Tag Archives: King Kamehameha

Kamehameha Day in the pink

Yesterday was the birthday of King Kamehameha I, the first king to unite all the Hawaiian islands under one leader. He was born in North Kohala, and every year the community celebrates his birthday with ceremonies at his statue in Kapaau and with a parade.

The parade features Pa’u riders representing all the main Hawaiian islands. Each island has an official color and flower. Maui’s flower is the Lokelani rose and its color is pink.

Hawaiian men and women started riding horses, soon after their introduction to the islands in the early 1800s. Sidesaddle riding was common for women in those days, but it was never introduced here. Women learned to ride the same way as men. They wore a Pa’u skirt, 12 yards of colored cloth wrapped in such a way as to preserve their modesty and dignity while riding astride their horse.

Lei about to be draped at King Kamehameha statue

Lei being draped at King Kamehameha statue

The ceremonies include draping leis over the arms of the statue. These leis are made as a mark of respect, by groups and organizations. It can be a tricky business getting the leis into place, especially when there’s a good breeze blowing as there was yesterday.

Posted for this week’s Sunday Stills color challenge theme of ‘Pink.’ See more responses here.

Flowers for King Kamehameha

The statue of King Kamehameha in Kapaau, Hawaii, is decorated with leis on his birthday

June 11 was King Kamehameha Day in Hawaii, celebrating the birthday of the king who first united the Hawaiian Islands under one rule. The day is marked by parades and ceremonies in several places, including here in North Kohala, which is where King Kamehameha was born. The past couple of years, the ceremonies didn’t take place because of Covid restrictions, so this year’s event was the first since then.

I was working on the day, but after work I stopped by to see his statue, which was draped in leis during the ceremonies. It seemed like there was even more floral decoration this year than in previous events, making for a colorful spectacle. But even more striking than the color was the wonderful aroma from the profusion of plumeria flowers in the leis.

The leis are left in place for two or three days before they’re removed. Even when I was there on the first day, some of the flowers were starting to wilt.

Living in the past

The King Kamehameha I statue in Honolulu

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Images Inspired by Favorite Song Lyrics.’ See more responses here.

My final post on this theme is a photo with some history. This is the statue of King Kamehameha I in Honolulu. It’s appropriate for the old Jethro Tull song, Living in the Past. It also works for a favorite of mine, History Repeating by Propellorheads, with guest vocals by Shirley Bassey of all people! And for a final song, how about William Shatner singing(?) Has Been. I have a few William Shatner songs which feature on bad song compilations, but Has Been is actually a pretty good album in my book and speaks well to Shatner’s good humor when it comes to music.

Rainbow yellow

The third of my rainbow colors in response to Becky’s April Squares challenge theme of ‘Bright.’ (See more responses here.)

Today’s rainbow was taken from Kohala Mountain Road and looks down towards the southern edge of Waimea.

In the middle, a bright yellow saffron finch perches on a bare branch of a plumeria. There were zero leaves on this tree and only a few budding flowers, such as the one next to the finch.

And finally, the yellow robe of the painted statue of King Kamehameha I in Kapaau.

Shell necklace

This shell necklace was draped over the sign at King Kamehameha’s birthplace on the North Kohala coast. It was probably left there as an offering, a not unusual occurrence at such sites.

Kamehameha Day

*The statue of King Kamehameha is draped with leis as part of the proceedings.*

*A rider in the parade as it passes through Hawi.*

This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Summer Traditions.’ See more responses here.

Some summer traditions, such as barbecues and going to the beach are year-round here, but Kamehameha Day is an event that kicks off summer, occurring as it does in mid-June. There’s a ceremony at the king’s statue in Kapaau, a parade through the community, and festivities at the local park. Many places mark the king’s birthday with similar events, but some take place on the Saturday nearest his birth date. In North Kohala, the king’s birthplace, the celebration is always on the actual date regardless of which day it falls on.

This year though, the celebration was one of a multitude of events cancelled because of the Covid-19 virus. These photos are from previous years’ events.

*Hula dancers dance in front of the statue during the opening ceremonies.*

Shadow makers

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Shadows.’ See more offerings here.

The top photo is a row of colorful playground swings at Kamehameha Park in Kapaau. Below are three cyclists in line, heading out of Hawi during an Ironman World Championship race.

Also posted as a second offering for this week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme of ‘All in a Row.’ (See more responses here.) My first post for this theme is here.

King Kamehameha statue

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Old.’ See more offerings here.

This is the original statue of Kamehameha 1, the king who first united the Hawaiian Islands. The statue was commissioned in 1878, but was lost off the Falkland Islands. A new statue was made, but in the meantime, the original one was salvaged. The new statue was put up in Honolulu and the original shipped to Kapaau.

Not long after I took this photo, the trees in the background were badly damaged during a windstorm and had to be cut down, so this scene looks quite different today.

Find more information about the statue here. For more information about King Kamehameha’s history, go to nps.gov/puhe/learn/historyculture/kamehameha.htm.

Graham's Island

Life on the Big Island of Hawaii