Exhibition celebrates four Kumu Hula (Master Teachers) and their monumental contributions to Chicago’s Native Hawaiian and Hula communities
On May 26 of 2023, the Field Museum debuted Chicago’s Legacy Hula, the first exhibition to explore the migration of Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) to Chicago. This untold story highlights and celebrates four Kumu Hula (Master Teachers of Hula) who made monumental contributions to the future development of the Native Hawaiian and Hula communities in the Chicago Midwest.
Featuring a variety of cultural items from the Field’s collection that span the past century, this intimate exhibition includes a selection of kāhili (feathered royal standards), regalia, Hula percussion implements, as well as video and historical and contemporary photographs.
“Native Hawaiians have been in Chicago for 130 years, yet our contributions as a community have largely gone unrecognized,” says co-curator Kuma Hula Carole Lanialoha Lee”. This exhibition will bring to light the timing of Hula's arrival to Chicago: that while the first Hula practitioners to come to Chicago were en route to perform at the World Fair in 1893, the Queen is overthrown in Hawaii and imprisoned in the Iolani Palace by U.S. Military. The identities of many Native Hawaiian dancers and musicians who remained in Chicago survived through performances for income. And the discovery of an Alii (Chiefess) who moved to Chicago, leaving us with four generations lineage here".
Chicago’s Legacy Hula also aims to reground the understanding of Hula outside of the common stereotypes and misconceptions. Visitors will learn that Hula, originally an oral tradition, is one of the ways Native Hawaiians recorded their own history and storytelling. Through movement, it is a spiritual expression. The demanding physical practice requires dedication to achieve excellence.
An aspect of Hula is that it is meant to be passed down lineally from a Kumu Hula. These “Hula genealogies” operate much like family trees. The lineage represented in Chicago’s Legacy Hula is the personal Hula path of co-curator Kumu Hula Carole Lanialoha Lee, a third-generation Native Hawaiian born and raised in Chicago. She named this lineage "Chicago's Legacy Hula” to acknowledge and honor the Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) ancestors who brought Hula to Chicago, where it has been perpetuated, preserved, and protected for generations.
“The very beginning of my teachings began with my Grandma”, says Lee. “Always "talk story" kine, always delivered while doing traditional arts. It took me thirty years to figure out why. She empowered me with the greatest gift, her ability to instill Hawaiian values within those who stand before me. And another thirty years to find balance and harmony respective of each of the other Kumu Hula styles and methods of teaching. That today, in the path of my wake, you see evidence of every one of my Kumu embedded into the very pōhaku (stones) that have paved my way to the present”.
The Hula Masters of the Chicago’s legacy hula lineage were part of a second-wave of Native Hawaiians to migrate to Chicago in the 1950s. The first-wave of trained Hula experts brought Hula to Chicago for the first time as part of the Columbian Exposition, Chicago’s World Fair, in 1893 (the year the Field Museum was founded.) These experts were trained by the Royal Courts of Hawaii and were sent by Queen Liliuokalani to share stories of their people.
Also prominently featured in the exhibition, are the four kāhili on display. Kāhili, a wood pole decorated at one end with a cluster of feather plumes, are the symbol of the Royal Hawaiian Monarchy. Gifted to the Field in 1949 by a Chicagoan named Kulamanu Nash, the objects are not only highly significant pieces and of exceptional quality, recent research by Field staff revealed Nash was a descendant of Alii, which provides evidence that Native Hawaiians have been in Chicago for over 100 years.
Chicago’s legacy hula was guest curated by Chicago- and Hawaii-born Native Hawaiians: Kumu Hula Carole Lanialoha Lee, Kehulani Lum, Hannah li-Epstein, Kahookele Napuahiano Sumberg, and Ku Kamaehao Sumberg.
“That Hula’s arrival to Chicago coincides with the founding of the Field Museum makes this exhibition all the more significant”, says Ryan Schuessler, exhibition developer at the Field Museum. “This project revealed deep, diverse connections between Chicago and Hawaii, and it is an honor to help uplift the voices of our friends, neighbors, and colleagues. I hope that all Chicagoans come out to celebrate the stories of a community whose long presence in our city has gone largely unrecognized”.