Posted by Tane on June 11, 2009 at 4:10am in Culture
King Kamehameha Day is the only ali'i (royalty) holiday established during the monarchy and observed continually since its establishment by royal proclamation in 1871. The day is celebrated to honor King Kamehameha who unified the Hawaiian Islands and who stands as an exponent of Hawaiian self-determination. The first observance of this holiday was held on June 11, 1872. Kamehameha V designated June 11 as a public holiday to honor the memory of his great-grandfather who was the first ruler of the United Hawaiian Islands.
Kamehameha, Ka'ahumanu, and Vancouver were fast friends; so much so, that whenever Kamehameha and his favored wife got into jealousy fights, it was Vancouver that mediated and brought them to a peaceful resolution. Kamehameha picked the brains of Vancouver on how the Western world inter-related with each other and the standards that was accepted by them. Vancouver shared his views on how to make Hawai'i a viable economic stopover for foreign ships and on later voyages brought vegetables and animals that the west was used to eating. This strengthened Hawai'is leverage for barter.
Vancouver was horrified at the type of warfare used by Hawaiians and thought it brutal and ferocious. He then gave Kamehameha knowledge of how it was done in the western world. Kamehameha then incorporated it in his strategy. Kamehameha felt he needed to be on par with the western world and adapted it within his realm of power. Commerce among other world nations spurred him to create a banner that would be familiar or recognized by other countries, thus the unfurled flag of the Hawaiian Kingdom was seen on its foreign voyages.
Kamehameha had the distinction of po'olua, being that he had two fathers, Keoua (Kalani Kupuapai Kalaninui) and Kahekili (his birth father). His mother was Kekuiapoiwa (2nd). He stood close to 8 feet tall had about 23 recognized wives. the most sacred of his wives was Keopuolani, mother of Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and III (Kauikeaouli). Ka'ahumanu, his favorite, was considered in her youth as the most beautiful woman in all the islands and later was instrumental in the breaking of the eating kapu which allowed her as Kuhina nui to engage in law making that was reserved to the council of chiefs held in a heaiau which women were forbidden to enter.
It was Kamehameha the great, not to be confused by his uncle, Kamehamehanui, that catapulted the Hawaiian Kingdom into the western world which evolved into a recognized nation-state, the first non-caucasian western country into the Family of Nations with treaties of commerce and comity. It is through him that we maintain the status as peers to other countries throughout the world. We continue to honor him on this special day.
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My Hilo Grandma passed away on this day in 2003. Of all days. The irony is not lost on me. There is significance in that just as the placement of the disrespectful statue was unveiled to try to imply that Hawaiians (nationals) are not separate and that we are American... but not all Hawaiians are Americans. Also it implies that he is dead and thus our nation is too. These messages are very clear to me despite the "celebration."
Not so ironic is that they unveiled his statue a few days before his birthday which can imply so much but Paiea was a great man who I am sure would not want to be placed in Washington DC for people to gawk at and/or to be in Washington DC which is not a place of righteousness. A message is that Washington DC has conquered us. That would be true IF we agreed and/or signed to transfer our title after being threatened, harassed, and/or intimidated but so far... no. They only display that statue as if to boast that they have been triumphant over us... in order to try to get us to "submit" and to try to get us to agree to be American and fortunately not all Hawaiians agree so they have not conquered us. We are still here. We are still Hawaiians (nationals) and I do not appreciate their mental warfare though I am not surprised.
I am not surprised that they would disrespect his legacy this way. This time using the unveiling of his likeness in Washington DC days before his birth. Happy BIRTHday -- which differs from their happy birthday where they slap his face a few days before his birthday and do so publicly. To me that statue makes a mockery of what he stood for... but today is a very special day. Without his birth we would not have the Hawaiian Kingdom. Without his birth... many of us would not be alive. Happy birthday to him. For everything that we have been through today is a great day. May his legacy live on despite some attempts to try to resort to mental warfare directed to Hawaiians. Happy birthday to the king who is a reason for the Hawaiian KINGdom.
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My Hilo Grandma passed away on this day in 2003. Of all days. The irony is not lost on me. There is significance in that just as the placement of the disrespectful statue was unveiled to try to imply that Hawaiians (nationals) are not separate and that we are American... but not all Hawaiians are Americans. Also it implies that he is dead and thus our nation is too. These messages are very clear to me despite the "celebration."
Not so ironic is that they unveiled his statue a few days before his birthday which can imply so much but Paiea was a great man who I am sure would not want to be placed in Washington DC for people to gawk at and/or to be in Washington DC which is not a place of righteousness. A message is that Washington DC has conquered us. That would be true IF we agreed and/or signed to transfer our title after being threatened, harassed, and/or intimidated but so far... no. They only display that statue as if to boast that they have been triumphant over us... in order to try to get us to "submit" and to try to get us to agree to be American and fortunately not all Hawaiians agree so they have not conquered us. We are still here. We are still Hawaiians (nationals) and I do not appreciate their mental warfare though I am not surprised.
I am not surprised that they would disrespect his legacy this way. This time using the unveiling of his likeness in Washington DC days before his birth. Happy BIRTHday -- which differs from their happy birthday where they slap his face a few days before his birthday and do so publicly. To me that statue makes a mockery of what he stood for... but today is a very special day. Without his birth we would not have the Hawaiian Kingdom. Without his birth... many of us would not be alive. Happy birthday to him. For everything that we have been through today is a great day. May his legacy live on despite some attempts to try to resort to mental warfare directed to Hawaiians. Happy birthday to the king who is a reason for the Hawaiian KINGdom.
~ Lana