wattaabunkamamuti:uwmspeccoll:Hau'oli Lā Kamehameha!Kamehameha Day was established by royal decree o
wattaabunkamamuti:uwmspeccoll:Hau'oli Lā Kamehameha!Kamehameha Day was established by royal decree on December22, 1871 by King Kamehameha V in order to honor the memory of his greatgrandfather Kamehameha (Kalani Pai‘ea Wohi o Kaleikini Keali‘ikui Kamehamehao ‘Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea) (c.1758-1819), the chief whohad united the Hawaiian Islands and became the first king of Hawai‘i.The first celebration of Kamehameha Day was held June 11, 1872 and continueduntil a group of white businessmen and descendants of missionaries carried out the illegal overthrow of Queen Lili‘uokalani in 1893. In 1904, theholiday was reinstated by Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole and it continues tobe celebrated on June 11 to this day.To commemorate the day, we are sharing images from our first edition copy of Voyagers by Herb Kawainui Kāne (1928-2011) depicting King Kamehameha. Milwaukee, Wisconsin may seem a bit removed from the festivities of the day, but perhaps not as much as one would think. First, UWM Special Collections holds a considerable collection of Native American, First Nations, Inuit, and Hawaiian literature (of which Voyagers is a part). Secondly,Kāne’s mother’s family were farmers from Wisconsin, and Kāne spent a good part of his childhood in the state. He also received his MFA not too far from here at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago/University of Chicago. He is among the first Native Hawaiian artists to achieve international repute.Growing up, Kāne dreamed ofrebuilding a double-hulled sailing canoe similar to the ones his ancestors hadused to sail from Tahiti to Hawai‘i, but it had been over 600 years since thesecanoes had last been seen. In the 1970s, Kāne founded the Polynesian VoyagingSociety where he and others combined their research and knowledge in order to make their dreams a reality. They weresuccessful in their efforts, ultimately building the sailing canoe Hōkūle‘a, ofwhich Kāne became the first captain in 1975. In 1976, with the help of Mau,a traditional navigator from Satawal in Micronesia, Hōkūle‘a sailed to Tahitiwhere they were greeted by over half of the island’s population at Pape‘eteHarbor. HerbKawainui Kāne’s work was so important to the Hawaiian community that he was actually elected a Living Treasure of Hawai‘i in 1984. Kāne died on March 8, 2011, the 36th anniversary of the launch of the Hōkūle‘a. His place in history and that of King Kamehameha, however, remain forever in the memories of the Hawaiian people.-KalaniHonestly, Herb Kane’s work is way better than a lot of western artists I’ve seen in nationally/internationally acclaimed art museums. -- source link