Part 12

The Hawaiian flag is surrounded by many historical memories which mean much to residents of both native and foreign descent, and they rejoice that the dear old flag is not lost from the nation’s history. As one writer says, this feeling shows that “the flag does not represent so much a particular form of government as it does the great heart of the people which throbs beneath.”

NOTES

[1] This is one of the most ancient legends in Hawaiian annals.

[2] Laa-mai-Kahiki means Laa-from-Kahiki in the Hawaiian language, or Raa-from-Tahiti in the Tahitian dialect. In the Hawaiian stories he was always known as Laa-mai-Kahiki. He was a very high chief from Hawaii absorbed in the royal line of Tahiti. The letter “r” being used for “l” and “t” for “k” explains the slight difference in the names, Laa and Raa-Kahiki and Tahiti. This is simply such a change as is found in dialects everywhere.