Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 11, 1 November 2022 — Remembering a Renowned Chanter, Composer and Musician [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Remembering a Renowned Chanter, Composer and Musician

V HE HO'OMANA'O ^ I N MEMORIAM *

^ — James Ka'upena Wong Jr. — ^ Aug. 21, 1929 - Sep. 24, 2022

By Kalena Silva, Ph.ū. Considered by many to be the foremost Hawaiian male chanter of his generation, James Ka'upena Wong Jr. passed away at his Mākaha home on Sept. 24, 2022 at the age of 93. The only child born to Emily Kanoelani Sharpe and James Ka'upena Wong, Ka'upena Jr. was exposed to Hawaiian performing arts ffom an early age - his mother was a hula ku'i dancer and his father a musician and singer. Ka'upena's interest in Hawaiian culture was encouraged while he was a student at Kamehameha School for Boys until his graduation in 1948. After graduating with a degree in political science from Coe College in 1952, at his mother's suggestion, he met with the preeminent Hawaiian language and culture authority, Mary Kawena Pūku'i. Casual, general conversations with her turned into lessons in mele oli and mele hula over 12 years. In a 2005 interview, as a recipient of the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Ka'upena recalled that, after about two years of study with "Puna," as he affectionately called Pūku'i, he received a pivotal phone eall from her daughter, Pele Pūku'i Suganuma, "I was working at the Bishop Museum at the time and she called me and says, 'Ka'upena, would you like to be my ho'opa'a?' That developed into the most thrilling years of my life. I continued with Kawena for years and years after that." In addition to learning chant from Pūku'i, Ka'upena recalled bringing Kumu Hula Tom Hi'ona to his home on Date Street to learn to hula. He remembered Hi'ona's instruction that, during the kāholo between verses, the index finger and thumb are separated when gesturing out but brought together when the hands return inward. Hi'ona explained, "You give out knowledge but you save some for yourself." Ka'upena's increasing knowledge of Hawaiian performing arts led him to collaborate in live and recorded performances with other Hawaiian musicians like Mahi Beamer and Noelani Kanoho Māhoe and the Leo Nahenahe Singers. These collaborations frequently inspired Ka'upena's own musical compositions - most in Hawai-

ian, but some in English. His first composition in 1961, 'Ālika Spoehr Hula, honors Alexander Spoehr, Bishop Museum Director. Kuu Lei Pīkake speaks affectionately of a close friend, the historian Pauline Nāwāhine King Joerger. Nuha Blues won first plaee in a 1973 song contest. Ka'upena's open, friendly, and engaging manner, together with his great respect for the knowledge of his kūpuna, earned him a special plaee in the hearts of many of the elders he sought out and eame to know. He spoke fondly of Johanna Wilcox (the nieee of Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox, the Hawaiian Territory's first delegate to the U.S. Congress), remembering her as the first woman in Hawai'i to register to vote. Wilcox's aloha for Ka'upe-

na is reflected in her mele inoa for him, Maui Nani, in whieh she fondly refers to him as "ka pua miulana," (the ehampak - related to the magnolia - blossom) poetically afhrming his paternal Chinese heritage. Over the years, Ka'upena participated in pivotal Hawaiian cultural events and was a recipient of several major awards. In 1969, he chanted for the unveiling of the statue of King Kamehameha I in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. In 1975, he directed and chanted in the dedication ceremony launching the Hōkūle'a dou-ble-hulled eanoe. In 2004, he received the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2005, he was honored by the National Endowment for the Arts as a National Heritage Fellow for his life's work as a Hawaiian "chanter, composer, instrumentalist, and tradition-bear-er." In 2009, he was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. Despite these achievements and awards, Ka'upena seemed to wear all of them lightly, affectionately referring to all friends and friends-to-be as "Pally," and putting all who knew him at ease with his infectious sense of humor. When I last spoke with Ka'upena over the phone in late June of this year, I asked if he was still taking his daily walks. In a very understated way, he answered, "These days, whenever I feel like walking, I find myself reaching for a donut instead." For those of us who were privileged and fortunate to have known Ka'upena personally, we will miss him dearly. For those who did not know him, I have little doubt that, through his work and example, he will guide and inspire generations to eome. E ku'u kumu ē, ua pau kā 'oe hana, ua pio kā 'oe ahi, ua pala kā 'oe 'āhui, a kau ka opua hīnano i ka lani ua mālie. (My beloved teacher, your work is done, your fire is extinguished, your bunch of bananas has ripened, and white puffy clouds like hīnano blossoms rest quietly in the heavens). ■ This ho'omana'o is based on an essay about Ka'upena by Noelani Māhoe in "Hawaiian Music and Musicians: An Illustrated History" (1979) and on my recollections ofconversations I had with Ka'upena since we first met in 1971.

James Ka'upena Wong Jr. - Photo: Courtesy