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June 29, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kamehameha V Cottage

Prince Lot Kapuāiwa, who later became Kamehameha V, owned a cottage in an area now known as Moanalua Gardens next to a kalo patch, a fishpond and Chinese Hall.  Moanalua Gardens is a 24-acre privately-owned public park in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The cottage, built during the 1850s, is a single-story wooden structure laid out in Hawaiian style with a Victorian motif.

The building is comprised of three separate units: a cooking and eating unit; a living and sleeping unit; and an entertaining pavilion (this third unit is a post-Kamehameha V addition). The units are all attached to each other by a series of roofed lanai.

The exterior wall of the center building is made of clapboard whereas that of the dining and kitchen hall is made of board and batten.

The exterior trim is of Victorian Gingerbread (the cresting), accenting each of the different roof styles of the units (gable, simple shed, hip, and domelike roofs). The single unifying factor of the roof in the overall building is the consistent use of wooden shingles.

The original cottage (the center unit) was very simple with minimal ornamentation. The revival of hula performances may have had some influence on the construction as the original cottage had a lanai that completely surrounded the building where hula could have been performed for invited guests.

In 1856, Prince Lot built the kitchen and dining unit as a separate building using tongue-and-groove material with vertical molded battens over the joints.

Lot Kapuāiwa, four years older than his brother Kamehameha IV, ascended to the throne at his brother’s death in 1863.  Like his brother, he ruled for nine years (1863 to 1872.)

In 1864, when it appeared that a new constitution could not be agreed upon, he declared that the Constitution of 1852 be replaced by one he had written himself.

Kamehameha V (Lot) founded the Royal Order of Kamehameha I on April 11, 1865, in commemoration of his grandfather Kamehameha the Great.

The stated purpose of the order was “to cultivate and develop, among our subjects, the feelings of honor and loyalty to our dynasty and its institutions and … to confer honorary distinctions upon such of our subjects and foreigners as have rendered,  or may hereafter render to our dynasty and people, important services.”

Known as “the bachelor king,” Lot Kamehameha did not name a successor, which led to the invoking of the constitutional provision for electing kings of Hawai`i.

Under the Kingdom’s 1864 constitution, if the king did not appoint a successor, a new king would be elected by the legislature from the eligible Hawaiian royals still alive. William Charles Lunalilo and David Kalākaua were the candidates; Lunalilo was the more popular of the two.

The property was transferred to Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last of the Kamehameha line.  She willed (in 1884) the ahupua‘a (land division) of Moanalua to Samuel Mills Damon.

In the 1900s, Damon renovated the cottage and used it as a residence.  In 1961, lattice work around the building was added, and around 1972-1973, a new shingled roof was installed.

The building has been situated at three different Moanalua sites since its original construction. It was moved to its present location in 1960.

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Kamehameha_V_Cottage_at_Moanalua_Gardens
Moanalua Park in the 1880s (HSA)
Moanalua Park in the 1920s (HSA)
Moanalua Park panorama. 1880s (HSA)
Prince_Lot_Kapuaiwa_(PP-97-9-007)
Prince_Lot_Kapuaiwa_(PP-97-9-007)
Kamehameha_V-Lot-Kapuaiwa

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings Tagged With: Kamehameha V, Hawaii, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Prince Lot Kapuaiwa, Prince Lot, Royal Order of Kamehameha, Damon, Moanalua Gardens

June 23, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The New “Big 5”

This story was inspired by a luncheon talk former OHA Trustee, Peter Apo gave to the Hawaiʻi Economic Association I attended. Although he hinted at the “Big 5” reference, he purposefully referenced it differently.

Since the early/mid-1800s, until relatively recently, five major companies emerged and dominated the state’s economic framework. Their common trait: they were founded in agriculture – sugar and pineapple.

They became known as the Big 5: Amfac – starting as Hackfeld & Company (1849;) Alexander & Baldwin (1870;) Theo H. Davies (1845;) Castle & Cooke (1851) and C. Brewer (1826.)

The luncheon talk suggested a new group of five is making a difference in Hawaiʻi’s economic scene.

The new “Big 5:” Kamehameha Schools, Queen Emma Foundation/Queens Health Systems, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Queen Liliʻuokalani Trust.

Their common trait: they are entities formed from or for native Hawaiians.

Kamehameha Schools (KS)

The largest, Kamehameha Schools (KS) was founded under the terms of the 1884 will of Bernice Pauahi Bishop and is supported by the land assets she provided to support the schools.

The Princess noted in her will that a trust is “to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools.”

She further stated, “I desire my trustees to provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women”.

Through the legacy of its founder, KS is endowed with 365,000-acres of land statewide, ninety-eight percent of which is in agriculture and conservation.

KS has about 1,000 agricultural tenants who farm a variety of crops including coffee, papaya, pineapple, macadamia nuts, lettuce, asparagus, sweet potatoes, taro, watercress, avocado, bananas, tomatoes, cattle, aquaculture, and more.

Kamehameha Schools has net assets of nearly $7-billion and annual operating revenue of $1.34-billion.

Queen Emma Foundation/Queens Health Systems

The Queen’s Hospital, now called The Queen’s Medical Center, was founded in 1859 by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV.

Queen Emma Land Company was established to support the Queen’s Medical Center and its affiliates and accomplishes this by managing and enhancing income-generating potential of the lands left to the Queen’s Hospital by Queen Emma in 1885 and additional properties owned by the Queen’s Health Systems.

Today, the Queen’s Health Systems is Hawaiʻi’s oldest health care-related family of companies, ranking 13th in size among Hawaiʻi’s corporations and employing approximately 3,700 employees with net revenues of roughly $516-million.

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL)

Written in 1920 and passed in 1921 by the US Congress, the “Hawaiian Homes Commission Act” established a structure and framework for the establishment of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) to enable native Hawaiians to return to their lands in order to fully support self-sufficiency for native Hawaiians and the self-determination of native Hawaiians.

The principal purposes of the Act: establishing a permanent land base for the benefit and use of native Hawaiians; placing native Hawaiians on the lands; preventing alienation of the fee title to the lands set aside so that these lands will always be held in trust for continued use by native Hawaiians in perpetuity …

… providing adequate amounts of water and supporting infrastructure, so that homestead lands will always be usable and accessible; and providing financial support and technical assistance to native Hawaiian beneficiaries.

When considering development and use of its lands, DHHL asserts its land use authority over Hawaiian Home Lands through its General Plan and Island Plans and is exempt from State and County land classification requirements.

DHHL has net assets of approximately $717-million and annual operating revenue of over $12-million, plus on-going capital improvement/development expenditures.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)

Amendments to the State Constitution in 1978 established the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA.) Those amendments also established a board of trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is a semi-autonomous state agency created “to address the needs of the aboriginal class of people of Hawaii.”

Duties of the Board of Trustees include, “hold title to all the real and personal property now or hereafter set aside or conveyed to it which shall be held in trust … (as well as) manage and administer the proceeds from the sale or other disposition of the lands, natural resources, minerals and income derived from whatever sources for native Hawaiians and Hawaiians”.

Recently, it was announced that the State and OHA settled disagreements on past ceded land payments. The State is giving about 25 acres of land to OHA, worth $200 million.

This is added to its existing inventory of Wao Kele O Puna (25,800+ acres,) Waimea Valley (1,800-acres) and other smaller properties.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has net assets of over $650-million and operating revenue of over $40-million.

The Liliʻuokalani Trust (QLT)

In 1909, Queen Liliʻuokalani executed a Deed of Trust that established the legal and financial foundation of an institution dedicated to the welfare of orphaned and destitute children of Hawaiʻi.

Her Deed of Trust states that “all the property of the Trust Estate, both principal and income … shall be used by the Trustees for the benefit of orphan and other destitute children in the Hawaiian Islands, the preference given to Hawaiian children of pure or part-aboriginal blood.”

The trust owns approximately 6,200-acres of Hawaiʻi real estate, the vast majority of which is located on the Island of Hawaiʻi. 92% is agriculture/conservation land, with the remaining land zoned for residential, commercial and industrial use.

The trust owns approximately 16-acres of Waikīkī real estate and another 8-acres of commercial and residential real estate on other parts of Oʻahu. It has operating revenues of approximately $40-million.

In addition to these land holdings, the Legislature created the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) to manage the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve while it is held in trust for a future Native Hawaiian sovereign entity.

While most of the prior “Big 5” have slowly faded away and no longer influence Hawaiʻi’s economy as in the past, these other five have a growing presence and influence in Hawaiʻi’s future.

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Hawaiian-Big_5-Statewide
New_Big_5-Kauai_County
New_Big_5-Oahu
Hawaiian-Big_5-Downtown-Kakaako
Hawaiian-Big_5-Waikiki
New_Big_5-Maui_County
New_Big_5-Hawaii_Island

Filed Under: General, Economy Tagged With: Queen's Medical Center, Kahoolawe, OHA, Hawaii, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, QLT, Kamehameha Schools, KSBE, Queen Liliuokalani, DHHL, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Big 5, Queen Emma

May 30, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Keōua Hale

Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani Keanolani Kanāhoahoa was born in Pohukaina, O‘ahu on February 9, 1826, to High Chiefess Pauahi and High Chief Kekūanāo‘a.

The Princess was a descendant of senior royal lines on a member of both the Kamehameha Dynasty and Kalākaua Dynasty, and a great granddaughter of King Kamehameha I; her half-brother was Lot Kapuāiwa (Kamehameha V.)

Her mother, Pauahi, died while giving birth to Ruth Keʻelikōlani, and was then cared for by Kamehameha’s wife, Ka‘ahumanu, who herself died six years later. The Princess was then sent to live with her father, Kekūanāoʻa, and her stepmother, Kīna‘u.

Despite the pressures to convert to Christianity, Keʻelikōlani saw value in traditional ways and retained many traditional religious practices.

Although she learned English among other subjects at the Chief’s Children’s School, she was a staunch supporter of the Hawaiian language and traditional cultural practices. People spoke to her only in Hawaiian.

She was a member of the Privy Council (1847,) the House of Nobles (1855-1857) and served as Governor of the island of Hawaiʻi (1855-1874.)

Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani inherited all of the substantial landholdings of the Kamehameha dynasty from her brother, Lot Kapuāiwa; she became the largest landowner in the islands.

She was godmother to Princess Kaʻiulani. At Kaʻiulani’s baptism, Ruth gifted 10-acres of her land in Waikīkī where Kaʻiulani’s father Archibald Cleghorn built the ʻĀinahau Estate.

Despite owning Huliheʻe Palace, a Western-style house in Kailua-Kona, she chose to live in a large, traditional grass home on the same oceanfront property.

It is interesting, therefore, that she chose to build Keōua Hale, a large, ornate mansion on her land in Honolulu.

Keōua Hale was a Victorian-style mansion, and the most expansive residence of the time; it was larger than ʻIolani Palace.

It followed the Second Empire architecture, or so-called French style of architecture, and was considered a classical Victorian-style mansion. The gas-lit interior of the mansion was celebrated for its ornate plaster work and frescoes.

Surrounded by extensive, well-kept gardens, it was characterized by mansard roof, broad lanais, from which lofty flights of steps led down into the gardens, and a large drawing-room upon the ceiling of which was emblazoned the Hawaiian coat of arms.

The house was completed in 1883; however, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani never lived in the palace. She became ill immediately after the house warming and birthday luau.

Her doctors recommended that she return to Huliheʻe, her Kailua-Kona residence, where they believed she would more quickly regain her health.

She received medical attention, but did not recover. On May 24, 1883, Keʻelikōlani died at the age of fifty-seven, in her traditional grass home in Kailua-Kona.

At her death, Keʻelikōlani’s will stated that she “give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauaʻi, all of said property to be hers.” (about 353,000 acres)

This established the land-base endowment for Pauahi’s subsequent formation of Kamehameha Schools at her death. Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop passed away a year later.

In 1908, the building was converted to Central Grammar School. The present buildings were opened in 1926. The school became a junior high school in 1928, an intermediate school in 1932, and a middle school in 1997. The site of Keōua Hale is now Central Middle School.

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Keoua Hale, princess Ruth Keelikolani's Victorian mansion in Honolulu
Keoua Hale, princess Ruth Keelikolani’s Victorian mansion in Honolulu
Princess_Ruth_Keelikolani
Princess_Ruth_Keelikolani
Princess Ruth's palace on Queen Emma St 1908
Princess Ruth’s palace on Queen Emma St 1908
Keōua Hale was the palace of Princess Ruth Ke'elikōlani
Keōua Hale was the palace of Princess Ruth Ke’elikōlani
Princess Ruth Keelikolani_with_Parker_and_Cummins
Princess Ruth Keelikolani_with_Parker_and_Cummins
Keoua Hale, princess Ruth Keelikolan-later used for the Central Grammar School-now the site of the Central Middle School
Keoua Hale, princess Ruth Keelikolan-later used for the Central Grammar School-now the site of the Central Middle School
Kamehameha family kāhili assembled in front of Keōua Hale, the house of Keʻelikōlani and Bernice P. Bishop, c.1890.
Kamehameha family kāhili assembled in front of Keōua Hale, the house of Keʻelikōlani and Bernice P. Bishop, c.1890.
Keōua Hale was the palace of Princess Ruth Ke'elikōlani at 1302 Queen Emma Street-larger than Iolani Palace
Keōua Hale was the palace of Princess Ruth Ke’elikōlani at 1302 Queen Emma Street-larger than Iolani Palace
Drawing_room_of_Keoua_Hale_in_1883
Drawing_room_of_Keoua_Hale_in_1883
Hulihee_Palace_with_Princess_Ruth_Keelikolani's_grass_house,_ca._1885
Hulihee_Palace_with_Princess_Ruth_Keelikolani’s_grass_house,_ca._1885
Princess Ruth slept in a pili grass house rather than Hulihee Palace
Princess Ruth slept in a pili grass house rather than Hulihee Palace
Central_Middle_School
Central_Middle_School
Keelikolani School-(GoogleEarth)
Keelikolani School-(GoogleEarth)

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Buildings Tagged With: Princess Ruth Keelikolani, Royal Residences, Hawaii, Bernice Pauahi Bishop

April 25, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Helumoa

Waikīkī was once a vast marshland whose boundaries encompassed more than 2,000-acres (as compared to its present 500-acres we call Waikīkī, today).

The name Waikīkī, which means “water spurting from many sources,” was well adapted to the character of the swampy land of ancient Waikīkī, where water from the upland valleys would gush forth from underground.

Three main valleys Makiki, Mānoa, and Pālolo are mauka of Waikīkī and through them their respective streams (and springs in Mānoa (Punahou and Kānewai)) watered the marshland below.

As they entered the flat Waikīkī Plain, the names of the streams changed; the Mānoa became the Kālia and the Pālolo became the Pāhoa (they joined near Hamohamo (now an area mauka of the Kapahulu Library.))

While at the upper elevations, the streams have the ahupuaʻa names, at lower elevations, after merging/dividing, they have different names, as they enter the ocean, Pi‘inaio, ‘Āpuakēhau and Kuekaunahi.

The Pi‘inaio (Makiki) entered the sea at Kālia (near what is now Fort DeRussy as a wide delta (kahawai,) the ‘Āpuakēhau (Mānoa and Kālia,) also called the Muliwai o Kawehewehe (“the stream that opens the way” on some maps,) emptied in the ocean at Helumoa (between the Royal Hawaiian and Moana Hotels).

The Kuekaunahi (Pālolo) once emptied into the sea at Hamohamo (near the intersection of ‘Ōhua and Kalākaua Avenues.) The land between these three streams was called Waikolu, meaning “three waters.”

The early Hawaiian settlers gradually transformed the marsh into hundreds of taro fields, fish ponds and gardens. Waikiki was once one of the most productive agricultural areas in old Hawai‘i.

Beginning in the 1400s, a vast system of irrigated taro fields and fish ponds were constructed. This field system took advantage of streams descending from Makiki, Mānoa and Pālolo valleys which also provided ample fresh water for the Hawaiians living in the ahupua‘a.

From ancient times, Waikīkī has been a popular surfing spot. Indeed, this is one of the reasons why the chiefs of old make their homes and headquarters in Waikīkī for hundreds of years.

Waikīkī, by the time of the arrival of Europeans in the Hawaiian Islands during the late eighteenth century, had long been a center of population and political power on O‘ahu.

The preeminence of Waikīkī continued into the eighteenth century and is illustrated by Kamehameha’s decision to reside there after taking control of O‘ahu by defeating the island’s chief, Kalanikūpule.

Helumoa, in Waikīkī, became a favorite retreat and home for Ali‘i throughout the ages.

Mā‘ilikūkahi, an O‘ahu Ali‘i who moved the center of government from the Ewa plains on O‘ahu to Waikīkī in the 1400s, is said to have been one of the first to reside there.

Ali‘i nui Kalamakuaakaipuholua, who ruled in the early 1500s, is credited for his major work in establishing lo‘i kalo (wetland taro ponds) in the area, as well as for encouraging cultivation throughout the land.

One story of how Helumoa got its name involves Kākuhihewa, Mā‘ililkūkahi’s descendent six generations later, ruling chief of O‘ahu from 1640 to 1660.

It is said that the supernatural chicken, Ka‘auhelemoa, one day flew down from his home in Ka‘au Crater, in Pālolo, and landed at Helumoa.

Furiously scratching into the earth, the impressive rooster then vanished. Kākuhihewa took this as an omen and planted niu (coconuts) at that very spot.

Helumoa (meaning “chicken scratch”) was the name he bestowed on that niu planting that would multiply into a grove of reportedly 10,000 coconut trees.

This is the same coconut grove that would later be called the King’s Grove, or the Royal Grove, and would be cited in numerous historical accounts for its pleasantness and lush surroundings.

Kamehameha the Great and his warriors camped near here, when they began their conquest of O‘ahu in 1795.

Later, he would return and build a Western style stone house for himself, as well as residences for his wives and retainers in an area known as Pua‘ali‘ili‘i.

Kamehameha I resided at Helumoa periodically from 1795 to 1809. He ended Waikīkī’s nearly 400-year reign as O‘ahu’s capital when he moved the royal headquarters to Honolulu (known then as Kou) in 1808 (to Pākākā.)

King Kamehameha III, son of King Kamehameha I lived at Helumoa during the 1830s. King Kamehameha V, grandson of King Kamehameha I, also lived at Helumoa in a summer residence, in which he periodically lived.

In the 1880s, Helumoa was inherited by Kamehameha I’s great-granddaughter, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, in 1884, wrote the final codicils (amendments) of her will at Helumoa, in which she bequeathed her land to the Bishop Estate for the establishment of the Kamehameha Schools.

In the last days of her battle with breast cancer, Pauahi returned to Helumoa. Although the Princess could have gone anywhere to recuperate, she chose Helumoa, for the fond memories it recalled and the tranquility it provided.

The tallest coconut palms in this area, today, date back to the 1930s.

Sheraton Waikīkī, Royal Hawaiian Hotel and Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center now stand on the land known as Helumoa.

Kamehameha Schools owns the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. In the center of it is ‘The Royal Grove,’ a 30,000-square-foot landscaped garden inspired by Waikīkī’s Helumoa coconut grove.

As one of the largest green spaces in Waikīkī, The Royal Grove is a centerpiece for entertainment and cultural gatherings with local hula halau and other performances.

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Kamehameha V's summer residence at Helumoa also known as The Royal Grove.
Kamehameha V’s summer residence at Helumoa also known as The Royal Grove.
Waikiki-1868
Waikiki-1868
Cocoa-Nut_Grove,_and_Residence_of_the_Late_King_Kamehameha_V.,_at_Waikiki,_Oahu-before-1875
Cocoa-Nut_Grove,_and_Residence_of_the_Late_King_Kamehameha_V.,_at_Waikiki,_Oahu-before-1875
Helumoa_with_the_Apuakehau_stream_in_the_foreground
Helumoa_with_the_Apuakehau_stream_in_the_foreground
Helumoa_Summer House of King Kamehameha V, Waikiki-(eBay)-1873
Helumoa_Summer House of King Kamehameha V, Waikiki-(eBay)-1873
Coconut grove c.1895
Coconut grove c.1895
Bishops-residence-at-Waikiki-where-Pauahi-spent-a-few-months-resting-in-the-late-summer-of-1884
Bishops-residence-at-Waikiki-where-Pauahi-spent-a-few-months-resting-in-the-late-summer-of-1884
Waikiki_and_Helumoa_Coconut-(from_Ewa_end_of_Helumoa)-1870
Waikiki_and_Helumoa_Coconut-(from_Ewa_end_of_Helumoa)-1870
Waikiki-Coastal_Area-Apuakeahu_Stream-to-Bridge-Reg1841-(1897)-noting location of Helumoa
Waikiki-Coastal_Area-Apuakeahu_Stream-to-Bridge-Reg1841-(1897)-noting location of Helumoa
Honolulu and Vicinity-UH-Hamilton_Library-Map-1887 (Waikiki portion)-noting location of Helumoa
Honolulu and Vicinity-UH-Hamilton_Library-Map-1887 (Waikiki portion)-noting location of Helumoa
Map of Honolulu-Husted's Hawaiian Directory-UH-Hamilton_Library-Map-1892 (Waikiki portion) (Noting location of Helumoa)
Map of Honolulu-Husted’s Hawaiian Directory-UH-Hamilton_Library-Map-1892 (Waikiki portion) (Noting location of Helumoa)

Filed Under: Place Names Tagged With: Hawaii, Waikiki, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Charles Reed Bishop, Kamehameha, Helumoa, Royal Residences

December 19, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Founder’s Day

(The following is an address delivered on Founder’s Day at Kamehameha Schools by Charles R Bishop – published in Handicraft.)

The trustees of the estate of the late Hon. Bernice Pauahi Bishop, deeming it proper to set apart a day in each year to be known as Founder’s Day, to be observed as a holiday by those connected with the Kamehameha Schools …”

… and a day of remembrance of her who provided for the establishment of these schools, have chosen the anniversary of her birth, the 19th of December, for that purpose, and this is the first observance of the day.

If an institution is useful to mankind, then is the founder thereof worthy to be gratefully remembered. Kamehameha I by his skill and courage as a warrior, and his ability as a ruler, founded this nation.

Kamehameha II abolished the tabu and opened the way for Christianity and civilization to come in. Kamehameha III gave to the people their kuleana and a Constitutional Government, and thus laid the foundation for our independence as a nation.

Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma were the founders of the Queen’s Hospital. Kamehameha V was a patriotic and able sovereign, and Lunalilo was the founder of the Home which hears his name. All these should be held in honored remembrance by the Hawaiian people.

Bernice Pauahi Bishop, by founding the Kamehameha Schools, intended to establish institutions which should be of lasting benefit to her country; and also to honor the name Kamehameha, the most conspicuous name in Polynesian history, a name with which we associate ability, courage, patriotism and generosity.

The founder of these schools was a true Hawaiian. She knew the advantages of education and well directed industry. Industrious and skillful herself, she respected those qualities in others. Her heart was heavy, when she saw the rapid diminution of the Hawaiian people going on decade after decade, and felt that it was largely the result of their ignorance and carelessness.

She knew that these fair islands, which only a little more than a century ago held a population of her own race estimated at 300,000 or more would not be left without people; that whether the Hawaiians or not, men from the East and from the West would come in to occupy them: skilful, industrious, self-asserting men, looking mainly to their own interests.

The hope that there would have come a turning point, when, through enlightenment, the adoption of regular habits and Christian ways of living, the natives would not only hold their own in numbers, but would increase again like the people of other races, at times grew faint, and almost died out.

She foresaw that, in a few years the natives would cease to be much if any in the majority, and that they would have to compete with other nationalities in all the ways open to them for getting an honest living; and with no legal preferences for their protection, that their privileges, success and comfort, would depend upon their moral character, intelligence and industry.

And so, in order that her own people might have the opportunity for fitting themselves for such competition, and be able to hold their own in a manly and friendly way, without asking any favors which they were not likely to receive, these schools were provided for, in which Hawaiians have the preference, and which she hoped they would value and take the advantages of as fully as possible.

Could the founder of these schools have looked into the future and realized the scenes here before us this day, I am sure it would have excited new hopes in her breast, as it does in my own.

If the Hawaiians while continuing friendly and just toward all of those of other nationalities, are true to themselves, and take advantage of the opportunities which they have, and are governed by those sound principles and habits in which they have been instructed, and in which these youths now present are here being taught day by day both in precept and example, there is no reason why they should not from this time forth, increase in numbers, self-reliance and influence.

But on the other hand, if they are intemperate, wasteful of time, careless of health and indifferent as to character; and if they follow those evil examples, of which there are so many on every side, then, nothing can save them from a low position and loss of influence, in their own native-land, or perhaps from ultimate extinction as a race.

But let us be cheerful and hopeful for the best, and see to it that from these schools as well as from the other good schools – shall go out young men fitted and determined to take and maintain, a good standing in every honest industry or occupation in which they may engage.

These schools are to be permanent and to improve in methods as time goes on. They are intended for capable, industrious and well-behaved youths; and if Hawaiian boys of such character fail to come in, other boys will certainly take their places.

We look to those who may be trained in the Kamehameha Schools to honor the memory of the founder and the name of the schools by their good conduct, not only while in school, but in their mature lives as well.

So long as we are in the right, we may reasonably trust in God for his help; let us always try to be in the right. (All from the Founder’s Day at Kamehameha Schools by Charles R Bishop.)

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Filed Under: Prominent People, Schools, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Kamehameha Schools, Founder's Day

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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