Ke Kumu Aupuni: The Foundation of Hawaiian Nationhood embodies a monumental history of Hawaiʻi, from the beginnings and political rise of Kamehameha I, the negotiations and battles that would come to unify Hawai'i's islands and kingdoms, and the development of a single government that would endure, to be ruled by his son and heir, Liholiho, Kamehameha II. This narrative is an invaluable catalog of data about Hawai'i, Hawaiians, and the nature of national and cultural identity in the Pacific.

Offered here in both Hawaiian and English, this history gives rich detail regarding Hawai'i's lands, genealogies, gods, chiefs, sociopolitical climate, material culture, laws, agriculture, and social decorums, much of which still lingered in the memories of the living informants who were accessible to the original author, Samuel Mānaiakalani Kamakau. From this Hawaiian scholar, trained at the Lahainaluna Seminary in the 1830s, readers are given an extraordinary fabric of cultural and historical knowledge in print, recounting life in Hawai'i before and during the early interactions with foreigners, the influence of new religion, the negotiation of borders for trade and diplomacy within and beyond the islands, and the introduction of writing and printing in both Hawaiian and English.

This book presents the entire first third of Kamakau's massive serial column, a section comprised of 60 articles published weekly from 1866 to 1868 in Ka Nupepa Kuokoa under the title "Ka Moolelo o Kamehameha I." This immense assemblageprovides the author's original text, a biography for Kamakau, and introductory texts that document the means by which this translation has come to exist, itself a history of language recovery and preservation. Illuminating the imbricate nature and plurality of Hawaiian historical methodologies and cultural logics, this text allows readers the opportunity to enjoy the dense storytelling of a Hawaiian master and the chance to interpret language alongside the translator, Puakea Nogelmeier.

While the book contains an extensive bilingual index, this publication is also available as an ebook for full searchability.

Hoʻokino ihola ʻo Ke Kumu Aupuni: The Foundation of Hawaiian Nationhood i ka moʻolelo kuamoʻo o Hawaiʻi, mai kinohi mai o ke ola o Kamehameha I, i kona piʻi ʻana ma ka pae noho aliʻi, i nā ʻaelike me nā kaua i hoʻopili ʻia ai a lōkahi nā moku me nā noho aliʻi, a i kona hoʻokahua ʻana i aupuni hoʻokahi e kūmau ana, na kāna keiki a hoʻoilina auaneʻi, na Liholiho, Kamehameha II, e noho mōʻī. He ʻohina nui a waiwai hoʻi kēia moʻolelo o ka ʻike no Hawaiʻi, no ka poʻe Hawaiʻi, a no ke ʻano iho o ke aupuni a me ka nohona kanaka ma ka Pākīpika.

Ma ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi me ka Pelekane, ka'ana maila kēia moʻolelo i ka wehewehe makaliʻi ʻana i ko Hawaiʻi mau ʻāina, moʻo kūʻauhau, akua, aliʻi, kūlana kālaiʻāina, lako nohona, kānāwai, ʻoihana mahi, a loina nohona, ia mau mea i koe nui paha ma nā waihona hoʻomanaʻo o nā kānaka e ola ana i ka wā o ka mea kākau kumu, ʻo Samuel Mānaiakalani Kamakau. Mai kēia loea Hawaiʻi mai, i aʻo ʻia a lehia ma ke Kulanui ʻo Lahainaluna ma nā 1830, loaʻa ihola i ka poʻe heluhelu kekahi kilohana kūkahi o ka ʻike moʻolelo a nohona kanaka i paʻi ʻia ihola a e hōʻike akāka mai ana i ke ʻano o ke ola ma Hawaiʻi ma mua a ma loko hoʻi o ka launa mua ʻana me ko nā ʻāina ʻē, ke komo ʻana o ka hoʻomana hou, ka hoʻopaʻa ʻana i nā palena ʻāina no ka hana kālepa me ka hana pili kālaiʻāina ma waena a ma waho aʻe o nā moku, pū nō me ka hoʻokumu ʻia ʻana o ka ʻike palapala ma ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi me ka Pelekane.

ʻO ka hapakolu mua kēia o ka huina o kā Kamakau kaʻina kolamu nui loa, a ma ʻaneʻi nā ʻatikala he 60 i paʻi ʻia i nā pule pākahi mai ka 1865 a i ka 1868 ma Ka Nupepa Kuokoa me ke poʻomanaʻo ʻo "Ka Moolelo o Kamehameha I." Ma loko o nēia pūʻulu nunui ka moʻolelo kumu a ka mea kākau, ka moʻolelo pilikino no Kamakau, a me ka ʻōlelo hoʻolauna e hoʻopaʻa ana i ke kaʻina i hoʻokino ʻia mai ai kēia unuhi na, ʻo ia ihola kahi moʻolelo no ka hoʻōla a hoʻomau ʻana i ka ʻōlelo ʻōiwi. Ma o ka hoʻomāʻamaʻama ʻana i ke ʻano nuʻanuʻa a manamana i kahu ʻia ai ka moʻolelo a i kūkulu ʻia ai nā manaʻo kanaka, hiki i ka mea heluhelu ke hoʻonanea i ka haʻi moʻolelo ʻana mai o kekahi o nā loea Hawaiʻi, a hiki hoʻi ke kālai pū maila a unuhi ihola i ka ʻōlelo me Puakea Nogelmeier.

ʻOiai lako kēīa puke i ka papakuhikuhi nui ma nā ʻōlelo ʻelua, aia hoʻi kēia puke ma ke ʻano ʻīpuke me kona ʻano i hiki ke ʻimi piha ʻia ihola.