Owana Salazar
Encyclopedia
Owana Kaohelelani Mahaelani-rose Salazar (born 1953) is a musician who is related to the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii
. She used her popularity to promote discussion of Hawaiian sovereignty issues.
Her mother was Helena Kalokuokamaile Wilcox
, a member of the House of Keoua Nui, through the branch of Laanui-Kalokuokamaile. Her maternal great-great-grandaunt was High Chiefess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniauokalaninuihilaukapu Laʻanui, and her great grandmother, Theresa Owana Kaohelelani Laanui was a great-great-great granddaughter of Keoua Kalanikupuapaikalaninui, the father of King Kamehameha I
.
Her father was Henry Mario Salazar, descendant of a noble house from Spain. She was raised on the island of Oahu
in her Spanish
, Hawaiian
, English
, French
and Italian
culture. Her early years were immersed in music
and family history as taught to her by her mother. The only girl in a family of five, Owana grew up with an honest sense of place. "Our family discussions were vast... about many of our ancestors, about their roles in Hawaiiʻs history, about the crown lands, about Robert Wilcox, about Princess Theresa going to Washington, about Princess Elizabeth going to Washington to petition Congress to survey the crown lands."
. At nineteen, she was initiated into the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors, Mamakakaua, a society organized around the genealogical descent of Hawaii's ruling chiefs. Throughout her musical career, she promoted Hawaiian history, culture and sovereignty
. She served as family liaison to the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts for two years, with the goal of planning, commissioning and unveiling a life-size bronze statue of great grandfather Wilcox. His statue is located at Wilcox Park in downtown Honolulu
, on the corner of King and Fort Street. Owana served for seven years as Kuhina Nui
(Regent) to Ka Lahui Hawaii, a Hawaiian sovereignty organization. Before her death in 1988, her mother named Owana Kuhina nui and her son, Noa as Ali`i nui Kalokuokamaile III
. She informed Owana's brothers that their sister and her son would succeed her. All brothers supported their mothers decision.
In July 1998, Salazar and her son withdrew from their relationship with Ka Lahui.
In press interviews around the centennial of the annexation of Hawaii by the 1898 Newlands Resolution
, she points out that it was only a joint resolution
of the US Congress, not a treaty.
. She was later enrolled in The Kamehameha Schools
. Owana sang with the Concert Glee Club. After graduating from high school in 1971, she went attended the University of Hawaii
at Manoa
as a music major. Along with traditional western music theory
, Salazar continued her study of hula, studied voice with Elizabeth Cole, studied piano
, string methods, guitar
, Javanese dance and gamelan
. At the start of her public career, Owana performed with Hawaiian headliners such as Don Ho
, Ohta-San, Ed Kenney
and Charles K.L. Davis. It was at U.H. that she learned Kihoalu (slack key guitar). She was introduced to the world of Kihoalu one day by friend Nelson Hiu. Combining music theory with her repertoire of Hawaiian songs and slack key, Owana developed her playing skills with help from musicians such as George Kuo, Bla Pahinui, Cyril Pahinui, Dennis Kamakahi
, George Kahumoku Jr. and Sonny Chillingworth
. Other musical influences include Joni Mitchell
, Johnny Mathis
, Connie Francis
, Stevie Wonder
, Genoa Keawe
, Gabby Pahinui
, Lena Machado Marvin Gaye
, Debussy, Ravel, Bach
, Rachmaninov.
Her first recording in 1986, Owana and Kaipo, In Kona was nominated in the category of Most Promising Artist in the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, a Hawaiian music industry salute. The following year, her second recording, "Owana", was a final ballot nominee for Contemporary Hawaiian Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. Pupuke describes the ocean on the North Shore of O`ahu. Kula Morning takes you upcountry Maui
, gazing from mountain to the sea. “Na Wai” is a playful poetic expression of love's experiences, full of Hawaiian kaona (hidden meanings). “Kalamaula” celebrates the early homesteading
movement of the Hawaiian people. “Silhouette Hula” is a hapa haole
piece, recalling the early jazz years of Hawaiian music. For most of the 1980s, Salazar sang Hawaiian classics with the Royal Hawaiian Band
and performed at venues in Waikiki
and Japan
. Jerry Byrd
accepted Salazar as his student for formal study of Hawaiian steel guitar. Eventually, she received a full scholarship from the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association. In 1992, she became Byrd's first female graduate and has been called Hawaii's preeminent female steel guitarist. Besides Hawaii, Salazar has also performed in Tahiti
, New Zealand
, Australia
, and the Americas
. In January 2000, she became the first woman to tour with the Hawaiian Slack Key Festival along with George Kahumoku, Jr.
, Keoki Kahumoku and Daniel Ho
.
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
. She used her popularity to promote discussion of Hawaiian sovereignty issues.
Early years
Owana Salazar was born October 30, 1953.Her mother was Helena Kalokuokamaile Wilcox
Helena Kalokuokamaile Wilcox
Helena Kalokuokamaile Wilcox Salazar-Machado was related to the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Life:Helena Kalokuokamaile Wilcox was born April 13, 1917. Her father was Robert Kalanikupuapaikalaninui Wilcox of the House of Kalokuokamaile, the eldest collateral branch of the House of...
, a member of the House of Keoua Nui, through the branch of Laanui-Kalokuokamaile. Her maternal great-great-grandaunt was High Chiefess Elizabeth Kekaʻaniauokalaninuihilaukapu Laʻanui, and her great grandmother, Theresa Owana Kaohelelani Laanui was a great-great-great granddaughter of Keoua Kalanikupuapaikalaninui, the father of King Kamehameha I
Kamehameha I
Kamehameha I , also known as Kamehameha the Great, conquered the Hawaiian Islands and formally established the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. By developing alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers, Kamehameha preserved Hawaii's independence under his rule...
.
Her father was Henry Mario Salazar, descendant of a noble house from Spain. She was raised on the island of Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
in her Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
, Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...
, English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
culture. Her early years were immersed in music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and family history as taught to her by her mother. The only girl in a family of five, Owana grew up with an honest sense of place. "Our family discussions were vast... about many of our ancestors, about their roles in Hawaiiʻs history, about the crown lands, about Robert Wilcox, about Princess Theresa going to Washington, about Princess Elizabeth going to Washington to petition Congress to survey the crown lands."
Cultural and Sovereignty Involvement
Salazar was strongly influenced by her descent from Hawaiian royalty and from her great grandfather, military and political leader Robert Kalanihiapo WilcoxRobert William Wilcox
Robert William Kalanihiapo Wilcox , nicknamed the Iron Duke of Hawaii, was a native Hawaiian revolutionary soldier and politician. He led uprisings against both the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii under King Kalākaua and the Republic of Hawaii under Sanford Dole, what are now known as the...
. At nineteen, she was initiated into the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors, Mamakakaua, a society organized around the genealogical descent of Hawaii's ruling chiefs. Throughout her musical career, she promoted Hawaiian history, culture and sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
. She served as family liaison to the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts for two years, with the goal of planning, commissioning and unveiling a life-size bronze statue of great grandfather Wilcox. His statue is located at Wilcox Park in downtown Honolulu
Downtown Honolulu
Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, governmental, and central part of Honolulu—bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the north, and Honolulu Harbor to the south—situated within the larger Honolulu District...
, on the corner of King and Fort Street. Owana served for seven years as Kuhina Nui
Kuhina Nui
Kuhina Nui was a powerful office in the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1819 to 1864. It was usually held by a relative of the king and was the rough equivalent of the 19th century European office of Prime Minister or sometimes Regent.- Origin of the office :...
(Regent) to Ka Lahui Hawaii, a Hawaiian sovereignty organization. Before her death in 1988, her mother named Owana Kuhina nui and her son, Noa as Ali`i nui Kalokuokamaile III
Kalokuokamaile III
Noa Kalokuokamaile DeGuair is related to the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He is styled as "Prince" with the title Kalokuokamaile III.-Life:Noa DeGuair was born November 19, 1981....
. She informed Owana's brothers that their sister and her son would succeed her. All brothers supported their mothers decision.
In July 1998, Salazar and her son withdrew from their relationship with Ka Lahui.
In press interviews around the centennial of the annexation of Hawaii by the 1898 Newlands Resolution
Newlands Resolution
The Newlands Resolution, was a joint resolution written by and named after United States Congressman Francis G. Newlands. It was an Act of Congress to annex the Republic of Hawaii and create the Territory of Hawaii....
, she points out that it was only a joint resolution
Joint resolution
In the United States Congress, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires approval by the Senate and the House and is presented to the President for his/her approval or disapproval, in exactly the same case as a bill....
of the US Congress, not a treaty.
Education and Music Career
Under the tutelage of Kumu Hula Ho`akalei Kamau`u, Ho`oulu Richards and Winona Beamer, Owana studied the art of hulaHula
Hula is a dance form accompanied by chant or song . It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form....
. She was later enrolled in The Kamehameha Schools
Kamehameha Schools
Kamehameha Schools , formerly called Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate , is a private co-educational college-preparatory institution that specializes in Native Hawaiian language and cultural education. It is located in Hawaii and operates three campuses: Kapālama , Pukalani , and Keaau...
. Owana sang with the Concert Glee Club. After graduating from high school in 1971, she went attended the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
at Manoa
Manoa
thumb|240px|right|Vintage shot of University of Hawaii, Manoa240px|thumb|right|Vintage photo of Manoa ValleyMānoa is a valley and a residential neighborhood of Honolulu CDP of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States; the community is approximately three miles east and inland from...
as a music major. Along with traditional western music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
, Salazar continued her study of hula, studied voice with Elizabeth Cole, studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, string methods, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Javanese dance and gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
. At the start of her public career, Owana performed with Hawaiian headliners such as Don Ho
Don Ho
Donald Tai Loy "Don" Ho was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:Ho, of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, but he grew up in Kāneohe on the windward side of the island of Oahu...
, Ohta-San, Ed Kenney
Ed Kenney
Edward Kamanaloha Kenney, Jr. is a Hawai‘i-born American singer/actor best known for the role of "Wang Ta" in the original Broadway production of Flower Drum Song...
and Charles K.L. Davis. It was at U.H. that she learned Kihoalu (slack key guitar). She was introduced to the world of Kihoalu one day by friend Nelson Hiu. Combining music theory with her repertoire of Hawaiian songs and slack key, Owana developed her playing skills with help from musicians such as George Kuo, Bla Pahinui, Cyril Pahinui, Dennis Kamakahi
Dennis Kamakahi
Dennis David Kahekilimamaoikalanikeha Kamakahi is a Hawaiian slack key guitarist, recording artist, and music composer. He has won multiple Grammy Awards, and in 2009 was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.-Professional music career:...
, George Kahumoku Jr. and Sonny Chillingworth
Sonny Chillingworth
Edwin Bradfield Liloa Chillingworth, Jr., known as Sonny Chillingworth, was an American guitarist. Widely influential in Hawaiian music, he played slack-key guitar and is widely regarded as one of the most influential slack key guitarists in history.-Life:Chillingworth was born in Oahu in Hawaii,...
. Other musical influences include Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Genoa Keawe
Genoa Keawe
‘Aunty’ Genoa Leilani Adolpho Keawe-Aiko was a Hawaiian musician. Aunty Genoa was born on the island of Oʻahu in the Kakaʻako district of Honolulu and grew up in Lā'ie. She is an icon in Hawaiian music and has been a mainstay on the Hawaiian music scene for more than 60 years...
, Gabby Pahinui
Gabby Pahinui
Charles Philip "Gabby" or "Pops" Pahinui was a slack-key guitarist.Gabby was born Charles Kapono Kahahawaii Jr. and later hānai-ed into the Pahinui family as Charles Philip Pahinui and raised in the Kaka'ako area of Honolulu in the 1920s...
, Lena Machado Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, Debussy, Ravel, Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
, Rachmaninov.
Her first recording in 1986, Owana and Kaipo, In Kona was nominated in the category of Most Promising Artist in the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, a Hawaiian music industry salute. The following year, her second recording, "Owana", was a final ballot nominee for Contemporary Hawaiian Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. Pupuke describes the ocean on the North Shore of O`ahu. Kula Morning takes you upcountry Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
, gazing from mountain to the sea. “Na Wai” is a playful poetic expression of love's experiences, full of Hawaiian kaona (hidden meanings). “Kalamaula” celebrates the early homesteading
Homesteading
Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.-Current practice:The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading...
movement of the Hawaiian people. “Silhouette Hula” is a hapa haole
Hapa
Hapa is a Hawaiian language term used to describe a person of mixed Asian or Pacific Islander racial or ethnic heritage.-Etymology:In the Hawaiian language, hapa is defined as: portion, fragment, part, fraction, installment; to be partial, less. It is a loan from the English word half...
piece, recalling the early jazz years of Hawaiian music. For most of the 1980s, Salazar sang Hawaiian classics with the Royal Hawaiian Band
Royal Hawaiian Band
The Royal Hawaiian Band is the oldest and only full-time municipal band in the United States. At present a body of the City & County of Honolulu, the Royal Hawaiian Band has been entertaining Honolulu residents and visitors since its inception in 1836 by Kamehameha III...
and performed at venues in Waikiki
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Jerry Byrd
Jerry Byrd
Gerald Lester "Jerry" Byrd was an American musician who played Lap steel guitar in country and Hawaiian music.-Career:...
accepted Salazar as his student for formal study of Hawaiian steel guitar. Eventually, she received a full scholarship from the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association. In 1992, she became Byrd's first female graduate and has been called Hawaii's preeminent female steel guitarist. Besides Hawaii, Salazar has also performed in Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. In January 2000, she became the first woman to tour with the Hawaiian Slack Key Festival along with George Kahumoku, Jr.
George Kahumoku, Jr.
George Kahumoku, Jr. is a Grammy award-winning musician specializing in slack-key guitar.Born in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, he was labeled a Hawaiian "renaissance man" by Maui Time Weekly...
, Keoki Kahumoku and Daniel Ho
Daniel Ho
Daniel Ho has won five Grammy awards, playing the guitar, 'ukulele and piano, and is a songwriter and producer specializing in Hawaiian music.-Early life:...
.
Discography (partial)
- "Owana" (1987) Nominated: Female Vocalist of the Year; Contemporary Hawaiian Album of the Year.
- "Wahine Slack n’ Steel" (2003) Winner: Contemporary Hawaiian Album of the Year. Nominated: Female Vocalist of the Year; Album of the Year.
- "Hula Jazz" (2005) Winner: Jazz Album of the Year; Nominated: Female Vocalist of the Year; Album of the Year; Song of the Year
- "Hawaiian Slack Key Masters: Volume III" Winner: Grammy Award (Hawaiian Music Category)
- "Hawaiian Slack Key Masters: Volume IV" Winner: Grammy Award (Hawaiian Music Category)
External links
- Owana Salazar: Singer, Slack Key and Steel Guitarist personal web site