Kepelino's "Hawaiian Collection": His "Hooiliili Havaii," Pepa 1, 1858
Kepelino's "Hawaiian Collection": His "Hooiliili Havaii," Pepa 1, 1858 Translated and Annotated by Bacil F. Kirtley and Esther T. Mookini INTRODUCTION Kepelino (? 1830- ? 1878), whose name is a Hawaiian transliteration of "Zephyrin," given him at his baptism as a Catholic, belongs with S. M. Kamakau, David Malo, and John Papa Ii in the front rank of native-born preservers and interpreters of the islands' ancient culture. Since his chiefly family (Kahoaliikumaieiwakamoku: to-be-chief-of-the-nine- districts), traced descent from the legendary priest Pa'ao, and was closely related to Ka-mehameha I, surviving remnants of the old hieratical knowledge inevitably became part of his legacy. Kepelino's formal education, however, was severely Catholic, and he was trained in the schools of that faith to become a lay teacher. He was never to teach, however, for in 1845, the year he received his diploma, no position was open for him. In 1847, Kepelino accompanied Father Ernest Heurtel to Tahiti for the purpose of aiding him in the work of a Catholic mission there. In Tahiti, having little to do, he grew bored, "played pranks", and was sent back to Hawai'i, where he resumed his studies. Besides attending classes at the Catholic High School at 'Ahui-manu, Kepelino joined discussion groups interested in old Hawaiian culture, wrote controversial letters to the press, and, climactically, became private secretary to the dowager Queen Emma. When King Luna-lilo died in February 1874, a struggle for the throne ensued between David Ka-la- kaua and Queen Emma, and Zephyrin Ka-ho-ali'i flung himself into this contest with reckless partisanship.
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