Department of Accounting and General Services

The collection was received at the Archives on March 21, 1931 from Mrs. A. P. Taylor on behalf of her late husband, Albert Pierce Taylor, Librarian of the Archives of Hawai‘i.

The Hawaiian Chants and Mele manuscript collection consist primarily of chants sent as letters to the Hawaiian-language newspaper Ka Hae Hawai‘i in 1860. The most numerous chants are name songs (mele inoa) and dirges (kanikau). Many of the mele inoa are for the Prince Ka Haku O Hawai‘i, son of Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, born in 1858. The mele inoa, kanikau, and the few Western style songs within this collection appear to have been composed by the person or persons submitting them to the newspaper. A few of the chants were traditional or a part of Hawaiian literature, genealogies, or religion. These were submitted by people interested in preserving older works.

The collection eventually was added to and filled with several genealogical books, the source of which is not certain in most cases. Many of these books bear a small label with the number A 166. Other materials bearing the same A 166 label are now located with the census records and in the Kalaniana‘ole collection, M80. It is possible that all these A 166 items were originally part of the Kalaniana‘ole collection.

For more information about this collection, view the finding aid at: https://ags.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hsa_m432_Hawaiian-chants-and-mele-manuscript-collection_fa_20211008.pdf.

The records are presented as PDFs that can be downloaded.

Makana ʻia ka ʻohina i ka Hale Akewika ma Malaki 21, 1931 mai iā Mrs. A. P. Taylor mai no kāna kāne i hala aku nei, Albert Pierce Taylor, Kahu Buke o ka Hale Akewika o Hawaiʻi.

ʻO ka ʻohina ʻo Nā Oli me Mele Hawaiʻi, he mau mele i palapala leka a hoʻouna ʻia i ka nūpepa ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ʻo Ka Hae Hawaiʻi i 1860. ʻO ka nui ʻo ia nā mele inoa me nā kanikau. ʻO ka hapanui o nā mele inoa no ke Kamāliʻikāne Ka Haku O Hawaiʻi, ke keikikāne a ka Mōʻī Kamehameha IV lāua ʻo Mōʻīwahine Emma, hānau ʻia i 1858. ʻO nā mele inoa, kanikau, a me nā mele kū i ke Komohana ma kēia ʻohina ua haku ʻia e ka poʻe nā lākou nō i hoʻouna i ka nūpepa. ʻO kekahi mau mele he mau mele kahiko a i ʻole he pili i nā moʻolelo, moʻokūʻauhau a hoʻomana Hawaiʻi. Hoʻouna ʻia e ka poʻe nāna i makemake e mālama ai i nā palapala kahiko.

Hoʻonui ʻia ka ʻohina ma hope aku me kekahi mau puke moʻokūʻauhau, ʻo ka hapa nui ʻaʻohe inoa kākau. He lepili ko ka hapa nui o nā puke me ka helu A 166. He mau mea ʻē aʻe me ka lepili A 166 like i hoʻokomo pū ʻia i nā palapala helu kanaka a me ka ʻohina a Kalanianaʻole, M80. Ma mua paha no loko mai kēia mau mea A 166 o ka ʻohina a Kalanianaʻole.

No kekahi ʻike hou aku e pili ana i kēia ʻohina, e nānā i ka puke kuhi ʻohina ma: https://ags.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hsa_m432_Hawaiian-chants-and-mele-manuscript-collection_fa_20211008.pdf.

Ua hōʻike ʻia nā palapala ma ke ʻano he mau PDF no ka hoʻoili ʻana.

Hawaiian Chants and Mele Manuscript Collection
Ref No.	Item Description
M432-1-1	No. 1-14 and introductory notes
M432-1-2	No. 15-19
M432-1-3	No. 20-29
M432-1-4	No. 30-39
M432-1-5	No. 40-48
M432-1-6	No. 49. Clipping book of J.A. Nahaku
M432-1-7	No. 50-59
M432-1-8	No. 60-70
M432-1-9	No. 71-79
M432-1-10	No. 80-92 [93]

See also other Archives Month 2021 Exhibitions:

  [Ref No. M86] Selections from the Theodore Kelsey Manuscript Collection
  [Ref No. KAHN] Mele Selections from the Paul Markham Kahn Collection
  [Ref No. M445] Selections from the Henry Enoka Palenapa Kekahuna Manuscript Collection
  [Ref No. M445] Chant and Genealogy Book

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