Kaumakaiwa Kanaka Research Paper

On Wednesday, November 16, we watched Kaumakaiwa Kanaka’ole perform a demonstration of traditional Hawaiian hula dancing and chanting. Kaumakaiwa has dedicated her life to this passion and practice, and is considered a hula master. She considers herself an indigenous intellectual in contemporary world, as she attended Western universities, but practices traditional Hawaiian culture. This artist was raised by her grandparents, as it is traditional culture for the oldest grandchild to be given to them, in order to bridge the gap between generations. She comes from a lineage of hula that has been present for the last 800 years at least, and in current succession she is the 127th generation. In 1778, Captain Cook was the first Westerner to come across Hawaii, with many following soon after. Since the 1920s there has been a particular world view of her people, publicized by the Western world which has dramatically changed traditional Hawaiian and chant. The purpose of her performance was to show how much tourism and Western influence has changed Hawaiian music, specifically the music played for tourists is very different from traditional hula chant and dance. In the

On Wednesday, November 9, Samia Mahbub Ahmed performed Indian ragas. She is a disciple of Sri Tapan Baidya and Vidushi Sumatra Guba of the Kirana Gharana. She was accompanied by artist Krishna Ramadas on the tabla who is a disciple of Shri Ravindra Nikte of the Ajraada Gharana. Samia is a resident of Bethesda, and teaches in the greater DC area. The classical sounds of Hindustani are inspired by the sounds of nature, organized into musical scales called ragas. This began in Hindu tradition, but was popularized by the Mughal emperors and now bridges together Hindu, Muslim, and other communities in South Asia. The purpose of this performance was to show how different communities use raga as a common language to communicate with one another, and how it has helped to bring different religions