Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 3, Number 7, 1 Iulai 1986 — Kamehameha the Great is Remembered [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kamehameha the Great is Remembered

"Kamehameha the Great (1758-1819) was a great, wise and just leader. For as ruthless as he was in war, he was generous and forgiving in peaee. He bravely steered Hawaii out of the stone age and isolated oeean existence through the shock of entering a worldwide society, without abandoning faith in the ways of his ancestors." This was the tribute paid to King Kamehameha on his day June 11 at his statue fronting Aliiolani Hale on S. King St. Although June 11 has been traditionally observed as his birthday, Kamehameha was born on a stormy November night at Kokoiki in North Kohala, the same time a strange star with a tail of white fire appeared in the western sky. Kawao Durante of the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors (Mamakakaua) whieh sponsored the simple and brief ceremonies June 11 at the statue, said no one is certain when Kamehameha was born but many believe it was 1758 because it was the same time Halley's Comet was visible in Hawaii. "Thus began the saga of Hawaii's greatest ruler — Kamehameha and his rise from an unknown child to the founder of a Pacific kingdom and Hawaiian dynasty," Mrs. Durante reminded a small gathering under a bright morning sky. Mrs. Durante, a district resource teacher in Hawaiian Studies for Windward Oahu, detailed many incidents in

Kamehameha's life whieh culminated in his uniting the islands into one kingdom, fulfilling the prophecy of the Naha stone whieh said that whoever moved this heavy stone would one day rule the islands. , Kamehaineha lived into his 60s and ruled the then Sandwich Islands for over a quarter of a century, personally attending to the needs of his subjects, Mrs. Durante noted. His parting words to his people, Mrs. Durante explained, were: "E oni wale no 'oukou i ku'u pono 'a'ole e pau." (Endless is the good that I have given you to enjoy. "He was a man of his time and occupies a special plaee in our history for he alone united the islands into the kingdom of Hawaii," she concluded. The oli was offered by Kaupena Wong and the Rev. David Kaupu, ehaplain at The Kamehameha Schools, gave the invocation and benediction. In addition to the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors, other participating Hawaiian organizations were Ahahui Kaahumanu, Royal Order of Kamehameha and Hale O Na Alii Society. Fresh 12-foot long leis again draped the King's statue. Despite heavy rains, they were put there the night before by several Hawaiian organizations, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Members of the 'Ahahui Kaahumanu, pictured in their hlaek uniforms at right, and members of other Hawaiian organizations are pictured at brief June 11 ceremonies held in front of the statue on Kamehameha Day. The program was sponsored by the Sons and Daughters of Hawaiian Warriors. Among strands of leis draped the night before on June 10 was a plumeria one measuring 13 % feet strung by OHA staff members.