Pay tribute
to the King at his original statue in Kapa‘au.
 Since
1912, a statue of King Kamehameha I has honored and
protected North Kohala from his position above Akoni
Pule Highway in Kapa‘au.
On June 11, 2008, individuals and
organizations will pay homage to the King by creating
22-foot floral or ti lei, which are draped over the
statue in ceremonies starting at 8 a.m.
Participating in the
proceedings are the Royal Order of Kamehameha and
members of the Ka‘ahumanu Society, an ali‘i and
service organization founded in memory of the third
and favorite wife of Kamehameha I. Historian Fred Cachola
serves as master of ceremonies.
Long journey
to North Kohala
The statue of King Kamehameha I has a prominent place
in North Kohala’s distant and recent history.
The statue was commissioned by the Hawaiian legislature
in 1878, and a heroic 9-foot bronze statue was created
in Paris. Destined for the Judiciary Building in Honolulu,
the statue was shipped from Paris but lost near the
Falkland Islands after the ship burned and sank. A replacement
statue was eventually unveiled in Honolulu. Later, the
original was salvaged from the ocean and repaired. In
1912, the statue was installed by the courthouse, now
a senior center, in Kapa‘au, near the King’s
birthplace.
 Legacy
restored
Corroded from its time in the
sea, early in the century community residents began
painting the bronze statue to protect it from further
deterioration and to make its colors lifelike – brown
skin, yellow feather cloak, and red sash. In 2001, the
rapidly deteriorating statue was restored after a years-long
process that involved the Hawai‘i Alliance for
Arts Education (www.arts-hawaii.org),
conservator Glenn Wharton, Kohala Cultural Practitioners
and hundreds of local residents. At issue: Should the
statue be returned to the bronze and gold finish intended
by the artist, or should it continue to be painted?
Ultimately, the community voted to maintain the local
tradition of painting the statue. The restored statue
was rededicated in 2001 and is maintained by a trained
group of local volunteers. A documentary about this
unique community effort, A
Legacy Renewed,
was shown on public television and is available in DVD
format from the Kamehameha Statue Maintenance Program. |
