Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Buried at Sea

As there was no proper place for the burial of Lunalilo’s mother Kekāuluohi (she died June 7, 1845, at the age of 50,) Lunalilo ordered “his native servants to take the bones of his mother and bury them in the bosom of the deep, where no mortal could disturb them.”

“At the dead of night, the canoe bearing the remains of Kekāuluohi, manned by a crew of native kahu (attendants) left Waikiki. They went to a point many miles off Diamond Head. When they reached the place, prayers (kanaenae) were offered according to the ancient rites of burial.”

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kalākua

Kalākua (also Kaheiheimālie) (c. 1778–1842) was daughter of Keʻeaumoku, a chief from Hawaiʻi Island and Namahana, from the royal family on Maui. She was described as physically being ‘tall and gigantic,’ like her siblings. Her siblings included Queen Kaʻahumanu, Hawaiʻi Island Governor John Adams Kuakini, Maui Governor George Cox Kahekili Keʻeaumoku II and Lydia Namahana Piʻia. She first married Kalaʻimamahu, the younger brother of Kamehameha I. Her first daughter, Kekāuluohi, became Kamehameha’s youngest wife.

Kekāuluohi later married Charles Kanaʻina. By Kanaʻina, had a son William Charles Lunalilo (future king of the Islands.) Kalākua married Kamehameha I and had four children: their two sons died as infants; the oldest daughter, Kamāmalu, became wife of Liholiho (Kamehameha II,) and the youngest daughter, Kīnaʻu, later became Kuhina Nui. Kīnaʻu later married Mataio Kekūanāoʻa; they had several children, including Lot Kapuāiwa (Kamehameha V,) Alexander Liholiho (Kamehameha IV) and Victoria. She later married Hoapili. Kalākua was mother of two Queen consorts and grandmother of three future Kings.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Tea Party

“On Tuesday of last week (December 11, 1827,) Mrs Bingham & Mrs Richards, undertook to make a ‘tea party’ to bring all the chiefs in the place & the members of the mission family together to join in a friendly & social cup of tea, to shew Christian kindness & civility to our Sandwich Island neighbors and to promote kind feelings among the chiefs themselves now assembled from the different Islands.” Those in attendance included, Ka‘ahumanu, Kalākua, Pi‘ia, Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III,) Nahienaena, Kuakini, Naihe, Kapi‘olani, Hoapili, Kaikioewa, Keaweamahi, Kapule, Kaiu, Kekāuluohi, Kīna’u, Kekauōnohi, La‘anui, Keli‘iahonui, Kana‘ina, Leleiōhoku and Kamanele.

“But look, for a few moments, at the present group: twenty-one chiefs of the Sandwich islands mingling in friendly, courteous and Christian conversation with seven of the mission family, whom you have employed among them. Contemplate their former and their present habits, their former and their present hopes. They have laid aside their vices and excesses, and their love of noise and war.”

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

He ‘Ōlelo Lokomaikai

For a while the Islands were under the rule of the British commission set up by Lord George Paulet. Then, on July 31, 1843, Thomas declared the end of the Provisional Cession and recognized Kamehameha III as King of the Hawaiian Islands and the Islands to be independent and sovereign; the Hawaiian flag was raised – it was Ka La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day. “Then succeeded the roar of the guns of the fort, Punch-bowl Battery, the admiral’s ship, Dublin, the United States’ ship, Boston, and others. The day was a day of rejoicing and congratulations”.

The King issued an edict: He ‘Ōlelo Lokomaikai – Act of Grace, “none of our Subjects shall be punished by our Authority, for any act committed by them or any of them to the injury of our Government between the 25th of February, 1843”, “all prisoners of every description, from Hawaiʻi to Niʻihau, be immediately discharged.” “All Government business will be suspended for ten days after this date, that all persons may be free to enjoy themselves in the festivities and rejoicings appropriate to the occasion.”

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kekāuluohi

Kekāuluohi, daughter and firstborn (July 27, 1794) of Kaheiheimālie and Kalaʻimamahu (Kamehameha’s younger half-brother,) was reared by her maternal grandparents, Namahana and Keʻeaumoku (the most noted of all the warriors of Kamehameha I.) Kekāuluohi was looked on as the family head, and her father’s own trusted kahu and the latter’s kin were her caretakers. Kekāuluohi became Kamehameha’s youngest wife; after Kamehameha’s death his son Liholiho (Kamehameha II) took her as one of his wives.

Around 1821 Kamehameha II gave Kekāuluohi to his friend Charles Kanaʻina. By Kanaʻina she had a son Prince William Charles Lunalilo, born on January 31, 1835; he succeeded Kamehameha V as king. Kekāuluohi succeeded her half-sister Kīna‘u as Kuhina Nui. Kekāuluohi was a co-signer with Kamehameha III of Hawai‘i’s first Constitution in 1840. Kekāuluohi became a member of the Protestant church of the missionaries. The Hawai‘i State Archives is located in the Kekāuluohi Building on the ʻIolani Palace Grounds just behind the Kanaʻina Building (Old Archives Building.)