This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Historical.’ See more responses here.
Here are a few more photos from this year’s celebrations commemorating the birthday of King Kamehameha I, the king who united the Hawaiian islands. The ceremony began with a welcome blown on conch shells.
The procession was led by the four Royal Societies in Hawaii. They are descendants of Hawaiian Ali’i including King Kamehameha I himself. Ali’i were the ruling class who were seen as the link between the people and the gods.
Hula dances were performed honoring the king. Hula was created by early Hawaiian settlers. It is often accompanied by chants and the movements are a visual representation of those chants. The subject matter can be anything from light entertainment to a sacred honoring of a god or goddess. Western missionaries disapproved of hula and encouraged Hawaiian rulers to ban it, but while there were some restrictions it was never driven completely underground as happened with some other traditional Hawaiian activities.
See more photos from the Kamehameha Day celebrations here.
Graham's Island 
Great post and photos.
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Thanks, Kirstin. I like how he is still an integral part of the community.
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Love the photos of the Hula dancers, Graham. Good to keep the traditions going.
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I agree. I quite like seeing the hula at these ceremonies. As you can see in the photos, it’s open to all!
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Great history information, Graham.
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Glad you liked it Karen.
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Looks like party time was a good time Graham. Banning the hula is a bit extreme but glad it wasn’t taken away altogether. I suppose the hangi had to underground 😂
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A lot of things were squashed by the missionaries on the grounds of them being heathen and/or a waste of time. Many of those activities have been revived and are thriving today.
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Those God-botherers certainly did a lot of cultural damage. Our government of the day banned the indigenous people from speaking in their own language. Sadly some of those dialects have gone forever
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I think those kinds of things happened the world over. Makes one wonder if all those missionaries are currently in heaven or the hot place!
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Hopefully in between wondering what the hell is going on
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This looks like an amazing annual ceremony to honor King Kamehameha, Graham! I love these celebrations. Hawaii has always had that dream-like appeal to me–so different and something so romantic about the Islands and culture. After reading Michener’s Hawaii as a teen, I was enamored with all things Hawaii. By the time we went in 2006, the Islands lived up to everything I dreamed about. Great shots of the parade and festivities.
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I don’t go every year, but it’s fun to go to smaller community festivals like this one. That heritage is very important to this community, and it shows.
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