ALOHA-NESS... ANOTHER WORD FOR PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP!

She was the embodiment of aloha-ness and her passing left behind a legacy that could promote peace and friendship throughout the world if only we have the eyes to see, the ears to listen and the heart and courage to pass it on.

Auntie Nona "Winona" Beamerwas a teacher, a dancer and a storyteller, but above all, she was a fervent guardian of Hawaiian culture.

At Kamehameha Schools, where Beamer taught for nearly 40 years, she established a curriculum that embraced Hawaiian culture. In the 1960s, she helped reintroduce standing hula for women at the school.

Beamer was 3 when she started learning hula, and she taught its graceful movements for 30 years in Waikiki. She would become a relentless promoter of ancient forms of hula and inspired worldwide interest in the dance.

Beamer, who coined the term "Hawaiiana" in 1948, dedicated her life to sharing Hawaiian culture, but said it was often a struggle to bring it to the forefront of a Hawai'i dominated by modern influences.

But she was not afraid to speak up.

In 1997, Beamer lent her voice to the simmering frustrations that Kamehameha Schools 'ohana — students, parents, faculty, staff and alumni — felt about the way the school's five trustees managed the institution. In an angry letter to the state Supreme Court, which at the time appointed the trustees, Beamer challenged the authority and motives of the trustees.

Beamer's letter sparked an unprecedented protest movement that led to widespread reform of Kamehameha Schools and the ouster of its trustees.

Six years later, Winona Beamer was awarded the honor of being named "A Living Treasure" by the Governor of Hawa'i in 2003.

The following are some excerpts from a tribute to Winona Beamer.

Aloha `Oe, Auntie Nona

Our beloved kupuna, Winona Kapuailohia Desha Beamer, fondly known as Auntie Nona, passed away quietly in her sleep the night of April 10th, 2008 at home in Lahaina, Hawaii. Auntie Nona was born in the Puna District of Hawai`i in 1924 and raised in Hilo by her grandmother, Helen Kapuailohia Desha Beamer; who Nona called “Sweetheart Grandmother”. Tutu Helen was one of Hawai'i's most prolific and accomplished composers as well as a skilled dancer whose grace left a lasting imprint on the hula and Nona.

Nona performed her first hula in public at the age of three and by the age of eleven was teaching hula in her mother’s Waikiki studio. Her very first student was the actress, Mary Pickford. Entering Kamehameha School in 1935, she was actually expelled twice for being “willful”; because she was driven even then to teach the Hawaiian language, culture, chant and dance to others.

After attending Barnard College and the University of Hawaii, where she was told that she could never earn a living in Hawaiian culture, she proceeded to carve a niche for herself and took over her mother’s hula studio in 1947. She began teaching at Kamehameha School in 1949 and in her nearly forty years there, began their first Hawaiiana department. Nona coined the phrase “Hawaiiana” to illustrate the teaching of “the best of Hawaiian culture”; meaning the literature, songs, dances, chants and poetry of Hawai`i.

A noted chanter, composer and singer, Nona is revered for her scholarship and accomplishments in the education of Native Hawaiian children. She has numerous publications and recordings and has written many of Hawaii’s most beloved songs, including “Pupu Hinuhinu” which was written as a lullaby for her two boys. Her sons, Keola and Kapono Beamer are world renown musicians/educators and continue the family’s tradition of sharing Hawaiiana through music and teaching.

In 2000, Auntie Nona inspired the establishment of the Hula Preservation Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring the lives of beloved elder hula masters. The Aloha Music Camp, L.L.C. began in 2001 and continues the tradition of teaching and sharing aloha with participants from around the world. Auntie Nona’s last public performance was at the camp this past February, when she performed “Green Rose Hula” with all the beauty, sparkle and grace she always possessed when performing. Her most recent inspiration is the Mohala Hou Foundation, a non-profit established last year to continue her vision of protecting and perpetuating the culture that she held so dear by sharing and educating Hawaiiana with all who are interested. The Foundation makes it possible through scholarships for students and Kupuna to attend the Aloha Music Camp.

An extraordinary woman who dedicated her life to the education of Hawaiians and those who have a desire to learn about Hawaiian culture; Auntie Nona took inspiration from Hawaii’s last queen, Liliuokalani. As quoted in an interview in 1994, “Her life has been important and inspiring and educational to me. Not just from the standpoint of what a wonderful woman she was but because she shared her feelings and her tenderness and her compassion. Even after they imprisoned her she wrote “The Queen’s Prayer,” in which she asks for forgiveness for those who were unkind to her. So much of her life involved music and teaching and children. All my life I have taught Queen Lili’s songs and music to children.”

In her own very humble, gracious and truly remarkable way, Auntie Nona was not only a pioneer, ali`i, musician and humanitarian, she truly is the embodiment of aloha.

Her fondest wish was that we remember her with song~and so we will. We will break out our `ukulele and guitars and join our voices in song. We will dance, and laugh and talk story, and share the aloha of this remarkable woman.

And, if we listen with our hearts, we will hear her clap her hands and say, "Maika`i no, maika`i no..." ("I am fine, thank you. Well done!")

To view more photos visit this site: " http://www.alohamusiccamp.com/auntie_nona.html "

The Butterfly Hula! Watch carefully and you will see a butterfly join this Hawaiian Hula Dance.

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Comment by MommaToldMeNotToCome on October 10, 2009 at 10:50am: Yes, it will Al! Granny Boyd would have loved the simpleness of this one and the purity of the white dove. Thank you very much for your thoughtful comment. :D

Comment by Motorcycle Hippy Al on October 10, 2009 at 10:03am: Here's to Granny Boyd,
Make You Think & Dream of Her, of Your Experiences with Her, of sharing Her Life & Wisdom. "Happy Trails" Peace, Al

Comment by MommaToldMeNotToCome on October 1, 2009 at 2:54pm: I think my zip has just about got up and gone! lol! (((((Big hugs!))))) Have a Super Sized Day! love ya!

Comment by MommaToldMeNotToCome on October 1, 2009 at 2:42pm: Yes, some "Old Ladies" are worth their salt in stories alone if you can just get them talking! Your friend sounds like one such, too! loved the story, hon. thanks for sharing! :D

Comment by MommaToldMeNotToCome on October 1, 2009 at 2:39pm: So here you were! *smile* yes, the little dreamcatcher is exactly the type Granny Boyd could put together in just a few minutes. There was always plenty of material at hand, from bones and horns to feathers, beads and a bit of bright thread or string to crochet or string the web together with.... and made just for YOU by someone who loved you. No worries about "bad vibes" getting thru! :D

Comment by MommaToldMeNotToCome on October 1, 2009 at 12:41pm: Yes, you both feel the same way about her that I do... I once knew and aboriginal woman in my town who was the exact same height as me when I was nine years old. We looked each other in the eye on the street one day and a smile grew between us that never left our faces for each other. She was in her seventies then and an elder in her tribe. She was well respected and taken great care of wherever she went. If anyone needed to know something about the old ways or to find out a bit of their family history, Granny Boyd was the one to ask. She had a temper too! She thought nothing of tackling the six foot plus men in her life and giving them what for and a lazy wife and mother was not safe from her scorn! My while mother and father would never let me "bother her" but we both knew that we were friends and we snatched what chit-chat we could along the years, more so when I grew old enough to strike out on my own! *smile* She died when she was 103 years old and the autopsy she had to undergo (because she went in her sleep with no one around to witness her leaving), showed that she had only ever had one kidney. That tells you something about the healthy lifestyle she lead. Her only vice was a bit of "snooze" once in a long while. She said she just got a craving for a really big "sneeze" every now and then.... haha! I missed her as much as her own relatives did and was sorry for her loss.... She was brought up in a convent and learned the ways and language of the whites, both french and english and later married the Factor of the Hudson Bay Company in our town. She bore 17 children and raised 10 of them to adulthood, losing six to drowning in the rivers that run through our area and one to early birth that was too small to survive. She lived through a lot of sorrow, but she was always the first one on the dance floor and she was quick with a joke or funny happening to tell when a moment needed smoothing over. She was one fine lady and Auntie Nona's story reminded me of her in that she was responsible for bringing the Mass to her people who were not able to attend the white mans church which was very small. She traded work by the men on the larger church that was being built (and made sure that they showed up at the job!) for services on her property that were well attended by natives and whites alike in the area. She taught catechism classes for years to anyone, child or adult who was interested. Well, that's enough about my dear Granny Boyd. My own Nana was very fond of her too and when she visited we would sneak away to visit her together. *smile*

Comment by Hanne Billowitz on September 18, 2009 at 4:53pm: If we all would have had an "Auntie Nona", the earth would be a better place! I'm so glad to have "known" of her for over 35 years! Her stories and songs, along with those of her sons, have been a "place I go to" to find peace when everything around me was overwhelming (which it was many times over with 4 children!). Her simple "Pu Pu Hinuhinu" lullaby -and her son-Keola's"Moe 'Uhane Kika" [Tales from the Dream Guitar] -where I go for "peace". I'm glad someone else has "found" this wonderful person -Auntie Nona Beamer! Another "peacemaker" at rest, yet her message lives on!