I am astonished that folks on Kauai celebrate Kamehameha Day—unless their family has 18th-century roots on the Big Island.
Kamehameha, a usurper and bloodthirsty warlord, slaughtered his way across the islands. Kauai, protected by the gods, was the only island he couldn’t conquer by force.
So, the Kamehamehas used deception. After the death of his father, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) sailed his pleasure yacht, Cleopatra’s Barge, to Kauai for a friendly visit, inviting Kauai’s King Kaumuali’i aboard for dinner.
As they ate, Liholiho’s crew weighed anchor and kidnapped Kaumuali’i, sailing to Oahu, where the Kauai King was forced to marry Ka’aumanu, the Regent and Kamehameha I's favorite wife. Kaumuali’i’s lineage was sacred, far more powerful than the Kamehameha genealogy, and this union would add mana and legitimacy to the Kamehameha reign.
When the Kauai chiefs rebelled, demanding the return of their King, Liholiho sent an overwhelming force to slaughter Kauai’s ali’i. Take a look at the Land Court Award map of Kauai, drawn during the Mahele, and you will see that all our ahupua’a were awarded to the Kamehameha's descendants, chiefs, and retainers—none to Kauai people.
By celebrating Kamehameha Day, the people of Kauai celebrate the historic loss of their King, their sovereignty, and their land.
PS: As you can read here, the missionaries, or "the haole," did not steal Kauai's land. The Kamehameha family did. And sold it to them... When students are taught a past that not only never was, but due to human nature, never could have been, the present will make no sense; it will be hard for them to know themselves. Feeling the lies, the cognitive dissonance, they will become confused and frustrated.
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