In 1897, the dethroned Queen Liliu'okalani translated the Kumulipo, an ancient Hawaiian creation chant, from a Hawaiian text published by her brother King Kalakaua in 1889. The preface to her slim volume, written by Kimo Campbell, considers ulterior motives the two monarchs might have had for their interest in the Kumulipo. King Kalakaua was elected to his office and may have wanted to provide a more substantial and dignified presence by using this genealogy chant to establish himself as a descendant of the ancient chiefs of Hawai'i. Liliu'okalani, the author postulates, published the manuscript both for her personal satisfaction and to refute a popular pro-annexation argument that Hawaiians were ignorant savages who had no culture prior to the arrival of Captain Cook. The Kumulipo, a genealogy chant, is only one of many kinds of lyrical chants composed by the ancients.
Chants fall into two broad categories, mele oli and mele hula.
In early Hawai'i, there was no melodic singing such as Westerners were accustomed to. Special bards, or haku mele, spent years learning to compose, recite and teach others to perform the ancient chants. Chanters began training as children. One popular training competition involved two youngsters lying chest down facing the sun beside a placid pool of water. Breath control came from the chest, and training sessions could go on for hours with a student imitating the sound of breaking waves or the roar of a waterfall.