Kānāwai Māmalahoe – Law of the Splintered Paddle is enshrined on a plaque at the base of the King Kamehameha statue fronting Ali'iolani Hale, the state judiciary building.
One of the corner stones of modern Hawaiian law is the remarkable revelation of human rights by an ambitious King with conquest on his mind. In observance of King Kamehameha Day, we celebrate the remarkable legal legacy of our Mo’i Nui.
Kānāwai Māmalahoe – Law of the Splintered Paddle
Original 1797 decree in Hawaiian:
Kānāwai Māmalahoe :
E nā kānaka,
E mālama ‘oukou i ke akua
A e mālama ho‘i ke kanaka nui a me kanaka iki;
E hele ka ‘elemakule, ka luahine, a me ke kama
A moe i ke ala
‘A‘ohe mea nāna e ho‘opilikia.
Hewa nō, make.
-Kamehameha I
English translation:
Law of the Splintered Paddle:
Oh people,
Honor thy god;
respect alike [the rights of] people both great and humble;
May everyone, from the old men and women to the children
Be free to go forth and lie in the road (i.e. by the roadside or pathway)
Without fear of harm.
Break this law, and die.
-Kamehameha I
Ho'okupu are presented by the Pau'u Princesses and their courts representing each the islands of Hawai'i in honor of King Kamehameha.
Kamehameha, during his conquest to unify the islands, had initiated a military expedition in Puna, an area on the big island, that resisted his early military ambitions. Arriving by sea, his landing party encountered a group of commoners (non combatants) on the beach, who seeing the invaders attempted to escape inland. While chasing two fishermen who had stayed behind to cover the retreat of a man carrying a child, Kamehameha's foot became caught in the reef. The fisherman, Kaleleiki, seeing Kamehameha’s predicament turned and struck the incapacitated Ali’i on the head with a paddle, which broke and splintered into pieces. In this moment in history, the life of the future King of Hawai’i nei could have ended badly, Kamehameha could have easily been killed at this point but Kaleleiki spared him and continued to retreat with his o'hana. Years later, the same fisherman was brought before Kamehameha, instead of having him put to death, Kamehameha ruled that the fisherman had acted in defense and had only been protecting his land and family against collateral damage, and so the Law of the Splintered Paddle was declared.
Ancient Hawai’i has many stories of how the common people were obliged to depose chiefs that abused them. Kamehameha, at the time was focused on unification and was reminded with a poignant thump, that the legitimacy of any government lies in the goodwill of it’s people, and that to molest or kill the innocent in order to achieve an end was an effrontery not only to God but to humanity.
The human rights concerns of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement generally considers the State of Hawaii as de facto, or lacking legitimacy, Kānāwai Māmalahoe has been the subject of no small amount of controversy, especially in the treatment of homeless persons and those of native descent.
The Kamehameha Legacy - protect the meek from the abuse of power!
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