Ke Oli 'Ana Chanting

Polynesians were chanting to their gods long before they arrived in Hawai`i. Chanting evolved from the purely aural inspiration of the islands' natural environment into the written form of chant notation by which many chants are preserved today.
Polynesians were inspired by the natural sounds around them: the pounding of the ocean, the wind rustling the trees, the roll of thunder, the rhythm of rain. It was natural then to express personal emotions in terms of the environment -- they were, in a sense, tutored by nature.
Chanting is an extension of speaking that originated as a means of communicating with the gods. Hand movements are also a means of communication. Thus, the hula grew naturally into a formal extension of common human gestures, and was combined with the chant and rhythm to create the mele hula.