Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 2, 1 February 2007 — Damon donation [ARTICLE]

Damon donation

Bishop Museum has received a valuable collection of Hawaiian traditional utilitarian items including ihe (spears), hlna'i (baskets), pahu hula (dance See BRIEFS ūū page Ū9

BRIEFS CūntinuEd fram page Ū7

drums), 'umeke (calabashes) and more from the estate of Samuel Mills Damon. In all, 600 Hawaiian and Pacific items were gifted as a means to ensure their permanent protection and preservation. Damon was a close associate and business partner of Charles Reed Bishop, who built the museum as a memorial to his royal wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi. In other Damon family news: in late December, John Phillip "JP" Damon, a great-grandson of Samuel Damon, took title to Moanalua Gardens, with a

price tag of $5 million. The gardens, home to the annual Prince Lot Hula Festival and other Moanalua Gardens Foundation programs, was part of a large land gift bequeathed to S.M. Damon upon Pauahi's death in 1884 that included Kamana Nui and Kamana Iki, collectively knows as Moanalua Valley. The park parcel purchased by the Damon heir comprises 22 acres, and was onee home to Prince Lot Kapuāiwa, who later became King Kamehameha V. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs had been among the parties that had been interested in purchasing the property for eultural and historic preservation purposes. S