KAWAIAHAO CHURCH

The readers of the Kuokoa will probably not be unable to recognize the features of the building pictured above; it is the church of Kawaiahao. It is an old building and one that is greatly beloved by a portion of our people, this mother church of ours. Its predecessor on these grounds was a church of pili grass; and the stone building was completed in 1842, constructed by the loving hands of the alii and makaainana of times gone by. It was Kekuanaoa and Bingham [Binamu] Sr. who selected the area where it was to be built and supervised its construction, however Bingham returned to America before the completion of this building.

There were many renowned events which were done in Kawaiahao such that it is as if the building was the place to carry out grand and fine deeds of the past, of the nation and the people. It was in this building that a number of the Legislative Sessions of the nation were opened, if this writer is not mistaken. It was in this building that Kamehameha V opened the Constitutional Convention [Ahaolelo Hooponopono Kumukanawai] on the 7th of July, 1864. Continue reading →