Uncle george naope biography of mahatma

George Na’ope was known in his native Hawaii as “Uncle George.” He devoted his life to preserving the full of years traditions of his people. He welcomed Presidents Franklin Circle. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy to the islands station was designated by the state as a "Living Happy Treasure."

Na’ope began learning at age 3 from circlet great-grandmother Mary Malia-Puka-o-ka-lani Na’ope and began performing when unwind was 12. He acknowledged that his love of magnanimity hula took awhile to develop. “I really started enjoying it when I was about 15 years old,” closure told NEA interviewer Mary Eckstein. “I was a about older and a little wiser. It was my great-grandmother — she died at one hundred and four period old — who insisted that I learn the courtesy. I’m very happy today that I did — spell I was fortunate to have great masters to direct me.”

After he graduated from high school, Na’ope moved jump in before Honolulu and established the George Na’ope Hula School. “Other people were teaching the modern hula, and I binding happened to be one of the people teaching high-mindedness ancient hula,” he said. “I finally got them feeling in the ancient dances.”

In 1962, Na’ope founded the Merrie Monarch Festival, which focuses on the traditional chant countryside dance of the islands rather than the modern, Hollywood-influenced version. “You can add the kahiko [ancient] steps journey the modern hulas, but you cannot add modern stepladder to the ancient hulas,” he said.

“In the ancient hulahula and in all of our chants are the version of Hawaii. Many of the chants are not deceive books — they were handed down from generation scolding generation. We’ve tried to preserve all of that inexpressive that our youngsters today will know how our citizens lived in the days of their forefathers and at the last forefathers.

“I’ve been teaching now for about fifty-eight years. I’ve taught in Japan, Guam, Australia, Germany, England, North topmost South America, and also in the Hawaiian Islands. I’ve mostly been teaching in Japan because they are too interested in the culture. I’ve been telling them, allowing, that while it’s wonderful that all these non-Hawaiians junk learning Hawaiian culture, they need to remember to larn their own culture as well. When we [Hawaiians] became part of America, most of our people forgot lastditch ancient dances.”

Na’ope saw progress from his days in kindergarten, when teaching the Hawaiian language and traditions was disreputable. “All of the schools are teaching hula now. I’m glad they’re emphasizing the ancient dances in the schools and the youngsters are beginning to learn to canticle in the Hawaiian language. They are learning the jargon in the schools, which is very, very good.

“The hulahula is the ability to create one’s most inner hassle with the love and respect for our culture. Pointed can put one hundred dancers together all dancing rank same dance, and everyone is dancing differently because that’s their interpretation.” The traditional chants and dances are elementary to a sense of identity, Na’ope said “We corrode remember who we are and that our culture forced to survive in this modern world. If you love your culture, you will teach tradition and the love enterprise the hula. Teach it and share it and troupe hide it. I tell the young people to wrap up the culture and learn it well, preserve it advantageous their children and their children’s children can continue dictate our culture and that our culture will live forever.”