Music Cultures of Hawaii

Andrew N. Weintraub is an assistant professor of music at the University of Pittsburgh. He has conducted extensive field research on musics of Indonesia and Hawai'i, and his articles have appeared in books as well as journals, including Ethnomusicology, Asian Music, and Perfect Beat. He was the principal researcher, author, and field recording engineer for the book and anthology of musical recordings entitled Musics of Hawaii (State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, 1993). Among his works in progress is a book tracing the relationship between Sundanese performing arts, culture, and politics in Indonesia during the New Order, 1966 to 1998. The following essay is based on research conducted from 1987 to 1991.

The first settlements in Hawai'i were established by Polynesians from the Marquesas Islands, located over 1,000 miles south of Hawaii in central Polynesia. During the period A.D. 400-600 these voyagers traversed the Pacific Ocean in their double-hulled canoes, bringing along animals and plants necessary for sustaining life, including the dog, pig, taro, banana, and breadfruit. Their sophisticated navigational skills included an intimate knowledge of the winds, stars, and ocean swell patterns that enabled them to discover islands great distances from their home. Subsequent migrations from Tahiti between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries firmly established Polynesian culture in the Hawaiian Islands.

Voyages between Hawaii and other Polynesian islands ceased after about the fourteenth century, and Hawaiian culture remained relatively stable until the arrival of Europeans in the late eighteenth century. In January 1778, the British explorer Captain James Cook reached the shores of Kauai.

Within a few decades, Hawaii became a way station in the Pacific for whalers and traders who sailed between the northwest coast of the United States and the rich trading markets of Asia. The ships that stopped in Hawaii also brought Western diseases against which Hawaiians had no immunity. It is estimated that the Hawaiian population declined from approximately 300,000 in 1778 to about 57,000 by 1866, a drop of nearly 81 percent.

The coming of seafarers, traders, and missionaries from Europe and America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries permanently altered civilization in the Hawaiian islands. Foreigners brought a written language, Western educational systems, metal, cloth, and manufactured goods as well as firearms, gunpowder, and alcohol. In addition, the first group of Christian missionaries arrived from New England in 1820, bringing with them not only a new religion but also its style of hymn singing, which became known in Hawaii as himeni. Westerners introduced new music and dance forms, new instruments, new melodies, and music based on harmony. Use of the Hawaiian language decreased most noticeably during the early 1900s with the demise of Hawaiian-language newspapers and the dominance of English-language schools. In church, however, the Hawaiian language was preserved by singing hymns and reading the Bible in Hawaiian.

Westerners brought radical changes in land use and the economy, transforming Hawaii into an outpost of big business. For centuries, land tenure had been based on stewardship. In 1848, King Kamehameha instituted a land tenure system called "The Great Mahele" that enabled individuals to own, buy, and sell certain types of land. By the second half of the nineteenth century, Westerners had established sugar plantations, trading companies, and businesses designed to serve their own community and a growing acculturating segment of the Hawaiian population. Laborers from outside the islands—China, Japan, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Korea, and the Philippines—were contracted to work on the plantations, which thrived between 1850 and the mid-1930s.

During the early plantation period, camps were segregated according to ethnic group, reflecting successive waves of immigration. Scholars have suggested that little interaction occurred among workers because of their cultural and linguistic differences. A complementary explanation posits that workers were segregated into separate living spaces in order to keep them from organizing labor strikes. Gradually, as the multicultural community grew, people began to learn each other's languages and communicate through the use of pidgin English, a combination of many languages into a common language. "Local" culture emerged in opposition to foreign encroachment by missionaries, immigrants, big-business interests, land developers, and later, tourists. As people moved off

the plantations into urban settings, local culture came to be asssociated with a concern for Hawaii and its future. Local culture, which emerged during the plantation era as an oppositional strategy among workers with different ethnic affiliations, is expressed in contemporary Hawaii through shared values as well as food, language, and dress.

In 1893, Hawaii's reigning monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani, was overthrown by a group of American businessmen and their supporters. In 1898 the provisional government that had been established by members of the coup d'état lobbied successfully for the annexation of Hawaii as a United States territory.

Honolulu businessmen first recognized the commercial potential of tourism in Hawai'i during the late 1800s (Tatar 1987, p. 7). Sheet music distributed to the mainland, with song themes and illustrated images of the islands as an idyllic paradise, promoted Hawaii as a tourist destination. Beginning as early as 1900, hapa haole (part white/English) songs, with lyrics in English and Hawaiian, were composed to appeal to tourists.

During World War II, Hawaii served strategic military interests of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region. The construction of military bases increased the flow of people, technology, and communication between the mainland United States and Hawai'i. (The state's African American population, for example, which numbered about 27,000 people in 1990, is mostly connected to military installations.) After World War II, the popular image of Hawaii as an island paradise circulated internationally through Hollywood movies and television, attracting massive numbers of tourists. In 1959, Hawaii became the fiftieth state in the Union.

Hawaii's multicultural population is therefore linked to international trade, missionary activity, land development, labor immigration, military interests, and tourism. Recent waves of immigrants from Southeast Asia comprise a special group. Unlike other immigrant groups who migrated gradually to Hawaii in the last century, Southeast Asians from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos came to Hawaii as refugees seeking to escape calamity in their native lands during the 1960s and 1970s. The traffic continues to traverse the "Crossroads of the Pacific" as people primarily from the mainland United States and the Asia-Pacific region seek education, job opportunities, or a change in lifestyle.

The term "music cultures of Hawaii" refers to local communities with shared musical ideas, behavior, and sound. Music performed for family gatherings, parties, and social dances can be a strategy for reinforcing communal ties along the axis of ethnicity. Public cultural events are ways of "branching out" to the larger community while also serving to define a space within which ethnic communities can continue to exist. This essay concentrates on four music cultures of Hawaii and the ways in which particular genres of music and performance participate in the dynamic social and historical construction of ethnic group identity in Hawaii: Hawaiian mele and hula, Japanese bon-odori, Chinese siu kuk (xiaoqu), yuet kuk (yuequ), and sing si, and Puerto Rican kachi-kachi.

HAWAIIAN MELE AND HULA

HISTORY

Ancient Hawaiian religion resembled that of other Polynesian island groups. Four principal gods—Kû, Kâne, Lono, and Kanaloa—presided over all human activity. There were numerous demigods and spirit forces as well. People paid tribute to their gods and their earthly forms (kinolau) through mele pule (prayer chants). The concepts of mana and kapu (laws regulating behavior and activities) kept the spiritual and social order intact. Mana is a spiritual force possessed, in some degree, by all forms of life. Ancient Hawaiians felt that gods, ali'i (chiefs), and kâhuna (priests) possessed mana in greater degrees. Mana was thought to reside in a person's name and in chants that mentioned that name. The accumulation of mana enabled the ali'i to rule more effectively.

In pre-European contact Hawaii, mele were created to commemorate an event, place, or person. Mele and hula were taught at the heiau (temples) and in the hâlau (school). In the heiau, offerings were made to Laka, the aumakua (ancestral god/goddess) of the hula. The kumu, priest/teacher of the hâlau, trained dancers, called 'ôlapa, and musicians and chanters, known as ho 'opa 'a. The hula was known as the hula kuahu (altar or sacred hula) because of the many rituals associated with worship of Laka.

Christian missionaries denounced hula, and the dance was banned by law in 1830. Under King Kamehameha III (1840s) and King Kamehameha IV (1854-1870), a revival took place encouraging new forms of hula accompanied by Western string instruments. Hula ku'i, which merged Hawaiian and Westem poetic, musical, and dance elements, was crystallized during the reign of King Kalâkaua, who ruled from 1874 to 1891 (Stillman 1989, p. 20). While derived from chant, the vocal style was more like song. Text was arranged in verses and grouped in couplets. Each verse, consisting of two lines of text, was separated by an instrumental interlude, or "vamp." The new dances were accompanied by guitar, ukulele, and piano as well as violin and, later, the steel guitar. Hula ku'i is the precursor of the 'auana (modern) style.

In contemporary Hawaii, mele are performed in conjunction with dedication ceremonies, competitions (such as the annual Merrie Monarch hula competition), lû'aus, and parties. In Hawaii, there are over 250 hâlau hula that maintain a regular schedule of classes, meeting once or twice per week. Each hâlau has its own interpretation for any given chanting style, vocal quality, and movement. As the Hawaiian proverb goes, "'a 'ohe pau ka 'ike i ka hâlau ho'okahi," which may be translated as "think not that all wisdom resides in your house." Individual interpretations of mele oli and mele hula may be seen as different paths leading toward a common goal—the expression of words through chant or movement.

THE MUSIC

For centuries, Hawaiians have expressed their values, knowledge, and history in mele, or chanted poetic texts. Mele express the relationship of Hawaiians to everything around them: their land ('âina), the ocean (kai), their gods (akua), and all living things. Mele serve as orally transmitted records—the family histories, genealogies, plant names, place names, medical practices, legends, and lore—of the Hawaiian people. Mele have been used to invoke blessings from the gods and as gifts to their ali'i, or chiefs. Musical features of chant are enjoyed for their ability to carry the poetry forward. Mele embody the knowledge of the past and the way of acting in the present. Mele and hula in contemporary Hawaii form a continuous and vital link to the past.

Genres

In broad terms, all mele belong to one of two classes: mele oli or hula. Mele oli are unaccompanied and usually performed by one individual. Mele hula are accompanied by either dance movements alone or by dance movements together with musical instruments. In mele oli, the chanter uses a small number of pitches (two to four), usually one as a primary reciting tone (most often the highest tone) and another as secondary reciting tone. Verses follow a strophic form (same melody with different text for each verse) but are rarely repeated in mele oli.

A mele oli is performed in one of several vocal or chanting styles; a particular style is chosen for its appropriateness to the text. Tatar (1982, pp. 57-8) makes the distinction between "styles" of chanting and "voice qualities" that are used with particular styles. The six styles of chanting, summarized from earlier ethnographic studies and historical documents, include: kepakepa/ko 'ihonu ("speech-like" with rapid delivery; vowels are not prolonged); kawele (slow, languid); olioli (or oli, the most frequently used mode; chanter uses two to four pitches and establishes a main reciting tone); ho'açaç (short phrases, prolonged vowels, and a wide range of vocal techniques); ho'oucuc ("wailing" sound, which takes the form of glides and register shifts, is inserted into a basic olioli mode or ho'açaç mode); and 'ai ha'a (low-pitched, metered pulse, guttural tone).

The chanter uses a wide variety of "voice qualities" that can express the mana, or divine power, in the words (Tatar 1982, pp. 59-62). These voice qualities are chosen for their appropriateness to the function of the text: 'i'i (chest-tone "trill" or "tremor"); kâohi (cutting off the sound of vowels, which are sometimes purposely prolonged, with glottal stops); ho'ânu'unu'u (continuous sound of the voice is repeatedly interrupted by quick pulselike sounds); ha'ano'u (loudness and articulatory emphasis are contrasted with softness). In addition to voice qualities, the chanter uses ornaments such as glottal cutoffs, voice breaks caused by transitions from one vocal register to another, glides, different types of vibrato, and special articulation of certain language sounds.

The body movements of a hula illustrate visually the text of a chant, or mele hula. There are two kinds of hula, kahiko (ancient) and 'auana (modern). Kahiko refers to older dances accompanied by indigenous percussion instruments. Texts are exclusivly in the Hawaiian language. 'Auana refers to newer dances accompanied by Western instruments (generally string ensembles). Texts are in Hawaiian or English or both (hapa haole) and generally concern lighter subjects. Costuming is more flexible. Along a continuum of chant and song, kahiko texts are chanted whereas 'auana texts are sung (Stillman 1998, p. 2). Chants for mele hula differ in three important ways from mele oli. Mele hula 1) include a greater range of pitches, within a range of a minor seventh; 2) are performed in a regular meter; and 3) are accompanied by percussion instruments, including ipu heke and pahu.

Instruments

The ipu heke consists of two hollowed-out gourds of unequal size attached at the neck of the instrument. A hole is left on the top of the upper gourd. A cloth or twine loop is attached at the joint. The chanter or dancer holds the ipu by the loop in the left hand and plays the dance rhythms with the right hand and by striking the gourd on the ground. The pahu is a drum made by hollowing out the trunk of a coconut tree, carving it, and covering one end with sharkskin. Most mele hula pahu, mele hula accompanied by pahu, are formal, sacred, and directed toward gods and ali'i (Tatar 1989, p. 1). The pahu, known by the same name in Tahiti and other parts of central Polynesia, was the instrument of the ali'i in rituals and in hula kapu (sacred dance). The drum is played with both hands and a variety of sounds results from playing the drum on different points of the membrane. The musician/chanter often plays the pahu with the puniu (also called kilu), a small fish-skin- or sharkskin-covered coconut shell tied to the thigh close to the knee or cradled on the musician's leg.

'Ôlelo, the text of the chant, is the most important element in both chant styles. As the Hawaiian proverb states: "i ka 'ôlelo ke ola; i ka 'ôlelo ka make" ("in the word is life; in the word is death"). The clarity of the text is more important than the beauty of the performance. Chant is often described as poetry decorated by melody, rhythm, movement, and various instruments. In ancient times the haku mele, or composer, infused texts with kaona, or hidden meaning, to ensure success and quick acceptability of the chant. The kaona are couched in highly figurative language so that any sign of vulgarity is absent.

There are mele oli about specific events, places, or individuals. For example, mele ko'ihonua (genealogical chants) document the individual's relationship to the hierarchy of Hawaiian gods by listing ancestral names, places, and events associated with those names. Mele pana (place chants) emphasize a locale as a source of pride. Today, the most frequently performed chants in either oli or hula style are mele inoa, which celebrate the given name, and mele ma'i, a genital chant for the ali'i that celebrates the perpetuation of the race.

JAPANESE BON-ODORI

Contract laborers from Japan were brought to Hawaii in large numbers beginning in 1885. The first generation of Japanese immigrants, or issei, were primarily from peasant stock—farmers, fishermen, and country folk. By 1920, 40 percent of the population in Hawai'i was Japanese (Yano 1984). Issei immigrants paved the way for their children (nisei, or second generation), grandchildren (sansei, or third generation), and great-grandchildren (yonsei, or fourth generation). Japanese impact on local Hawaiian culture can be seen in many areas, including foods, customs, architecture, and public music and dance festivals of Hawaii.

HISTORY

Bon-odori (Bon dance; see below) in Hawaii has endured many changes since the first group of issei arrived in the islands. During the plantation period (1880s to 1910s), the immigrants steadfastly kept the tradition alive despite isolation from their homeland, difficult living conditions, and low working wages. In the 1930s, with the new homeland established, the tradition was strengthened by new choreographies, new music, contests, and scheduled dances (Van Zile 1980, p. 5). During this time the Bon dance became a popular social event that appealed particularly to the younger generation. After the outbreak of World War II in December 1941, priests were detained, temples were closed, and Japanese were discouraged from gathering in large numbers (Yano 1985, p. 154). Public expression of pride in Japan was dangerous. Bon dance activities probably did not occur until after the war ended in 1945.

During the 1950s and 1960s a revival of Bon-odori took place. In addition to temple festivals, Bon dances were sponsored by groups outside the temples for nonreligious functions. During the 1950s, for example, local and tourist audiences could participate in Bon dance events. In 1951 Bon dances were held to commemorate the men who had lost their lives in World War II and in Korea. Eight years later, Bon dance played a role in official celebrations of Hawaii state-hood. Bon dance was also part of the 1976 U.S.A.-Hawaii-Japan Bicentennial Culture Festival in Honolulu. Nowadays, Bon dance is recognized as a distinctive Japanese cultural and social event that attracts people from all ethnic groups in Hawaii.

PERFORMANCE PRACTICE

Japanese plantation laborers carried their religion, Buddhism, with them to Hawai'i. The first Buddhist priest officially sent to Hawai'i by mission headquarters in Japan arrived in 1889 (Van Zile 1980, p. 3). By the early 1900s, Jodo, Nichiren, Soto, and Shingon Buddhist sects had established temples in the islands. Religious worship gave early immigrants a sense of spiritual well-being, and religious festivals helped to make plantation life more tolerable, reinforced family kinship, and served to recreate the good times associated with their increasingly distant homeland.

O-Bon is the Japanese Festival of the Dead, a celebration of one's ancestors and deceased loved ones. O-Bon occurs on the thirteenth to sixteenth days of the seventh month of the year on the Buddhist calender. During that time, ancestral spirits return to their earthly home where they are honored and celebrated. Rituals associated with O-Bon include washing tombstones, making offerings of lanterns, flowers, and food, and performing ocean-related rituals. By far the most visible aspect of O-Bon is the Bon-odori, or Bon dance, which refers to the dances performed during the O-Bon festival as well as all the festivities surrounding the Bon dance. The O-Bon festival traditionally lasts only three days in Japan, but in Hawaii, the Bon dance season lasts several months, from June to early September. The Bon dance remains an important Japanese cultural and social event of religious origin that has developed links to the larger community in Hawaii.

On the island of O'ahu, Bon dance clubs, made up of musicians and dancers, are invited to perform at different Buddhist temples during the Bon dance season on Friday and Saturday nights from around 7:00 or 8:00 P.M. until as late as midnight. On the other islands, musicians are organized more informally, often associated with a particular temple, Buddhist sect, or geographical area. The temple usually decides on the format for the evening's event, including the order of pieces played. Club members meet on special occasions aside from performances and rehearsals during the Bon dance season. Also, they occasionally play at non-temple occasions, including social gatherings and official state functions.

MUSIC

Each Bon dance club specializes in the music and/or dance repertoires of one of the prefectures of Hawaii's immigrants. The two repertoires include Fukushima-ondo (ondo means "folk song") from Fukushima prefecture, and Iwakuni-ondo from Yamaguchi prefecture. The two repertoires differ in musical accompaniment, subject matter of the songs, and the music itself. Most people would identify the Fukushima-ondo as the "fast songs" and the Iwakuni-ondo as the "slow songs." Bon dance events often consist of two "sets" or divisions separated by an intermission. The first set begins with Fukushima-ondo and ends with Iwakuni-ondo. The second set reverses the order. In performance, live playing alternates with commercial tape recordings, and sometimes drummers accompany the recordings.

The Fukushima style includes one (or more) ondo-tori (singer), hayashi-caller (hayashi are vocal interjections), fue (bamboo flute), one (or more) ko-daiko (small drum), odaiko (large drum), and sometimes kane (handheld metal gong). The dances include folk dances brought by Japanese immigrants, ondo dances introduced since the 1930s, and minyo (folk music/dance) popular since the 1960s (Yano 1984). The singers alternate verses; each singer usually sings about five verses, and each verse lasts about one minute. Hayashi occur between verses as filler and to connect the verses between singers. Hayashi singers encourage the dancers and create a lively atmosphere.

The Iwakuni dances in Hawaii use only vocalists and drummers. The Iwakuni ensemble includes one (or more) ondo-tori, hayashi-caller, and odaiko player. The odaiko is prepared before a performance by spraying sake (rice wine) on the head of the drum. Singers stand on the yagura, a ten- to twenty-foot tower that serves as the central focus of the dance. They may hold an umbrella, possibly used to direct the vocal part down from the yagura to the dancers, and a fan, which may have the text written on it. The dancer/drummers dance in a smaller circle just below the singers. The twirling of the sticks and the movement of the feet are all highly stylized. The drum pattern is the same for each verse, but melody and verse lengths vary.

Fukushima-ondo texts describe lighter subjects such as the pleasures of love, dance, the bounty of the harvest, or the virtues of a particular place. In the Fukushima style, the singers aren't necessarily telling a story, but each singer contributes his or her own verses that may or may not relate to the other verses. Subject matter of the songs may relate specifically to Japanese experiences in Hawai'i and are fitted to standard tunes such as "Fukushima Ondo."

Iwakuni song texts center around a few important themes. Many of the texts relate famous historical tragedies and acts of bravery. There are narrative texts about twentieth-century battles and Japanese American heroes of the U.S. 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II who fought against German forces in Italy and France. (The 442nd has been described as the most decorated unit in United States military history.) Iwakuni texts impart moral values and other texts, composed during the plantation period, describe the difficulties in adjusting to life as new immigrants in Hawaii.

CHINESE MUSIC

Chinese musical traditions were brought to Hawaii by Cantonese immigrants from the southern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian beginning in the mid-1800s. Cantonese is the Anglicized term for people from the Guangdong provincial capital, Canton, and its environs. (The Chinese words that appear in this entry reflect the two types of romanized spelling in use, Cantonese and Putonghua, otherwise known as Mandarin.) Since most of the early Chinese immigrants were from the Guangdong province in southern China, they naturally preferred to carry on the musical traditions of their homeland. Three long-standing genres integral to social life and public celebrations among Chinese in Hawai'i include 1) siu kuk (xiaoqu), traditional Cantonese tunes, 2) yuet kuk (yuequ), Cantonese operatic songs—both played by amateur music clubs—and 3) sing si, lion dance, which is performed by martial arts organizations.

MUSIC

In Hawaii, siu kuk refers to folk music from southern China. The repertoire includes songs and instrumental pieces that may be performed by a solo performer or by an ensemble. Most of these pieces were composed during the twentieth century, many of them during the 1920s. Cantonese operatic songs are referred to locally as yuet kuk. There are over 350 different kinds of operatic genres in China. Opera is a story rendered through acting, stylized speech, song, instrumental music, dance, acrobatics, and martial arts. The staging consists of elaborate costumes, heavy makeup, minimal props, and a painted backdrop. Music is a central component of performance.

The Cantonese sing si ("awakened lion") is the lion dance played by Cantonese groups in Hawaii. In Honolulu, lion dances are performed for Chinese feasts and celebrations for patron saints of particular temples, weddings, birthdays, parades, openings of new restaurants and businesses, and family association celebrations. The largest festival is the Chinese New Year Celebration. During this event, lions make their way through crowds of people. There are two types of presentation: 1) the "house-to-house" dance and 2) the stage presentation. During the "house-to-house" dance, the lion moves from one business to the next offering blessings and good luck for the New Year. In a stage presentation, the dance consists of a dramatic sequence in which the lion searches for, touches, and finally embraces, an offering of food (usually symbolized by money wrapped in a small red envelope called lax si).

HISTORY

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Chinatown in Honolulu became the nucleus of the Chinese community, the center of business and social life. There immigrants established meat, grocery, dry goods, and drug stores and provided services as restaurateurs, hotelkeepers, shoemakers, tailors, herbalists, and financiers for rice farmers. The Chinese store became a gathering place where one could make music, share stories, and play chess and cards. Newspapers kept residents informed about current events in China. In Chinatown, men could attend the theater and see performances of Cantonese opera. Chinese formed fraternal societies, established Chinese schools, held special celebrations, and maintained ancestral traditions revolving around birth, marriage, and death. They also commemorated especially important events such as New Year's with the larger community.

By the late 1800s, Cantonese opera was a popular form of entertainment in Honolulu (Kwok 1992, p. 21). A Chinese theater was erected in the 1870s, and there are records of Chinese theater actors reported in 1884 (ibid.). These spectacles drew Chinese people to Chinatown for enjoyment and socialization. The opera was a commercial venture; tickets were sold and professional groups visited periodically from China to perform. This form of entertainment was popular until the late 1920s. It is interesting to note, however, that in Canton itself, opera did not reach its peak (in both urban and rural settings) until the 1930s. This era marked the introduction of Western musical instruments, the creation of new aria types, and the use of Cantonese fixed tunes and popular narratives in the vocal music (Chan 1986, p. 28).

Although the opera tradition in Hawaii declined in popularity, amateur groups continued to play songs from the opera context. The emphasis shifted from professional groups to amateur clubs, which constitute the main form of musical organization today. The repertoire played by amateur music clubs includes folk songs, opera songs, and instrumental versions of opera songs. Musicians play for their own enjoyment and for Chinese festivals, carnivals, and benefits. Opera songs are performed at teahouses and restaurants without costume, stage setting, or action. However, music clubs gather to present operas, complete with live music, stage sets, makeup, costuming, and action, approximately once a year.

IDEAS ABOUT MUSIC

Chinese opera is a highly complex art form that incorporates music, dance, and theater. In Chinese opera, speech and song are not clearly distinct categories; speech relies on stylized melodic and rhythmic delivery. Audience members evaluate the performance on musical as much as dramatic criteria. Indeed, the aesthetic of Chinese opera is often referred to as "listening to opera." Many residents of Hawaii still speak Cantonese, and so they can understand the dialogue and song texts.

Sing si, on the other hand, is not entertainment but part of a ritual ceremony. In China, the lion is a mythical beast of good fortune, regarded as benevolent, wise, and capable of scaring away evil spirits. "Awakening the Lion" involves a ritual purification ceremony of the lion in which offerings of food, tea, and the blood of a rooster are made to deities of heaven. These deities are summoned by chanting and the sounds of the gong and drums. Lions must be "given life" because it is believed that without such rituals, inauspicious events will occur. The dramatic sequence of a lion dance is accompanied by changes in the dynamic level of the music. The drumbeats are considered the heartbeat of the lion, while the sounds of the gong and cymbal are intended to frighten away evil spirits.

Opera and folk song were played by four organizations in Honolulu as of the early 1990s (Kwok 1992, p. 21). The Wo Lok Chinese Music Club is the largest Cantonese music organization in Honolulu. It was established in 1972 with a membership of over 100 that expanded to 300 within a decade. In this particular club, about fifty members serve as musicians and singers, while another twenty or so participants do not play any music. The group's repertoire includes twenty to thirty songs. The club is supported by voluntary membership dues and modest fees generated by public performances. Most of the members came to Hawaii from Hong Kong and Guangzhou during the 1970s and 1980s. They meet twice weekly and speak Cantonese at their rehearsals.

There are several Physical Culture Clubs that sponsor lion dance in Honolulu. The Kuo Min Tang group represents the Cantonese style from the area of Zhongshan in the Guangdong province of southern China (Pang 1976). Students begin with the basic kung fu stances, punches, hand-to-hand combat, and dance steps (Smith 1975, p. 228). Then, through a process of trial and error, students learn how to manipulate the lion. The lion dance requires fifteen to twenty players to manipulate the two lions and play the percussion instruments.

INSTRUMENTS

Instruments for siu kuk include a number of the stringed variety. Among them are yi wu (erhu), a two-string bowed lute with a round body that functions as the lead instrument by signaling the beginning and ending of the piece; zhonghu (jung hu), a two-string bowed lute with a hexagonal body that plays in a lower register than the yi wu; yeung kam (yangqin), a hammered dulcimer struck with flexible bamboo beaters; and yun (ruan), a four-string, fretted, plucked lute with a round, moon-shaped body. The main melody is played in a heterophonic manner on the string instruments. The heterophonic realization of the melody, seemingly independent but actually complementary, exemplifies a common feature of Chinese music. In yuet kuk, percussion instruments are added, including: pung ling, a pair of small brass bells; ng yam gu (wuyingu) and gin gu (jiangu), two kinds of drums; bat (bo), gou lo (gaoluo), and cha, three kinds of cymbals; fung lo and gin lo, two kinds of gongs; and muk yu (muyu), a wood block.

Instruments used to accompany the lion dance include: gu, a drum; two lo, one large hanging gong and a smaller handheld gong; and one bat (bo), a pair of cymbals. The leader of the ensemble plays the drum. Before they begin, the musicians are required to bow to the drum as part of the ritual element of the performance.

KACHI-KACHI: PUERTO RICAN MUSIC AND DANCE

Puerto Rico became an unincorporated territory of the United States after U.S. forces invaded the small island in 1898 as part of its war with Spain. Two years later, a group of 5,000 Puerto Ricans traveled to Hawaii to work on the plantations. Historians have attributed this wave of immigration to hard economic times, particularly after a devastating hurricane known as "San Ciriaco" destroyed crops and thus made it extremely difficult for many Puerto Ricans to earn a living. The reasons they ultimately chose to leave were complex, but certainly the "pull" of labor opportunities, the "push" of a natural disaster, and the political and economic conditions linking U.S. colonization to Puerto Rico were major factors. As of the 1990s the Puerto Rican population in Hawaii numbered 12,000, approximately 1 percent of the state's population.

MUSIC

History

In Hawai'i, Puerto Rican dance music is commonly referred to as kachi-kachi. The term was probably coined by Japanese plantation workers in the early 1900s to describe the music of Puerto Rican immigrants. Its origins may well be onomatopoeic in that it apparently refers to the scraping sound ("chee-chee") of the guiro, a serrated gourd scraper the newcomers used in their music making.

Other terms for the music include Borengue, which may be a reference to Borinquen, the indigenous name of the island of Puerto Rico, and Jíbaro, which refers to the rural white and mestizo (mixed-race) communities located in the highlands of Puerto Rico. In the coastal lowlands, African influence was strong, but in the interior mountains, the Spanish influence was much stronger. Puerto Ricans in Hawaii trace their ancestry to people of these Jíbaro communities. The acceptance of the term "kachi-kachi" indicates the extent of interculturation that has occured among Puerto Ricans and other ethnic groups who were brought to supply labor for Hawaiian sugar plantations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Genre

Compared to other Puerto Rican immigrant populations in the United States, Puerto Rican musicians in Hawaii maintain a relatively high degree of continuity with the music of the first immigrants. (In New York, for example, Puerto Rican music has been influenced by urban musical styles and Afro-Puerto Rican or Afro-Cuban traditions [Solís 1995, pp. 124-125].) In one sense, isolation from urban musical styles has resulted in the preservation of older, rural styles. For musicians based in Hawaii, contact with musical activities in Puerto Rico is limited to transient military personnel from Puerto Rico and imported commercial recordings. Particularly in Kauai, where urban styles from the mainland are less accessible, older repertoires, styles, and instrumentation have been preserved.

Isolated from Puerto Rican and other Latin musical trends, Puerto Rican music in Hawaii has been shaped by its specific locale. Some players have incorporated "Hawaiian guitar" (use of slides, harmonics, and parallel chording) and ukulele styles. Older musicians remember songs learned on the plantation, including Hawaiian songs, Japanese songs, and songs with English and Portuguese lyrics. There are songs that contain Hawaiian words and pertain to Hawaiian themes. In fact, the survival of Puerto Rican music in Hawaii is largely due to the support of people from different ethnic groups who make up the audiences for local dances, clubs, and parties.

Tunes/Repertoire

The active repertoire includes primarily vals, guaracha, and seis (Solís 1994, p. 2). Bolero are also played as well as danza and plena in altered form. Modern groups, which derive their repertoire from urban styles such as salsa and employ electric instruments, play other popular dance forms such as merengue, mambo, and rumba. Aguinaldo are sung for serenades at Christmas time, and polcas, formerly performed, are rarely if ever played (Solís 1994, p. 2).

The guaracha, a song/dance of Cuban origin, has been popular in Puerto Rico since the nineteenth century. Guraracha are normally accompanied by the guiro and maracas (rattles) and follow a verse/chorus form. The bolero, a Cuban-derived dance form, was introduced to Hawaii in the 1930s. In contrast to the faster dance pieces, a bolero is a slow and romantic dance rhythm/step. The seis (literally "six") derives its name from a six-couple dance. The seis in Hawaii is usually a medium to fast strophic song/dance built upon a main melody played on the cuatro, a small, guitar-like instrument. The seis is often named after a dance step, the town where it was composed, or the person who invented its main melody.

Instrumentation

The basic pre-1930 plantation conjunto (ensemble) consisted of a trio Borinqueno ("Puerto Rican trio"): ten-string cuatro (five sets of double courses); Spanish six-string guitar (sometimes called gitaro); and guiro (serrated gourd scraper). During instrumental sections, the cuatro player typically played introductions, lead parts, and interludes. During vocal sections, he improvised countermelodies to the vocal part. The guitarist strummed an accompaniment, and the guiro player maintained a steady rhythmic pulse. Maracas were also sometimes used to bolster the regular rhythmic foundation. The modern ensemble is usually amplified and includes a cuatro, guiro, guitar, bass, and drums as well as a conga and/or bongo player.

Ideas About Music

Most musicians play music in their free time. While a handful of conjunto hold regular club engagements, the majority play informally for parties, picnics, luaus, birthday celebrations, weddings, and sports events. Dancing is an inseparable part of any musical event.

Although assimilation and intermarriage have been significant, they have not prevented Puerto Ricans from maintaining a distinctive cultural identity and unique musical tradition within the multicultural mosaic of Hawaii. The situation should be seen as one of assimilation to a new culture and selective adaptation of new musical traits and ideas to a familiar context.

MUSIC CULTURES OF HAWAII

HAWAIIAN MELE AND HULA

HISTORY

THE MUSIC

Genres

Instruments

JAPANESE BON-ODORI

HISTORY

PERFORMANCE PRACTICE

MUSIC

CHINESE MUSIC

MUSIC

HISTORY

IDEAS ABOUT MUSIC

INSTRUMENTS

KACHI-KACHI: PUERTO RICAN MUSIC AND DANCE

MUSIC

History

Genre

Tunes/Repertoire

Instrumentation

Ideas About Music

BIBLIOGRAPHY

RECORDINGS AND VIDEOS