of oceanic ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. She served as the President of the International Council on Traditional Music between 2005 and 2013. Her research focused on the interrelationships between social structure and the arts, including dance, music, and the visual arts, especially in Tonga and Hawaii. She was considered to be an expert on Tongan dance, and the voyages of the 18th-century explorer James Cook.
Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu is a Hawaiian dance company or hālau hula led by kumu hula Patrick Makuakāne.
Winona Kapuailohiamanonokalani Desha Beamer was a champion of authentic and ancient Hawaiian culture, publishing many books, musical scores, as well as audio and video recordings on the subject. In her home state, she was known as Auntie Nona. She was an early proponent of the ancient form of the hula being perpetuated through teaching and public performances. Beamer was the granddaughter of Helen Desha Beamer. A cousin to Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame inductee Mahi Beamer, she teamed with him and her son Keola to form a touring North American troupe performing ancient hula and the Hawaiian art of storytelling. She was a teacher at Kamehameha Schools for almost 40 years, but had been expelled from that same school as a student in 1937 for dancing the standing hula. Beamer's sons Keola and Kapono are established performers in the Hawaiian music scene. Her grandson Kamanamaikalani Beamer is a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and CEO of the Kohala Center. She ran a Waikiki hula studio for three decades. In 1997—indignant at proposals to cut Hawaiian curriculum from Kamehameha Schools—Beamer became the catalyst for public protest and legal investigation into Bishop Estate management, which eventually led to the removal or resignation of the trustees.
The culture of the Cook Islands reflects the traditions of its fifteen islands as a Polynesian island country, spread over 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. It is in free association with New Zealand. Its traditions are based on the influences of those who settled the islands over several centuries. Polynesian people from Tahiti settled in the Cook Islands in the 6th century. The Portuguese captain, Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, made the first recorded European landing in the islands in the early 17th century, and well over a hundred years later, in the 18th century, the British navigator, Captain James Cook arrived, giving the islands their current name. Missionaries developed a written language, bringing schools and Christianity to the Cook Islands in the early 19th century. Cook Islands Māori, also known as Māori Kūki 'Āirani or Rarotongan, is the country's official language.
Oceanian culture encompasses the collective and diverse customs and traditions of art, architecture, music, literature, lifestyle, philosophy, politics and religion that have been practiced and maintained by the many ethnic groups of the geographical region of Oceania since prehistory. Cultures of Oceania reflect not only that of the region's indigenous peoples, but also the cultures brought by European colonisation and the United States, particularly through mass culture such as cinema and TV. Oceania is commonly divided into four geographic sub-regions, characterized by shared cultural, religious, linguistic, and ethnic traits: Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Most Oceanian countries are multi-party representative parliamentary democracies, and tourism is a large source of income for the Pacific Islands nations.
Kini Kapahu Wilson was a Hawaiian hula dancer, musician, and singer. In 1893–94, she toured the United States, Europe and Russia, performing for heads of state such as Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II. She married Honolulu Mayor John H. Wilson and was recognized as the "Honorary First Lady" of Hawaii.
Na Lani ʻEhā, translated as The Royal Four or The Heavenly Four, refers to the siblings King Kalākaua (1836–1891), Queen Liliʻuokalani (1838–1917), Princess Likelike (1851–1887) and Prince William Pitt Leleiohoku II (1854–1877). All four were composers, known for their patronage and enrichment of Hawaii's musical culture and history. All four of them organized glee clubs. William Pitt Leleiohoku II, the youngest brother who died at age 22, was a guitar master and leader of the Kawaihau Glee Club. Youngest sister Likelike was a musician and a co-founder of the Kaohuokalani Singing Club.
ʻIoane ʻŪkēkē, born ʻIoane Hohopa, was a kumu hula and musical performer who organized hula performance during the Hawaiian Kingdom. He organized hula troupes for the court of King Kalākaua and accompanied his group's dances with the ʻūkēkē, a traditional Hawaiian string instrument, which gave him his nickname John or ʻIoane ʻŪkēkē. He was known for his flamboyant way of dress and dubbed the Hawaiian Dandy or Hawaiian Beau Brummel by the local English-language press.
The Bird of Paradise is a melodramatic American play of 1912 set in Hawaii, the best known work of Richard Walton Tully.
