Iolani Luahine

ʻIolani Luahine (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1978), born Harriet Lanihau Makekau, was a native Hawaiian kumu hula, dancer, chanter and teacher, who was considered the high priestess of the ancient hula. The New York Times wrote that she was "regarded as Hawaii's last great exponent of the sacred hula ceremony," and the Honolulu Advertiser wrote: "In her ancient dances, she was the poet of the Hawaiian people." Iolani was raised by her great-aunt Julia Keahi Luahine (1877–1937), who began educating her in the ancient Kauai school of hula when she was four years old. Her aunt Keahi was "the foremost hula instructor of her day and one of the last royal dancers from King Kalākaua's and Queen Lili’uokalani's court." She has been referred to as the "high priestess" of the ancient hula", a "link to traditional Hawaiian culture", and "the last handmaiden to the Hawaiian gods."

Dorothy Thompson, a co-founder of the Merrie Monarch Festival, an annual week-long hula festival in Hilo, Hawaii, described Luahine as follows: "Her dance was her life and her story itself. 'Io was such a beautiful person, an extraordinary dancer. She seemed like she would go into a trance. And her movements were like nobody else's."

Some who knew her told stories of Luahine's "mystic abilities." Even organizer Dorothy Thompson recalled: "She told me the parade had to start on time, at 1 o'clock, because the rain would stop for only two hours. It poured cats and dogs. At 1 o'clock on the nose the rain stopped, and at 3 o'clock the rain came down."

Hula master George Naʻope told a story that the Queen of Tonga and an FBI escort were visiting Hawaii, and the queen would not get out of the car because it was too windy. According to Na'ope's story, "Iolani turned around, chanted, and the wind stopped. After that, the queen and the FBI were supposed to go to a hotel in Kona, and instead they went to Iolani’s house in Napoopoo, where she summoned all the animals to greet the queen. Her dog barked, her cat meowed, her rooster crowed, her pig oinked, and they bowed to the queen. When someone said that they are not supposed to be at Iolani’s house, an FBI agent replied, 'If she can stop the wind, we are going to be here.'"

In 1970, Luahine and Lokalia Montgomery became the first recipients of Hawaii's State Order of Distinction for Cultural Leadership.

Posthumous honors and recognition When she died in 1978, The New York Times wrote that she was "regarded as Hawaii's last great exponent of the sacred hula ceremony." The Honolulu Advertiser wrote: "In her ancient dances, she was the poet of the Hawaiian people." The Honolulu Star-Bulletin called her "easily one of Hawaii's greatest dancers if not the greatest."

In 1997, a statue of Luahine (sculpted by Kim Duffet) was dedicated at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where Luahine performed in the 1950s.

In 2005, the documentary film, Keepers of the Flame: The Cultural Legacy of Three Hawaiian Women profiled Luahine, her teacher Mary Kawena Pukui and Edith Kanakaole.