Image: Kamakahelei Cape, Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. VII, Fig. 50

Description: The Kamakahelei Cape, Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. VII, Fig. 50. This circular cape is of ʻōʻō (Acrulocercus nobtlis) yellow with two black and two red triangles in front. It measures in width 30 inches; in depth behind 16, and in front 8.5 and 9 inches. Kamakahelei was the mother of Kaumualii by Kaeokulani; another of her husbands was Kaneoneo whose shin-bone later formed the kumu or handle of the interesting kahili (No. 24) in the Bishop Museum. When Cook arrived at Waimea in 1778, and the people were loudly discussing the wonderful event Kamakahelei said: "Let us not fight against our god; let us please Him that He may be favorable to us; then Kamakahelei gave her daughter as a woman to Lono [Cook]; Lelemahoalani was her name; she was older sister of Kaumualii, and Lono slept with that woman, and the Kauai women prostituted themselves to the foreigners for iron. Whether the cape ever belonged to the famous chiefess or was simply named as a memorial of a famous ancestor in the family of the Queen Kapiolani is not recorded.
Title: Kamakahelei Cape, Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. VII, Fig. 50
Credit: (1899) Memoirs, 7, Honolulu: Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
Author: Bishop Museum
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No