The Naha Stone is a large volcanic rock located in Hilo, Hawaii. The stone was used in the cultural traditions of Native Hawaiians, and many legends surround it. [1] [2]
The Naha Stone is a large volcanic rock located in Hilo, Hawaii. The stone was used in the cultural traditions of Native Hawaiians, and many legends surround it. [1] [2]
The Naha Stone originated from Mount Waialeale on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. [3] It was found on the banks of the Wailua River before being moved via a double canoe to Hilo, where it became a symbol of the Naha rank of Hawaiian royalty.
The stone was used to prove the legitimacy of the bloodline of any claiming to be of the Naha rank. When a child was born, they were placed on top of the slab of rock. If they remained silent, they were considered to be one of the members of the Naha rank. If they cried out, they would be cast out. [2] The Naha Stone was considered sacred, and only members of the Naha rank were permitted to move it.
A legend existed that if one were to overturn the stone, that man would be granted the power to unify all of Hawaii. King Kamehameha, the eventual conqueror of the Hawaiian Islands, was said to have been influenced by this legend. Some sources [1] state that he was able to move the stone at the age of 14, after a series of failed attempts. [1] [4]
The stone was relocated to the front of the Hilo Public Library in 1952, where it remains today. [3] [5]
Kamehameha I, also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The state of Hawaii gave a statue of him to the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington, D.C. as one of two statues it is entitled to install there.
Hilo is the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaii, and a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. It is the fourth-largest settlement in the state of Hawaii and largest settlement in the state outside of Oahu.
Kaumualiʻi was the last independent aliʻi nui of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau before becoming a vassal of Kamehameha I within the unified Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1810. He was the 23rd high chief of Kauaʻi and reigned during 1794–1810.
Kamehameha III was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweʻula Kīwalaʻō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweʻula Kīwalaʻō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa Kalani Waiakua Kalanikau Iokikilo Kīwalaʻō i ke kapu Kamehameha when he ascended the throne.
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Several Kamehameha statues honor the monarch who founded the Kingdom of Hawaii.
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Keōua Kalanikupuapaʻīkalaninui Ahilapalapa, sometimes called Keōua Nui was an Ancient Hawaiian noble and the father of Kamehameha I, the first King of united Hawaiʻi. He was progenitor of the House of Keōua Nui. His first name Keoua, or Ke-ao-ua means "the rain cloud" and was given to him by his subjects because of his generosity and his sacred kapu of the heavenly rains.
Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiahiahi (1736–1804) was a Hawaiian high chief and the father of Kaʻahumanu. He was the principal agent in elevating Kamehameha I to the throne of Hawaiʻi and served in a capacity similar to commander in chief or Prime Minister. He is sometimes referred to as Keʻeaumoku II Pāpaʻiahiahi numbering Keʻeaumoku Nui as the first and his son as the third.
Isaac Davis was a Welsh advisor to Kamehameha I, who recruited him to help conquer the other kingdoms in Hawaii, resulting in formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He arrived in Hawaii in 1790 as the sole survivor of the massacre of the crew of the Fair American. Davis and John Young became friends and advisors to Kamehameha. Davis brought western military knowledge to Hawaii and played a prominent role during Hawaii's first contacts with the European powers. He spent the rest of his life in Hawaiʻi and was known as ʻAikake.
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The Wailoa River State Recreation Area, also known as Wailoa River State Park, is a park in Hilo, on Hawaiʻi Island in the US state of Hawaii. It was developed as a buffer zone following the devastating 1960 tsunami that wiped out the central bayfront district of Hilo.
Namakeha was a Hawaiian high chief (aliʻi) who fought on multiple sides during the unification wars in the latter 18th-century with his two brothers. Originally from Maui, he and his brothers defected a number of times and resettled on different islands before they allied themselves with King Kamehameha I who would become the first monarch of a unified Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1796, he rebelled in Hilo against King Kamehameha I and was defeated, captured and killed as a human sacrifice.
Helen Kapuailohia Desha Beamer was a musician, composer of songs in the Hawaiian language, hula dancer and coloratura soprano of Hawaiian ancestry. Her descendants have also become accomplished artists in the U.S. state of Hawaii. In 1928, her duet of "Ke Kali Nei Au" with Sam Kapu Sr. on Columbia Records was the first commercial recording of the Charles E. King composition. She was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 1995.
Ululani Lewai Peleiōhōlani Baker was a Hawaiian high chiefess and the last Governess of the island of Hawaii from 1886 to 1888. During her tenure, she was given the honorific Her Excellency, the Governess of Hawaii.
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Kaʻiana, also known as Keawe-Kaʻiana-a-Ahuula, was a Native Hawaiian warrior and aliʻi (noble) of Puna, Hawai‘i, who turned against Kamehameha I in 1795 during his conquest of Oahu and then sided with the island's ruler, Kalanikupule.