Chicago’s Legacy Hula

A Chicago story generations in the making

Standing tall—feet firmly planted in the grass—Lanialoha Lee looks east over Lake Michigan.

Just as the horizon starts to glow, she begins to chant. Like needle and thread, the poetic verse pulls together the folds of time itself. From that sticky September morning on the lakefront—to the house in Buffalo Grove where her grandma began each day with those same words—to shores of Hawai`i, where Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) have been looking east to greet the sunrise since the beginning.

Standing with her are a group of Chicago- and Hawai`i-born Kānaka Maoli who, with their Ancestors, came together to chant for the gift of a new day. Their voices ebb and swell as one, joining the chorus of seagulls. In perfect rhythm with the splash of a fish.

Kumu Hula Carole Lanialoha Lee was born and raised in Chicago. She and her kids—the fourth generation of their family to live here—are curators of a new exhibit at the Field Museum that chronicles the migration of Kānaka Maoli to Chicago. For Lanialoha, it was a long overdue opportunity to bring her life’s path—Hula—to the Field Museum. She grew up coming to see the Hawaiian collections here, and envisioned an exhibit that honored her Kumu Hula (Master Teachers). They’re the people who laid her path, with Hawaiian sand and Chicago brick.

Chicago’s Legacy Hula opened in the Field Museum’s Regenstein Halls of the Pacific in May 2023.

Hawaii News Now: A rich legacy of Hula in the Windy City? Absolutely, and she proves it
Hawaii Public Radio: Celebrating 130 years of hula in Chicago
CBS Chicago: Field Museum opening new hula exhibit

PROJECT RESPONSIBILITIES
-Community engagement and collaboration with Chicago’s Native Hawaiian constituents
-Developing exhibition framework and narratives
-Original archival and genealogical research
-Facilitating curatorial decision making
-Public speaking and presentation to community members, community outreach locally and nationally
-Producing documents to communicate complex exhibition messages and content to other Museum departments and external stakeholders
-Gathering, processing, and incorporating abundant partner and community feedback
-Running regular team meetings
-Responsible for writing/facilitating the creation of display text, media scripts, and other content
-Cultural competency and internally advocating for the needs and requests of our partners

Sample Exhibition Content