Kapa: More to Learn

See all eleven kapa Pua Van Dorpe created to honor ancient Maui chiefs, and read their stories.

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Kamehameha the Great

Kamehameha was no ordinary man, and no ordinary chief. His was a life of extraordinary proportions and paramount achievements. By any measure, he was destined for greatness in an era of profound changes for the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian kapaBorn in 1758 amid ominous signs and prophecies, at the time of the startling appearance of Halley’s Comet, he was the contestable offspring of the highest ruling bloodlines of Maui and Hawai‘i. He was a po‘olua, born of two fathers.

Kamehameha’s mother was Chiefess Keku‘i‘apo‘iwa II, whose own bloodlines were of Maui and Hawai‘i. She was married to High Chief Keoua Kalanikupuapaikalaninui, but evidence suggests that Kamehameaha’s biological father was King Kahekili of Maui, against whom, in one of the many ironies of his lifetime, he was to wage a bitter campaign of conquest and ultimately replace Kahekili’s vast empire with this own.

More than any other Hawaiian rulers of their time, Kamehameha and his uncle (and surrogate father) King Kalani‘opu‘u of Hawai‘i Island interacted with Captains James Cook and George Vancouver, and with the growing numbers of foreigners to these islands. It is said that Kamehameha undertook his campaign of conquest to prevent takeover by multiple foreign entities. True or not, he succeeded in uniting the Hawaiian Islands for the first time, creating an independent nation that endured for nearly 100 years.

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A mural by renowned Hawaiian artist Herb Kane accompanies Pua van Dorpe’s kapa at the King Kamehameha clubhouse, depicting these 11 Maui chiefs. For more information, visit www.kamehamehagolf.com

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