Ka Hāmau (The Silence)

25th from the series: ‘Ike Ho‘omoapopo by artist: Leohone

The time has come for the culmination of my work on this series, the painting I feel to be my most significant.

I was given the name Kaleohoneakekahuli some 30 years ago–because of my music and not my artwork but I chose to legally take the “Leohone” (sweet voice) part of it as my new middle name and later to use it to sign my Hawaiian cultural series of paintings. I accepted that I had somehow been “chosen” to pass on a message and I have endeavored to gently “speak” through my work of the teaching and the passing on of the Hawaiian culture and of the more paramount legacies of some of the

Hawaiian Ali‘i.

Many of my paintings or portions of my paintings have come to me in dreams or visions. This vision came back in the year 2004 so I have known for almost 2 decades that I needed to paint this Kamehameha Day Parade piece. As of 2022, 150 years have come and gone since Kapuāiwa (King Kamehameha V) founded the Kamehameha Day Parade (1872) to honor his grandfather King Kamehameha I. However, this “assignment” could not be completed until I myself would be shaped and molded and could be made ready.

THE VISION: (2004)

I stood alone at the palace gate along the front side of ‘Iolani Palace to watch the Kamehameha Day Parade. The morning sun was warm and gentle on my face; a symphony of birdsong sounding high overhead in the branches of the giant monkeypod tree, a breeze rustling through nearby palm fronds. The upbeat strains of the horns and drums of a visiting high school band grew faint as it marched out of view and the Pā’ū riders – bedecked in their respective island colors from east to west and their beautiful floral lei– began their ride. It was a perfect day for a parade and I was smiling as the children around me waved and people cheered.

Then I saw an abrupt change come over the faces of nearby onlookers as they turned to see what would come next. Shock crossed their features as they stared open-mouthed; a hush settled over the street. I turned to see why as the rhythmic “clopping” along of the horses hooves on the pavement grew soundless and the noise of the crowd faded into silence. All along the way, the spectators stood motionless, frozen. The breeze stopped and even the birds were suddenly quiet. It was like an eerie vacuum. There was no longer even the fragrance of the flowers in the air around me and everything grew strangely still. A silence so unearthly…

A flag bearer on a brown horse came past me and I couldn’t tell if he was part of the Pā’ū riders in front or a part of the procession silently coming behind him, Kamehameha the Great walking in the lead, immediately behind him on horseback was Lili’uokalani, the Hawaiian kingdom’s last monarch. Next to her, rode Prince Kūhiō who would most probably have become king had the monarchy survived.

…And they came– the shadowed figures of all the Ali’i coming slowly down the street, some walking, some riding on unbridled white horses, not a pure white but rather lightly dappled. I was looking at this soundless “clip” of an irretrievable past, an unchangeable history, a once thriving kingdom vanquished. The silent procession was the only thing I could see… my eyes blurred as I felt my throat constrict with emotion… time stood still… and then slowly – very slowly – the amazing vision began to fade from my sight.

I just stood there, holding my breath… waiting…

Then finally I detected a faint stirring and the barest trace of the delicate scent of roses, wafting on the whisper of a breeze as life began to return to the air. The pure sweet song of a lone bird was followed by a chorus of birds trilling high above me in the towering tree and the normal busy street slowly resumed its din. But the people on the sidewalk in front of the palace just stood there unmoving. No one attempted to speak as long minutes elapsed – or it may as well have been hours…

A silence that will always remain… the heavy silence of a kingdom that exists no longer… and the heavy silence of an outside world in the face of the anguish of a people wronged…

Ka Hāmau. The silence… Mai poina ‘oukou iā mākou.

– Leohone 2023

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