Herb Kawainui Kane

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Herb Kawainui Kane : biography

June 21, 1928 – March 8, 2011

The Hōkūle‘a and its cultural impact

"What intrigued me was to see, if by building this canoe and putting it to active use and taking it out on a cruise throughout the Hawaiian islands, introducing it to the Hawaiian people, training Hawaiians to sail it, if this would not stimulate shock waves or ripple effect throughout the culture- in music and dance and the crafts. And we know it did.” Kāne designed and named the Hōkūle‘a, which was launched on March 8, 1975. Technically, the craft is a performance-accurate full-scale replica of a waʻa kaulua, a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe. The name Hōkūle‘a came to Kāne in a dream, he has said.ref name="archive" It is the Hawaiian term for the star Arcturus, which is of critical importance to celestial navigation in the Pacific, and the zenith star of the Hawaiian Islands. He served as the skipper for two years as the canoe sailed trial cruises among the Hawaiian Islands to attract crew and support for its maiden international voyage.ref name="NatGeo"

Kāne’s role in the creation and promotion of the Hōkūle‘a helped restore pride to the peoples of the Pacific, and his paintings of traditional Hawaiian scenes and historical events have helped restore lost identity and, in the words of the President of School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Tony Jones, “rewritten the history of the Pacific.” Kāne’s colleague, Nainoa Thompson, navigator of the Hōkūle‘a, says Kāne was "the visionary, the dreamer, and he was the architect and the engineer. He’s the one that carried the burden of building, and constructing, and sailing Hōkūle‘a.” Elsewhere, Thompson told an interviewer, “When you look at Herb’s legacy, it is transforming Hawaii’s society because he brought pride and culture and inspiration back, through the canoe….He is the father of the Hawaiian Renaissance.”

Kāne died on March 8, 2011, the 36th anniversary of the launch of the Hōkūle‘a.

Publications

Kāne communicated his message of the importance of Hawaiian culture and its origins, in print (as author, publisher, and illustrator) and television. Kāne is the author of several books, including:

Canoes of Polynesia (1974) (portfolio of 12 lithographs with accompanying booklet)
Voyage, the Discovery of Hawaii (1976){}
A Canoe Helps Hawaii Recapture Her Past in National Geographic Magazine, April, 1976
Pele, Goddess of Volcanoes (1987)
Voyagers (1991, 2nd edition 2006)
Ancient Hawaii (1997){}

Kāne is illustrator of:

The Life and Times of John Young: Confidant and Advisor to Kamehameha the Great
The Power of the Stone: A Hawaiian Ghost Story
Christmas Time with Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawaii (1977 album cover: Hawaii Sons HS-4004)
Voyagers, The First Hawaiians (film directed and scored by Paul Csige, based on the 1976 book Voyage, The Discovery of Hawaii by Herb Kāne)

Online interviews include:

Never Lost: Polynesian Navigation (The Offering)
Ask the Experts: Herb Kawainui Kāne (The Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey) Kāne served as a member of the advisory panel for the 1998 independent film, The Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey, which was broadcast widely on television stations including those of the U.S. Public Broadcasting System.

Honors

  • 1984—Named a Living Treasure of Hawaii by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Honolulu
  • 1987 —One of 16 chosen as Pookela (Champion) for the Year of the Hawaiian Celebration
  • 1988–1992 – A founding trustee of the Native Hawaiian Culture & Arts Program, Bishop Museum
  • 1998 – Awarded Bishop Museum’s Charles Reed Bishop Medal
  • 2002 – Received an award for excellence from The Hawaii Book Publishers Association
  • 2008 – Awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Early life and education as an artist

Kāne (kɑh-nay) was born in the community of Paynesville, Minnesota in the United States. His father, who was also named, Herbert, worked in family poi business, and became a paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy), then traveled the US in a Hawaiian Band. He later served in the Army and Navy, and had his own practice as a doctor of Optometry. Herbert Jr.’s grandfather immigrated to Waipio Valley from China and being very industrious he built the first poi factory in the islands, growing taro and producing poi for market. His mother’s family were farmers of Danish ancestry in Wisconsin. Kāne’s childhood was divided between Wisconsin and Hawaii. He describes in his book, Voyagers, an early awakening to art. In 1935 he was a barefoot child in Hilo, Hawaii, brought by his mother to the opening of a gallery exhibition of the work of D. Howard Hitchcock. He writes that he was “stunned, confronted with miracles” seeing Hitchcock’s work and speaking with him briefly. Hitchcock was the first Hawaiian-born artist to achieve international recognition, and his work focused on unique Hawaiian subject matter, particularly the volcanic eruptions near Hilo. According to his own account, besides this exposure to art and the ongoing encouragement of his parents to pursue his interest in drawing, Kāne’s most formative experiences in childhood were in Hawaii, where his father and his family passed along the traditional folk tales of the islands.

Kāne served in the United States Navy, qualifying for veteran’s educational benefits under the G.I. Bill. After he was discharged, he used those benefits to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, in Chicago, Illinois, earning a Bachelor’s degree and, in 1953, a Master’s degree. Under an arrangement between the two schools at the time, his Master’s degree was awarded by the University of Chicago.