Today we said aloha to our esteemed Kalihi Palama Hawaiian Civic Club member Earl Pāmai Tenn, at Kawaiaha‘o Church. Kumu Pāmai was also a member of Hale ‘O Nā Ali‘i, who honored Pāmai with their Funeral Rituals.
This is a slide show by Sister Mālia Wong:
Here are photos from today by Blaine Fergerstrom.
Kumu Pāmai Tenn
The Celebration of Life for Uncle Pāmai Tenn is being held on November 7, 10:00 a.m. to noon, at Kawaiaha‘o Church.
Uncle has served at one time as Treasurer for the King Kamehameha HCC; as Kahu and director for the Kalihi Palama HCC; as member of the Ko‘olaupoko HCC; and member of the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu.
Hawaiian Affairs Caucus ‘Onipa‘a Awards presented to
John Waihe‘e III and Roth Puahala, September 25, 2026.
Video by Lorna Strand.
More than 300 family members, friends, community leaders and members of Hawaiʻi’s Royal Hawaiian Benevolent Societies gathered on Saturday, September 12, for the annual ʻAha Hīpuʻu Kalani Aliʻi Awards, an afternoon devoted to honoring seven Native Hawaiians whose lives exemplify service, cultural leadership and aloha for the lāhui. Members of the Kalihi Palama HCC attended the event to honor our member, Malia Ka‘aihue, as well as the other honorees. We thank KPHCC Director, Angelique Naholowa‘a, for hosting us.
Held at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Honolulu, the luncheon banquet was at once elegant and deeply personal. Beautiful white orchids adorned the room, while photographs of the honorees placed throughout the banquet hall celebrated the people and life stories behind the awards. Numerous certificates and messages of congratulations from the Governor, the Hawaiʻi State Legislature, the Mayor, the Honolulu City Council and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs added to the significance of the occasion.
Lei, Leimomi, Malia, Duane.
Among the honorees were Malia Ka’aihue, member of the Kalihi Palama HCC, and her husband Duane DeSoto. They were being honored together as two leaders whose lives demonstrate that leadership is measured not simply by personal accomplishment, but by how one uses one’s gifts to create opportunities for others.
Malia, a Native Hawaiian entrepreneur, author, educator and cultural practitioner, has built an extraordinary network of Native Hawaiian-owned and operated businesses in fields helping to shape decisions about Hawaiʻi’s land, culture and stories. Beginning with DTL Hawaiʻi, she went on to help establish eight companies spanning strategy, archaeology, planning, film, digital media and other industries. Each is led by Native Hawaiian leadership that she has helped develop and mentor. She is also vice chair of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. Her vision is not merely to succeed within existing institutions, but to build lāhui capacity so Native Hawaiians increasingly occupy the places where decisions affecting their people, ʻāina and future are made. Malia has been a steadfast, strong supporter of the Kalihi Palama HCC, often hosting lunches and other expenses for our members to the annual AHCC convention.
Duane, a proud son of Mākaha, renowned waterman, 2010 World Longboard Champion, Duke Kahanamoku Waterman Hall of Fame inductee and Polynesian Voyaging Society voyager, has similarly transformed personal achievement into service. Through Nā Kama Kai, which he founded, more than 80,000 keiki have experienced ocean safety, environmental stewardship, Hawaiian cultural knowledge and a deeper relationship with the kai. What began as free ocean clinics has grown to include Hālau Nā Kama Kai, the voyaging canoe Kūmau, school-based swimming instruction and teacher training designed to ensure that this knowledge continues into future generations.
Other honorees included:
Momi Lum, Kahuna Nui of Moʻokini Luakini Heiau, was honored for carrying the profound responsibility of caring for one of Hawaiʻi’s most ancient and sacred places. Her stewardship has helped preserve traditional protocol, protect a revered wahi pana and ensure that spiritual practices grounded in ʻike kūpuna continue for future generations.
Edna Nani Oliveira Cathcart, also a longtime member of ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu, was honored for a lifetime devoted to education and the perpetuation of Hawaiian culture. As a kumu, cultural practitioner and community leader, she has shared Hawaiian knowledge, values and traditions with generations of students and communities in Hawaiʻi and beyond.
Loyola Kuʻuleinani McKeague, a devoted member of ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu, was recognized for decades of service to Hawaiian organizations and community. Her leadership, professional expertise and willingness to help wherever needed have provided guidance and stability to organizations and individuals alike, reflecting the values of aloha, mālama and kuleana.
ʻIhilani Chu was recognized for her sacred kuleana of mālama nā iwi kūpuna and her lifelong commitment to Native Hawaiian spirituality and cultural practice. Through decades of service with Hui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna O Hawaiʻi Nei, and as a co-founder of The Hawaiian Church of Hawaiʻi Nei, she has worked to restore dignity to ancestors while strengthening spiritual and cultural connections among the living.
Dr. Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa, renowned scholar, educator and cultural practitioner, was honored for a lifetime devoted to advancing ʻike Hawaiʻi. Through her leadership and teaching at the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, she has helped generations of students understand Hawaiian history, genealogy, moʻolelo and identity through a Native Hawaiian lens. Her scholarship and advocacy have helped ensure that Hawaiian voices and ʻike kūpuna remain central to the telling of Hawaiʻi’s history.
As the luncheon banquet came to a close, the Kalani Aliʻi Awards served as more than a celebration of seven extraordinary individuals. They offered a reminder that the strength of the lāhui has always rested upon people willing to accept kuleana, often quietly and without expectation of reward.
The 2026 honorees have done just that.
Through their lives, they remind us that culture endures because someone teaches it, someone protects it, someone practices it, someone shares it — and someone accepts the responsibility to carry it forward.
That is the legacy of ʻŌpū Aliʻi. That is the spirit of the Kalani Aliʻi Awards.
More photos from the event can be seen at www.kalanialii.org.
Aloha Kalihi Palama Hawaiian Civic Club Members,
It is with profound sadness and aloha that we share the passing of our beloved Mamo Hanohano, Kumu Hula Earl “Pāmai” Tenn, who passed away today. Dear friend to all of us, uncle Pamai now sleeps peacefully in heaven.
We have so many wonderful memories of him.
Pāmai was a cherished kūpuna, kumu hula, cultural practitioner, civic leader, mentor and friend whose life was devoted to the perpetuation of Hawaiian culture and to service to our lāhui. He was widely respected for his knowledge of hula, Hawaiian music, protocol, history and cultural traditions, and was recognized by the Hula Preservation Society as a Hula Master.
Among the respected kūpuna and teachers who guided and influenced him were Henry Moikehaokahiki Pa, Maddy Kaululehuaohaili Lam, Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona, Pat Namaka Bacon, Nathan Napoka, and Nadine Alexander Kahanamoku. As a kumu hula, Pāmai taught and led the hālau at Windward Community College for 17 years, sharing with his haumāna not simply the movements of hula, but its language, kaona, history, values and meaning.
Last Friday, Pamai with his two pearls (Leimomi and Leimomi) at Waiola Shave Ice, after a Golden Crab lunch at Lobster King.
His commitment to hula reached far beyond Hawaiʻi. Beginning in 1990, Pāmai became closely associated with Ka Leo O Nā Hula, A.C. in Mexico, serving as a co-founder and longtime cultural adviser and becoming an important bridge between the hula community in Mexico and Hawaiʻi. Through decades of teaching, workshops and cultural exchange, he helped generations of students understand that hula is inseparable from Hawaiian culture, language and aloha.
Pāmai also carried forward the legacy of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku and Nadine Alexander Kahanamoku. He served in support of the Nadine Alexander Kahanamoku Scholarship Program at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, helping perpetuate Nadine’s commitment to educational opportunities for Native Hawaiian students pursuing careers in medicine and health. Year after year, Pāmai also helped lead the annual lei draping of the Duke Kahanamoku statue in Waikīkī, ensuring that Duke’s birthday and legacy were remembered with aloha and proper cultural observance.
Pāmai was deeply committed to the Hawaiian Civic Club movement and belonged to three Hawaiian Civic Clubs: the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, Kalihi Pālama Hawaiian Civic Club, and Koʻolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club. Within Kalihi Pālama, he was a treasured member of our ʻohana, serving in leadership, including as an Alakaʻi/Director and Kahu, and generously sharing his cultural knowledge and guidance. In 2019, Ke One O Kakuhihewa honored him with its Kukui Lama Kū recognition for his extraordinary cultural and community service.
In 2025, Pāmai was further honored by the ʻAha Hīpuʻu as a Kalani Aliʻi Award nominee, recognizing a lifetime of cultural leadership, community service and dedication to the perpetuation of Hawaiian traditions and values.
To his ʻohana within Hale O Nā Aliʻi O Hawaiʻi, we mourn the loss of our Mamo Hanohano, whose presence, ʻike and aloha enriched our organization and our lives.
For those privileged to know Pāmai personally, this loss is especially profound. He was far more than a respected kumu and community leader. He was a beloved friend and member of our ʻohana—a person with whom we danced hula, organized programs, shared stories and laughter, and created memories over many years.
Pāmai lived his life with a simple saying:
“Moment to moment.”
Those words now seem especially meaningful. They remind us to treasure the people we love and the moments we are given together.
Pāmai leaves a remarkable legacy—in the hula he taught, the ʻike he shared, the organizations he served, the cultural bridges he built, and most importantly, in the many lives he touched. His teachings and aloha will continue through his haumāna, friends, family and the generations who follow.
We extend our deepest aloha and condolences to Pāmai’s ʻohana, his haumāna, his fellow cultural practitioners, his Hawaiian Civic Clubs and aliʻi ʻohana, and the many friends throughout Hawaiʻi and beyond whose lives were blessed by knowing him.
Information regarding services and opportunities to pay our respects will be shared as soon as it becomes available.
E moe mālie, e Mamo Hanohano Pāmai.
Mahalo for the ʻike, friendship, laughter and aloha you so generously shared.
“Moment to moment, we will remember you.”
A hui hou.
Me ke aloha pumehana,
Leimomi
