On a recent Thursday evening, Kumu Hula Mehanaokalā Hind and her students rehearse the Kumulipo at Thomas Square Park.
Their voices are in sync and echo throughout the field on the bustling streets of Oʻahu town side as they recite the rare, cosmogonic genealogical chant that spans 2,102 lines.
“Many of the words that are in there are archaic, not common in our everyday language,” Hind said. “So to do it with the intensity and with integrity that it requires, takes a lot of energy and a lot of research.”…