Panels from the historical exhibit “A Source of Light, Constant and Never-Fading” that are on display at the Lahaina Heritage Museum. PHOTO COURTESY OF KA ‘OHANA O KALAUPAPA.

LAHAINA — An historical exhibit about the strong relationship between the Royal Family of Hawai’i and the people of Kalaupapa is on display across the hallway from the Lahaina Heritage Museum in the Old Lahaina Courthouse through Feb. 28.

The award-winning exhibit “A Source of Light, Constant and Never Fading” was produced by Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit organization made up of Kalaupapa residents, family members and friends, and is being hosted by Lahaina Restoration Foundation. The exhibit was produced with assistance from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Kamehameha Schools.

The exhibit will be open daily from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $5.

Tours of the exhibit, led by Lahaina Restoration Foundation Cultural Director Kalapana Kollars, will take place every Wednesday at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon.

Kollars has another connection to the exhibit: the name of his great-grandfather, Lui Kapi’ioho, is one of the signatures on the pages of the Ku’e petition against annexation that are shown in the exhibit.

Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa helped Kollars and other family members visit Kalaupapa several years ago, where they met many of the residents and felt an even stronger connection to their Kalaupapa ‘ohana.

From 1866 to 1969, nearly 8,000 men, women and children were taken from their families and forcibly isolated on the peninsula commonly known as Kalaupapa because of government policies regarding leprosy (now also called Hansen’s disease).

The exhibit focuses on the often-forgotten relationship among members of the ali’i and the people of Kalaupapa, including King Kalakaua, Queen Kapi’olani and Queen Lili’uokalani. Traditional histories of Kalaupapa often fail to include what the ali’i were doing to improve life for people in Hawaii who were affected by leprosy. One panel features a two-day visit of Queen Kapi’olani with then-Princess Lili’uokalani to Kalaupapa in 1884, where the Queen visited every house in the settlement as well as the peninsula.

The exhibit also emphasizes the impacts on Kalaupapa caused by the Bayonet Constitution in 1887, when a group of Western businessmen forced King Kalakaua to give up his authority at bayonet point. Three pages of the Ku’e petition are also included that feature some of the signatures of the more than 700 people from Kalaupapa and Kalawao who were among the 21,000 signatures gathered across Hawaii in 1897 of citizens who opposed annexation to the United States. Lui Kapi’ioho’s name is one of those shown.

The exhibit includes historical and modern-day photographs, reproductions of handwritten letters, quotations and a beautiful mele to Queen Lili’uokalani penned by 22-year-old Kalaupapa resident David Kahoeka in 1897 that gives the exhibit its title.

The exhibit is part of the observations for Kalaupapa Month held every January in Hawaii and ‘Olelo Hawai’i Month held every February.

For more information on the exhibit at the Lahaina Heritage Museum, visit lahainarestoration.org. For more information on Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa and Kalaupapa Month, visit www.kalaupapaohana.org.