A gifted singer and guitarist who disappeared mysteriously at the age of 27, George Helm might have faded into music-legend cliche were it not for the larger legacy he left as a passionate Hawaiian activist and a iconic figure in the modern Hawaiian rights movement.
Helm was born in 1950 on Hawaiian homestead land in Kalama'ula, Moloka'i. He learned 'ukulele as a toddler before discovering his talent on guitar. His unique vocal talents would lie latent until he attended Saint Louis School on O'ahu and fell under the tutelage of Kahauanu Lake.
Helm was a skilled athlete in basketball, baseball and others sports. But it was his love for traditional Hawaiian music that would guide his brief career as a musician and shine light on his emerging social consciousness.
According to close friend and legal counsel Mel Masuda, Helm's international travels as a musician validated the Hawaiian values on which he was raised and honed his desire to protect Hawaiian lands — Helm was credited with coining the term "aloha 'aina" — and to perpetuate Hawaiian culture.
On Jan. 4, 1976, Helm joined Emmett Aluli, Kimo Aluli, Ian Lind, Ellen Miles, Stephen Morse, Gail Kawaipuna Prejean, Walter Ritte and Karla Villalba in a daring landing on Kaho'olawe, which was then being used as a U.S. military training site.
The historic landing by the so-called "Kaho'olawe Nine" helped initiate a 14-year legal battle that ended with President George H.W. Bush turning over control of the island to the state. In a larger sense, it helped to spark a resurgence of Hawaiian activism that continues today.
According to Masuda, Helm believed that peaceful civil disobedience, including a civilian occupation of the island, was needed to persuade the military to return the island to the people of Hawai'i.
In 1977, Helm and his cousin Kimo Mitchell set out for Kahao'olawe on their surfboards, never to be seen again.
Correction: George Helm attended Saint Louis School, where he learned music from Kahauanu Lake. A previous version of this story incorrectly named a different school.
