Page 8 - 150th King Kamehameha Day Celebration - Hilo

8 150TH KING KAMEHAMEHA DAY
The statues’ colorful history
From page 6
society celebrates the life of Queen Kaʻahumanu and preservation of Hawaiian cul- ture. Dedicated volunteers gather flowers and sew up to 90 – 30-foot lei to be draped on the Statue. They perform hula and other cultural obser- vances to honor Kamehame- ha, royal husband of the late queen.
The original statue that went overboard during its transport was later found and was installed in North Kohala on Hawai‘i Island near King Kamehameha’s birthplace. The third statue of him resides in Hilo, and the fourth, replica
of the first two is housed with- in the U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Center’s Emancipation Hall in Washington D.C.
According to King Kame- hameha Celebration Com- mission Island of Hawai‘i Commissioner Desiree Cruz, the Hilo statue holds spe- cial meaning primarily to the Kamehameha Schools Alumni Association (KSAA) Māmalahoa chapter as that group’s members were re- sponsible for fundraising to bring that statue to Hilo from Kaua‘i in the 1990s after it had languished in storage at a hotel property that was dam- aged during hurricane Iniki.
Cruz notes that since the statue was relocated to Hilo, the Kamehame- ha Schools Alumni As- sociation hui has main- tained kuleana to care for and maintain the statue and serves as a model along with other com- munity groups that keep Native Hawaiian histo- ry and culture alive and thriving.
To find a list of community events happening across
the state in honor of King Kamehameha I, visit KamehamehaDay. Hawaii.Gov.