Maui Services April 23. Oahu services April 30th. See below for details...
Anthony "Akoni" Akana passed away at 8:30 pm on March 25, 2011 at his family home near Waialae on O'ahu. Akoni was remembered in a touching article published by the Maui News on March 29th that recalled his legacy as the founding executive director of the Friends of Moku'ula — a nonprofit organization whose vision is to restore Moku'ula, a 17-acre site near Lahaina to prominence as the former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom.
Maui services and scattering of ashes will start at 9 a.m. April 23 at Moku'ula, across from 505 Front Street in Lahaina, followed by scattering of cremains at Pu'ukukui and Napili Bay. Oahu services will begin at 9 a.m. April 30 at Oahu Cemetery Chapel. For more information, call 661-3659.
The full text of the Maui News article follows...
Kumu hula Akoni Akana dies at 54
March 29, 2011 - By KEKOA ENOMOTO, Staff Writer
An Oahu-born kumu hula, who impacted Maui in the areas of hospitality and tourism, history and archaeology, and culture and creativity, has died.
Anthony "Akoni" Akana, founding executive director of the Friends of Moku'ula for nearly two decades, died at 8:30 p.m. Friday with family and friends at his bedside in his East Oahu home. He was 54.
"The thing that has been outstanding is that he has contributed his time, his energy, his everything to that which has to do with Maui, and he is not a keiki of this aina," said kumu hula Hokulani Holt, cultural programs director of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, when presenting Akana with the Celebration of the Arts Namahana Award last April.
"He has made Maui his home in its fullest sense. The first and foremost thing, however, that fulfills his life and will, I know, to his dying breath is Moku'ula," she added.
Maui services and scattering of ashes will start at 9 a.m. April 23 at Moku'ula, across from 505 Front Street in Lahaina, followed by scattering of cremains at Pu'ukukui and Napili Bay. Oahu services will begin at 9 a.m. April 30 at Oahu Cemetery Chapel. For more information, call 661-3659.
Akana formerly headed the Po'okela Program at The Ka'anapali Beach Hotel. The groundbreaking culture-based initiative, originated and expounded by late author George Kanahele, helped solidify The Ka'anapali Beach Hotel as "Hawai'i's most Hawaiian hotel."
A Kamehameha Schools graduate, Akana had studied under the late, iconic kumu hula George Naope and was instrumental in starting the Hula O Na Keiki youth chant-and-dance competition at The Ka'anapali Beach Hotel.
Akana was a haku mele, or composer, of many songs and chants whose music was recorded by Uluwehi Guerrero, Amy Hanaialii, Lei'ohu Ryder and others.
He served as Native Hawaiian cultural adviser to the Sacred Sites International Foundation as well as The Ka'anapali Beach Hotel, and was a board member of Hawaii Alliance Community Based Economic Development.
Most notably, Akana founded the Friends of Moku'ula in 1990 and served as its executive director until 2007. His as-yet-unfulfilled vision was to restore the 17-acre Lahaina site to prominence as the former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom.
"Akoni had a rare gift of connecting today's world with the lessons of the past. He understood early on that the sacredness of Moku'ula was to be protected and acknowledged so that in today's world, we could learn so much," said Mahina Martin, former Friends of Moku'ula program director, who called Akana "a friend and mentor."
"When he started the organization Friends of Moku'ula, it was his charismatic leadership and uncompromising faith in his work that made many others come to appreciate the sacredness of Moku'ula and, in turn, a sense of spirituality needed in life. He was undaunted by hurdles," she said.
Kaha'i cited a favorite slogan of Akana as "E ho'i ka nani i Moku'ula" - Return the glory to Moku'ula, which is on the national and state historic registers of historic places, she said.
Akana also is credited - along with Ryder and Maydeen Iao - with having rediscovered and helped restore Kukuipuka Heiau in Kahakuloa.
"The three of us were the ones who were inspired to come together and find Kukuipuka; ancestors came in the dreams, but that's a very long story," recounted Ryder, an educator and peace activist besides recording artist. "He was our friend, our brother."
Ryder said the trio collaborated to compose "Kukuipuka," with her creating the music and much of the lyrics, but Akana "was the creative force, a kind of visionary in many ways that was so creative in all gardens of Hawaii. He was a kumu hula, composer, cultural practitioner, and the visionary part of his legacy . . . (was) the preservation of Moku'ula.
"These are some of the fruits of his labor," she said. "He was an amazing, multitalented man."
State Sen. J. Kalani English confirmed that Akana, his "lifelong friend," was "a keen observer of all things Maui; so he knew Maui's history and past, and gave life to that through the modern songs he wrote."
Akana is survived by his parents, Frances and Kainoa Akana of Honolulu.
The composer unveiled his chant "No Kahalawai" - written in honor of Kaha'i and comparing her to Kahalawai, the West Maui Mountains - in 2003 in Wailea. An excerpt follows:
E ku ka lau lama no Kahalawai
Waiwai mau ia i ka'u 'ike
'Ike 'ia wale 'o Pu'u Kukui
Ku 'ia a'e la 'o Mauna 'Eke . . .
He lei ke aloha 'o Kahalawai
Waiwai mau loa, kau i ka hano e.
In English: Many torches stand for Kahalawai
Unceasingly rich in my estimation
Pu'u Kukui is seen easily
It appears to adjoin Mauna 'Eke . . .
Kahalawai is a beloved lei
Ever rich and honorable.
* Kekoa Enomoto can be reached at
This article contains a correction to the one originally published on March 29th. Also, Akana's chant "Ka Wahine Ku Ho'okahi" honors Shirley Ann Kaha'i instead of his chant "No Kahalawai."
The story incorrectly reported a phone number and other details. The Maui News apologizes for the errors.
Source: The Maui News
