During the awards ceremony of the Queen Liliuokalani Long Distance Canoe Race on Saturday, a very special presentation was held for a trophy with deep roots embedded into the Hawaiian community. ADVERTISING During the awards ceremony of the Queen Liliuokalani
During the awards ceremony of the Queen Liliuokalani Long Distance Canoe Race on Saturday, a very special presentation was held for a trophy with deep roots embedded into the Hawaiian community.
Before 1982, it was nearly unheard of for women to compete in long distance canoe races. But that would all change at the Kona Garden’s Race, a paddling event on the west side of the island that stretched over eight miles.
Ka’uhane Lee-Penehira and her crew were the first females to cross the finish line while competing in a koa canoe. The win was quite a surprise for everyone, including the team.
“During the time we were racing out of a small club in Hilo. We were small but we had a lot of heart and soul paddlers,” Lee-Penehira said. “When we crossed the finish line we thought we were last because there were no other canoes. Turns out we not only finished first in koa, but first overall as well.”
To mark the occasion, Bernard Pierre “Papa” Kimitete carved a trophy out of koa wood to present to the winner of the koa division.
Lee-Penehira’s team was that recipient and she has held on to the trophy for 34 years.
The trophy has meant a lot to the long time paddler, who considers it more than just a prize won in a race.
“I don’t see it as a trophy — I see it as a the mana of Papa Kimitete blending into my home,” Lee-Penehira said. “It was my guardian, my protector, always standing up straight, facing the entrance.”
Recently, with her life taking a new direction, Lee-Penehira found herself wondering what to do with the trophy until one day she had a vision that she should return it to the Kimitete family. Originally, she was going to hand it over privately, but was talked into doing a ceremony by a Kai Opua administrator.
“I had a vision that kept coming to me and it was that this tiki needed to come back home to the Hawaii Island and back into the arms of the Kimitete family,” Lee-Penehira said. “The vision showed that I needed to reciprocate that mana, that aloha, that love and give back as a part of re-connection.”
Lee-Penehira completed that re-connection on Saturday when she handed over the trophy to Kai Ehitu head coach Richard Kimitete. The ceremony was an emotional surprise to the Kimitete family.
“I did not expect this but it really means a lot,” Richard Kimitete said. “I am really proud of this tiki. It is one of the last carvings by Papa since he left. I’m wearing my glasses on right now so you can’t see the tears coming down from my eyes.”
