Facing the Spears of Change: The Life and Legacy of John Papa I'i

Marie Alohalani Brown Softcover, 272 pp.Facing the Spears of Change takes a close look at the extraordinary life of John Papa Īī. Over the years, Īī faced many personal and political changes and challenges in rapid succession, which he skillfully parried or seized, then used to fend off other attacks. He began serving in the household of Kamehameha I as an attendant in 1810, when he was ten. His early service took place in a time when aliʻi nui (the highest-ranking Hawaiians) were considered divine and surrounded with strict kapu (sacred prohibitions); breaking a kapu pertaining to an aliʻi meant death for the transgressor. As an attendant, Īī was highly familiar with the inner workings of the royal household. He went on to become an influential statesman, privy to the shifting modes of governance adopted by the Hawaiian kingdom. Īī's intelligence and his good standing with those he served resulted in a great degree of influence within the Hawaiian government, with his fellow Hawaiians