Mānoa Heritage Center

Mānoa Chinese Cemetery: Legacy of a Valley

Please join us for our first Virtual Kahaukani Conversations event of 2021 on Thursday, January 14 at 5 pm on Zoom. Registration is FREE!

“Mānoa Chinese Cemetery: Legacy of a Valley” with Nanette Naioma Napoleon will include an introductory history of the site and its role as a prominent geographical and cultural feature of Mānoa Valley, followed by a discussion of the specific preservation issues faced when dealing with compromised headstones.

Click below to go to the registration page; the Zoom link will be emailed to you prior to the presentation. We hope to see you there!

About the Speaker

Nanette is a freelance researcher, writer, and lecturer who focuses on the history and cultures of Hawaiʻi. She is best known as being the state’s leading expert on historic cemeteries and is the author of the book Oahu Cemetery Burial Ground & Historic Site. She has been featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles, and television news stories. In 2020, she received a prestigious individual achievement award from the Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation for her 35 years of research, educational outreach, and legislative advocacy regarding historic cemetery sites.

Kahaukani Conversations is made possible with support from: 

Atherton Family Foundation
G. N. Wilcox Trust
Island Insurance 
Mālama Mānoa 

Join the Discussion

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  1. The 121 year old Kauaha’ao cemetary in Waiohinu, Kau, big island is falling apart. One of the outstanding tombs is of the Ka’uhane family. The Reverend John James Ka’uhane and his wife Annie Manoheali’i Kekela are buried together in the tomb. But the entry is so decomposed that you can see inside. It is boarded up more or less. James Ka’uhane was the first Hawaiian minister of the church. His mother was Alapai-wahine. His wife Manoheali’i was the daughter of Rev. James Kekela the very first Hawaiian reverend in Hawaii. He was given a gold Cartier watch from Abraham Lincoln for saving and American sailor from being eaten by cannibals in the Marquesas. Now their tomb is open to robbery. Five others are supposedly lying in with them. One a princess, but who? We don’t know. I am getting a group to do something about this and would like to either have OHA or any others who are interested, to get involved to preserve this historic site.