WAIMEA — He kanaka kuhea hale ka ua (Rain is the person who call welcome to the house); He poli, he kua, he alo, na moku e ku nei (The islands are like the bosom, the back, the front).
The words of the oli are present but silent when men of Kikiaola Construction installed a statue of King Kaumuali‘i in heavy rain Friday at Pa‘ula‘ula (Russian Fort Elizbeth State Historical Park) in Waimea.
“That’s the day it rained all over,” said Klaine Kuapahi of Kikiaola Construction. “But we got it up. I’ve been with Kikiaola for 30 years, and yes, this was one of our jobs. My cousin and I went up the mountains over the weekend to get maile — enough for about 30 feet — maile for the king!”
Maureen Fodale of the Executive Committee for the Friends of King Kaumuali‘i said the men were pushing and pulling the crane that was stuck in the mud into place, and the statue was set and bolted to the pedestal in less than 10 minutes.
A premiere virtual dedication is scheduled for Wednesday, March 31, at 5 p.m., Fodale said. Registration will be available in the near future at kauaikingkaumualii.org.
“The Friends of King Kaumuali‘i have been working for nearly a decade to bring the spirit of our mo‘i ali‘i home,” Fodale said. “Following the receipt of GIA (grant-in-aid) funds in 2018 with help from Rep. Dee Morikawa and Sen. Ron Kouchi from the state Legislature, we were able to complete the eight-foot bronze statue along with the site improvements of platform and pedestal in cooperation with the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources at the state park in Waimea.”
Ground was broken for the platform and pedestal on Dec. 1, 2020, the same date Mayor Derek Kawakami and Kaua‘i County Councilmember Bernard Carvalho Jr., both active supporters of the Kaumuali‘i initiative, were inaugurated.
“More than half the rocks going into the wall surrounding the platform and pedestal are from the fort, and previous to that, the he‘iau that pre-existed there,” Fodale said. “It was incredible to see nearly 50 people from ages 1 to 90 be involved.”
While the platform work was going on, the statue accompanied by Ke‘ao Nesmith arrived on Kaua‘i some 199 years after the king’s kidnapping while dining on the ship Ha‘aheo Hawai‘i in 1821. He was taken to Honolulu, where he was coerced into an arranged marriage to Ka‘ahumanu.
Fodale said the king has been “wintering” at Po‘oKu, but was brought back to “supervise as he did when his fort was being built.”
While readying to meet the public, Kawakami will deliver an address to a private and ticketed group of up to 50 people that will include a representative from each of the royal Hawaiian organizations on Kaua‘i and other state, county and community dignitaries, including the Friends of King Kaumuali‘i Board and Kikiaola Construction, whose owner Mike Faye has been active with the FKK board and the state park for decades.
Starting Sunday, Fodale said people can stop by the park with a small group of friends or family up to 25 people to welcome the king home to his ancestral grounds at Pa‘ula‘ula. Due to the restrictions in place by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Kaua‘i Emergency Management Agency, special permits are required for groups larger than 25.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
