The mele contained in this book are fundamental to hula Pele and reflect a vast and dynamic Hawai‘i worldview. These mele have been preserved for centuries via oral traditions, the sacred hula of Hawai‘i, and, more recently, in twentieth-century written texts. Lele Kawa offers original translations and provocative interpretations of the Pele literature from a practitioner’s perspective. The author’s work is based on generations of ancestral connections and years of immersion in the fiery ‘aiha‘a dances of the hula Pele.

Taupōuri Tangarō

Hardcover, 56 pp.