Showing off the Big Island to an old friend, having not been here in over 30 years. A bunch of obviously kanaka teenagers were surrounding it, so we offered to take their group photo. They were on a field trip from Lahainaluna School on Maui. Their teacher had them sit down while he told them the story of the statue and of their school’s connection to Kamehaeha. Then they stood, sang three Hawaiian songs including their school anthem and performed a hula accompanied by 5 ukuleles. We thanked them profusely. My Mother was kamaaina Maui, born in Paia, and my grandmother and great grandmother were both educators on Maui, so this was especially meaningful to us.

So the story goes, this 8.5 feet statue was designed in Italy and casted in France. While being brought to Hawaii in 1880, the ship wrecked in the Falkland Islands. A new statue was recasted and that’s the one in Honolulu. This sunken statue was brought up from the ocean in 1882 and sat in a Falkland storefront. A British sea captain purchased it and sold it back to Hawaiian government. This original Kamehameha statue now stands in front of the old Kapa’au courthouse. June 11th is King Kamehameha’s birthday. As part of his celebration, the statue is draped in flower leis. We stopped by on June 13th.

This statue of the great King Kamehameha I, who united the Hawaiian Islands is located in Kapa'au, very close to the location where he was born. It is one of 4 similar statues. This is the original statue commissioned in 1879 for placement at Iolani Palace in Honolulu. It was cast in bronze at a Paris foundry in 1880 but was lost in a shipwreck on its way to Hawai'i. A second statue was cast from the same mold and arrived safely; it was unveiled by Hawai'i's last king, Kalakaua, in 1883 in front of the Judiciary Building in Honolulu, where it still remains. The first statue was subsequently recovered and brought to Hawai'i; in 1912 it was placed at Kohala Court House in Kapa'au on the Island of Hawai'i, in Kamehameha's home district. Other statues of King Kamehameha stand near downtown Hilo in the Wailoa River State Park and in Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.