Hawaiian King Kamehameha Statue, Side View Poster

A statue of Hawaiian King Kamehameha the Great stands in Wailoa State Park in Hilo, Hawaii, on the Big Island. In this photograph, the king holds a fresh flower and Spanish moss lei. Sometimes there are flower tributes at his feet. According to news reports in September 2015, the spear was stolen from this statue. Kamehameha I was born around 1736 and died in 1819. He is also known as Kamehameha the Great, full Hawaiian name: Kalani Paiʻea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiʻikui Kamehameha o ʻIolani i Kaiwikapu kauʻi Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea. He conquered the most of the Hawaiian Islands formally establishing the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1810 and founding the Kamehameha Dynasty. By developing alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers, Kamehameha preserved Hawaiʻi's independence under his rule. Kamehameha is remembered for the Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the "Law of the Splintered Paddle", which protects human rights of non-combatants in times of battle.