Ka ʻElele I Wakinekona

Written by Sam Liʻa Kalāinaina. Sam composed this song for Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole after he made a visit to Kukuihaele in 1918 prior to going to Washington D.C. to serve as a delegate to congress. Sam was surprised by how down-to-earth the prince was and composed the song for him right on the spot with verses asking each of the Hawaiian islands to adorn the prince with their favorite lei.

Download Pūʻolo

Pūʻolo contains

  • lyrics and translations
  • song story
  • educational questions
  • music sheets
  • bibliography
  • resources from Kamae archive

Listen with Lyrics

Press play in the video and open the lyrics
or music sheets to follow along.

OPEN LYRICS OPEN MUSIC SHEETS

Recording from the 2009 album Yesterday & Today Volume 2: Eddie Kamae and The Sons of Hawaii (track 10). Performed by Eddie Kamae and The Sons of Hawaii. © ℗ Hawaii Sons Inc. All rights reserved.

Watch Video Clips on YouTube and ʻUluʻulu

YouTube videos are documentary clips and full song performances.
ʻUluʻulu videos link to short preview clips from raw footage.

Story on how Sam Liʻa Kalāinaina wrote the song “Ka ʻElele I Wakinekona” for Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole from the documentary, Liʻa: The Legacy of a Hawaiian Man.

Eddie Kamae performing “Ka ʻElele I Wakinekona” overlooking Waipiʻo Valley in 1987.

To explore more of our digitized collections of raw footage with ʻUluʻulu, visit:
Hawaiian Legacy Foundation: Eddie & Myrna Kamae.

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