On the song “Wahine ‘Ilikea,” by Dennis Kamakahi Reflections: By George Kahumoku Jr.
Dennis Kamakahi was one of the greatest Hawaiian songwriters of his time.
I traveled all over the US and played music with him from 1992 to 2013 with Dancing Cat Records and played music with him at my Maui Slack Key Show—Masters of Hawaiian Music. Coming from Molokai, his songs reflected his love for the ocean (kai) and the land (ʻāina) where he grew up.
One of his most famous songs is “Wahine ‘Ilikea,” which is about one of his profound experiences on Molokai. Here is my recollection of the stories I heard Dennis tell on stage about when he wrote his song “Wahine ‘Ilikea” (The Fair-Skinned Woman).
The mid-70s were the beginning of the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance. Leading the way was singer, songwriter, and ukulele virtuoso Eddie Kamae, who was the leader of the Hawaiian musical group "The Sons of Hawaii." Young slack-key guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Dennis Kamakahi took the place of the legendary Gabby Pahinui when Gabby left "The Sons of Hawaii" and started his own band. Eddie was mentored by Tūtū Mary Kawena Pukui, who advised and taught Eddie to go and research all the Hawaiian songs and their stories before they were all lost. Eddie did this, and he started filming the songs and people and sharing his research.
On one such research journey to Molokai, Eddie brought young Dennis along. The trip took them on the one- and two-lane roads from Kaunakakai all the way to the east end of Molokai to Halawa Valley. On their return trip back to Kaunakakai from Halawa Valley, Dennis and Eddie came across a traffic jam on that small, narrow country road right below the Kamalō hillside. It seems that tourists and locals alike were fascinated and overcome by the beauty of several waterfalls: Hina, Ohiʻa, and Moʻoloa.
Dennis asked a nearby kupuna (elder) who lived close by how often this happened. The kupuna answered that he had only seen this scene a few times in his lifetime! He explained that usually the hill and mountainside of Kamalō were obscured by cloud cover and that the cloud cover had lifted, revealing the spectacular waterfalls.
Amazed and armed with this knowledge, Dennis started hearing a tune play in his head. He wrote about the cloud cover as being symbolic of a woman revealing her beauty to her lover. He wrote “Wahine ‘Ilikea” as a metaphor for the sight he saw and the feelings of awe he felt—feelings that came from and connected him to the ʻāina (land) and kai (ocean) of that particular district on Molokai called Kamalō. In his song, he describes the kalaunu (crown flower) found on the dry lowlands of Kamalō close to the ocean.
