Pōpoloheno is a two-year song-creation project. Sponsored by grants from the Gerbode Foundation and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, it will commemorate little-known stories honoring the valuable contributions of African descended people in post-contact Hawaiian history with mele inoa (name songs) and help ensure that little known aspects of Hawaiian history will be told and remembered.
The pōpolo is a black colored berry which is found throughout Polynesia. It is valued for its medicinal qualities. In Hawaiʻi it has become associated with people of African descent because of its coloring and due to colonial ideology, has since been used as a pejorative. Weʻre reclaiming the word in this project and in doing so, honoring the positive meanings of the pōpolo.
People of African descent were deeply involved in the cultural and economic society of the Hawaiian Kingdom since the time of King Kamehameha Paiea. African descended people have been educators, artists, healers, law makers and businesspeople, contributing meaningfully to post-contact Hawaiian society. This is a history that reflects the safety and solidarity found by formerly enslaved Black people who were initially welcomed in Hawaiʻi and seen as a valued part of the community. This history is relevant, reflects positive impact, and deserves to be known more than it currently is.
We hope that this project will help to ensure that the history of marginalized people are not erased and their stories are told.