Women of Sound: Winona Beamer

Episode Summary

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Winona Beamer, born in 1923, was a pivotal figure in preserving and promoting Hawaiian culture through music and dance. Coming from a lineage of musicians and dancers, Beamer was immersed in her cultural heritage from a young age, performing publicly for the first time at just three years old. Her life and work were deeply influenced by the annexation of Hawaii by the United States, which led to the repression of Hawaiian culture and language. Despite these challenges, Beamer dedicated herself to teaching and sharing her people's history and traditions. At the age of 12, Beamer began teaching dance, and despite facing expulsion from Kamehameha High School for defying rules against dancing hula and speaking Hawaiian, she persevered. Her education continued on the mainland, where she became an advocate for authentic Hawaiian hula, even performing at Carnegie Hall. Beamer's commitment to her culture was further demonstrated when she coined the term "Hawaiiana" in 1949, encouraging the study and teaching of Hawaiian culture. Returning to Kamehameha High School as a teacher, she founded a Hawaiian studies program, repealed prohibitive rules, and worked tirelessly to promote traditional hula and Hawaiian music. Beamer's contributions extended beyond teaching; she composed numerous Hawaiian songs, including "Pupu Hinuhinu," and was instrumental in educational reforms following her criticism of proposed curriculum changes at Kamehameha. Her efforts were recognized with numerous awards, including being named Outstanding Hawaiian of the Year and her induction into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. Winona Beamer's legacy lives on through her music and the continued celebration of Hawaiian culture, ensuring that the history and traditions of her people are not forgotten.

Episode Show Notes

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Winona Beamer (1923-2008) was a teacher, singer, dancer and keeper of indigenous Hawaiian culture. She taught Hawaiian history and dance for over 40 years, and composed many classic Hawaiian children’s songs.

Episode Transcript

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SPEAKER_01: This month, we're talking about women of sound.These women dominated the airwaves, innovating, documenting, and creating the audio landscape we live in today.Today, we're talking about a woman who helped keep her ancestors' history alive by singing it.Let's talk about Winona Beamer.Winona Beamer was born in 1923.She came from a long line of musicians and dancers.Her mother was a hula dancer, her father was a songwriter, and her grandmother was a songwriter and a hula dancer. Winona learned from her family, and quickly.She danced in public for the first time when she was just three years old.Twenty-five years before Winona was born, the United States annexed Hawaii, putting Hawaiian land under American control. Winona grew up experiencing the consequences of that annexation.She witnessed people in power repressing her Hawaiian culture and privileging the West. In the midst of this repression, Winona was learning her people's history from her family and passing on those stories to younger children.When she was 12 years old, she taught her first dance class at her family's hula studio.The first student?The famous movie star Mary Pickford.The administrators at Winona's high school, Kamehameha High School, weren't as receptive to hula as Mary Pickford was.The school's rules prohibited students from dancing hula and speaking their native Hawaiian tongue. Winona was expelled twice for breaking those rules.In spite of her expulsions, Winona still graduated and traveled to the mainland for college. She studied at Colorado Women's College and then at Barnard.She became an outspoken advocate for authentic Hawaiian hula and even performed hula at Carnegie Hall.In 1949, while attending a workshop with other teachers, Winona wrote the word Hawaiiana on the board. She encouraged other teachers to study Hawaiian culture and teach it to their students.That same year, Winona returned to Kamehameha High School, this time as a teacher.She started a Hawaiian studies program, coordinated the school's song contest, and created song books and hula manuals.She also repealed the rules against dancing hula and speaking Hawaiian, the rules that had gotten her expelled years earlier. Winona worked at her former high school for 40 years and raised more than $80,000 in scholarship funds.And she found other ways to keep teaching Hawaii's youth.In the 1950s, she worked to repopularize traditional hula, and she taught hula in Waikiki for decades. Winona also composed many original Hawaiian songs, including Pupu Hinuhinu, which kids in Hawaii still regularly sing.Pupu Hinuhinu In 1997, when Kamehameha officials wanted to scale back the school's curriculum, Winona wrote a letter to the state Supreme Court criticizing the school's leadership and calling the proposed plan utterly diabolical.Her letter sparked huge educational reforms. In later years, Winona received many awards for her work in music.She was named Outstanding Hawaiian of the Year and inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.She also received the Magic Penny Award for her contributions to children's music.Winona died in 2008.Today, you can still find videos online of Winona singing.Her voice is soft, sweet, and rich, laden with the history of her people. All month, we're talking about women of sound.For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast.Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.Talk to you tomorrow. 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