HONOLULU -- 'Uncle' George Naope died Monday morning on the Big Island from a lengthy illness, a family friend confirmed.

Naope was one of the founders of the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo in 1963 along with Dottie Thompson and Agnes "Aunty Agney" Kalanihookaha Cope.

Naope was a kumu hula, chanter and performer. He recorded several albums. He began teaching hula by the time he was 13. Over his lifetime, the kumu hula taught the kahiko hula, or ancient hula, in Europe, Japan, Australia the mainland and South America.

Cope said Naope was like a brother.

"He was so a wonderful man. I am sorry we lost him," Cope said.

Those who knew Naope said he touched so many lives. He is credited with being one of the leaders of the resurgence of the Hawaiian culture back in the 1970s.

Kumu Hula Marlene Hokulani DeRego remembers his impact when she met him at a hula seminar three decades ago.

"Making sure that you were proud of who you are. That the heart beat of the Hawaiian people live on, and through all his wonderful hard work, it still does today," DeRego said.

Cope said Naope died a happy man.

"He was very happy from the beginning to the end, from the beginning to the end, and he knows that everybody loved him," Cope said.

He was born on Feb 25, 1928. Naope was 81.

In 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts honored the hula legend with the National Heritage Fellowship.