Ku haʻaheo E Kuʻu Hawaii – is a song written in 2007 by Kumu Hina Wong and was the “anthem” of the Mauna Kea protests, where Native Hawaiians blocked the access road to the top of Mauna Kea(The highest mountain in the world from its base, which is below sea level, to the peak). The state had just approved building a Thirty Meter Telescope(TMT) despite the voiced concern for Natives because of Mauna Kea’s cultural significance. Thousands of Native Hawaiians ( young and old) stayed on the mountain for months in a peaceful protest. While on the mountain, the people partook in many different cultural activities such as mele(song) and dance(hula). This song became popular because of its lyrics. The song’s lyrics are a call to all Native Hawaiians to unite, stand up for our culture and beliefs, and be proud to be Hawaiian. There is a music video on YouTube with some of the most popular Hawaiian artists who sang the song together, and it became very popular during the protests. To a lot of people from Hawaii, that music video gives goosebumps cause of how powerful it was(That’s what my best friend from there describes it as). But this is really a song of patriotism to Hawaii and a call for Hawaiians to stand proud. Within the song, you can hear how passionate and prideful they are about the movement they support.

I chose this song because one of my roommates/best friends is from Hawaii and has told me this story about this song plenty of times over the past two years. I have always been fascinated by it. So, being able to research this more over the past few days and talk to my buddy about it has been awesome. I have been able to bond with him and learn more about how powerful music can be.

I found this cool website with a video of the artists singing it.

https://www.oha.org/ku-haaheo-e-kuu-hawaii/

This website also has the translated English version if you want to see it. Just scroll down on the website, and you will find it!