Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 9, 1 September 2014 — Children's book tells of Hawaiʻi's first ruler [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Children's book tells of Hawaiʻi's first ruler

By Alexis Panoneillo Prior to western contact, the Hawaiian islands were ruled separately by many ali'i (chiefs). It was not until Kamehameha the Great - who set out to aeeomplish what had never been done before - that the Hawaiian nation could be united under a single mō'I (monarch). The legendary life of Kana'iaupuni, the conqueror of the Hawaiian Islands, is told in the historical fiction written by David Kāwika Eyre. His thrilling novel, titled Kamehameha: The Rise ofa King, will take you into the life of the great warrior. Beginning with his sacred birth as he is hidden away by the sound of crackling thunder, Kamehameha's destiny is only fulfilled after a grueling uphill battle that

he faces throughout his lifetime. Signs and prophecies had foretold that Kamehameha would grow up to be the killer of chiefs and the conqueror of lands. And because of this, his whereabouts had to be kept a secret from the moment he was born. Given the name Kamehameha, meaning "the lonely one," because of his secluded childhood, he grows up hiding from executioners sent by the great chief Alapa'inui. The astonishing feat of how the lonely chief rose to power, heeoming Kana'iaupuni, is captured and retold in Eyre's novel. Memories of events, people and places, whieh Kamehameha encounters, are brought to life through the creative interpretations by the author and the illustrator. In their depictions, Kamehameha fulfills prophecies and overcomes adversity, leading himto achieve his

destiny as the father of the Hawaiian nation. The book relies on primary sources, ancestral knowledge and unpublished mo'olelo kept among families, whieh offer a unique perspective on historical events in Hawaiian history. Kamehameha: The Rise of a King won the award of excellence for Children's Hawaiian Culture at the 2014 Hawai'i Book Publishers Association's Ka Palapala Po'okela awards. This award stands beside numerous Ka Palapala Po'okela honors received by Eyre, including the award of excellence for By Wind, By Wave, named the best natural science book of 2000. Eyre, now retired, taught Hawaiian language at the Kamehameha Schools-Kapālama high school for 23 years. "This book has been long in coming," Eyre said in a press release. "In the early 1990s, still

somewhat new to Kamehameha, I was struck by how little we knew about Kamehameha the Great. For most of us, there was the statue, the holiday, the parade and our school. That was pretty mueh it. None of my students seemed to know mueh more. Kamehameha was essentially the hero unknown." Beautiful illustrations by Native Hawaiian artist Brook Kapūkuniahi Parker accompany the gripping narrative. Coming from Kahalu'u, O'ahu, the artist is inspired by ancestral ties, including his own, to Hawaiian warriors and ali'i. Parker's recent works include commissions from the University of Hawai'i and Disney's Aulani Resort. Kamehameha: TheRise ofaKing recalls the greatness of the first reigning monarch of the Hawaiian nation. The novel is a reminder to all of the legacy that has been created and left behind by King Kamehameha 'Ekahi. ■

AIexis Panoneillo is a studenthelper in OHA's Digi.tal Medi.a program.

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REVIEW

Kamehameha: The Rise ofa King By David Kāwika Eyre. 215 pages. Kamehameha Publishing. $18 hardcover, $12 soft cover.