Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance | Page 11

August 5, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Prohibition

The first temperance movement emerged in New England as clergy began to equate drinking alcohol with sins like Sabbath breaking and blasphemy. In 1808, the first temperance society was formed, but it singled-out hard liquor, such as rum, as its only target.

Very early in the temperance movement of Reverend Thomas P Hunt, a Presbyterian minister organized a children’s organization called ‘The Cold Water Army.’ In 1831, the large and influential American Temperance Union urged everyone to only drink cold water (not alcoholic beverages) and take a Cold Water Pledge.

Although Kamehameha III broke it regularly, he made intermittent appeals for abstinence among his fellows. For some years in the 1840s, no liquor was served at official functions. (Daws)

Pūʻali Inuwai (“The water drinking host”) was formed on March 15, 1843 – the Cold Water Army – Hawaiʻi’s version of the Temperance Movement.

Following the model elsewhere, they first looked at the children, suggesting: if you had 100 drunkards and tried to reform them, you would be lucky to save maybe 10; however, if you had 100 children and taught them temperance from a young age, you could save 90 out of the 100.

Hawaiʻi youth were encouraged to join. Thousands of children enlisted in the ‘cold water army.’ Once a year they came together for a celebration. They had a grand time on these anniversary occasions. (Youth’s Day Spring, January 1853)

The Cold Water movement apparently saw some early success. “Recruits to strengthen the ranks of the cold water army, adds real force to this nation; and not-only to this nation, but to every other nation where the principles of total abstinence are making progress. Formerly the Sandwich Islanders were a nation of drunkards; but, as a nation, they are now tee-totallers.” (The Friend, 1843)

However, as time went on the push toward prohibition waned. From the 1850s, it was legal to make wine. In 1864-1865, acts were passed permitting legal brewing of beer and distillation of spirits under license at Honolulu. (Daws)

Later, in hopes that free drinking water would entice sailors to stay out of nearby grog shops, “The Temperance Legion has caused to be erected a Drinking Fountain at the corner of King and Bethel streets, on the Bethel premises – a neat and ornamental fountain. … ‘Free to all.’” [dedicated, June 15, 1867] (The Friend, June 1, 1867)

Through the 1870s, Honolulu was the only place in the kingdom where liquor could be sold legally (another instance of the attempt to isolate vice,) but contemporary comment and court reports make it clear that the illegal liquor traffic was brisk everywhere, from Lāhainā and other port towns to the remotest countryside. (Daws)

Honolulu’s The Friend newspaper began as “Temperance Advocate.” Then, it meant to many, moderate-restrained-use of liquor. Not so in all these years. “It meant total abstinence – nay, even prohibition before there was any such term.” (The Friend, 1942)

Then, came prohibition.

On the continent, into the 1900s, Americans debated whether the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages should be legal. Members of the temperance movement sought to reduce drinking – or even eliminate it. The Civil War disrupted the movement temporarily, but after the war ended, supporters resumed its mission with renewed enthusiasm. (US House)

John Granville Woolley was a prominent figure in the American temperance and prohibition movement – he was nominated for the US presidency on the Prohibition party ticket. The Prohibition party – the only party whose principal aim was a ban on the sale of liquor – was founded at a Chicago convention in 1869.

Woolley lobbied for the Prohibition party nationally from the 1880s to the early 1900s and then for the American Anti-Saloon League, a national organization that supported candidates for legislation restricting liquor sales. In 1907, when Woolley vacationed in Hawai‘i, he started a chapter in the Islands. (Hawai’i Digital Newspaper Project)

The Hawaiian legislature passed a liquor licensing law in 1907 in the hope of slowing liquor traffic in the territory. In 1910 Woolley of the Anti-Saloon League of America testified before Congress that the Hawaiian legislature’s licensing law had failed.

Prince Kūhiō stepped in and noted, “There are many good people in Hawaii who believe in prohibition but who do not believe that Congress should enact it.” Woolley pushed Congress to dismantle territorial home rule and Kūhiō fought for home rule. “We are fully capable of settling all our domestic problems,” Kūhiō declared. (US House)

Congress decided that Hawai‘i should hold a special election on Prohibition. The vote occurred in July 1910. The Hawaiian Gazette ran political cartoons to persuade people to vote for prohibition in Hawai‘i.

The newspaper’s editorials and political cartoons portrayed the saloon owners as profiting from the sale of alcohol, or “The White Man Burden,” and the alcohol bringing societal ills to the native Hawaiians. (HDNP)

Kūhiō argued against the bill, asserting that Hawai‘i was guaranteed a large degree of local self-governance. (Curtis) “There are many good people in Hawaii who believe in prohibition but who do not believe that Congress should enact it.,” (Kūhiō, GovInfo)

Ultimately, the Hawai‘i voters voted against prohibition in Hawai‘i. … The Evening Bulletin reported, “The annihilation of the prohibitionists is increasing. If that he possible, in its overwhelming effect as later reports are being received from the other Islands.”

Not one precinct did the pro-Prohibition vote carry on Hawai‘i and the partial returns also indicate this to be a fact on Maui. … The vote indicated anti-prohibitionists’ vote was 7,283 and supporters of prohibition in the Islands tallied 2,185 votes.

“The overwhelming nature of the defeat that has been visited upon the adherents of the [Prohibition] platform in Hawaii, is best indicated by the fact that the anti-prohibitionists polled more votes on Oahu than the prohibitionists polled in the Territory at large.” Evening Bulletin, July 27, 1910)

Pressure in favor of US prohibition grew; in 1917, when O‘ahu was declared a military zone, serving alcohol on the island was banned. Kūhiō viewed the restriction as unfair, since the manufacture and sale of alcohol were still permitted. (GovInfo)

Kūhiō put up a billboard that stated, “You are aware that I am not one who does not touch liquor, neither do I abstain, and I do not want a law which segregates people because they are not white. The days of those activities are over for Hawaii. Kuhio.”

Later, Congress passed the 18^th Amendment – the constitutional amendment known as Prohibition – on December 18, 1917. But before it could be added to the Constitution, three-fourths of the states needed to ratify – or approve – the measure. (US House)

While the 18^th Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating beverages, it did not outlaw the possession or consumption of alcohol in the United States.

The 18th Amendment split the Country; everyone was forced to choose – you were either “dry”, in support of Prohibition, or “wet.” But one thing was clear, Prohibition had little effect on America’s thirst.

Congress imposed prohibition in Hawai‘i in 1918 as a war measure, about a year and a half before the Eighteenth Amendment became effective on the continent. Then, in 1921 in an act supplemental to the National Prohibition Act, the prohibition Act was specifically applied to Hawai‘i, and the territorial courts were given the necessary enforcing jurisdiction. (LRB)

The 18^th Amendment would eventually be repealed and overridden by the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933 – it is the only Constitutional amendment to have been fully repealed. (Reagan Library)

July 30, 2025 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Moʻikeha

Eia Hawai‘i, he moku, he kanaka
He kanaka Hawai‘i, e …
O Moʻikeha ka lani nana e noho
Noho kuʻu lani ia Hawai‘i – a …
Moʻikeha, the chief.

Behold Hawai‘i, an island, a man
A man is Hawaiʻi …
Moʻikeha is the chief who will live there
My chief shall dwell in Hawai‘i …
Moʻikeha, the chief.

By the time European explorers entered the Pacific in the 15th century almost all of the habitable islands had been settled for hundreds of years and oral traditions told of explorations, migrations and travels across this immense watery world.

Double-hulled canoes were seaworthy enough to make voyages of over 2,000-miles along the longest sea roads of Polynesia, like the one between Hawai‘i and Tahiti.

And though these canoes had less carrying capacity than the broad-beamed ships of the European explorers, the Polynesian canoes were faster: one of Captain Cook’s crew estimated a canoe could sail “three miles to our two.” (Kawaharada)

The motivations of the voyagers varied. Some left to explore the world or to seek adventure. Others departed to find new land or new resources because of growing populations or prolonged droughts and other ecological disasters in their homelands.

Within the sphere of known islands, others sailed to wage war or seek vengeance, to escape political persecution or unhappy love affairs, to find a wife or visit relatives, or to obtain prized objects, like red feathers, not available at home.

Whatever the motivation for voyaging, the challenge was always the same – the huge, trackless expanses of sun-heated saltwater capable of generating fierce winds and battering waves.

The challenge was met again and again by Pacific island voyagers, long before sailors in other parts of the world ventured beyond the coastlines of continents or inland seas and lakes. (PVS)

Born at Waipi‘o on the island of Hawai‘i, Moʻikeha sailed to Kahiki (Tahiti), the home of his grandfather Maweke, after a disastrous flood. (Cultural Surveys)

Moʻikeha was an aliʻi nui (high chief) from Moa‘ulanuiakea, Tahiti, where he lived with his wife Kapo. They had a child named Laʻamaikahiki.

Moʻikeha became infatuated with Luʻukia, but she created some domestic difficulties; Moʻikeha directed his foster-son Kamahualele to ready a double-hulled canoe to go to Hawaiʻi.

Moʻikeha planned to take his sisters, Makapuʻu and Makaʻaoa, his two younger brothers, Kumukahi and Haʻehaʻe, his priest Moʻokini, and his prominent men (na kanaka koikoi) – navigators (ho‘okele), favorite priests (kahuna punahele) and his lookouts (kiu nana,) who would spy out land.

Early one morning at dawn, at the rise of the navigation star (ka hoku ho‘okelewa‘a; possibly Sirius), Moʻikeha boarded his double-hulled canoe with his fellow voyagers (hoa holo), and left Tahiti.

After the canoe landed at Hilo, Kumukahi and Haʻehaʻe were charmed by the land and told Moʻikeha they wanted to remain there, so Moʻikeha let them off the canoe.

Soon after, Moʻikeha set sail from Hilo, passing along the north coast of Hawai‘i until he arrived at Kohala. Moʻokini and Kaluawilinau wanted to reside at Kohala, so Mōʻīkeha put them ashore there.

He sailed on to the east coast of Maui and landed at Hāna. Honua‘ula wanted to reside there, so he was allowed to remain behind. Moʻikeha sailed on.

Moʻikeha and his people continued on their journey. Arriving at O‘ahu, Mo‘ikeha’s sisters Makapu‘u and Makaaoa said: “We wish to reside here, where we can see the cloud drifts of Tahiti.” So Makapu‘u and Makaaoa were allowed to remain on O‘ahu.

Moʻikeha left O‘ahu and sailed to Kauai, landing at Wailua. The canoe was brought ashore and the travellers got off. Meanwhile the locals were gathering in a crowd to go surf-riding at Ka-makaiwa. Among them were the two daughters of the ali‘i nui of Kauai, Ho‘oipoikamalanai and Hinauʻu.

When the two sisters saw Moʻikeha, they immediately fell in love with him, and they decided to take him for their husband; Moʻikeha was also struck. Their father approved.

Kila, Moʻikeha’s favorite of three sons by the Kauai chiefess Ho‘oipoikamalanai, was born at Kapaʻa and was said to be the most handsome man on the island. It was Kila who was sent by his father back to Kahiki to slay his old enemies and retrieve a foster son, the high chief La‘amaikahiki.

Moʻikeha settled at Kapaʻa Kauai as ruling chief of the island. Upon his death, Kila, his son, became ruling chief of Kauai. (McGregor) After Moʻikeha’s death, his corpse was taken to the cliffs of Haʻena where it was deposited.

After returning to Tahiti, then sailing again to Hawaiʻi, Laʻamaikahiki set sail again, going up the Kona coast of Hawaiʻi Island. It was on this visit that Laʻamaikahiki introduced hula dancing, accompanied by the drum, to Hawaiʻi. (Bentley)

“To Kauai from far-off Kahiki came Laʻa to see his father Moʻikeha. With him came the first drum ever seen in these islands. La’amaikahiki landed at a small canoe landing called Ahukini, a little south of Hanamaulu bay and the present ahukini landing. His drum was taken to the heiau of Ka Lae o Ka Manu at Wailua.” (Hula Historical Perspectives)

Laʻamaikahiki lived on Kauai for a while. Then he moved to Kahikinui on Maui (the place was named for Laʻamaikahiki’s homeland, in honor of him.) As the place was too windy, however, Laʻamaikahiki left for the west coast of the island of Kahoʻolawe, where he lived until he finally returned to Tahiti.

Because Laʻamaikahiki lived on Kahoʻolawe and set sail for home from that island, the ocean to the west of Kahoʻolawe is called Kealaikahiki, “The Road to Tahiti.”

Laʻamaikahiki took his brother Kila and the bones of their father to Tahiti with him. The bones were to be deposited in the mountain of Kapaahu, Tahiti. Laʻamaikahiki and Kila also lived there until their death. Little more was heard about these two brothers. (Lots of information here is from PVS, Cultural Surveys and Fornander.)

Moikeha_the_Voyaging_King-(HerbKane)

July 28, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hale O Keawe

To help tell the story of Hale O Keawe, the following includes quotes from John Papa ʻĪʻi (who became an attendant of Kamehameha I and later a companion and personal attendant to Liholiho (later King Kamehameha II,)) William Ellis (missionary who circled the island of Hawaiʻi in 1823) and Hiram Bingham (missionary.)

“The Hale O Keawe in Honaunau was called Ka-iki-ʻAlealea (The little ʻAlealea,) and was a puʻuhonua. Kaikiholu and Pakaʻalana on Hawaii, Kakaʻe in ʻIao, Maui; Kūkaniloko in Wahiawa, Oʻahu; and Holoholoku in Wailua, Kauaʻi, were also places to which one who had killed could run swiftly and be saved.”

“The person whose writing this is often went about them, including the Hale O Keawe. He has seen this house (hale ʻaumakua iwi) where the bones were deposited, standing majestically on the left (or south) side of Akahipapa.”

“The house stood by the entrance of a wooden enclosure, with door facing inland towards the farming lands of South Kona.”

“The heir to the kingdom entered the Hale O Keawe during his journey around to the various luakini heiau of Kanoa in Hilo, Wahaʻula in Puna, and Punaluʻu in Kaʻū. The journey began in Kailua, thence to Kawaihae and from there on around the island to the Hale O Keawe.“

“The appearance of the house was good. Its posts and rafters were of kauila wood, and it was said that this kind of timber was found in the upland of Napu’u. It was well built, with crossed stems of dried ti leaves, for that was the kind of thatching used.”

“The appearance inside and outside of the house was good to look at. The compact bundles of bones (pukuʻi iwi) that were deified (hoʻokuaʻia) were in a row there in the house, beginning with Keawe’s near the right side of the door by which one went in and out, and going to the spot opposite the door (kuʻono).”

“At the right front corner of the house where the unwrapped bones of those who had died in war, heaped up like firewood. In that pile of bones were the bones of Nahiolea, father of M Kekūanāoʻa. The person whose writing this is saw his own father remove his tapa shoulder covering and place it on a bundle among the other bundles of bones. He must have asked the caretaker about all of them and their names, and they were told to him. That was why he did so.”

“When the writer saw his father doing this he asked, ‘Have we a near kinsman in this house?’ His father assented. There are some people who have relatives in this house of ‘life’, but perhaps most of them are dead. The chiefs were descended from Hāloa and so were their retainers (kauwa kupono). The chiefs were born, such as Lono-i-ka-makahiki and Kama-lala-walu and so on down, and so were the retainers (i.e., the junior members of the family.)”

“After the chief ʻIolani (Liholiho) had finished his visit to the house, a pig was cooked and the gathering sat to worship (hoʻomana) the deified persons there. When that was done, the chief and those who went in with him ate together. After the eating was over, the kapu was removed. The travellers left the Hale O Keawe and sailed by canoe, landing at Kamakahonu in Kailua in the evening. There they met Kamehameha. That must have been in the year 1817.” (John Papa ʻĪʻi)

A few years later (1823,) William Ellis and others visited Honaunau and Hale O Keawe. Ellis documented this, noting, “Honaunau, we found, was formerly a place of considerable importance, having been the frequent residence of the kings of Hawaii, for several successive generations.”

“The monuments of the ancient idolatry, with which this place abounds, were, from some cause unknown to us, spared, amidst the general destruction of the idols, &c. that followed the abolition of the aitabu, in the summer of 1819.”

“The principal object, that attracted our attention, was the ‘hare o Keave’ (house of Keawe,) a sacred depository of the bones of departed kings and princes, probably erected as a depository for the bones of the king whose name it bears, and who reigned in Hawaii, about eight generations back.”

“It is a compact building, 24 feet by 16, constructed with the most durable timber, and thatched with ti leaves, standing on a bed of lava, which runs out a considerable distance into the sea. It is surrounded by a strong fence, or paling, leaving an area in the front and at each end, about twenty-four feet wide, paved with smooth fragments of lava laid down with considerable skill.”

“Several rudely carved male and female images of wood were placed on the outside of the enclosure; some on low pedestals, under the shade of an adjacent tree; others on high posts, on the jutting rocks that hung over the edge of the water.”

“A number stood on the fence at unequal distances all around; but the principal assemblage of these frightfull representatives of their former deities, was at the south-east end of the enclosed space, where, forming a semicircle, twelve of them stood in grim array, as if perpetual guardians of ‘the mighty dead’ reposing in the house adjoining.”

“A pile of stones was neatly laid up in the form of a crescent, about three feet wide, and two feet higher than the pavement, and in this pile the images were fixed. They stood on small pedestals three or four feet high, though some were placed on pillars eight or ten feet in height, and curiously carved.”

“The principal idol stood in the centre, the others on either hand, the most powerful being placed nearest to him. He was not so large as some of the others, but was distinguished by the variety and superior carving of his body, and especially of his head.”

“Once they had evidently been clothed, but now they appeared in the most indigent nakedness. A few tattered shreds round the neck of one that stood on the left hand side of the door, rotted by the rain, and bleached by the sun, were all that remained of numerous and gaudy habiliments, with which their votaries had formerly arrayed them.”

“A large pile of broken calabashes and cocoanut shells Jay in the centre, and a considerable heap of dried and partly rotten wreaths of flowers, branches of shrubs and hushes, and fragments of tapa, (the accumulated offerings of former days,) formed an unsightly mound immediately before each of the images.”

“The horrid stare of these idols, the tattered garments upon some of them, and the heaps of rotting offerings before them, seemed to us no improper emblems of the system they were designed to support; distinguished alike by its cruelty, folly, and wretchedness.”

“…we looked in and saw many large images, some of wood very much carved, others of red feathers, with widely distended mouths, large rows of sharks teeth, and glaring pearl-shell eyes.”

“We also saw several bundles of .human bones, cleaned, carefully tied up, and placed in different parts of the house, together with some rich shawls and other valuable articles, probably worn by those, to whom the bones belonged, as the wearing apparel, and other personal property of the chiefs, is generally buried with them.”

“Adjoining the Hare O Keave, to the southward, we found a pahu tabu (sacred inclosure) of considerable extent; and were informed by our guide, that it was one of the pohonuas of Hawaii, of which we had so often heard the chiefs and others speak. There are only two on the island, the one, which we were then examining, and another at Waipiʻo, on the north-east part of the island, in the district of Kohala.”

ʻThe zeal of Kaʻahumanu led her as early as 1829 to visit the Hale O Keawe at Honaunau, a cemetery associated with dark superstitions, and surrounded with horrid wooden images of former generations. The regent visited the place not to mingle her adorations with her early contemporaries and predecessors to the relics of departed mortals, but for the purpose of removing the bones of twenty-four deified kings and princes of the Hawaiian race….” (Bingham)

“… when she saw it ought to be done, she determined it should be done: and in company with Mr. Ruggles and Kapiolani, she went to the sacred deposit, and caused the bones to be placed in large coffins and entombed in a cave in the precipice at the head of Kealakekua Bay.” (Bingham)

Hale O Keawe is part of the Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park, originally established in 1955 as City of Refuge National Historical Park (renamed on November 10, 1978.)

Hale O Keawe was Depository of the Kings of Hawaii, at Honaunau

Sketch of Hale-o-Keawe by Dampier, 1825

Seawalls at the east end of Hale o Keawe-1921

Robert_C._Barnfield_-_watercolor_painting_of_Hale_o_Keawe-1886

Puuhonua_O_Honaunau-Smith

Puuhonua_O_Honaunau-Kekahuna-SP 201979-map

Puuhonua_O_Honaunau-Hale_O_Keawe-lower_left

Image removed from Hale-o-Keawe and later presented to the Bishop Museum

Hale-O-Keawe

Hale-o-Keawe-(hawaiireporter)

Hale_O-Keawe-(NPS)

Hale_O_Keawe_Platform_and_Vicinity

Hale_o_keawe

Hale O Keawe-Ellis-1823

Hale o Keawe platform after the 1960s restoration-(NPS)

Andrew Bloxam’s drawings of the exterior appearance and interior arrangement of Hale-o-Keawe

July 27, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“Your Affectionate & Unhappy Friend”

John Young, a Briton who came to the islands in 1790 and befriended and supported Kamehameha, was called Olohana (“All Hands!”) He had four children,—Jane, Fannie Kekelo, Grace and John Young Jr.

The daughter, Fannie Kekela was the mother of Emma (Kaleleonalani – born January 2, 1836,) who was adopted by Doctor Rooke, an Englishman. On June 9, 1856, Emma married Alexander Liholiho, King Kamehameha IV, and then was known as Queen Emma. (Restarick)

Across the globe, Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London, on May 24, 1819. She was the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III. She became heir to the throne because the three uncles who were ahead of her in succession – George IV, Frederick Duke of York and William IV – had no legitimate children who survived.

On William IV’s death, she became Queen at the age of 18 on June 20, 1837. Queen Victoria is associated with Britain’s great age of industrial expansion, economic progress and, especially, empire. (At her death, it was said, Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun never set.) (British Monarchy)

The two queens were unlike in more than the size of their realms. Victoria was almost a generation older than Emma. Victoria had nine children, the last one born in 1857, a year before Emma’s one and only child, the Prince of Hawaiʻi.

Queen Victoria and Queen Emma exchanged letters (many of them sad exchanges about the losses experienced by each.) The correspondence between the two queens began in September 1862, with Queen Emma’s announcement of the death of the Prince of Hawaiʻi, her son and Queen Victoria’s godson.

It took 6-months for letter exchanges – at least 3-months for a letter to travel each way from Hawaiʻi to England. (Kanahele)

Queen Emma’s first letter (September 10, 1862) expresses her appreciation to Queen Victoria for her willingness to be godmother to Emma’s only child, Prince Albert …”As a wife and fond mother, my heart overflows with gratitude to your Majesty, for the honour which you have been so graciously pleased to render to the King, my husband, and to our only son, in condescending to become his sponsor, at his baptism.”

However, that same letter also notified Queen Victoria that Prince Albert had died … “But, alas! Your Majesty’s spiritual relation to my beloved child has been of short duration, for it pleased Almighty God, in his inscrutable Providence, to call him away from this world, on the 17th August, only a few days after his baptism.” Queen Emma signed it: “Your Good & Grateful friend – Emma.”

Victoria, in mourning for years after the death of her husband in December 1861, replied (February 14, 1863) on her personal notepaper, marked with a wide black border on the paper and envelope and sealed with black sealing wax.

“As a Mother you will understand how fully I am able to appreciate the depth of your grief, at the sad loss which so soon succeeded to the Holy Ceremony. As a wife I can sincerely hope that you may be spared the heavier blow which has plunged me into life long sorrow,—but which makes my heart tenderly alive to all the sorrows of others.”

Later that year, Alexander Liholiho (King Kamehameha IV,) Emma’s husband, died. On February 14, 1864, she wrote to Victoria of the news and her grief, signing, “I remain Your Majesty’s afflicted but grateful friend”.

“My heart is very, very heavy while I make known to Your Majesty that God has visited me with that great trouble which in your kind and consoling letter you said you hoped I might be spared.”

“On the 30th. November my Husband, of whose danger I had never entertained one thought, expired suddenly, almost while in the act of speaking to me, and it was a long while before they could make me believe that what I saw was death and that he had really left me alone for the remainder of my life.”

“This blow has been very hard on me. It seems truly as yesterday that we lost our beautiful boy Albert, Your Majestys Godson, of whom I am afraid we were too fond and proud, and from whom we looked for such great things, flattering ourselves that his very name gave an assurance of his becoming as he grew up, every thing that is good and true and Prince-like.”

Victoria replied (June 14, 1864,) “My bleeding heart can truly sympathize with you in your terrible desolation! A dear & promising only child & a beloved Husband have both been taken from you within two years! Time does not heal the really stricken heart!”

“May God give you strength to bear up under your heavy affliction. I remain Your Majesty’s affectionate & unhappy friend Victoria R.” (The phrase “unhappy friend” was often used by Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert. (Hackler))

For the next 20 years, the two Queens wrote each other from time to time, sharing news of family events, happy and tragic. They exchanged photographs and small gifts and inquired about each other’s health and that of their families.

It was not until 1865 that Queen Emma travelled to England; there, she had the rare experience of spending the night with the British royal family in Windsor Castle. Victoria never made it to the Islands.

“The highlight of Emma’s visit was her audience with her son’s godmother and the ruler of the most powerful nation in the world and hence the most powerful woman in the world, Queen Victoria. She had looked forward to the meeting since her first letter recounting her son’s death.”

“But so was had Queen Victoria who, according to Prime Minister Lord John Russell, was ‘anxious to show her every attention and civility, & will be much interested in seeing her.’” (Kanahele)

In writing her appreciation for the visit, Emma wrote (December 12, 1865,) “Allow me to say with how much gratitude and affection I shall always cherish the remembrance of you and yours and with what pleasure I feel that I may subscribe myself My dear Madam, Your very sincere and faithful friend, Emma”

The last known letter exchange between the two was in 1882, Victoria responded to Emma, “My dear Friend, You wrote me a most kind letter on the occasion of the attempt on my life … We are now engaged in a war which I hope will be of short duration …”

“We were pleased to make the acquaintance of King Kalakaua and I would ask you to remember me to him. With renewed expressions of friendship and esteem, Your majesty’s affectionate friend, Victoria R.I.”

In 1883, Emma suffered the first of several small strokes and died two years later on April 25, 1885 at the age of 49; Queen Victoria died on January 20, 1901. This summary is the result of inspiration and lots of information from Hackler and her paper, ‘My Dear Friend.’

Queen_Emma-(with_Christening_font)-Queen_Victoria

Queen_Victoria_to_Queen_Emma-partial_letter-HSA-Oct_20,_1872

Queen_Victoria,_photographed_by_George_Washington_Wilson-WC-1863

Silver christening vessel from Queen Victoria who had agreed to be Prince Albert Edward’s godmother

Queen_Emma_of_Hawaii,_photograph_by_John_and_Charles_Watkins-WC-1865

Queen_Emma_of_Hawaii_and_christening_font-WC

Queen_Victoria_by_Bassano-WC-1882

July 24, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Declaration of War

It starts with the delivery of a simple package … two ʻulu maika stones wrapped in kapa.

This was an announcement of war between two aliʻi. It was an offer, and a threat.

The kilo (reader of omens) and the kuhikuhipuʻuone (seer, soothsayer) were familiar with the thought behind those white and black stones, and they also understood the ki-leaf knots which were made.

The white stone signified peace and not war, showing the clean thought of the person who sent it, and it might be reciprocated by the return of that stone without a wrapping.

The black stone was a symbol of war between the one who sent it and the one to whom it was sent. (Desha)

The recipient was asked to make a choice.

If the recipient aliʻi sought peace, he returned the white stone. That would show his good intentions and that he was asking that they dwell in affection without starting a war between them.

If he agreed to war between himself and the aliʻi who had sent those stones, then he would take the black stone and wrap it in black kapa, and return it to the aliʻi who had sent the stones.

This action would announce war between them, the stone symbolizing the black thought between them. This would lead to preparations for war.

Kamehameha used this in his conquest of the Islands.

On receipt by Keawemauhili, he chose the white stone and sent it back to Kamehameha showing his good will toward him.

The messenger to Keawemauhili returned with that stone and appeared before Kamehameha and his court. Kamehameha opened up the kapa bundle and saw the white stone within and he turned and said to his chiefs:

“My makua kane (uncle) of Hilo does not desire to oppose me, and it would not be well for our side to go to war with him. It would be a cause for the god to favor him and desert us, as there is no wrongdoing on that side, and we alone desire to make war.”

However, Keʻeaumoku, his uncle and war-seeking advisor said while he returned the white stone, it was deficient. He said Kamehameha should have also asked for the sweet tasting ‘anae (mullet) and the fat awa (milkfish) of Hilo. Kamehameha sent his messenger with that request.

Keawemauhili immediately commanded the konohiki of his fishpond to fetch some fish for the ali‘i Kamehameha, saying: “Fetch four fat ‘anae and also four fat awa, and wrap them in seaweed to keep them alive until they arrive before my keiki Kamehameha.” Keawemauhili also sent back a bundle with two stones wrapped in ki leaves, both white coral.

The later death of Kanekoa at the hands of Keoua led Kamehameha to make war plans, Keawemauhili of Hilo and Keoua of Kaʻu joined forces – Kamehameha attacked Keawemauhili.

A later declaration of war was sent to Kahekili.

In the spring of 1790, Kamehameha invaded the island of Maui. One of the bloodiest battles of Kamehameha’s time was fought and won by him at ʻIao Valley. So many men were killed in this battle that their bodies filled the river, which gave the name of the battle Kepaniwai (the damning of waters.)

After the battle, Kamehameha was on the island of Molokai; he sent a messenger to Kahekili, the King of Maui and Kauai, carrying to symbolic stones, one white and the other black.

“This stone, the white one, is a symbol of farming, of fishing, of the feeding of mankind, and is a stone of rule of government also. This black stone is a stone of war.”

Kahekili paused for a while, then turned again and questioned the messenger: “Ea, does Kamehameha say by these stones that he desires to sail to O‘ahu to make war?” “Yes,” the messenger replied.

If the King returned the white stone, it was equivalent to giving Kamehameha their kingdom without battle; but if the black stone came back, he would prepare for war. Kahekili answered that when his body should be covered with the black tapa (when he was dead,) then Kamehameha could take possession of the Kingdom without battle.

This was acceptable for the time being. Kamehameha waited. Kahekili died in 1794.

“The appropriate time has now come to fulfill that thought of our uncle in giving the land. I am blameless in taking that land because it was previously conveyed to me because of those words of bequest by our uncle.” (Kamehameha; Desha)

In 1795 Kamehameha sailed from his home island of Hawaiʻi with an army of thousands of warriors, including a handful of non-Hawaiian foreigners to battle Kalanikūpule (Kahekili’s son.).

The war apparently ends with some of Kalanikūpule’s warriors pushed/jumping off the Pali. When the Pali Highway was being built, excavators counted approximately 800-skulls, believed to be the remains of the warriors who were defeated by Kamehameha.

Finally, Kamehameha’s messenger delivered to Kaumuali‘i of Kauai a black stone, which was a really beautiful ʻulu maika, and some small black ʻulu maika. Those excellent large and small stones were marked with cord (kahamaha ia). Besides these excellent large and small stones, a white maika stone wrapped in kï leaves.

The large and small black maika stones were as though Kamehameha was saying to Kaumuali‘i through these stones: “Perhaps by strength Kauai might be gotten or perhaps not.” That was the nature of those black maika stones—they were words of war.

The white maika stone wrapped in ki leaves was a denial of war, showing the white thought in Kaumuali‘i’s heart, that he did not desire war.

The fine-meshed net expressed the thought that the other islands of Hawai‘i were bound under Kamehameha, in other words, Hawai‘i, Maui, Lānai, Kahoʻolawe, Molokai, and O‘ahu. If the discussion went well, then Kauai and Ni‘ihau would be included in the fine-meshed net.

Kaumuali‘i kept the black stones which had been sent him and returned the white maika stone wrapped in kī leaves to the messenger. It was wrapped in the fine-meshed net, and also a section of bamboo was given the messenger.

Kauai’s opposing factions (Kaumuali‘i versus Keawe) were extremely vulnerable as they had been weakened by fighting each other (Keawe died and Kaumuali‘i was, ultimately, ruler of Kauai and Ni‘ihau.) Kamehameha’s two attempts at invading Kauai were foiled (by storm and sickness.)

The island was never conquered; in the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, at Pākākā on Oʻahu, negotiations between King Kaumuali‘i and Kamehameha I took place and Kaumualiʻi yielded to Kamehameha. The agreement marked the end of war and thoughts of war across the islands.

The image shows Kamehameha as a young warrior. (Herb Kane) (Lots of information here from Desha.)

Young_King_Kamehameha-(HerbKane)