Community Archive Partnership with OHA's Papakilo Database

In October 2021, ʻUluʻulu completed a three-year digitization project funded by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in partnership with OHA’s Papakilo Database with 521 video tapes–over 224 hours–digitized. The digital content consists of television programs that focus on Hawaiian history, arts, and culture: “The Best of Treasures,” “Holo Mai Pele,” “Legacy of Light,” “Merrie Monarch Festival,” and “Pau Hana Years.” The television producers of these programs interviewed cultural practitioners, kūpuna, scholars, activists, artists, musicians, and storytellers who shared their knowledge on camera.

Best of Treasures

“The Best of Treasures” is a ten-episode television series that aired on KHON in the early 1990s, presented by Bank of Hawaiʻi and Bishop Museum and hosted by radio personality Brickwood Galuteria. Producer and director Dennis Christianson selected popular episodes from the beloved “Treasures” television program in the 1980s and added new segments about the Bishop Museum in celebration of its 100th anniversary. In alignment with Bishop Museum’s mission and values, the program essentially celebrated Hawaiian culture and resources, spotlighting our living treasures who preserved Hawaiʻi’s cultural heritage. Click here to view The Best of Treasures from the KHON Collection.

Holo Mai Pele

Hālau o Kekuhi, under the direction of sisters Kumu Hula Pualani Kanakaʻole-Kanahele and Kumu Hula Nālani Kanakaʻole, created and choreographed “Holo Mai Pele,” the epic story of Pelehonuamea, goddess of the volcano, and her youngest sister, Hi’iakaikapoliopele. Producer and director Dominique Lasser and Catherine Tatge recorded the one-hour program for WNET’s Great Performances funded by the Pacific Islanders in Communications. Tapes from the collection include primary unedited materials, including behind-the-scenes rehearsals, on-stage performances of the hālau, b-roll footage and interviews. Click here to view Holo Mai Pele from the Pacific Islanders in Communications Collection.

Legacy of Light

“Legacy of Light” is a television series produced by Martha Noyes and Elizabeth Kapu‘uwailani Lindsey. The program showcased Hawaiian cultural practitioners with interviews by the families who knew them intimately and the students who carried on their traditions. Among the esteemed group of interviewees: Patience Nāmaka Wiggin Bacon on her mother, Hawaiian language expert Mary Kawena Pukui; slack-key guitarist Martin Pahinui on his father, legendary musician Gabby Pahinui; Kumu Hula Hoakalei Kamauʻu on her aunt, Loea Hula ʻIolani Luahine; entertainer Moe Keale and Kumu Hula Leialoha Lim Amina on Hawaiian philosopher Pilahi Paki; Piʻolani Motta on her hānai mother, Lena Machado; brothers Kahauanu Lake and John Keola Lake on musician and activist George Helm, Jr., along with Kumu Hula Al Makahinu Barcarse, Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli, and the Helm family. ʻUluʻulu has 79 titles online that consist of the episodes and primary footage of the interviews. Click here to view Legacy of Light from the KITV Collection.

Merrie Monarch Festival

“Merrie Monarch Festival” collection is an ongoing digitization project that spans decades of the annual Merrie Monarch Festival. Prior to the first live television broadcast of the Merrie Monarch Festival in 1981 on KITV, the program would be recorded and edited into a television program of highlighted performances. As the live broadcasts of Merrie Monarch Festival’s hula kahiko and hula ʻauana nights continued for many years, their viewership success prompted an additional evening time slot for the Miss Aloha Hula competition that began with the 30th annual festival in 1993. Throughout the years, hula hālau and their kumu hula and ʻōlapa come and go, and yet the dances, chants, and mele remain timeless. Click here to view the Merrie Monarch Festival Collection.

Pau Hana Years

“Pau Hana Years” is the popular PBS Hawai‘i series produced by the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education and the Hawaiʻi Public Broadcasting Authority. Branded as the television show “for and by the senior citizens of Hawaiʻi,” the series, hosted and produced by Bob Barker and later Charlotte Simmons, aired on KHET-TV for 16 years beginning in 1966 through its final episode in August 1982. Celebrating the older population of individuals and in groups and communities, the program profiled kūpuna who told their life stories, showcased their talents, engaged in lively activities, and shared their cultural knowledge. Nearly 200 episodes are now available online. Click here to view Pau Hana Years from the PBS Hawai‘i Collection.

We thank the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Papakilo Database in helping to make these programs and videos accessible to researchers, community members, and the general public.