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Kawika Kapahulehua
Image courtesy of the Barack Obama Presidential Library
Kawika Kapahulehua
Image courtesy of the Barack Obama Presidential Library

Kawika Kapahulehua

Hawaiian, 1930 - 2007
Kapahulehua was a Hawaiian sailor who was the first to captain an ocean-voyaging canoe from Hawaii to Tahiti in modern times. In later life, he taught the Hawaiian language, wrote vocabulary books, and officiated at traditional Hawaiian rites.