May 26, 2026

Just before stepping forward at ʻIolani Palace last October, Snowbird Bento KSK’93 caught sight of Ke Aliʻi Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s portrait and fought back tears.

“Snowbird, don’t you cry,” she remembered thinking at ‘Aha Koa. “It’s important for you to say the words. And you need to hold yourself steadfast.”

Surrounded by hundreds gathered in kapu aloha to support Kamehameha Schools amid a federal challenge to its admissions policy, Bento opened the gathering with Pauahi’s birth chant. But as she recited the words, she found herself reflecting on her own journey as a beneficiary of Pauahi’s legacy.

That moment inspired Bento to compose a new mele for her award-winning hālau to perform at this year’s Merrie Monarch. Her ‘auana tribute was one of two performances honoring Ke Aliʻi Pauahi at the world-renowned festival, alongside Kumu Hula Nāpua Silva’s KSK’92 hula kahiko to “Pauahi ‘O Kalani.”

“How can I thank Pauahi for the opportunity?” Bento said. “I wanted to pay that forward in a love song to her.”

Leading up to the composition, Bento had been revisiting songs and chants dedicated to Pauahi, reconnecting not only with the school’s traditions but with her own family history. Her great-grandfather was a 1917 graduate, and decades later, Bento became the next person in her immediate family to attend the school, raised by a single mother in Pauoa and supported through scholarship aid.

“People get to change the trajectory of their own family because of her,” Bento said.

That realization shaped the mele, built around the phrase “Ola Pauahi, Ola Hawaiʻi,” now echoed across the broader community movement supporting KS. The composition calls on those shaped by Pauahi’s vision to continue growing, thriving and answering the call to protect her legacy, even in moments of challenge. Rather than center the mele on struggle, Bento said she intentionally grounded it in goodness, growth and aloha.

“If you’ve been touched by her generosity in some way, shape or form, you are a pua,” Bento said. “And so, as her beneficiaries, we need to be looking out for our lāhui. How do we stand up for each other?”

That collective spirit shaped the Merrie Monarch performance itself. Bento consulted her fellow language masters for the song and invited her hula haumāna to help choreograph sections of their number, while lei, costume details and staging were designed to reflect that resilience.

“We had ʻaʻaliʻi and koa in our lei and in our hair pieces,” Bento said. “When the Kona wind blows and blusters, we are deeply rooted like the koa. Bend in the wind if you must but you will survive.”

The response after Merrie Monarch affirmed the intentionality. Audience members, fellow kumu hula and KS alumni reached out to share how deeply the mele resonated. One teacher even asked to share the mele with his own haumāna. For Bento, that passing forward is vital to the princess’ legacy. 

“We have the following generations who are depending on us to do the same thing that Pauahi did in her lifetime: fight for us.” Bento said. “We have the example in her.”

To learn more about Ke Aliʻi Pauahi’s kauoha: https://www.ksbe.edu/ola-pauahi