“E Ho‘ohanohano a E Ho‘omau. . .
Photo courtesy Hawai‘i State Archives
. . . To Honor and To Perpetuate”
The Restoration of Family Ties Story and photo by Valerie Monson Coordinator, Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa
T
he search went on for decades. A clue here, a detour there, a question that led to an unexpected doorway. At long last, Wiliama Namahoe found himself at the culmination of his quest: He was standing at the foot of the grave of his great-grandmother who had died at Kalaupapa in 1920. Wiliama had prepared for this moment for years, but was still caught offguard. He fell upon the headstone and wrapped his arms around it. They were finally together: he and his greatgrandmother, Kawaikoeahiokekuahiwi Wong-Hoe Kahoukapu. “I do not know why this woman is so special to me,” he later said. “The emotions that came out of me that day I didn’t even know I had. My wife said she had never heard me cry like that except when someone else special had died.” And, yet, it was like his greatgrandmother had life again. Wiliama’s first day at Kalaupapa was unlike any other in his 68 years. The next morning, he walked into the dining room of the comfortable
Visitors Quarters that overlooks the sea. “I woke up a changed man,” he announced. “By coming here, I thought my journey was ending, but I realize now it’s only beginning. I’m now on this journey with great-grandma.”
W
Wiliama Namahoe at the grave of his great-grandmother, Kawaikoeahiokekuahiwi Wong-Hoe Kahoukapu.
hen Wiliama was growing up on Oahu, his family tree seemed to have many empty branches. He visited his grandmother, Violet Namahoe, every year in Hilo, but she never spoke of her own mother or any part of her upbringing. Wiliama’s father was equally quiet about his childhood. Wiliama wondered who he was. A few years after marrying and moving to California, Wiliama and his wife, Kathy, learned they were expecting a girl. Wiliama, proud of his Hawaiian culture, returned to the islands to ask his grandmother about her Hawaiian name and if he could pass it on to his daughter. “When I asked, she broke down and cried and cried and cried,” he said. “Soon after, we received a handwritten letter from Grandma Violet explaining
what the name meant and that it was her mother’s name which had been given to her.” The name that would connect the generations was Kawaikoeahiokekuahiwi. Wiliama saw his past slowly unfold. His grandmother was just 7 years old in 1907 when her mother was suddenly taken from the family. “And that was the word she used: ‘taken.’ Great-grandma Kawai was taken from them,” said Wiliama. The little girl had no idea why her mother was forced to leave her. It would be years before she was told why her mother was taken away and where she was sent. The anguish of losing her mother in such a traumatic way at such a young age would affect Violet the rest of her life. Her pain continued on page 10
k a la upa pa o ha na .o rg