Mahalo to all who attended our 2011 “Kama‘aina of the Year™” annual benefit honoring the late Herb Kawainui Kane. On October 22, Herb Kawainui Kane was honored for his life’s work as an artist, historian, and one of the founders of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.   While still working as a graphic artist in Chicago, Kane began researching Polynesian canoes and voyaging that ultimately brought him back to Hawai‘i and the creation of his life’s work of paintings depicting Polynesian canoes and other aspects of Hawaiian culture.  Kane also helped design and build Hokule‘a, a traditional double-hulled voyaging canoe that made its inaugural voyage from Hawai‘i to Tahiti without modern navigation aids in 1976.

His work of meticulously researched and detailed depictions of historic events in Hawai‘i’s history are on display in museums, private collections and public places in Hawai‘i, notably a series of 14 paintings of voyaging canoes in Hawai‘i State buildings and his well-known painting of Pele at the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.  The U. S. Postal Service issued seven postage stamps of his paintings, including the stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hawai‘i statehood.

Kane was born in Minnesota on June 21, 1928 and raised on Hawai‘i Island and died in Kona on March 8, 2011.

Herb Kane is the 24th recipient of the Kama‘aina of the Year™ award, which honors individuals who have made unique and lasting contributions to the preservation of Hawaii’s historic places and cultural resources. The event is Historic Hawai‘i Foundation’s annual fundraiser and proceeds support the preservation of historic sites throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

Photo by Karin Stanton | Hawaii247.com

Mahalo Sponsors:

LEAD SPONSOR:

  • Office of Hawaiian Affairs

FOUNDER

  • Princess Abigail Kawananakoa
  • Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts

KAMA‘AINA

  • WCIT Architecture

PATRON

  • Hawai‘i Pacific Health
  • Topa Management Company
  • Makena Beach & Golf Resort
  • Group 70 International
  • Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i Inc.
  • Wallace Theaters Management Group
  • Mason Architects, Inc.
  • Mea Makamae
  • Turtle Bay Resorts
  • Hunt Development Group

BENEFACTOR

  • Alexander & Baldwin Inc./A&B Foundation
  • Wilson Okamoto Corporation
  • Queens Health System
  • Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel
  • Haleakala Ranch
  • Bank of Hawaii
  • Kuiwalu Consulting
  • Candon, Todd & Seabolt LLC
  • Outrigger Enterprises Group
  • Prudential Locations
  • Hawaii National Bank
  • Nancee & Eric Crispin
  • Helber Hastert & Fee Planners
  • Armstrong Building Maintenance
  • Kiewit Building Group Inc.
  • Timothy and Robin Johns
  • HONBLUE
  • Sandwich Isle Communications
  • Hawaii Dental Service
  • Hawai‘i Visitors & Convention Bureau