Kahili once more grace palace throne

A new pair of resplendent feather kahili are standing at attention in the Throne Room of Iolani Palace. Brilliant white and 16 feet tall, the standards were made by hand using more than 22,000 moli (Laysan albatross) feathers and installed at midnight Nov. 16 under cover of darkness, as was dictated by royal protocol during the reign of King Kalakaua.

The lofty, cloudlike cylinders resting atop pleated yellow satin pa‘u are reproductions, made by hand in the traditional method by kahili master Shad Kane. Placed on either side of the dais, they are named Piikoi (male) and Kinoiki (female).

The original kahili of the Kalakaua family disappeared after the king’s death in 1891, according to Zita Cup Choy, palace historian and docent educator. The palace remained bereft of kahili until a year and a half ago, when the Royal Order of Kamehameha I loaned it two kahili with yellow feathers and red pa‘u made during the 20th century.

“During Kalakaua’s coronation there were many kahilis, including the white kahili of Pili, a 14th-century alii and the linear ancestor of the Kalakauas, who brought the kahili with him from Kawiki,” Choy said during a visit to the Throne Room, where the white pili kahili brightened the space’s red-velvet interior on a gray, rainy day.

Laysan albatross feathers were chosen for the royal kahili because “they soar higher than other birds,” Choy said.

The feathers came from Laysan albatrosses that died of natural causes on Midway Atoll in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. The carcasses were collected and brought to Oahu by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries, working in partnership with the palace, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association.

Volunteers assisted Kane in plucking and washing the feathers. It then took the kahili master six months to attach the feathers to the 16-inch-diameter wire frame with floral wire.

Gazing up at the majestic kahili, one could easily picture great oceanic birds in flight.

The kahili are on permanent display in the Throne Room and can be viewed during regular palace tours. For more information call 522-0822 or visit iolanipalace.org.