Ellen Ku‘uleialohapo‘inaole Pūka‘ikapuaokalani Smith Castillo

Ellen Ku‘uleialohapo‘inaole Puka‘ikapuaokalani Smith Castillo - Nānā I Nā Loea Hula Volume 2 Page 27

Ellen Castillo has been teaching the hula since 1958. She was also a kupuna for the Department of Education, Hawaiiana Program on the Windward side of O‘ahu.

Puka‘ikapuaokalani is the name of my tūtū on my father’s side. She received rigorous training in hula and danced only for a select audience. When I was three-years-old as we were preparing to return to Honolulu from one of our visits to Tūtū’s Kaupō home, she decided she wanted me to stay. Although my mother and father were saddened by this separation, the family respected the Hawaiian tradition of hānai. So Tūtū raised me in Maui speaking only Hawaiian, and shared with me her knowledge and love for our culture like lau hala weaving which were a part of our daily routine. My Tūtū Puka‘ikapuaokalani’s name lives on through my hālau.

I studied hula with Aunty Bella Richards when I was nine-years-old. She had about thirty students and we danced on her lawn on the side of her house. She emphasized hula ‘auana, and later taught Tahitian dancing. Aunty Bella learned traditional hula from her kumu Bella Kuamo‘o and from Mary Fujii, the mother of Aunty Edith Kanaka‘ole.

I stayed with Aunty Bella for fifteen years. I served as her alaka‘i and taught with her for a couple of years as a requirement for my certificate. Aunty Bella wouldn’t let her students teach without first overseeing them. I graduated and received my certificate from her in 1958. Between lessons from Aunty Bella, I received additional training in kahiko from Aunty Emma Kahelelani Bishop, and later from Aunty Kekau'ilani Kalama.

Aunty Bella was with me during the first few hula lessons I taught. My initial teaching experience was at her home where she made me teach a new class of thirty students. She also had private students and I would go to their homes to give lessons. After teaching for her, I branched out on my own in 1959 with her blessing.

I enjoy watching my students perform. As a kumu you work hard with your students to achieve what you envision. People wonder why you keep entering competition after competition. When I see my students and the finished product presented on stage, I feel very fortunate to be able to perpetuate my culture and preserve the beauty of hula.

I try to instill in my students, the same love and respect for our language and culture that I learned from my Tūtū.

‘O ka hula ka‘u makana na ku‘u Tūtū Pūka‘ikapuaokalani. (The hula is my gift to my Tūtū Puka‘ikapuaokalani.)


“I enjoy watching my students perform. As a kumu you work hard with your students to achieve what you envision.”