Lokomaika’i Hawaii Heritage Center opens in Hawaii Kai, preserving mele and history

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A non-profit focused on preserving and perpetuating Mele Hawaii has opened a cultural hub filled with pieces of Hawaiian history.

Let’s go holoholo to the Lokomaika’i Hawaii Heritage Center.

Tulutulu Mana is a curator for the Lokomaika’i Hawaii Heritage Center.

“The more I look at this space, the more I think wow, I’ve touched every single one of these pieces, which is mind-boggling,” said Mana.

It’s like a mini museum within this 1920 plantation home; that’s right behind Lunalilo Home in Hawaii Kai.

Mana said in partnership with the King Lunalilo trust, instead of paying rent, the non-profit hosts classes three times a week and teaches kupuna about mele Hawaii and different crafts.

“A lot of our kupuna have Alzheimer’s or dementia, so getting to play music and mele Hawaii and bringing them back to their grassroots actually has stirred them up and created such life in them that the nurses have not seen,” said Mana.

The center was created by the non-profit, Hawaiian Music Perpetuation Society.

It was initially in Waikiki, but last January, they officially moved into the Lunalilo Estates.

“And we decided that we needed to display all the artifacts that were donated to us, plus what was in the possession of some of our membership,” said Board Member Jayme Peterson. “So, we start off with doing our honor to our ali’i and their significant contributions, and then we walk them through where we came from, our cultural artifacts, our crafts, and we tell stories.”

As you tour the center, there are dozens of books, with the majority of them not in print anymore.

In addition, over 800 vinyls from across the islands, and so many stories involving Hawaiian instruments and musicians.

“Steel guitar is actually an indigenous art form, started by Joseph Kekuku, who is from Kamehameha Schools,” said Mana. “What happens was he takes a metal boat, and he runs it across the strings of a guitar, likes the sound, creates a note system, then takes this system and he tells his friends, they go out throughout the world.”

“Nashville, Tennessee, gets a hold of it, adds pedals and electronics. It is now one of their number one staples. If you go to like the Grand Ole Opry, you go to Tennessee, Nashville, they honor the Hawaiians for doing this.”

There’s also Tau Moe, a Hawaiian Musical Group that performed around the world.

Mana said one of their stops included Germany during World War II.

“So, the boys play the steel guitar for Hitler. After that, Hitler loved it so much, he gives them the pass,” said Mana. “This pass allows them to go in and out of Germany without being stopped.”

“Our Hawaiian boys, all the way in Germany, they had actually taken out a bunch of Jews from the internment camp and saved them from the Holocaust.”

“So we would like people, our own, citizens of Hawaii, to come and learn about your heritage, as well as try to educate some of the visitors about what we Hawaiians are really about,” said Peterson.

Tours are about one hour, and tickets are $10.

You can purchase them by clicking here.

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