About me
Keith Kalani Akana, PhD
ʻO Anahola, Kauaʻi me Hāna, Maui nā kulāiwi. ʻO Kāheakūlani lāua ʻo Iola nā mākua. ʻO Keith “Kalani” Kalaniakāheakūlaniuamālokulokuokeliʻimaikaʻi Akana kona inoa. Aloha kākou a pau loa.
Anahola, Kauaʻi, and Hāna, Maui are his ancestral homelands. His parents are Kāheakūlani and Iola. He is Keith “Kalani” Akana. Greetings to all.
Of the Maiki Aiu / Lōkālia Montgomery tradition, he learned hula from kumu hula Kahaʻi Topolinski. In addition to Aunty Maiki Aiu, his hula teachers include Aunty Nona Beamer, Cy Bridges, Mapuana de Silva, George Holokai, Palani Kahala (his cousin, who taught him hula during high school), Edith Kanakaʻole, Nālani Kanakaʻole, Kimo Keaulana, Edith McKinzie, his aunt Hoʻoulukalāhui Richards, Kalena Silva, Bill Wallace, Maile Yamanaka, and others from whom he learned hula ʻauana.
His first kumu of oli was Dr. Kalena Silva, although he was exposed to chanting earlier at Kamehameha Schools through Nona Beamer and Hoʻoulukalāhui Richards. Chant styles such as oli kepakepa, oli hoʻāeae, and others were taught to him by Aunty Edith McKinzie. The year 2027 marks the 50th anniversary of the first time he taught oli.
He first learned how to make cat’s cradle with a partner from his cousin Uʻilani Barrett-Tau, his earliest kumu in hei. As children, they created figures using mail string for their kaula. In 1975, he attended a hei workshop at the former City and County Hawaiiana Center on the hills of Leʻahi, taught by Aunty ʻAina Keawe. To further his learning, she encouraged him to study String Figures of Hawaiʻi by Lyle Dickey. He has also exchanged hei knowledge with Māori colleagues Wiremu Te Kā and Hauitit Haopa, noting figures shared by both Kanaka Maoli and Māori traditions, including Kauhale a Limaloa and Moʻoiki.
He looks forward to welcoming participants to his oli and hei workshops.
