Video: Luana Kawelu and her daughter, anthropologist Kathy Kawelu, give public talk at UH Hilo on the history of Merrie Monarch Festival
The talk, “Merrie Monarch Festival: A history of kuleana to community and culture,” is part of UH Hilo’s Kuleana and Community Weekly Talk Story gatherings.
By Staff/UH Hilo Stories.
Luana Kawelu, president of the Merrie Monarch Festival who served as a social worker for the Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Center for over 40 years, and her daughter Kathy Kawelu, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, gave a public talk about the festival’s history on November 14, 2025, at UH Hilo.
In the talk, mother and daughter present the history of the Merrie Monarch Festival from its practical beginnings in the 1960s, to its current mission that seeks to promote and perpetuate hula and Hawaiian culture. Kuleana (responsibility) to community, culture, practice, and family permeates the festival’s history, and contributes to the event’s longevity. This kuleana is not only carried by the Kawelu family, but also the kumu (teachers) and their hālau, artists, musicians, pāʻū riders, and the many volunteers working behind the scenes that ensure a successful festival.
- Read more about the talk: Rebuilding Hilo, Reviving Culture: A Family’s Merrie Monarch Festival Legacy (Kūkala Nūhou, Nov. 20, 2025)
Kuleana and Community Weekly Talk Story
The goal of the series, named “Kuleana and Community Weekly Talk Story: Building Community Through Conversation” and launched in fall of 2024, is to strengthen the university’s connections to the local community through conversation. Talks cover youth-focused government programs, health care, food systems, climate challenges, and more. Following a short talk by a featured guest, attendees break out into discussion groups and then share their manaʻo (thoughts) with everyone.
The talks are held on campus at the Kilohana Student Success Center located in Edwin Mookini Library.
The Kuleana and Community series is sponsored by the UH Hilo Office of the Chancellor, Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center, Kilohana Academic Success Center, Center for Global Education and Exchange, and Assistant Professor of Communication Colby Miyose and Associate Professor of Sociology Alton Okinaka.
This is the last talk of the fall 2025 semester.
