She was born September 21, 1846. Known as the "Hawaiian Nightingale", she helped modernize Hawaiian music. Liliuokalani sent Walanika to different parts of the islands to perform modern versions of old
meles and
chants, thus creating the general style of the day. Walanika moved to Southern California in later life and died there on September 6, 1931, at the age of 81. Her death was noted in Hawaii with the front page of the
Hawaiian language newspaper
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa dedicated to her life and legacy. Her ashes were buried in the Manoa Hawaiian Church yard. Walanika's son
July Paka is credited with introducing the
Hawaiian steel guitar to the United States. Historian
George Kanahele described how Machado sang with the "Hawaiian style reminiscent of
Nani Alapai, Juliana Walanika, and
Helen Desha Beamer."
Lorrin A. Thurston, a man pivotal in the
Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, noted that Walanika "was the first of the modern Hawaiian singers" who made the song "Poli-anu-anu" or "Cold Bosom" well known. == References ==