Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance | Page 115

March 6, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘The Hope of the Nation’

“On the eve of the 14th inst, at 7:30 o’clock Frank James Woods and Eva Kalanikauleleiaiwi Parker were married at the Parker residence at Mana by the Rev CH Tompkins, the parson of the Anglican Church of Hāmākua.”

“Members of the families of the contracting parties and a few intimate friends had been invited to attend the ceremony and the fine residence was filled with the guests who were cordially welcomed by the genial host and hostess.”

“Among the guests were noticed the Princess Kaʻiulani, Prince Cupid and wife, Prince David J H Wodehouse, Captain John Ross, Miss K Vida, and a few other Honolulu friends. …”

“It was nearly 6 o’clock in the morning and the dawn was breaking when the young couple bade good bye and drove away among showers of rice, tears, laughter, flowers and old shoes.”

“At Waimea Mr and Mrs Woods stopped at the Parker residence at Puopelo to see the venerable Mrs Hauai Parker and after a short rest they proceeded on their journey to their beautiful home at Kahua. …

“The bridegroom is the second son of the late James Woods a prominent rancher and planter on Hawaii. He is the owner of the Kahua ranch in the Kohala district and is a worthy young man an honor to his race and to his family.”

“The bride is the oldest daughter of the Hon Samuel Parker who since her return from England where she received her education has been a favorite in society in Honolulu as well as in San Francisco.” (Independent, December 19, 1898)

The future seemed uncertain for Princess Kaʻiulani when she headed to the Island of Hawai‘i for the wedding of her friend Eva Parker.

Disillusioned by life in Americanized Honolulu, saddened by the injustice of circumstance, she expressed herself in letter to Lili’uokalani, written as 1898 drew to a close, feelings alive in most Hawaiian hearts.

“They have taken away everything from us and it seems there is left but a little, and with that little our very life itself. We live now in such a semi retired way, that people wonder if we even exist any more. I wonder too, and to what purpose?” (Kelley)

Even with Kaʻiulani’s attempts to gain support for the monarchy, the US Congress voted for annexation, and on August 12, 1898, Hawai‘i officially became an American territory.

Then, the sad news, “Princess Ka‘iulani is dead.”

“Her young life went out at two o’clock this morning (March 6, 1899,) at her residence, Waikiki. The sad event had been feared for more than a month, and deemed hourly imminent for a week past.”

“It was about four months ago that the Princess was first attacked with the illness that has cut her off in the springtime of life. Rheumatism induced by exposure to rain upon an excursion into a valley near Honolulu, undertaken for a short visit to a country retreat there, was the malady.”

“Relief was sought in change to the dry mountain air of Hon Saml Parker’s residence on Hawai‘i, and was gained in some degree when a fresh cold from bathing caused a relapse.”

“Ultimately, about a month ago, it was deemed necessary to have the Princess brought home. Her father and Dr St DG Walters attended her on the trip.”

“Alarming reports came from her bedside a week before the end. She was constantly attended by Dr. FL Miner and Dr Walters, but the disease had advanced beyond the power of medical skill to check.”

“Still there was hope of a favorable turn until close to the last hour. The fact that the affection was threatening the heart, however, made the case critical.”

“Half an hour before the end it was certain the Princess was dying, and intimate friends were called in to join the stricken father at the bedside. There were present in the death chamber the following:”

“Hon. AS Cleghorn, Mr. and Mrs. Jas. W. Robertson, Mr. and Mrs. Jas. H Boyd, Miss Kato Vida, Miss Helen Parker, Col. S Parker, Dr. St D. G. Walters and wife, Dr. FL Miner, Prince David Kawānanakoa, Lumaheihei, Miss EIsie Robertson and Kaʻiulani’s maid.”

“Princess Victoria Kawekiu Kaʻiulani Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa was the daughter of Hon AS Cleghorn and Princess Miriam Likelike.”

“The mother was a sister of King Kalākaua and Princess Liliuokalani afterward Queen, and died in 1887 when Kaʻiulani was but eleven years and four months old.”

“Here, from her cradle to the end of the monarchy, Princess Kaʻiulani was regarded as ‘the hope of the nation.’ Appreciating the responsibility attaching to her expectations, her widowed father sent her to England at fourteen years of age for higher education.”

“From her infancy she was known as the heir presumptive to the throne of Hawaii, and at the accession of Queen Lili‘uokalani was proclaimed as the Heir Apparent.” (Evening Bulletin, March 6, 1899)

“As a little girl here, Kaʻiulani was considered bright and beautiful and was a favorite with all the young people, of her circle. … Cultivated and charming in every way she at once gained a place in the hearts or all with whom she came in contact.”

“She was a patroness and active worker for every charitable, society and took the deepest interest in the welfare of the lowly and the afflicted. In the society here she was a bright light, was welcomed everywhere, received with the highest honors and often entertained at her home.”

“Always gracious, always thoughtful of others, she gained the strongest affection of all. She was idolized by her own people and was held in the highest esteem by the foreign population.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 14, 1899)

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Frank_Wood_at_Mana,_1923

March 5, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Emma Kaili Metcalf Beckley Nakuina

“The green mountains of our Islands are still smiling in their beauty and the lovely borders of Hawaii Kuauli (a poetical appelation given to Hawaii nei by the Hawaiians), of the land known to the foreigners as the ‘Paradise of the Pacific,” still remain for us to enjoy.” (Hawaiian Gazette, January 11, 1898)

“The Hawaiian Race is universally recognized as foremost among those of the Pacific archipelagoes, and there is much in its history to arouse interest. With an unwritten record extending back 1,030 years, this people appeals to every student and observer.”

“Gifted with an imaginative faculty well developed, a capacity to clothe thought in ornate language, and adorn recital with word picture, as well as a vocabulary that lends itself to poetic expression, the meles, or historical songs, are virile and have the swing of the trade wind.” (Nakuina)

“Our newly arrived citizens are probably unaware that there are but few ladies in Hawaii nei who have wrought so much by deed, pen and words for the benefit of her race as (Emma Kaʻilikapuolono Metcalf.)”

“Full of the most accurate information as to her people their history traditions, manners and customs, she is endowed with the happy facility of wielding a pen cleverly and to the point.”

“In the various public positions she has held through many years she invariably brought to bear a bright intellect and a tactful experience with strict fidelity to truth and integrity.” (Independent, March 8, 1897)

Emma “challenged haole efforts to claim the right to rule by asserting genealogical connections to Hawai‘i and Hawaiians. She insisted on the primacy of indigenous genealogies and the insufficiency of their Western counterparts.” (Skwiot)

Emma Kaʻilikapulono Metcalf was born on March 5, 1847, at Kauaʻaia in Honolulu’s Mānoa Valley to Theophilus Metcalf, Hawai‘i’s first photographer, a civil engineer and sugar planter and Chiefess Kailikapuolono of Kūkaniloko. (Preface, Nakuina)

(Metcalf Street in Mānoa is named for Theophilus Metcalf; he arrived in the Islands on May 19, 1842 and became a naturalized citizen on March 9, 1846. He owned the property that most of the University of Hawai‘i campus sits on today. (Hopkins))

Emma “springs from blood lines which touch Plymouth Rock, as well as midseas islands. High priests, statesmen and warriors join hands in their descendants with pilgrims, lawmakers and jurists.”

“Broadly and liberally educated under the immediate care of her father, a Harvard man, nephew of the late Chief Justice Metcalf of Massachusetts, (she) is fitted to present legends which bring out strongly characteristics of her people. (Preface, Nakuina)

Emma attended Sacred Hearts’ Academy, Oʻahu College (Punahou School) and the Mills’ Seminary for Young Ladies in Benicia, California.

She was also privately tutored by her father in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, German, English and Hawaiian. She was also brought up with a thorough knowledge of traditional Hawaiian practices and protocol. (HHS)

In 1867, Emma married Frederick William Kahapula Beckley (eldest child of William Charles Malulani Beckley and Kahinu.) Beckley was a plantation owner and eventually chamberlain to King Kalākaua (1875) and governor of Kauai (1880). They had seven children.

While she was attached to the court of Kamehameha IV, the king had Emma trained in laws about water rights. One of the many native Hawaiian intellectuals of the 19th century, she was an expert on a wide variety of topics including water rights and laws.

She served the government of Alexander Liholiho (King Kamehameha IV) in the courts as Commissioner of Private Ways and Water Rights for Honolulu.

In 1875, King Kalākaua named her as curator for the Hawaiian National Museum, making her one of the first, if not the first, female curator of a national museum anywhere in the world. (HHS)

Beckley died in 1881 at the age of 36. “Immediately after the death of my husband I went up to the palace and stayed two or three weeks and then went home to my mother at Kalihi.” (Nakuina; Supreme Court Records) In 1887, she married Rev. Moses Keaea Nakuina.

She wrote many articles on Hawaii, including “Ancient Hawaiian Water Rights and Some Customs Pertaining to Them.” She also wrote of Hawaiian folklore and published Hawaii: Its People and Their Legends in 1904. (Scanlon) Emma Nakuina died on April 27, 1929.

Emma Nakuina lived through six monarchs and five governments. She was not a queen, but not a commoner either. She was caught somewhere in the middle: a kaukau aliʻi.

As the first child of a high-born Hawaiian chiefess and an American Sugar Planter, Emma lived in close proximity to both the Hawaiian monarchy and to those who would later overthrow it.

Like her rank, the era she lived in was also caught somewhere in the middle, between Hawaiian tradition and Western modernization. It was a time when all Hawaiians were struggling to live pono in an environment full of unfamiliar influences and importations.

Throughout her life, Nakuina chose to serve out her chiefly duties by being a teacher, historian, museum curator, water commissioner and judge, and she did so in an era when women were discouraged from holding positions of authority.

She was caught in a tumultuous world of underhanded politics, shifting governments, and the reluctant need to transition from a ‘Hawaiian’ way of life to that of the ‘civilized world.’ (Hopkins, UH)

Here is a video showing Emma Nakuina (portrayed by Kahana Ho;) it was part of a Hawaiian Mission Houses ‘Cemetery Pupu Theatre’ event at O‘ahu Cemetery, where Nakuina is buried.

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Emma_Beckley,_photograph_by_Charles_L._Weed,_1865

Emma_Nakuina

Emma Kaili Metcalf Beckley Nakuina (1847-1929), Curator of the Hawaiian National Museum-BM

Kahili_Valley,_Mrs._Emma_Beckley’s_house,_photograph_by_Eduard_Arning,_1884

Emma_Metcalf_(1910)

Judge Archibald Scott Mahaulu, Rev Moses Kuaea Nakuina, CE Peter N. Kahokuoluna and Judge William Werner-1909

February 28, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Timeline Tuesday … 1880s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us through the 1880s – Kalākaua goes on his world tour, Matson acquires his first vessel, Pauahi dies, Bayonet Constitution and Pearl Harbor is leased by US Navy. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.)

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Timeline-1880s

February 26, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

“It Was Not Done By The Missionaries”

John Papa ʻĪʻī began his service in the royal court when he served as an attendant to Liholiho (Kamehameha II.) Īʻī later became a trusted advisor and chief in the court of Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) and continued to serve the sovereigns of Hawaiʻi until his death in 1870.

On February 26, 1829, he wrote an account of events of that day dealing with drunken foreigners who wanted to tear down the missionary house because “they guessed that the missionaries had made the sanction” forbidding prostitution.

‘Ī‘ī notes in his letter, “but that was not so; the chiefs had laid the sanction for they knew that the word of God was right saying not to commit adultery, not to commit prostitution and that is why they forbade it. It was not done by the missionaries.”

The letter is part of the Ali‘i Collection at the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives. The collection is part of a translation project spearheaded by Puakea Nogelmeier and Awaiaulu. Here is the full translated text of ‘Ī‘I’s account:

“Here are the actions of the house wreckers that we saw carrying out destruction.”

“On Sunday, the 26th of February in late afternoon, about four o’clock, they arrived at the yard of Kalaimoku’s house. We saw them running this way, drunk on rum, and they entered the stone house of Kalaimoku and climbed atop that stone house with clubs in their hands.”

“I entered after them and we looked from below at them doing damage above the door of that building and the glass panes of three windows were smashed by them as well as that of the main door, a fourth, which they scattered down in pieces.”

“Many people came at that time for evening prayers, for they intended to hear the word of God, but before we prayed those troublemakers arrived so a great number of people sat quietly and calmly watched their mischief. My thought to Boki was that we should hold them without beating them, because these scoundrels had no right, and that is what I said to Boki.”

“Because of that statement that I made to him, he ordered all the people sitting there to not make trouble to them, that it was fine as it was. Kahalaia was there, another chief, and the people everywhere in Honolulu heard so they came thinking that it was just a battle, for it had been heard that they were coming to tear down the house of the missionaries and to beat them. “

“Women were the offense, for they guessed that the missionaries had made the sanction, but that was not so; the chiefs had laid the sanction for they knew that the word of God was right saying not to commit adultery, not to commit prostitution and that is why they forbade it. It was not done by the missionaries.”

“When their destruction ended, they all came down from that house and stood with the people, saying to us, ‘There is no goodness about the missionaries, they are deceitful people. It is not that way in Britain and America. The missionaries are liars.’ And that is how they spoke to us.”

“Their statements having ended, it had reached five o’clock and they all left that place, going off to destroy Bingham’s house. He followed after them on a different path, coming from among the people, but none of the people followed along behind him. The place was filled with people sitting quietly.”

“His wife, (Mrs) Bingham had seen the rogue foreigners with sticks in their hands headed there so she closed the door and locked it. They quickly reached the door of the house, it being the second house they attacked, and wreaked damage there. They shattered the glass panes of the windows which scattered down.”

“They saw Bingham going there from where we were. So they gathered together to beat him with the wood from the door of his house, but he was caught by a foreigner from the whaling fleet who had come with the scoundrel foreigners, and he was saved by that foreigner.”

“So he quickly came back with that foreigner who had saved him and we followed after to take care of him. He came and stood with us and with a chiefess, Lidia Piia, she being a student of his, and she stood in front of him. I was there as well.”

“The foreign scoundrels followed him all the way with no fear of our great numbers, and then stood with us, some with clubs, others with jack knives, with evil statements coming from their mouths, and Bingham was talking with one of the foreigners.”

“Then one of those foreign scoundrels suddenly struck at him with a stick, hitting his umbrella. The blow on that umbrella was fended off by Lidia and then I grabbed the stick from the hand of that foreigner.”

“I seized it, and because of that the foreigners were afraid and they fled. The people talked of seizing them all, for finally we should make trouble to them for their prior mischief to our chiefs for no reason, and that is the same way that they attacked the teachers, who had made no transgression. Because of that, they were all seized and held.”

“Ka‘ahumanu saw us and that the foreigners had all been seized by us, so she called down to us from up on the house, ‘Do not beat the foreigners; you should take care of them.’ The people heeded her words and sat quietly.”

“That is my message. I am reporting to all of you in that land of America so that you know the wrongdoings of some of your people here, those foreigners.”

The following shows a short discussion by Marie Alohalani Brown on John Papa ‘Ī‘ī’s letter and other information related to this 1826 event.

The following shows a short discussion by John Laimana on a related letter written by Kalanimoku that addresses this 1826 incident, as well as the role of decision-making by the ali’i related to situations like this (the ali’i made the decisions, not the missionaries).

The following shows a portrayal of John Papa ‘Ī‘ī (by William Hao;) it’s part of the Mission Houses Cemetery Pupu Theater; describing Hawai‘i of his time (not the events of February 26, 1829).

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John Papa Ii recount of actions of drunk foreigners-blaming the missionaries for the prostitution ban-1

John Papa Ii recount of actions of drunk foreigners-blaming the missionaries for the prostitution ban-2

John Papa Ii recount of actions of drunk foreigners-blaming the missionaries for the prostitution ban-3

John Papa Ii recount of actions of drunk foreigners-blaming the missionaries for the prostitution ban-4

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February 22, 2017 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

‘Spencer’s Invincibles’

“Those who know Thos Spencer, know that the ‘gallant captain’ does not do things by halves, and he deserves no small meed of praise for the manner in which the celebration was carried through.”

“The ‘Invincibles’ are a fixed fact, are regularly called out on drill, and will be kept ‘in position,’ till the storm now hanging over the Union has blown over, and bright skies again appear.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 25, 1861)

“A company of infantry has been tendered to the Government from the Hawaiian Islands, and accepted. It consists of American emigrants and native Hawaiians. It is expected to come as soon as the news of acceptance is received.”

“This is the celebrated company of ‘Spencer’s Invincibles’ at Hilo, which is under the leadership of its gallant Captain and experienced aid ‘the orderly,’ is said to have arrived at a degree of perfection in military tactics, that throws the ‘regulars’ into the shade.”

“All the company now wants is a chance of a shot at Jeff. Davis’ bloodhounds. A patriotic master of a whaleship intends, we learn, to place his vessel at the disposal of the corps.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, October 24, 1861)

“Thomas Spencer came from a distinguished New England family that had been established at East Greenwich, Rhode Island, since 1660, when its ancestor, John Spencer, had been among the founders of the town.”

“Joseph Spencer, Thomas’s father, was a ship’s captain, and his eight sons followed him to sea, five becoming captains of whaling ships at the same time. Aged thirty-one and captain of the whaleship Triton, one of the Howland fleet out of New Bedford, Thomas Spencer was in 1848 involved in one of the most notable sagas in the South Seas whale fishery.”

“Having made landfall off Sydenham Island in the Kingsmill Group, Captain Spencer and some of the crew were lured ashore by a renegade castaway who, with the assistance of the natives, detained them on shore, seized the ship, murdered a number of the remaining crew, convinced the survivors that their captain was dead, and obliged them to sail the ship away.”

“Held prisoner on shore, Captain Spencer was about to be executed by the natives when he was rescued by the dramatic invention of a woman chief, in the manner of Pocahontas.”

“After a number of attempts to escape, during which the hapless captain and crew stole canoes and paddled out to sea in pursuit of passing ships who set sail away as fast as they could, believing them to be hostile islanders, the castaways were rescued by the Alabama out of Nantucket.”

“Captain Spencer then made his way to Honolulu, which he had visited on previous voyages, to await reports of the still-missing Triton. Deciding at length to give up the sea, he started a ship’s chandlery on Queen Street, which under his guidance served as the headquarters of the Pacific whaling fleet.”

“In 1853 he was joined by his brother, Charles Nichols Spencer, and by 1855 William L Lee, the close friend of Charles R Bishop, reported that Captain Spencer was ‘making more money than anyone else in town.’”

“Thomas Spencer embodied many of the Yankee virtues, notably industry, enterprise, and patriotism, but his love for the Islands surpassed that of his birthplace.”

“He was committed to the survival of Hawai’i as an independent kingdom, and he was an arch opponent of annexation. Yankee reserve found no place in his robust character, fulsome manner, and great personal warmth, nor did Yankee frugality, for his generosity was legendary.”

“He was fluent in Hawaiian and was known everywhere by his Hawaiian name, Poonahoahoa. It was later to be said of him, and of his brother Charles, that ‘they were on terms of social and political intimacy with the last six Hawaiian sovereigns.’”

“In 1861, in the full tide of success, Thomas Spencer sold the Queen Street chandlery and moved to Hilo, purchasing the house and sugar plantation at Amauulu (Puueo) of Benjamin Pitman, whose wife, Kinoole-o-Liliha, was the hereditary high chiefess of Hilo.”

“In Hilo, he removed stones from the luakini heiau on the shore opposite Coconut Island (Mokuola) to make a boat landing near the mouth of the Wailoa River, an uncharacteristic act that some believe cast a shadow over his subsequent endeavors on the island. He also became United States commercial agent and consul at Hilo.”

“For the next twenty-three years, Thomas Spencer struggled to achieve success in sugar planting, but the venture was to prove disastrous, and while the plantation continued to operate, by the time of his death it had consumed nearly all of his fortune.”

“Thomas Spencer had been made a Knight Companion of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I for his actions in sending, at his own expense, boats filled with food to relieve Big Island inhabitants faced with starvation when they had been cut off by a lava flow.” (O’Connor)

And, ‘Spencer’s Invincibles?’ – The Hawaiian government disbanded the group, but the monarchy could not stop others from joining the fray. (Smith; NY Times)

When reminded that Hawai‘i took a neutral position on the Civil War, Spencer was purported to have burst into tears of despair for not having the opportunity to serve. (NPS)

With the eruption of the Civil War in 1861, King Kamehameha IV declared a neutral stance but held largely Unionist sympathies – as did the majority of people living in Hawai‘i. The country had deep ties to the expanding United States and war with the South enabled Hawaii to fill part of the void left by the absence of then blockaded southern exports.

Sugar and other products once exported by the newly-formed Confederacy was confined thanks to the establishment of the Union naval blockade on southern ports. Hawaiian-grown sugar soon replaced much of this southern sugar through the duration of the conflict.

Because of this boom in business, the majority of Americans living and working on the islands were devoutly pro-Unionist. In fact, many living in Hawaii had an ardent desire to serve in the armed forces.

Nevertheless, the nation’s neutrality did not prevent many of its citizens from enlisting in either Union or Confederate forces. (NPS)

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Captain Thomas Spencer

Thomas Spencer Headstone