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April 12, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Catholicism in Hawaiʻi

The first church in Hawaiʻi was built by the New England Protestant missionaries who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1820. However, Western religious services had been held in the islands prior to that.

Some would suggest that Catholicism started in Hawaiʻi with the arrival of Don Francisco de Paula Marin (Manini) to the Hawaiian Islands in 1793 or 1794 (at about the age of 20.)

While Marin was reportedly a Spanish Catholic, he did live a polygamous life while in Hawaiʻi. Never-the-less, there are several reports of him baptizing Hawaiian chiefs and others (over three hundred) into the Catholic religion.

In 1819, Kalanimōkū was the first Hawaiian Chief to be formally baptized a Catholic, aboard the French ship Uranie. “The captain and the clergyman asked Young what Ka-lani-moku’s rank was …”

“… and upon being told that he was the chief counselor (kuhina nui) and a wise, kind, and careful man, they baptized him into the Catholic Church” (Kamakau). Shortly thereafter, Boki, Kalanimoku’s brother (and Governor of Oʻahu) was baptized.

It wasn’t until July 7, 1827, however, when the pioneer French Catholic mission arrived in Honolulu. It consisted of three priests of the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; Father Alexis Bachelot, Abraham Armand and Patrick Short. They were supported by a half dozen other Frenchmen.

Their first mass was celebrated a week later on Bastille Day, July 14, and a baptism was given on November 30, to a child of Marin.

The American Protestant missionaries and the French Catholics did not get along.

The Congregationalists encouraged a policy preventing the establishment of a Catholic presence in Hawaiʻi. Catholic priests were forcibly expelled from the country in 1831. Native Hawaiian Catholics accused King Kamehameha III and his government of imprisoning, beating and torturing them.

Later that year, Commodore John Downes, of the American frigate Potomac, made a plea for freedom of religion, telling the Hawaiian court that civilized nations did not persecute people for their religion.

While his intervention brought about a brief let-up, the king continued to forbid the presence of Catholic priests.

Finally, on September 30, 1836, the captain of the French Navy ship La Bonté persuaded the king to allow a Catholic priest to disembark in Honolulu. The king restricted the priest’s ministry to foreign Catholics, forbidding him to work with Native Hawaiians.

On April 17, 1837, two other Catholic priests arrived. However, the Hawaiian government forced them back onto a ship on April 30. American, British and French officials in Hawaii intervened and persuaded the king to allow the priests to return to shore.

France, historically a Catholic nation, used its government representatives in Hawaiʻi to protest the mistreatment of Catholic Native Hawaiians. Captain Cyrille-Pierre Théodore Laplace, of the French Navy frigate “Artémise”, sailed into Honolulu Harbor in 1839 to convince the Hawaiian leadership to get along with the Catholics – and the French.

King Kamehameha III feared a French attack on his kingdom and on June 17, 1839 issued the Edict of Toleration permitting religious freedom for Catholics in the same way as it had been granted to the Protestants.

The King also donated land where the first permanent Catholic Church would be constructed, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace; the Catholic mission was finally established on May 15, 1840 when the Vicar Apostolic of the Pacific arrived with three other priests – one of whom, Rev. Louis Maigret, had been refused a landing at Honolulu in 1837.

On July 9, 1840, ground was broken for the foundation of the present Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, and schools and churches were erected on other islands to advance the mission.

At the end of the year 1840, Maigret jots down this balance sheet: Vicariate of Oceania: Catholics: 3,000; Heretics: 30,000 and Unbelievers: 100,000. (Charlot)

On August 15, 1843, the newly-finished cathedral of Honolulu was solemnly dedicated and 800 Catholics received Holy Communion.

From the very start, the Catholic mission also established, wherever feasible, independent schools in charge, or under the supervision, of the priest.

Maigret divided Oʻahu into missionary districts. Shortly after, the Windward coast of Oʻahu was dotted with chapels. The Sacred Hearts Father’s College of Ahuimanu was founded by the Catholic mission on the Windward side of Oʻahu in 1846.

“Outside the city, at Ahuimanu, Maigret has now a country retreat that he refers to by the Hawaiian word māla. It is a combination garden, orchard and kitchen garden.”

Nuhou describes it, “The venerable bishop has built his own vineyard and planted his own orchard … His retreat in the mountain, his “garden in the air” as he terms it, is a pleasant and profitable sight … with a small stone-walled cottage about fifteen feet by ten.” When the pressure of events allows it, Maigret takes refuge there.” (Charlot)

Although the College of Ahuimanu flourished, as apparently reported by the Bishop in 1865, “The college and the schools are doing well. But as the number of pupils is continually on the increase, it has become necessary to enlarge the college. First we have added a story and a top floor with an attic; then we have been obliged to construct a new building. And yet we are lacking room.”

One of its students, Damien (born as Jozef de Veuster,) arrived in Hawaiʻi on March 9, 1864, at the time a 24-year-old choirboy. Determined to become a priest, he had the remainder of the schooling at the College of Ahuimanu.

Bishop Maigret ordained Father Damien de Veuster at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, on May 21, 1864; in 1873, Maigret assigned him to Molokaʻi. Damien spent the rest of his life in Hawaiʻi. In 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The College of Ahuimanu changed locations and also changed its name a couple of times. In 1881, it was renamed “College of St. Louis” in honor of Bishop Maigret’s patron Saint, Louis IX. It was the forerunner for Chaminade College and St Louis High School.

In 1859 the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary arrived at Honolulu to take charge of a boarding and day-school for girls. In 1883-84 the Brothers of Mary, from Dayton, Ohio, took charge of three schools for boys: St. Louis’s College at Honolulu, St. Mary’s School at Hilo and St. Anthony’s School at Wailuku.

In 1882, the mission received a considerable increase by the immigration of Portuguese imported from the Azores as laborers for the plantations.

In January 1883, Walter Gibson, Minister of Foreign Affairs and president of the Board of Health, appealed to Hermann Koeckemann, Bishop of Olba, head of the Catholic Mission in Hawai‘i, to obtain Sisters of Charity from one of the many sisterhoods in the US to come and help care for leprous women and girls in the Islands.

On October 23, 1883, Mother Marianne and her companions set off for Hawai’i, arriving on November 9. These were: Sister M Bonaventure Caraher, Sister Crescentia Eilers, Sister Ludovica Gibbons, Sister M Rosalia McLaughlin, Sister Renata Nash and Sister Mary Antonella Murphy.

Father Damien himself succumbed to leprosy on April 15, 1889. Upon the death of Damien, Mother Marianne agreed to also head the Boys Home at Kalawao. The Board of Health had quickly chosen her as Saint Damien’s successor and she was thus enabled to keep her promise to him to look after his boys.

Mother Marianne was canonized on Oct. 21, 2012, making her the first Franciscan woman to be canonized from North America and only the 11th American saint. Forevermore, she will be known as St Marianne Cope, with the title “beloved mother of outcasts.”

By 1911, Hawaiʻi had 85 priests, 30 churches and 55 chapels. The Catholic population was 35,000; there were 4 academies, a college and 9 parochial schools established by the mission, and the total number of pupils was 2,200.

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Our Lady of Peace Cathedral, Honolulu, 1843
Our Lady of Peace Cathedral, Honolulu, 1843
Portrait Of Monsignor Louis Désiré Maigret SS.CC., (1804 - 1882), The First Apostolic Vicar Of The Apostolic Vicariate Of The Sandwich Islands
Portrait Of Monsignor Louis Désiré Maigret SS.CC., (1804 – 1882), The First Apostolic Vicar Of The Apostolic Vicariate Of The Sandwich Islands
First Catholic Church in the Islands-Puna-PP-14-9-014-00001
First Catholic Church in the Islands-Puna-PP-14-9-014-00001
'Portrait_of_Father_Damien',_attributed_to_Edward_Clifford-1868
‘Portrait_of_Father_Damien’,_attributed_to_Edward_Clifford-1868
Father Damien-Pineiro
Father Damien-Pineiro
Father_Damien_the year he went to Kalaupapa-in_1873
Father_Damien_the year he went to Kalaupapa-in_1873
Sr. M. Rosalia, Sr. M Martha, Sr M. Leopoldina, Sr. M Charles, Sr. M. Crescentia, and Mother Marianne rear-Walter Murray Gibson-1886
Sr. M. Rosalia, Sr. M Martha, Sr M. Leopoldina, Sr. M Charles, Sr. M. Crescentia, and Mother Marianne rear-Walter Murray Gibson-1886
Gibson with the Sisters of St. Francis and daughters of Hansen’s disease patients, at the Kakaako Branch Hospital-1886
Gibson with the Sisters of St. Francis and daughters of Hansen’s disease patients, at the Kakaako Branch Hospital-1886
Mother_Marianne_Cope_in_her_youth
Mother_Marianne_Cope_in_her_youth

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Catholicism, Paul Emmert, Hawaii, Downtown Honolulu, Missionaries, Don Francisco de Paula Marin, Kamehameha III, Kalanimoku, Boki

October 12, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Two Rival Houses

Kamā‘ule‘ule, later known as ‘Iliopunahele and eventually as Boki, was the child of Kekuamanohā and Kamakahukilani. Through his father he was a grandson of the Maui king. Kekaulike, and was a first cousin of Ka‘ahumanu.

Kamā‘ule‘ule, literally ‘the dispirited one’, was a reference to the fainting spells of Kahekili which were occurring around the time of Boki’s birth. As a close companion of Kamehameha he was called ‘Iliopunahele, or ‘favorite dog’.

His name was changed to Boki after Kamehameha met with a large American dog named Boss, the Hawaiian pronunciation of Boss, and was the name by which Kama’ule’ule was known throughout the rest of his history. (Nogelmeier)

During the missionaries’ first years in Hawai’i, Boki’s relationship with the mission was similar to that of his fellow chiefs. Although he and his brother, Kalanimoku, were already baptized prior to the arrival of the American Protestant mission, their involvement with the church was no more enthusiastic than that of the chiefs in general.

Boki provided land for the mission in Honolulu and erected houses for the use of the church, all in accordance with the king’s approval of their residence there. He attended occasional services and expressed interest in study of the bible, even agreeing to daily instruction for a time. (Nogelmeier)

Boki accompanied Liholiho and his entourage to England; Liholiho died, and they returned in 1825. “After an hour or two, the whole company proceeded to the residence of Karaimoku – who was too unwell to go out – near the Mission House: and shortly afterwards to the chapel, to attend prayers, and tender thanks to God for the interesting incident of the day.”

“Before leaving the chapel, Governor Boki delivered a short but excellent address, recommending, as the result of his observation and experience abroad, a renewed and devoted attention to the palapala and the pule—letters and religion.” (Stewart)

“This was a happy moment for Boki to make his report on the question most immediately connected with our business, or the trustworthiness of Christianity. In a short address he expressed his conviction of the truth of the Christian religion, and recommended attention to the palapala and the service of God.”

“In a more free conversation in the evening, he said the ‘King of Beritania,’ with whom he was honored to have a personal interview, after the death of the king and queen, told him to give good attention to the missionaries at the islands, for they were sent to enlighten them and do them good, and make them acquainted with the good Word of God.” (Bingham)

Boki’s ties to the British and his involvement in trade placed him in conflict with his fellow chiefs’ growing acceptance of the American Protestant Christianity. (Nogelmeier)

After his return from England (when Liholiho and his wife died), Boki appeared to fit harmoniously with the changes that were taking place. His experiences on the journey to England and King George’s support for Christianity had made a strong impression on him. He called for prayer immediately on landing at Maui and attended service again at O‘ahu. (Nogelmeier)

“In May, 1827, she charged Boki, Liliha and several members of the king’s train with misconduct, intemperance, fornication, and adultery, and had them fined—just a few days after the facile Boki had told Levi Chamberlain that he wanted to turn to the pono (the good) and that the king had acquired a Christian teacher.” (Daws)

In spite of his stormy relationships with Ka‘ahumanu and his alienation from the church, Boki cooperated on projects that he felt was for the betterment of his people.

He provided support for the missionaries in the way of buildings, land and labor, long after he had become disgruntled with their religion. He collaborated on the provision of schools for the populace, in his own districts of ‘Ewa and Wai‘anae and throughout the island. (Nogelmeier)

“Among the Hawaiian aristocracy there are two rival families, like the houses of York and Lancaster. Governor Boki represents the claims of one, and our good queen the other.”

“Both claim the guardianship of the young king, Kauikeaouli, and are equally anxious for paramount influence, but with widely different views”

“The governor has visited foreign lands. He is ambitious to gain the influence of the resident foreign traders, and the captains of ships to his party.” (Judd)

“Using his position as governor of Oahu to conscript labour, he plunged into the sandalwood trade. Later, he speculated in local and foreign trade, sugar-making, tavern-keeping, and commercialised prostitution. None of these businesses except the last was profitable.” (Daws)

“Ka‘ahumanu, on the other hand, is anxious to lighten the burdens of the people. She makes frequent tours around the islands, assembling them at each hamlet, exhorting them to forsake every heathen custom, learn to read, and listen to the teachings of God’s word and law.”

“She watches the young king with the solicitude of a tender mother, weeping and rejoicing alternately, as he yields to, or resists, temptation to wrong-doing.” (Judd)

“By 1829, both (Boki) and his country were deeply in debt to foreigners. Always a gambler, Boki made a desperate throw to redeem his fortunes by taking an expedition to the Southwest Pacific to search for sandalwood.” (Daws)

Boki attempted to recover by assembling a group of followers and set out for a newly discovered island with sandalwood in the New Hebrides. Boki fitted out two ships, the Kamehameha and the Becket, put on board some five hundred of his followers, and sailed south. Boki and two hundred and fifty of his men apparently died at sea.

Boki’s disappearance, along with hundreds of his supporters, did weaken and eventually bring about a complete closure to the only remaining indigenous opposition to the puritan government of Ka‘ahumanu and her missionary advisors. The changes that followed his disappearance led to an entrenchment of mission interests and American ties. (Nogelmeier)

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Two Rival Houses-Kaahumanu-Boki
Two Rival Houses-Kaahumanu-Boki

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Kaahumanu, Boki

September 11, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Chiefs Meeting King George IV

Liholiho (Kamehameha II) sailed from Honolulu, November 27, 1823, accompanied by his favorite wife Kamāmalu, Boki and his wife Liliha, Kekūanāo’a, Kapihe, Manuia, James Young Kanehoa, a few servants, and his interpreter John Rives.

The ship L’Aigle arrived at Portsmouth, England, about May 18, 1824. The Hawaiian party was conducted to London by the master of the vessel, Captain Valentine Starbuck. As soon as the government learned of their arrival. it immediately assumed the charge and direction of their entertainment. (Kuykendall)

In London, Liholiho and Kamāmalu became ill. It is believed they probably contracted the measles on their visit to the Royal Military Asylum (now the Duke of York’s Royal Military School.) Virtually the entire royal party developed measles within weeks of arrival, 7 to 10 days after visiting the Royal Military Asylum housing hundreds of soldiers’ children.

Kamāmalu (aged 22) died on July 8, 1824. The grief-stricken Kamehameha II (age 27) died six days later, on July 14, 1824. Prior to his death he asked to return and be buried in Hawai‘i.

George Canning, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs informed King George IV, noting “Mr. Canning hardly knows whether he does right in venturing to intrude upon your Majesty with the intelligence of the death of the King of the Sandwich Islands …”

“… but as it will probably be repeated in the Newspapers of this Evening, he thinks that your Majesty may perhaps forgive the intrusion. The Event took place early this morning. “

“Mr. Canning humbly presumes that Your Majesty will not disapprove of a Ship of War being allowed to carry back the Suite of the deceased Chief, with the remains of himself and his wife, to the Sandwich Islands …”

“… an Attention perhaps the more advisable as the Governments both of Russia and of the United States of America are known to have their Eyes upon those Islands: which may ere long become a very important Station in the trade between the NW Coast of America and the China Seas.” (Report of the Historical Commission, Territory of Hawaii, 1925)

By the death of the king, Boki became the leader of the party. After they had all regained their health and arrangements had been completed for their return to Hawaii, an interview was held (September 11, 1824) with King George IV who was accompanied by Secretary Canning and some other officials. (Kuykendall)

“We first entered the palace of the king, and afterwards the king entered and his friends; and then came also two chiefs, one of whom was called Kalaimoku, (Mr. Canning,) and another besides him. We then were introduced. King George IV stood before Boki and said to him, and we heard it.”

“‘I exceedingly regret the recent death of your king and his wife. The chiefs and people will think, perhaps, that I have been inattentive to your king …’”

“‘ … but it is not so, for the same medicine and the same physicians have been employed as are employed by the chiefs of this nation. On account of the severity of the disease, he died.’”

“Then King George asked Boki the chief …, ‘As you have come to this country, and the king has died here, who will be king of the land?’ Boki answered … ‘His Majesty’s younger brother will be king, but it is for Kaahumanu and Kalaimoku to take care of the country.’”

“The king then asked Boki ‘What was the business on which you and your king came to this country?’ … Then Boki declared to him the reason of our sailing to Great Britain.”

“‘We have come to confirm the words which Kamehameha I gave in charge to Vancouver, thus, ‘go back and tell King George to watch over me and my whole kingdom.’”

“‘I acknowledge him as my landlord and myself as tenant, (or him as superior and I as inferior.) Should the foreigners of any other nation come to take possession of my lands, then let him help me.’”

“And when King George had heard, he thus said to Boki, ‘I have heard these words. I will attend to the evil from without. The evils within your kingdom it is not for me to regard – they are with yourselves.’”

“‘Return and say to the King, to Ka‘ahumanu and to Kalaimoku, I will watch over your country. I will not take possession of it for mine, but I will watch over it, lest evils should come from others to the kingdom. I therefore, will watch over him agreeably to those ancient words.’”

“Then James Young told Boki the words of the king, – then we heard all these words, Boki, Liliha, Kapihe, Naukana and James Young, heard these words.”

“I also, Kekūanāo’a – we all heard the words of the king to Boki; but the most of the whole company is (are) dead, two of us only remain, viz, James Young and myself.” (Kekūanāo‘a in Report of the Foreign Minister, 1855)

Kanehoa reiterated these statements in a later communication to Wyllie, “At the interview between George IVth and the chiefs, I acted as Interpreter, Rives not being permitted to appear at the interview.”

“Boki informed George IVth that the king had intended to place his Islands under his protection, to which George IVth replied, you must look after the inside affairs, and I will look after the outside …”

“… this affair of the protectorate formed the chief topic of the interview.” (Kanehoa to RC Wyllie (Minister of Foreign Affairs,) January 31, 1851 in Polynesian, October 11, 1851)

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George_IV_1821
George_IV_1821

Filed Under: Economy, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Prominent People Tagged With: Kekuanaoa, Liholiho, Kapihe, Manuia, England, King George IV, Kamamalu Liliha, James Young Kanehoa, Hawaii, John Rives, Boki

June 24, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kamā‘ule‘ule

Kamā‘ule‘ule was the son of Kekuamanoha, a chief of Maui, and was a younger brother of Kalanimōku (but it was rumored that he was the son of Kahekili.) His nickname, ‘Boki’ or ‘Poki,’ came from a variation on ‘Boss’ (it was also the name of a supernatural dog.)

Boki was appointed governor of O‘ahu and confirmed in his post by Kamehameha II. He married Liliha. Boki agreed to the breaking of the tabus in 1819 and accepted the Protestant missionaries arriving in 1820, although he had been baptized as a Catholic aboard the French vessel of Louis de Freycinet, along with Kalanimoku, the previous year.

High Chief Boki and his wife High Chiefess Liliha were among the ali‘i who accompanied King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu to England in 1824.

Due to the sudden death of Kamehameha II from the measles, it was Boki who lead the Hawaiian delegation to meet with King George IV and receive the King’s assurances of British protection for Hawai‘i from foreign intrusion. (KSBE) Boki brought back an English gardener, John Wilkinson.

Wilkinson, a British agriculturist, obtained coffee seedlings from Brazil. These plants were brought to Oʻahu in 1825 board the HMS Blonde (the ship also brought back the bodies of Liholiho and Kamāmalu who had died in England) and planted on Boki’s property in Mānoa.

In 1828, American missionary Samuel Ruggles took cuttings from Hilo, the same stock as in Mānoa, and brought them to Kona. Henry Nicholas Greenwell grew and marketed coffee and is recognized for putting “Kona Coffee” on the world markets.

Boki also grew sugarcane on his Mānoa property, as well as operated a sizable sugar cane distillery, making rum.

The chiefs placed a kapu upon prostitution and “to suppress vice, such as drunkenness, debauchery, theft and the violation of the Sabbath” (Kuykendall) which had sprung up in the ports of Honolulu and Lahaina.

The rage of the sailors (supported in some cases by their officers, and having the countenance of at least one United States naval officer) was directed not so much against the native authorities as it was against the missionaries.

Riots and armed demonstrations occurred several times during the years 1825, 1826 and 1827. The development of a system or code of laws was hampered by a division of the chiefs into two factions which ran to extremes in opposite directions.

The larger and more powerful group favored and at times enforced a strict puritanical regime; the other favored a liberal regime which in this unstable community had an incorrigible tendency to run into license and disorder. Others favored a more relaxed approach. (Kuykendall)

Boki became resentful of the power of Ka‘ahumanu and her missionary advisors, and not surprisingly, allied himself with foreigners like Richard Charlton and John Percival, Captain of the first visiting American warship. Boki was also a protector of the French missionaries that began arriving in 1827.

Ka‘ahumanu and the council in May, 1827, charged Boki and Liliha with misconduct, intemperance, fornication and adultery, and had them fined. In return, Boki and Liliha objected to the laws passed at the end of the year and made no effort to enforce them. (Kelley)

“The foreigners, finding Boki friendly and obliging, proposed a more profitable way of making money, and both Boki and Manuia erected buildings for the sale of liquor, Boki’s called Polelewa and Manuia’s Hau‘eka.” Boki’s place was also called the Blonde Hotel. (Kamakau)

Boki stocked his bar with cheap, bad wine – a mixture of several kinds – from China, saying it was good enough for the sailors. But his usual ill luck or bad judgment dogged the enterprise. Hiram Bingham’s remark summed it up: “However lucrative Boki’s store and hotel might have been to his English clerks, they were probably losing concerns to himself.” (Greer)

“Since Liholiho’s sailing to England, lawlessness had been prohibited, but with these saloons and others opened by the foreigners doing business, the old vices appeared and in a form worse than ever.” (Kamakau)

At times the peace of the country was threatened by this division, as when Governor Boki of Oahu in 1829 seemed on the point of attempting to overthrow Ka‘ahumanu. (Kuykendall)

Boki incurred large debts and, in 1829, attempted to cover them by assembling a group of followers and set out for a newly discovered island with sandalwood in the New Hebrides. Boki fitted out two ships, the Kamehameha and the Becket, put on board some five hundred of his followers, and sailed south.

Just prior to Boki’s sailing in search of sandalwood, the lands of Kapunahou and Kukuluaeʻo were transferred to Hiram Bingham for the purpose of establishing a school, later to be known as Oʻahu College (now, Punahou School.)

These lands had first been given to Kameʻeiamoku, a faithful chief serving under Kamehameha, following Kamehameha’s conquest of Oʻahu in 1795. At Kameʻeiamoku’s death in 1802, the land transferred to his son Hoapili, who resided there from 1804 to 1811. Hoapili passed the property to his daughter Kuini Liliha (Boki’s wife.)

Sworn testimony before the Land Commission in 1849, and that body’s ultimate decision, noted that the “land was given by Governor Boki about the year 1829 to Hiram Bingham for the use of the Sandwich Islands Mission.”

The decision was made over the objection from Liliha; however, Hoapili confirmed the gift. It was considered to be a gift from Kaʻahumanu, Kuhina Nui or Queen Regent at that time.

Boki and two hundred and fifty of his men apparently died at sea.

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Na_Poki._and_his_wife_Liliha-1824
Na_Poki._and_his_wife_Liliha-1824

Filed Under: Prominent People, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Kalanimoku, Boki, Liliha, Kamauleule

May 6, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Entourage

On November 27, 1823, L’Aigle, an English whaling ship under the command of Captain Valentine Starbuck, on which Kamehameha II (Liholiho), Kamāmalu, and their entourage traveled to England to gain firsthand experience in European ways.

The king and his chiefs agreed that Liholiho needed a competent interpreter to travel with him, and they asked Starbuck to permit the Englishman William Ellis and his family to join the royal suite. Starbuck adamantly and persistently refused. Frenchman John Rives went as interpreter.

Liholiho’s chosen party were Governor Boki and his wife, Liliha, Kapihe, Chief Kekuanaoa, steward Manuia, Naukana (Noukana), Kauluhaimalama, servant Na‘aiweuweu, and James Kanehoa Young. (Corley)

Boki was the son of Kekuamanoha, a chief of Maui (but it was rumored that he was the son of Kahekili II.) His original name was Kamaʻuleʻule; his nickname came from a variation on Boss, the name of the favorite dog of Kamehameha I.

His older brother, Kalanimōkū, was prime minister and formerly Kamehameha’s most influential advisor. His aunt was the powerful Kaʻahumanu, queen regent and Kamehameha’s favorite wife.

King Kamehameha II appointed Boki as governor of Oʻahu and chief of the Waiʻanae district. John Dominis Holt III said Boki was “a man of great charisma who left his mark everywhere he went.”

Boki married Chiefess Kuini Liliha; Liliha was the daughter of Kalaniulumoku II (some say Koakanu was her father) and Loeau, who were themselves full blooded brother and sister (children of Kalaniulumoku I and his own mother the venerable kapu chiefess Kalanikuiokikilo.)

This makes Liliha a niaupio child, a chiefess of the highest possible princely rank in the system of Hawaiian chiefs. She was hānai (adopted) daughter of Ulumāheihei (Hoapili). (Kekoolani)

Ulumāheihei’s father, High Chief Kameʻeiamoku, was one of the “royal twins” who helped Kamehameha I come to power – the twins are on the Islands’ coat of arms – Kameʻeiamoku is on the right (bearing a kahili,) his brother, Kamanawa is on the left, holding a spear.

Kapihe (Naihekukui) “was very intelligent, had an excellent memory, and spoke English tolerably. He was remarkably skillful in the game of draughts (Kōnane,) which he played with uniform success.” (Byron)

He was son of the chief Hanakāhi and also known as Jack the Pilot or Captain Jack. He had been the pilot for the Russian explorer Golovnin in 1818 and piloted Freycinet from Kailua Bay to Kawaihae in August 1819. (Birkett) Lord Byron referred to him as ‘Admiral.’

Kekūanāoʻa’s name (literally, the standing projections) is said to refer to ships’ masts seen in the harbor when Kekūanāoʻa was born. (Pukui) (Some claim Kekūanāoʻa to be the son of Ki‘ilaweau, the grandson of Alapaʻi, King of Hawai‘i, and the Chiefess Kaho‘owaha of Moana. (Kapi‘ikauinamoku))

“As a young man he was a favorite and attendant of the declining years of Kamehameha I. With Liholiho he was a punahele, or intimate attendant and friend, and in that capacity accompanied the Royal party to England”.

Kekūanāoʻa married Pauahi, formerly a wife of Liholiho. They had a daughter, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani. In 1827, Kīnaʻu, daughter of Kamehameha, became Kekūanāoʻa’s wife. Kīnaʻu and Kekūanāoʻa had five children: Prince David Kamehameha (who died as a child;) Prince Moses Kekūāiwa (who died in 1848;) Prince Lot Kapuāiwa (Kamehameha V); Prince Alexander Liholiho (Kamehamhea IV) and Princess Victoria Kamāmalu.

Boki’s younger cousin, Manuia, was in command of Fort Kekuanohu, of the fortified hill of Punchbowl and the harbor of Kou, and Boki made him Chief Marshall with power over life and death. He an Boki later set up grog shops at Honolulu.

Naukana (Noukana) was son of Kamanawa (one of the twins on the Islands’ coat of arms – and one of Kamehameha’s four Kona Uncles who helped him rise to control all of the Islands.)

Kauluhaimalama was son of Kekūhaupiʻo. Hawai‘i Island ruling chief Kalaniʻōpuʻu instructed Kekūhaupiʻo to teach Kamehameha the ancient martial arts of the land. Kekūhaupiʻo was determined to give all his knowledge to his chiefly pupil, and he indeed did so. This brought about the firm bond between Kekūhaupiʻo and the young Kamehameha.

Kekūhaupiʻo is arguably the one man most closely connected to Kamehameha I during Kamehameha’s formative years, while he developed his skills as a warrior, and through the early period of Kamehameha’s conquests.

“Kanehoa Young, the second son of John Young, was about the same age as Liholiho, had traveled widely throughout the world, and spoke English.” (Corley)

John Young, a boatswain on the British fur trading vessel, Eleanora, was stranded on the Island of Hawai‘i in 1790. Kamehameha brought Young to Kawaihae, where he was building the massive temple, Pu’ukoholā Heiau.

For the next several years, John Young, and another British sailor, Isaac Davis, went on to assist Kamehameha in his unification of the Hawaiian Islands.

Because of his knowledge of European warfare, Young is said to have trained Kamehameha and his men in the use of muskets and cannons. In addition, both Young and Davis fought alongside Kamehameha in his many battles.

With these powerful new weapons and associated war strategy, Kamehameha eventually brought all of the Hawaiian Islands under his rule.

In London, Liholiho and Kamāmalu became ill. It is believed they probably contracted the measles on their visit to the Royal Military Asylum (now the Duke of York’s Royal Military School.) Virtually the entire royal party developed measles within weeks of arrival, 7 to 10 days after visiting the Royal Military Asylum housing hundreds of soldiers’ children.

Kamāmalu (aged 22) died on July 8, 1824. The grief-stricken Kamehameha II (age 27) died six days later, on July 14, 1824. Prior to his death he asked to return and be buried in Hawai‘i.

Kapihe was the only one of the followers who had suffered from the disorder in a degree at all equal to the king and queen. Boki and Kekūanāoʻa rapidly recovered; and Kapihe soon grew better.

Shortly thereafter, the British Government dispatched HMS Blonde to convey the bodies of Liholiho and Kamāmalu back to Hawaii, along with the entourage. The Captain of the Blonde, a newly commissioned 46-gun frigate, was Lord Byron (a cousin of the poet.) The Blonde arrived back in Honolulu on May 6, 1825.

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Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Prominent People, Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks Tagged With: Kinau, Naukana, Fort Kekuanohu, Moses Kekuaiwa, Noukana, Kaahumanu, Liliha, Kauluhaimalama, Kalanimoku, Naihekukui, Naaiweuweu, Boki, Liholiho, James Kanehoa Young, Hoapili, Kapihe, Hawaii, Kekuamanoha, Kamamalu, Kalaniopuu, Isaac Davis, Ulumaheihei, Princess Ruth Keelikolani, Kamehameha, Kameeiamoku, Lot Kapuiwa, John Young, Eleanora, Kamanawa, Four Kona Uncles, Kekuanaoa, Pauahi, Victoria Kamamalu, Kekuhaupi, David Kamehameha, Manuia, Alexander Liholiho

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