CHANTING
We sing in the language of the ancient Hawaiian people and chant on our Spirit of Aloha workshops because we enjoy it, it enlivens us, it gives us an opportunity to express ourselves in the company of others, in a way that most of us don’t have the chance to do. And also because the sounds and tones of the Hawaiian language, just like the ancient languages of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin and Hebrew, create vibrations that invoke our deeper neurology and connect us to that part of ourselves just waiting to be stirred.

How many times have you heard someone say “oh I can’t sing”. Singing is a way of expressing a part of ourselves that we don’t normally have access to. It’s a form of expression that most of us lost touch with as we grew from children into adolescents. A child doesn't judge whether their singing is good or bad. It just is. Unless of course the belief "you can't sing" is installed because of some criticism. A child just sings, because its what they feel like doing in the moment.

So as we sing for enjoyment, we also sing with purpose, and many of the chants we’ll share with you have particular significance. They may tell a story, offer a prayer, or pay respect to ancestors and the wonder of nature.

HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE
The Hawaiian language has only 8 consonants, h, k, l, m, n, p, w, and the `okina. The consonants sound pretty much like the English pronunciation, but there are times when the W is pronounced like a V. The 5 vowels are pronounced:

• a sounds like (ah)
• e sounds like (eh)
• i sounds like (ee)
• o sounds like (oh)
• u sounds like (oo)

Each vowel is sounded separately except for dipthongs, but this should be enough to get you started. The kahakô and the `okina (glottal stop) are diacritical marks which make the proper pronunciation and meanings of many Hawaiian words possible. The kahakô indicates that the vowel sound is to be elongated. The `okina indicates a break in the breath, as in "Oh-oh!"

Here’s a chant you can start to learn now – it’s the one we chant each morning on our Retreats as we gather to welcome the rising sun.

E ALA E

E ala e, ka lâ i ka hikina

I ka moana, ka moana hohonu

Pi`i ka lewa, ka lewa nu`u

I ka hikina, aia ka lâ

E ala e!

"Awaken! Arise, the sun in the east
From the ocean, the ocean deep
Climbing to the heaven, the heaven highest
In the east, there is the sun
Wake up!"

Historical Context
The ancient Hawaiians had an oral tradition and kept no written records, and other than petroglyphs knew no written language. It was the missionaries who arrived in the early 1800s who created the written form of the language. However Hawaiians did have a way of recording important information that they passed down from one generation to the next. They recorded the history of the land, significant events, special occasions and most important of all, their genealogy, the blood lines that connected them to their past. To aid with memorising this information, a system of verses emerged which over time developed into an ingenious art form. Three different styles of chanting - OLI, PULE, and MELE

The “oli” was different in style from the other two types of chants, although the lines overlap and are somewhat flexible. The “oli” had prolonged phrases all chanted in one breath, and often a trill at the end of each phrase would emphasise the words. The “pule” was a prayer chant and was as important as the “oli” in preserving the culture. It was about pleasing the gods and ancestors, and about accumulating mana by reciting the words. Therefore, recitation followed strict rules. The "mele" style generally portrayed the emotional and festive life, with poetry and music an outlet for feelings, creativity and joyfulness.

Each of the Hawaiian islands preserved their own lineage chant linking its chiefs to the realm of the gods, origins of humanity and the ancestry of the Hawaiian people. The most famous lineage chant of all, the one that was preserved and recorded intact, was the Kumulipo. The Kumulipo is most often described as the Hawaiian creation chant, unfolding from the beginning of time.

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