Samuel M. Kamakau
Beginning with the traditional history of the great chief ‘Umi and ending with the death of Kamehameha III in 1854, this volume covers the rediscovery of the Hawaiian Islands by Captain James Cook, the consolidation of the Hawaiian Kingdom by Kamehameha I, the coming of the missionaries and the changes affecting the kingdom during the first half of the nineteenth century. Originally, this history was written by Kamakau in Hawaiian as a series of newspaper articles in the 1860s and 1870s. The English translation is primarily by Mary Kawena Pukui. It offers more than a record of past events. It presents a scholarly interpretation of those events by a Hawaiian historian writing for Hawaiians about their culture and disappearing customs. He lived at a time when access to first-hand information about the ancient culture was still available yet needed explanation because his Hawaiian audience was growing increasingly removed from its own cultural past. He wrote with a remarkable memory, a strong intellectual curiosity and a skill for turning a phrase. Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau was born in 1815 on the island of O‘ahu and died in Honolulu in 1876. His schooling and subsequent teaching at Lahainaluna Seminary on Maui gave him a lifelong interest in Hawaiian culture and history. Throughout his career, he was active in politics and government service. He was elected to numerous terms in the legislature and served as an educator, civil servant and judge.
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