Yesterday's Rainbow: A tall tale - Tapa blanda

This tall tale is about the lives, loves and anguish of several fictive pagan Hawaiians during the disappearance of their Kingdom of Hawai`i in the 19th Century. They struggled to save their beloved Isles and people from becoming fable. The Kingdom's authoritarian kings and chiefs, with Christian missionary coaching, were bent on destroying their pagan culture and values to please Jehovah, giving scant help to relieve the deathly plight of their diseased, fast-fading people. The pagans tried to convince the chiefs that the salvation of their `aina (land) and lahui kanaka (Hawaiian people) was more urgent than the salvation of their souls in Christ. Their paths collided. Although historical characters like King Kamehameha and Queen Ka`ahumanu cohabit in this tale, their lives, settings and dialogue are purely fictional. This tale is dedicated to those pagans, the heroes of the Kingdom.

John Tanaka lives in Kohala on the big island of Hawai'i with his wife, Amy. A native Hawaiian, he attended public schools in Honolulu, the University of Hawai'i/Manoa, served as a Counter Intelligence Agent in the U. S. Army during World War II, and rec