HPS Digital ‘Umeke
This online resource showcases select elders and their associated materials in the HPS Archive, to share the human story of hula and the 20th century Hawaiʻi that they lived through. An ʻumeke is a calabash used to store, transport or serve everyday items and food. We share this ʻumeke of ʻike (knowledge) as a cultural and visual representation of the lives, insights and experiences as poʻe hula (hula people) who preserved, perpetuated, and cultivated hula throughout their lives.
HPS on Vimeo
Since 2016, HPS has used Vimeo as a platform to share oral history clips, archival footage, and public program pieces from the HPS Archive. We have established four distinct channels which you can access below.
Channels include:
Hula Kiʻi (Hawaiian puppetry and body form of kiʻi)
Nā Kupuna Makamae (oral histories from beloved elders)
ʻIolani Luahine (Master Luahine in film and remembrance)
Na Makua Mahalo ʻIa (1980s honoring of community elders)
There is also an On-Demand section with full-length programs, including the documentary film The Hawaiian Room in English and Japanese, and the collection of shorts entitled, Hoʻohaliʻa, Stories From Our Kūpuna.
Papakilo Database
Papakilo Database was created bythe Office of Hawaiian Affairs and is a “Database of Databases.” This community repository holds materials of historic and cultural importance to Hawaiʻi. HPS became a Papakilo partner in 2017, and as of 2021, HPS’s mini collections include:
- Photographs of hula and island landscapes (1940s & 1950s)
- Photographs of hula kiʻi from the Beamer lineage
- Audio clips from classic recordings of Hawaiian music (1930s-1950s)
- Paper materials including hula routines, song sheets, newspaper clippings, personal writings, and other career papers related to HPS kūpuna
- Finding Aids* of kūpuna interviews in the HPS Oral History Library
*A Finding Aid is a research tool to assist in content discovery.
Kauhola Catalog
To help internally manage the diverse contents of the HPS Archive, we created the Kauhola database. Kauhola means “to open, unfold, as a tapa; to expand, as a flower in bloom.” In 2019, we developed an online module to provide researchers the ability to browse select materials from the internal database, and we continue to work to expand the number of records available online through the Kauhola Catalog.
*E kala mai! Kauhola is currently under construction & not accessible at this time. We are working to resolve this.
HPS Guide to Online Resources
Feel free to download this guide to our online resources to use or share with others!