Edith Kanakaʻole

Edith Kenao Kanakaʻole (born Edith Kekuhikuhipuʻuoneonāaliʻiōkohala Kenao, October 30, 1913 – October 3, 1979) was a Hawaiian dancer, chanter, teacher, and kumu hula. Born in Honomū, Hawaiʻi in 1913, she was taught hula from a young age, and dropped out of her formal schooling before completing middle school. She began to compose traditional Hawaiian music in 1946, choreographing hula to accompany many of her chants, and founded Hālau O Kekuhi in 1953. In the 1970s, she taught Hawaiian studies and language at Hawaiʻi Community College and later the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, where she worked until her death in 1979.