The 2009 Miss Aloha Hula, Cherissa Henoheanapuaikawao-kele Kane, was gifted with a Hawaiian name passed down through six generations. It has Moloka'i roots, and her mother also carries it.

The 25-year-old dancer took the name and her love of pure Hawaiian language to the stage at the Merrie Monarch Miss Aloha Hula competition Thursday night for the hula kahiko and hula 'auana exhibitions, and said she left satisfied that she had honored her name.

"We've been working very hard," she said right after the competition.

Educated in Hawaiian immersion schools, she honored her teachers as well as she accepted both the Hawaiian Language Award and the title of Miss Aloha Hula.

Kane's Hawaiian-language teacher at the University of Hawai'i, Tracie Farias, said, "Cherissa was a fantastic student. ... Watching her tonight was a gift." Farias was at the festival as a kumu hula, bringing a dancer and halau to compete for the first time this year.

Kane's kumu hula, Keali'i Reichel, who is widely known as a singer and performer, also brought a halau to Merrie Monarch for the first time.

"I can't even find the words to say how happy and proud I am," Reichel said, while emphasizing that his dancer accomplished a most important goal in presenting Hawaiian language in a vital light.

"Our desire is to deliver the language in a cultural fashion that is not so regimented," Reichel said.

The winning kahiko, adapted by Kalena Silva, is a chant of love, referencing place names, winds and streams while adding layers of kaona — hidden meaning — to the mele, or song.

Familiar to nearly everyone in the audience, the song for the winning 'auana was sung by Reichel. "Ka Nohona Pilikai" honors the home of his grandmother.