What Is a Kumu Hula?

Kumu Hula

In hula, the Kumu Hula is a repository of knowledge.

• A Kumu Hula is a conduit of the Hula tradition.
• A Kumu Hula has learned the tradition from those who came before.
• A Kumu Hula continues to learn as more information becomes available.
• A Kumu Hula passes on the tradition to those who will carry it into the future.

Each Kumu Hula has many kuleana (responsibilities).

• A Kumu Hula is responsible to his or her own Kumu Hula.
• A Kumu Hula is responsible to his or her own Haumana.
• A Kumu Hula is responsible to the mele (song) and Hula in his or her own care.
• A Kumu Hula is responsible to the stories, memories and histories related through mele and Hula.

It is the responsibility of the Kumu Hula to cultivate respect in and for Hula.

• A Kumu Hula cultivates respect for the Hula tradition.
• A Kumu Hula cultivates respect for all of the items used in Hula, including costumes, implements, teaching materials, the Halau, and the performance space.
• A kumu hula cultivates respect for those who are dedicated to respectful practice of the hula tradition.
• A kumu hula cultivates respect for the Hawaiian people as keepers of the tradition.
• A kumu hula cultivates respect for the Hawaiian language.
• A Kumu Hula cultivates respect for our Creator, for nature, for our Hula brothers and sisters, and for our Ohana.
• A Kumu Hula cultivates respect for the ancestors whose efforts kept Hula a living tradition.

The way that Kumu Hula are trained has evolved tremendously within a matter of two or three decades: a short time indeed in the centuries-old hula tradition. Yet while the specifics of the training of kumu hula have changed, the overall aspiration of kumu hula has remained constant: to honor the kuleana (right) to safeguard and pass on knowledge about hula.

The title of Kumu Hula is never bestowed by oneself onto oneself. The title should never be taken by anyone without a personal connection to a kumu hula. A Kumu hula is someone who has received the blessing of his or her own kumu. Those who have been privileged to earn his or her Kumu’s trust understand why that trust has been earned, why it is sacred, and why it must never be broken.

There are many many hula teachers in the present whose journeys have not included the formalized and ritualized training structures that have emerged since the 1970s renaissance of Hawaiian culture and language. There is no question that their accomplishments and contributions have entitled them to our respect. To their students, they have served as foundations. Because of their efforts, the hula tradition remained alive. And through their commitment to hula, many have, in fact, acquired and mastered the knowledge necessary to be foundations to their students in the present.