Amidst memorabilia in BYU–Hawaii archives is a picture of a South Pacific Islander (Samoan male) performing a hoop dance. The anomaly here is the performance of hoop dancing in BYU–Hawaii’s backyard in the early '70s—a dance which originated with the Navajo Native American tribe.
Bridging two worlds was this celebrated dance that was endemic to one culture and subsequently adopted by the other. (pictured top: archived photo of Ahuna doing the modified version of the hoop dance)
This story begins in Utah with a young Arrow of Light recipient named B.J. Rowley. Rowley, who graduated from BYU–Hawaii in 1975, learned that his Chapter of the Arrow of Light program [Arrow of Light is the highest level of recognition available to Cub Scouts, see http://usscouts.org/advance/cubscout/arrowoflight.asp] contained a well-known dance troupe. He became involved with the troupe and learned the hoop dance.
Rowley explained, "The hoop dance originated with the Navajo Indians, but they only used 10 or 12 hoops. [The hoops were] made of willows or other branches. Our leader, Alma Banks, discovered that if we made them with the heavy, 3/8” Vietnamese reeds, they were much more flexible and durable. So we expanded to 22. Actually, at one time, we were doing as many as 26 or 28, but it was too many. By the time I joined the team, they had really settled on 22, and the ‘22-hoop dance’ became very well known."
The hoop dance soon arrived on local soil thanks to in part to Rowley, Randall Boothe—a 1975 BYU–Hawaii graduate who is currently an Associate Professor in the BYU School of Music and Artistic Director for the world-renowned Young Ambassadors, and Joseph Ahuna, Jr., a BYU graduate who began his undergraduate career at BYU–Hawaii. (pictured left: archived photo of the original Showcase CCH group)
According to Ahuna, it was 1971 and Boothe was asked to direct Showcase CCH [Church College of Hawaii]. Ahuna noted, "He [Boothe] brought a hoop dancer, BJ Rowley, with him to be part of the show.... When I was in Showcase, I learned and did the Samoan fireknife dance. BJ wanted to learn the fireknife dance so we exchanged talents." Ahuna taught him the fireknife dance and in turn Rowley taught him the hoop dance.
Rowley has since moved beyond hoop dancing and is now a notable author and lives in Utah with his family.
And as for Ahuna, he has a thriving legal practice in Kaneohe, Hawaii and still does the hoop dance with his family. Ahuna's children (pictured right: Ahuna's son doing the hoop dance; photo courtesy of Joseph Ahuna III) are second generation performers and his daughter Angela and son-in-law Tane Nikora, both BYU–Hawaii alumni, are part of a family troupe that keeps the dance tradition alive.
For Ahuna, the hoop dance has allowed him and his family to travel the globe, touching exotic locations and nestled corners of the earth that most people will never get to see.
And what began as a learning gesture between two cultures has since touched the lives of many.