Mary Kawena Pukai and Patience Namaka Bacon learned these mele hula pahu in the Kanahele tradition from Hattie MacFarland in the 1930s. Pukai, an influential scholar and teacher, faithfully perpetuated the "classical tradition" of Kanahele's hula pahu, the most widely practiced tradition today. According to Pukai, the chant was composed by Kaumealani, a chiefess of Kaua'i,in the late eighteenth century to chronicle the love of a chiefly suitor, whose initial difficulties are rewarded by his partner's constancy. The many place names in the chant refer to persons rather than the places themselves.