Hawaii | Page 447 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 28, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waiākea Experiment

Toward the end of WWI a unique opportunity presented itself for a major homesteading experiment in Hawai‘i. A number of the long-term, thirty-year leases written during the closing years of King Kalākaua’s reign (1874-1891) were due to expire.

In anticipation of the expiration of these leases, and in keeping with the public land policies of President Wilson’s administration, preparations were undertaken for a large-scale homesteading experiment.

On June 1, 1918, shortly after Governor McCarthy took office, a lease of public land held by the Waiākea Mill Company on 7,261 acres of sugar cane land expired.

The Waiākea plantation had been one of the most profitable sugar corporations in the Islands from its inception until 1918, and there was every promise that homesteading could be successfully undertaken on a portion of the plantation’s land.

In March, 1919, and subsequently in February, 1921, a total of 216 lots in the Waiākea homestead tract were carved out of the plantation’s acreage and were conveyed to individuals under the terms of special homestead agreements.

These lots incorporated an area of 7,261 acres, of which approximately 6,300 acres, or 88 per cent, consisted of cane land. The balance of the acreage was a mixture of various kinds of land, some of which was suitable for other agricultural pursuits. The total appraised value of the land was more than half a million dollars. (LRB)

Applications for homestead lots in the Waiākea tract numbered over 2,000, far more than the number of lots available. To meet this problem, it was determined the homesteads would be awarded by a lottery …”

However, “without reference to whether the prospective homesteaders had any experience in farming, or any of the other qualifications that might have contributed to successful homesteading.”

“Nor did the territorial government plan to assist the homesteaders by providing trained agricultural agents, such as the county extension agents found on the mainland United States; neither did it assist the homesteaders with adequate roads or marketing facilities.”

“In short, virtually nothing was done to create conditions that would contribute to the success of this unique experiment in homesteading.”

“The inevitable outcome, of course, was that the Waiākea homesteading project was an immediate and overwhelming failure.”

“The majority of the Waiākea homesteaders’, unlike its pioneer American prototype, had no intention of tilling the soil. The recollection still lingers in many minds of “Waiākea No.1.” His intentions have been of the best but his agricultural background and qualifications were woefully lacking.”

“Forty percent of these homesteaders forfeited their land through failure to make their payments when due or for other breach of covenant.”

“Sixty percent, either directly or through their successors in interest, were strong enough, many as a result of legislative relief measures, to hold their lots and secure patents.”

“But forfeited or not, we find today nearly ninety percent of the original cane land again in the hands of Waiākea Mill Co. (5537 acres) for the production of sugar, partly as a result of direct leases with the Territory of forfeited lots and partly by direct lease agreements with the owners of the patented lots or lots still held for patent.” (LRB)

“What is considered by the territorial government and the Waiākea Mill Co. to be the only logical solution, under existing conditions, of the acute Waiākea homestead problem, was reached at a conference with Governor Wallace R. Farrington …”

“The Waiākea Mill Co. has agreed to take over the cultivation of the entire area of the Second Series Homesteads of the Waiākea tract, and to cancel all existing contracts with those homesteaders who desire to enter into the new agreement as now proposed.”

“Taking over of the homestead lands by the mill company will relieve the homesteaders of all responsibility with regard to cultivation, fertilization, harvesting, hauling, milling and care of stools.” (Louisiana Planter, 1922)

“The short-term results of the Waiākea experiment, then, were the ruin of many homesteaders, temporary disruption of the efficient functioning of a great and prosperous plantation, which suffered continued, substantial, financial losses until it was able to recapture most of its lost land, and a permanent loss of tax revenue to the territorial government.”

“In an effort to persuade him to resign as governor before the end of his term, some business leaders offered McCarthy an attractive position as general manager of the Hawaiian Dredging Company, even as others fulminated against his policies. He accepted the position, and Wallace Rider Farrington, a Republican, was appointed to succeed him as governor in 1921.” (LRB)

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Waiakea Experiment

November 27, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Uakoko

E ui aku ana au iā ʻoe
Aia i hea ka wai a Kāne?
Aia i kai, i ka moana
I ke kualau, i ke ānuenue
I ka pūnohu, i ka ua koko
I ka ʻālewalewa
Aia i laila ka wai a Kāne

This question I ask of you:
Where, indeed, is the water of Kāne?
There, at sea, on the ocean
In the driving rain, in the heavenly rainbow
In the piled-up mist-wreath, in the blood-red rainfall
In the ghost-pale cloud form
There is the water of Kāne
(Kumukahi)

Uakoko – Lit., blood rain – A low-lying rainbow; A rain so heavy that it turns stream waters red-brown with the wash of the hillside; Reflection of rainbow colors in the clouds. (Ulukau)

“Usually the birth of a kupua, like the birth of a high chief, was attended with strange disturbances in the heavens, such as reverberating thunder, flashing lightning, and severe storms …”

“… which sent the abundant red soil of the islands down the mountain-sides in blood-red torrents known as ka-ua-koko (the blood rain). This name was also given to misty fine rain when shot through by the red waves of the sun.” (Westervelt)

“This was one of the signs of royalty. It was called red rain as also blood rain, whether on land or on the ocean. Whenever a red rain was seen on land or sea, then a priest would remark: ‘I wonder who will be the chief that will die, as foretold by this red rain?’”

“The interpretations of this sign, in relation to the chiefs were many, concerning the demise, or the birth of a chief, or, of the approach or departure of a chief.”

“These signs, such as the clappings of thunder, the fiashings of lightning, and the rain and wind on the ocean were all signs of royalty and pertained either to a dying chief, a traveling chief, or the birth of a chief. These signs do not appear every day, being only seen at their proper time for such revelation.” (Fornander)

“On Oct. 16, 1876, at the house on Emma Street, was born to Princess Miriam Likelike (Mrs AS Cleghorn – Liliʻuokalani’s sister) the child now known to the world as the Princess Kaʻiulani. She was at once recognized as the hope of the Hawaiian people, as the only direct heir by birth to the throne.” (Liliʻuokalani)

The following is one of six name songs written by Lili’uokalani for her niece and heir apparent, Kaʻiulani.

(Rainbows were symbols of royalty. Kauai is praised in the song because some of Kaʻiulan’’s relatives came from there. In the last stanza, Mano is short for Manokalanipō, a famous Kauai chief. Naue on Kauai is noted for pandanus, and Makana cliff in the Hanalei District, for its fragrant ferns.) (Ulukau)

He Inoa No Kaʻiulani

Lamalama i luna ka ‘ōnohi lā
Kāhiko ua koko ‘ula
Ka hō’ailona kapu o ke kama lā
He ēwe mai nā kūpuna

Ahāhā, ua nani ka wahine lā
Ahāhā, ka nohona i ka la’i
Ahāhā, ua hele a nohea lā
Pua ha’aheo o ke aupuni

Ki’ina ka wehi o ke kama lā
I ka mokupuni o Mano
Ka hala o Naue i ke kai lā
Laua’e ‘a’ala o Makana

Kāohi ‘ia iho ka mana’o lā
A ho’i mai ‘o Lilinoe
Ka wahine noho i ke anu lā
I ka piko o Maunakea

A Name Song for Kaʻiulani

The display of a rainbow illuminates above
An adornment with the blood red rain
This is the sacred sign of the princess
The lineage passed down from the ancestors

Well, now, the lady is so pretty
Here now, dwelling in tranquility
My, how she has become so beautiful
A flower that her nation embraces with pride

Fetch the adornment for the princess
On the island of Mano
The hala of Naue in the sea
And the fragrant laua’e of Makana

Any further thoughts should be repressed
Until Lilinoe returns
The woman who dwells in the chilly cold
At the summit of Mauna Kea
(The Liliu Project – Ulukau)

Performance by Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus (HYOC:)

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RedRain-Jordan

November 26, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapa

The Polynesian name of the moon, Mahina, is derived from Hina, the goddess mother of Maui. The Hawaiians say that Hina and her maidens pounded out the softest, finest kapa cloth on the long, thick kapa board at the foot of Kauiki. (Westervelt)

The Hawaiian background of the name Kapa has been generally retained, although many of the Polynesian groups have called their bark-cloth by other names or other forms of this name. The origin of the name is simply ka = the, and pa = beaten, or the beaten thing.

Its earliest and most important use is for clothing; malo: a strip of cloth nine inches wide and nine feet long for the man, and pa‘u for the woman: a strip a little wider and somewhat longer.

White kapa was sometimes used to cover the inside of the thatch of a hale. It was used for decoration on the walls of the more open lanai or porch. The thick ribbed kapa was used as a mat, and a tough leathery variety was used in the early days of the Mission as a handsome and suitable material for binding books.

A firm, rather coarse, white kapa was used as a covering for the anuʻu or oracle in the heiau or temple where the gods were supposed to talk down to the priest or chief.

At certain seasons of the year, as at makahiki (first day of the year) and at some religious festivals, the images of the gods were dressed in fresh white or red kapa with great ceremony, while the old kapa dress was burned, lest some sacrilegious person might use it.

Strips of kapa made excellent cord or twine, or, when twisted or braided, even rope; the latter had another use in quite a different line as slow-match, the charred end readily catching the fire from the fire-sticks and, slowly consuming, held the fire conveniently.

Smaller strips were the wicks for the stone lamps so common on the group fifty years ago, the simple cups affording a ready way of increasing the light of a lamp by adding wick after wick around the rim.

A strip of white kapa tied around a tree indicated that the fruit was kapu; the same signal on a stick placed in a path indicated “no thoroughfare.”

In fastening the stone adze (koi) to the handle (au), a fold or two of kapa was interposed between stone and wood before binding together with sennet; when kapa could not be obtained hala leaves were substituted, but kapa was preferred.

The white, unstained kapa was used to bandage wounds, and was scraped into lint for stanching blood, precisely as we should use cotton or linen cloth at the present day. (Brigham)

Akia, wauke palaholo, mamaki – these plants grow in the forests on hills, in valleys, on side hills, on ridges, and in green meadows; also on the banks of taro patches.

They can be found growing on the eight inhabited islands and had grown there plentifully; but on some of those islands they grow more abundantly, and cover a large area of land, and on some they are scarce. (Brigham)

In Hawai‘i, wauke made the softest, finest, and most durable bark cloth, for dress, bed sheets, and for ceremonial purposes. The inner bark of other trees and ferns named above, and including ulu (breadfruit) and mamane, was used for making coarser cloth for other uses – or if wauke could not be obtained. (Handy)

The method of getting wauke is the same for the various kapas which a person desires; it is only during the process of beating out the kapa that a person could make use of the pattern which she prefers.

After cutting a tree, he next trimmed off the outside bark; the wauke was left in the water until soft; after six days, eight days, ten days or perhaps twenty days, it was taken out of the water. (Fornander)

The strips were laid edge to edge, and felted together by beating with wooden beaters of different sizes, square in cross section, having carved geometric designs on their four faces to give watermarking. Many successive beatings with lighter and lighter clubs were required to make the finest cloth. (Handy)

For the process of beating the kapa these things are prepared: The block on which to do the beating; this block is made broad and flat on top and the two ends are made thus: the top one is lengthened and the under one is shortened. Water is used through the beating process to keep the wauke continually wet. (Fornander)

The first i‘e (club – tapa beater) (a coarse-figured club) is used for hard pounding. After that is the i‘ekike, the dividing club, a smaller-figured club; then comes the printing club and the finishing club. The kapa is then cut. It is next taken to soak in water.

It is then spread to dry at a place prepared for drying it, that is the drying ground; there it is spread out and pressed down with rocks placed here and there so that the pa‘u would not wrinkle. This is continued until the pa‘u is dry. And this is done until there are five kapa; they are then sewn together. That is called a set of kapa.

Relating to the mamaki. Going after this kind of a plant is like going after the wauke. The method of preparation and making is the same. The kapa, however, is greatly favored by the chiefs. (Fornander)

Decoration of Hawaiian tapa, in addition to the watermarking, consisted of dyeing, felting on strips of colored tapa by beating, and stamping with small bamboo printing blocks (‘ohe kapala). (Handy)

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‘Woman_of_the_Sandwich_Islands_making_the_Natural_Cloth_with_which_they_are_Dressed’_by_Jacques_Arago

Hina-(HerbKane)

Alphonse_Pellion,_Îles_Sandwich;_Maisons_de_Kraïmokou,_Premier_Ministre_du_Roi;_Fabrication_des_Étoffes_(c._1819,_detail)

Kapa printers-kamahawaii

Kapa_or_Tapa_cloth,_Hawaii,_collected_before_1890_-_Pacific_collection_-_Peabody_Museum,_Harvard_University_-_DSC05747

Kapa Holoku-MissionHouses

Kapa Beater

Kapa beaters-ie kuku hooki-kapakulture

Kapa_or_Tapa_cloth,_Hawaii,_possibly_collected_by_Captain_James_Cook,_before_1869_-_Pacific_collection_-_Peabody_Museum,_Harvard_University_-_DSC05749

November 25, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Tahitian Influence on Christianity in Hawai‘i

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. (Kawaharada)

The first known Christian missionaries in Polynesia came from the London Missionary Society, an ecumenical Protestant organization; they landed in Tahiti, the Marquesas, then Tongatapu in Tonga. (PCC)

Toketa, a Tahitian, arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1818; he probably landed on the island of Hawaiʻi. He was a member of the household of the chief (Governor) John Adams Kuakini, at that time a prominent figure in the court of Kamehameha I in Kailua, Kona.

A convert to Christianity (he likely received missionary instruction in his homeland – first Europeans arrived in Tahiti in 1767; in 1797 the London Missionary Society sent 29 missionaries to Tahiti,) he became a teacher to Hawaiian chiefs, made a visit to Honolulu with Kuakini in January-February of 1822. (Barrere)

On February 4, 1822, “Adams (Kuakini) sent a young Tahitian to us (Toketa,) to obtain for him that part of the spelling book which is printed, with a view to commence learning to read his own language. … This young Tahitian is one of the three, whom we have found here from the Society Isles, able to read and write their native language.”

“He, with one hour’s instruction, is able to read the Hawaiian (Owhyhean) also, and to assist the chief to whom he is attached.” (Missionary Herald, 1823) Toketa then began to teach Kuakini to read and write.

Shortly after (February 8, 1822,) “Adams (Kuakini) sent a letter to Mr B (Bingham) written by the hand of Toleta the Tahitian, which Mr. B answered in the Hawaiian language. – ‘This may be considered as the commencement of epistolary correspondence in this language.’” (Missionary Herald, 1823)

William Ellis was with the London Missionary Society in Tahiti. Born in England, William and Mary Mercy Ellis went to Tahiti in 1817 as part of a new group of highly educated workers. They brought with them the first press and set it up in Moorea. They soon moved to Huahine, where William Ellis helped draft the code of laws. (Boston University)

Then the London Mission sent Ellis and some others to Hawai‘i. “(T)he colonial government-cutter Mermaid arrived in Fare harbour, on her way to the Sandwich Islands, with a small schooner, the Prince Regent, as a present from the British government to the king of those islands.”

“The captain intimated his intention of touching at the Marquesas on his return from Hawaii, and politely offered a passage to any of us who might be desirous of visiting these islands.”

“We had long been anxious to attempt the establishment of Christianity among the inhabitants of the former, and as the present appeared a favourable opportunity, we communicated the same to the deputation, and it appeared to them desirable to visit these places.” (Ellis)

“The arrangements for the voyage being completed, we assembled at the chapel about ten o’clock on the forenoon of the 25th of February: the native Christians were animated by kind and appropriate addresses from the church, and were affectionately encouraged by Mr. Barff and Mr. Orsmond, the latter being on a visit with us.”

“The native Missionaries then took leave of their fellow-Christians in a most solemn and impressive manner; and, as it had been arranged by Mr. Barff and myself that I should accompany them, to aid in the commencement of their labours, I addressed the people, and, recommending Mrs. Ellis and our dear children to their kind attentions under God, I also bade them farewell.”

“The meeting was peculiarly impressive and affecting; and, after mutually committing each other, under deep intensity of feeling, to the guidance and the keeping of the God of all our mercies, the whole congregation walked from the chapel to the sea-shore, where we exchanged our last salutations.”

“The deputation, the two native Missionaries and their wives, five other natives and myself, now embarked, and the Mermaid stood out to sea.” (Ellis)

“The time for her (Mrs Ellis) departure at length came, and on the 31st of December, 1822, accompanied by her four children, she embarked, with her husband, on board the Active, for the Sandwich Islands.”

“The voyage to the Sandwich Islands, about three thousand miles distant, was safe, and not unpleasant, and by the tender mercy of their heavenly Father, they reached Oahu on the 5th of February, 1823.”

“Here Mrs. Ellis received on landing, a cordial welcome from many of the chief women of the settlement, and from the esteemed American Missionaries, of whose plain but hospitable and comfortable dwelling, she became for several weeks an inmate, and received every attention and kindness as a beloved sister in the Lord.”

“All the affection professed in the invitations they had so kindly forwarded, was practically manifested; and every hope of tenderness and sympathy which they excited, was fully realized. Mrs. Ellis found that the prospects of greater usefulness …”

“In Huahine the influence of the Missionaries could bear on a comparatively small number, but here the town of Honolulu contained not fewer than 8,000, while the population of the island amounted to 20,000, and the influence of the Missionaries was brought to bear indirectly upon 150,000 or 180,000 persons.” (Mary Mercy Ellis Memoirs)

Ellis and the others who joined him from the London Missionary Society (including Tahitians who came with them) worked well with the American Protestant missionaries who arrived in Hawaii in 1820.

The American Mission immediately saw benefit in working with Ellis and the Tahitians … “of bringing the influence of the Tahitian mission to bear with more direct and operative force upon this nation …”

“… trembling under the too great responsibility of the spiritual concerns of the whole nation, & looking with hesitating awe at the great and difficult work of translating the bible & continually casting about for help …”

“… we feel the need of just such talents and services as Brother (Ellis) is able to bring to the work, whose general views of Christian faith practice, & of missionary duty, which accord so well with ours, whose thorough acquaintance with the Tahitian tongue so nearly allied to this …”

“… & which it cost the mission almost a 20 years’ labor fully to acquire, & whose missionary experience, among the South Sea Islands’ kindred tribes, enable him to cooperate with us, with mutual satisfaction, and greatly to facilitate our acquisition of this kindred language …”

“… & the early translation of the sacred scriptures, & thus promote the usefulness, rather than supersede the labors, of all who may come to our aid from America.” (Journal of the Sandwich Island Mission, May 9, 1822)

“The earliest, and model for the rest, was the Tahitian missionary Auna who came to Hawaii with a visiting English delegation of missionaries in 1822.”

“At the urgent request of the Hawaiian chiefs Auna was permitted to remain, and for well over a year Auna and his wife lived in the household of Ka’ahumanu, teaching reading and writing and explaining Christian doctrine to the king and chiefs.”

“Auna left a school of sixty pupils when the couple returned to Tahiti in 1824. His school was taken over by Kaomi, the son of his wife’s brother Moe, a Tahitian long in the service of Ka’ahumanu’s brother Ke’eaumoku the governor of Maui.” (Barrere & Sahlins)

Ellis remained in the Islands for eighteen months, but returned to England, due to illness of Mary (she died in 1835.) Ellis later remarried and continued mission work in the Madagascar. Ellis died in 1872.)

Because of the positive role of the London Missionary Society in assisting the Hawaiian mission, any descendant of a person sent by the London Missionary Society who served the Sandwich Island Mission in Hawaii is eligible to be an Enrolled Member in the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

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A_Missionary_Preaching_to_the_Natives,_under_a_Skreen_of_platted_Cocoa-nut_leaves_at_Kairua_by_William_Ellis-1823

November 24, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kekūanāoʻa

“The father of (Mataio (Matthew)) Kekūanāoʻa was Nahi‘olea, brother to Ka‘iana. The two were noted O‘ahu chiefs of high rank and nearly related to the famous Kahekili of Maui.”

“Rebelling against his rule, they were vanquished, and went to live on Kauai.” They later served Kamehameha. However, they “separated from Kamehameha I on his voyage for the subjugation of O‘ahu, turned against him, and were killed at the battle of Nu‘uanu in 1795.”

“The mother of Kekūanāoʻa, Inaina, was of Hawai‘i, and of a high-born family of kahus of Kamehameha I. Their home and land, Keokea, was near Honaunau, Kona. Kekūanāoʻa, however, was born during a temporary absence in Hilo, near the period of Vancouver’s third visit.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 28, 1868)

His 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; – to return with Boki and Liliha in sad and sacred charge of the Royal remains (in 1825.”)

“The years immediately following were those distinguished by the regency of Kaahumanu, and the aspiring rivalry of Boki. Kekūanāoʻa was at first much favored by the latter.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 28, 1868)

He married Pauahi, formerly a wife of Liholiho. They had a daughter, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani. Pauahi died while giving birth to Keʻelikōlani (February 9, 1826;) Keʻelikōlani was then cared for by Kamehameha’s wife, Kaʻahumanu, who herself died six years later.

In 1827, Kīnaʻu, daughter of Kamehameha, became his wife. They both publically professed the Christian faith in 1830. Following Ka‘ahumanu’s death in 1832, Princess Ruth was then sent to live with her father, Kekūanāoʻa, and her stepmother, Kīnaʻu.

Kīnaʻu and Kekūanāoʻa had five children: Prince David Kamehameha (who died as a child;) Prince Moses Kekūāiwa (who died in 1848;) Prince Lot Kapuāiwa; Prince Alexander Liholiho and Princess Victoria Kamāmalu.

Kekūanāoʻa and Kīnaʻu were the parents of two kings, Kamehameha IV (Alexander Liholiho) and V (Lot Kapuāiwa.) His daughter, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani, passed her great land holdings to Bernice Pauahi Bishop; it was the land base that formed Kamehameha Schools / Bishop Estate.

In 1833, Kīnaʻu was appointed Kuhina Nui. The Kuhina Nui was a unique position in the administration of Hawaiian government and had no specific equivalent in western governments of the day. It has been described in general terms as ‘Prime Minister,’ ‘Premier’ and ‘Regent.’

When John Adams Kuakini left his position as Governor of O‘ahu in 1834 to govern the Island of Hawai‘i, Kekūanāoʻa succeeded him and served the government for more than 30-years.

Starting in 1837, “the common Hawaiian folk of Honolulu” started petitioning Rev Hiram Bingham, head of the Hawaiian Mission, to establish a second church or mission in Honolulu (Kawaiahaʻo being the first).

When the matter of deciding where a new Church should be built, Governor Kekūanāoʻa “begged to express his manaʻo that it should be in the village” (Honolulu;) specifically, in the district of Kaumakapili where 12,000 to 13,000 people lived. (The Friend)

They requested that the Rev Lowell Smith be their pastor. The 1837 annual ʻAha Paeʻaina (the annual meeting and gathering of the churches and ministers) granted their request.

Kīnaʻu died on April 4, 1839, not long after the birth of her youngest child, Victoria; Kekūanāoʻa then raised Victoria. She was educated at Chief’s Children’s School (Royal School) along with all her cousins and brothers.

“An amusing scene is said to have taken place at the staking out for (Kawaiahaʻo Church.) The Governor insisted that it should be 160-feet long, – the pastor of the church (Hiram Bingham,) also a determined man, said 120 feet, and set the stakes of one end further in.”

“The Governor set those of the other end again ahead; the missionary followed up from behind, and the site would have walked rapidly downtown, had not a happy compromise arisen as to the required dimensions.” (The church is 143’ 6’” long by 78’ 10” wide.)

“In those days the labor of the people was in great measure at the command of the chiefs, and it was but for the chief to say, Come and let us do this, and the thing was done.”

“The planning and execution and procural of material however, for that massive edifice, required an amount of energy and thought, and the credit is due to (Kekūanāoʻa,) to the late Hon A Paki and the Rev Mr Bingham.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 28, 1868)

Years later, it was “an old building and one that is greatly beloved by a portion of our people, this mother church of ours. Its predecessor on these grounds was a church of pili grass; and the stone building was completed in 1842, constructed by the loving hands of the aliʻi and makaʻāinana of times gone by.”

“It was Kekūanāoʻa and Bingham (Binamu) Sr who selected the area where it was to be built and supervised its construction, however Bingham returned to America before the completion of this building.” (Kuokua, January 24, 1885)

“On the occasion of the hauling down of the Flag by Lord George Paulet in 1843, he was ordered to have the ignominious service performed. ‘Not at all, you shall do that yourselves,’ was the doughty answer, and the British mariners had to do it.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 28, 1868)

At the age of 17, Victoria Kamāmalu was appointed Kuhina Nui by her brother Kamehameha IV soon after he ascended the throne in December 1854.

“In 1861, (Kekūanāoʻa) became President of the Board of Education, succeeding the Rev Dr Armstrong in that office. He held in tender regard the good of the young of his nation, and the last public speech heard from his lips, outside the Legislative Hall, was a Sunday School celebration.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 28, 1868)

While President of the Legislative Assembly, “His last speech was in favor of progress and improvement. It was on the steamer subsidy question. ‘Gentlemen, where are we, for going forward? – looking back? Our race have more than once declared the progress, the foreign improvements. I am for steam.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 28, 1868)

When Lot Kapuāiwa (Kamehameha V) succeeded his brother Kamehameha IV in 1863, he selected his father Mataio Kekūanāoʻa to be the Kuhina Nui.

As the last Kuhina Nui, Kekūanāoʻa essentially presided over the demise of the office. Kamehameha V proclaimed a constitution on August 20, 1864 in which there was no provision for a Kuhina Nui.

It was “an unnecessary check upon the Legislative in giving to this Office an absolute control over the acts of a body of which he himself is a member and in which he has a vote.” (Archives)

“In former times, (Kekūanāoʻa) would have been a warrior; in this time he has done more than any person of his race to maintain their independence and their good name.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 28, 1868) Kekūanāoʻa died November 24, 1868.

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