Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila Peleioholani

Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila Peleioholani (also called Peleioholani the 4th or Lehuanui, or simply, Peleioholani) (1843-1916) was the son of Peleioholani (uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V) and Piikeakaluaonalani (mother.)

His great grandfather was the high chief Keʻeaumoku (father of Kaʻahumanu,) one of the ablest supporters of Kamehameha I.

Keʻeaumoku distinguished himself in the battle of Mokuʻōhai, (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 in which Kamehameha won and put the island of Hawaiʻi under his control – this led to his ultimate control of all the islands.)

Keʻeaumoku killed Kiwalaʻo in a hand-to-hand combat; however, Keʻeaumoku’s mamo ʻahuʻula (feather cape) was bloodstained in that fight.  The cape, named “Eheukani” was later passed down through generations to Peleioholani.

Solomon LK Peleioholani, one of the highest surviving Hawaiian chiefs, was the man who stood before Lunalilo when he was crowned King of the Hawaiian Islands, wearing the famous cape, helmet and necklace, and also stood before Kalākaua at his coronation.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

Unfortunately, “Eheukani” was later lost and presumed destroyed, along with other chiefly regalia and precious possessions belonging to Solomon LK Peleioholani, during the great Chinatown Fire of 1900.

As a boy, Peleioholani was the protégé of Kamehameha IV and his Queen Emma and the companion of their son Prince Albert (“Ka Haku O Hawaiʻi, “The Lord of Hawaiʻi.”)

During the short life of the little Prince, Peleioholani was his playmate, and both were treated with utmost respect by all they met. During this time, Peleioholani lived at the residence of Kekūanāo’a (hānai father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop.)  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

After the Prince’s death, Peleioholani traveled; for five years, he made voyages visiting the South Seas, Japan, Manila and the Indian Ocean.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

One day, a steamer came into port and Peleioholani was given an opportunity to go with her to Australia. He remained there, became a British subject, drilled with the Australians who were to do service for the Queen in Africa, and he went in a transport to the eastern coast of South Africa, arriving there as a sub-officer.

He was a Hawaiian Chief who fought in Africa.

“Destiny seems to have called him to become a soldier as his ancestors were warriors in the service of Kamehameha I. The blood of brave men flowed through his veins and from his infancy he had heard almost daily the tales of the deeds done by his great grandfather”.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

The blacks were on the shore that day, October 22, 1869, when the troops commenced to land. The ships opened fire upon them and attempted to land men in launches. Seven of the latter were disabled.

From one of them Peleioholani was forced to swim back to the ship, carrying nothing but his sword and belt.  He obtained another launch and thus from 2 until 5:30 o’clock in the afternoon the landing went on, the troops finally driving the enemy back.  (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

When they went to England, Queen Victoria (Prince Albert’s godmother) gave Peleioholani a service medal for bravery on the battlefields of Africa.

The Queen asked is nationality. “I told her I was Hawaiian. I told her my great grandfather had accompanied Kamehameha II to England. I told her Kamehameha V was my King.”  (Peleioholani, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902)

In 1874, he returned to Hawaiʻi and was a well-respected genealogist.  For many, Peleioholani was considered an important Hawaiian antiquarian and the final word in Hawaiian genealogy, especially of the chiefs and royal families.

He also wrote of the Hawaiian history.  One work, ‘The Ancient History of Hookumu-ka-lani Hookumu-ka-honua,’ was a commentary of the ancient Hawaiian cosmogonies (creation theories.)

One of Peleioholani’s theories in that book notes, “The ancestors of the Hawaiian race came not from the islands the South Pacific – for the immigrants from that direction were late arrivals there – but from the northern direction (welau lani,) that is, from the land of Kalonakikeke, now known as Alaska.”

Peleioholani was a High Chief, and in many ways both the pinnacle and terminus of the old royal blood lines from Maui, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi and Kauaʻi.

His grandparents were among those who sided with Kamehameha I to achieve unity of the islands. His father was an uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V and he was himself one of the highest ranking chiefs in the Hawaiian Islands.  (kekoolani-org)

Besides being a direct lineal descendant of all the last independent ruling kings, he was also descended from what Hawaiian scholar Mary Pukui called the “chiefs of Pōkano,” chiefs of unblemished bloodline from remote times.  (kekoolani-org)

The image shows Solomon LK Peleioholani in 1903 in a holiday pageant costume.  (Lots of information here from Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 22, 1902 and kekoolani-org.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Portuguese in Hawaiʻi

Reportedly, the first Portuguese in Hawai’i were sailors that came on the Eleanora in 1790.  It is believed the first Portuguese nationals to live in the Hawaiian kingdom sailed through on whalers, as early as 1794, and jumped ship.

The first recorded Portuguese visitor was John Elliot de Castro, who sailed to Hawaiʻi in 1814.  During his days in Hawaiʻi he became a retainer of King Kamehameha I, serving as his personal physician and as member of the royal court.

After two years in Hawaiʻi, he sailed off to the island of Sitka, Alaska and joined the Russian-American Company under Alexander Baranov, working as a commercial agent.

Later, Whitney notes, “In (1828,) extensive fields of cane were grown in and about Honolulu, and mills were erected in Nuuanu Valley and at Waikapu, Maui. At the latter place, a Portugese, named Antonio Silva, is spoken of as the pioneer sugar planter.”

For 50 years after these early visitors arrived, Portuguese sailors came ashore alone or in small groups, jumping ship to enjoy Hawaiian life and turning their backs on the rough life aboard whalers and other vessels.

The 1853 population of the Hawaiian Islands was 73,134, including 2,119 foreigners, of these, reportedly 86 were Portuguese.  Hawaiians referred to the Portuguese as “Pokiki.”

Eventually several hundred Portuguese made the Islands their home.  Many of the settlers came from Madeira Islands (about half the size of Oʻahu,) off the coast of Africa.  They also came from the Azores, nine islands between Portugal and the US, and about 1½-times the size of Oʻahu.

The reciprocity treaty in 1875 between the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the United States opened the US sugar market to Hawaiʻi and greatly increased the demand for workers.

Jacinto Pereira (also known as Jason Perry,) a Portuguese citizen and owner of a dry goods store in Honolulu, suggested in 1876 that Hawaiʻi’s government look for sugar labor from Madeira where farmers were succumbing to a severe economic depression fostered by a blight that decimated vineyards and the wine industry.

At that time, about 400-Portuguese, a large number of whom formerly served as seamen on whaling vessels, lived in Hawaiʻi.  Then, the numbers grew.

São Miguel in the eastern Azores was also chosen as a source of labor. In 1878, the first Portuguese immigrant laborers to Honolulu arrived on the German ship Priscilla. At least one hundred men, women and children arrived to work on the sugar plantations. That year marked the beginning of the mass migration of Portuguese to Hawaiʻi, which continued until the end of the century.

In 1879 in Hawaiʻi, Portuguese musicians (Madeira Islanders) played on “strange instruments, which are a kind of cross between a guitar and a banjo, but which produce very sweet music” (this Madeiran guitar, the machete, was destined to become known as the Hawaiian ʻukulele.)  (Hawaiian Gazette – September 3, 1879)

On his world tour, in 1881, King David Kalākaua visited Portugal and was entertained in royal fashion by Portugal’s King Dom Luis. That year two ships delivered over 800-men, women and children from São Miguel.  The next year a treaty of immigration and friendship was signed between Portugal and the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Migration to Hawaiʻi became popular to escape poverty and a harsh military system. The dream of settling in islands that looked like home drew workers away from offers to labor in the fields of Brazil and urban seaports of the US.

Mass immigration of the Portuguese to Hawaiʻi also came from New England and California as Portuguese came to replace Chinese workers who left plantations to open stores and work in the trades.

While Chinese and Japanese workers had come as single men, whole families came from Portugal (reportedly, forty-two percent of the early Portuguese emigrants were men, 19% women and 39% children.)

The sponsoring of Portuguese immigration to Hawaiʻi was ceased in 1888 due to its high cost and the success of efforts to recruit Japanese workers. Almost 12,000-people had moved from Madeira or São Miguel, Azores to Hawaiʻi by that time.

Many continued to be employed by the plantations even after their contracts had been fulfilled.  Others, however, sought to take up independent work and turned especially to farming and ranching.  Between 1890 and 1910, many Portuguese left Hawaiʻi and migrated to California, primarily the Bay Area.

The Portuguese have given Hawaiʻi many traditions.  In music – they brought the ʻukulele and steel-string guitar.  Try to image Hawaiʻi without sausage (linguiça,) malasada (malassada) or sweet bread (pão doce) … or Frank De Lima.

The image shows the early influence the Portuguese had on Hawaiian music and hula – the ʻukulele.  I added a couple of other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

King Kalākaua

David Laʻamea Kamanakapuʻu Mahinulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua was born in Honolulu to High Chief Kahana Kapaʻakea and the High Chiefess Analea Keohokālole, on November 16, 1836.

Per the custom of the times, he was hānai (adopted) by the chiefess Haʻaheo Kaniu, who took him to Maui, where the court of King Kamehameha III was located. When Kalākaua was four, he returned to Oʻahu to begin his education at the Royal School.

There, he became fluent in English and the Hawaiian language.  At 16, he began studying law (although his obligations and positions he held prevented him from fully completing his legal training.)

By 1856, Kalākaua was on the staff of King Kamehameha IV.  In addition to his military duties, Kalākaua served in the Department of the Interior; in 1863, he was appointed postmaster general.

In December 1872, King Kamehameha V died without designating an heir and per the law, an election was held to determine his successor.   Kalākaua made his first bid for Hawaiʻi’s throne in 1873.

The kingdom’s Constitution stated if the monarch dies before naming a successor “such vacancy, shall cause a meeting of the Legislative Assembly, who shall elect by ballot some native Alii of the Kingdom as Successor”.

They were presented with two choices: Kalākaua, who ran on a campaign slogan of “Hawaii for Hawaiians” and William C. Lunalilo.

Lunalilo won; but he died a year later, leaving no successor. On February 12, 1874, nine days after the passing of King Lunalilo, an election was held between the repeat candidate David Kalākaua and Queen Emma – widow of King Kamehameha IV.  Kalākaua won.

The triumphant Kalākaua toured the islands, stopping in every district to affirm his primary goals. “To the planters, he affirmed that his primary goal was the advance of commerce and agriculture, and that he was about to go in person to the United States to push for a reciprocity treaty. To his own people, he promised renewal of Hawaiian culture and the restoration of their franchise.” (Tabrah)

The Treaty of Reciprocity-1875 between the US and the Kingdom of Hawai‘i eliminated the major trade barrier to Hawai‘i’s closest and major market.  Through the treaty, the US gained Pearl Harbor and Hawai‘i’s sugar (and other) planters received duty-free entry into US markets.

Under Kalākaua’s direction, the cornerstone for ʻIolani Palace was laid on December 31, 1879.  Construction was completed in 1882; in December of that year Kalākaua moved into his palace with his wife, Queen Kapi’olani, the granddaughter of King Kaumuali’i of Kauaʻi.

Kalākaua was the first Hawaiʻi sovereign to visit the United States, as well as circumnavigate the globe (he did that twice.)   His travels were to study the matter of immigration and to improve foreign relations. He also wanted to study how other rulers ruled.

He sought closer ties with Japan, and in 1883, Kapena (selected for the diplomatic mission to Japan) delivered a speech in Tokyo in which he declared that “His Majesty [Kalākaua] believes that the Japanese and Hawaiian spring from one cognate race and this enhances his love for you.”  (Kuykendall)

” … Hawaii holds out her loving hand and heart to Japan and desires that your people may come and cast in their lots with ours and repeople our Island Home with a race which may blend with ours and produce a new and vigorous nation.”  (Kuykendall)

Kalākaua had a passion for music, dancing, parties and the finest food and drinks and he lived up to the title of Merrie Monarch (a reference some suggest is linked to the nickname given to Charles II of England, who ruled (and partied) in the mid-1600s.)

His friend, Robert Louis Stevenson described Kalākaua as “a cultured intellectual of unusual mental powers.” A poet and lyricist, athlete and consummate politician, he was responsible for initiating the resurgence of Hawaiian cultural arts, particularly hula.

Kalākaua was a staunch supporter of native Hawaiian civil rights.  In part, this led to a rebellion in 1887 forcing him to sign a new constitution relinquishing his powers as head of state and relegated him to a figurehead; it also imposed a fairly high property ownership qualification on those running for the new legislature.  This new constitution became known as the Bayonet Constitution.

Two years later, Kalākaua retired to Waikīkī.  His health began to fail by 1890 and under the advice of his physician he traveled to San Francisco, where he was given a warm welcome. “A title was a title, and (the Americans) enjoyed him as a personality.” (Tabrah))

He died on January 20, 1891, at the age 54, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.  Kalākaua, Hawaiʻi’s last King, is said to have uttered his last words: “Tell my people I tried.”

Because he and his wife Queen Kapiʻolani did not have any children, his sister, Liliʻuokalani succeeded him to the Hawaiian throne.   (Kalākaua was known as a Renaissance Man and into technology – those are the subjects of future stories.)  I have added other images of Kalākaua in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

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© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Liliʻuokalani

She was born Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha to High Chiefess Analeʻa Keohokālole and High Chief Caesar Kaluaiku Kapaʻakea on September 2, 1838.

At that time, children often were named in commemoration of an event.  Kuhina Nui Kīnaʻu had developed an eye infection at the time of Liliʻu’s birth.  She gave the child the names Liliʻu (smarting,) Loloku (tearful,) Walania (a burning pain) and Kamakaʻeha (sore eyes.)

In her youth she was called “Lydia” or “Liliʻu.” (She was also known as Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, with the chosen royal name of Liliʻuokalani, and her married name was Lydia K. Dominis.)  As was the custom, she was hānai (adopted) to Abner Pākī and his wife Laura Kōnia.

The Pākīs reared her with their birth daughter, Bernice Pauahi. The two girls developed a close, loving relationship. They attended the Chief’s Children’s School (Royal School,) a boarding school, together, and were known for their studious demeanor. Liliʻu’s brother, David Kalākaua, also was among the royal students educated there.

There Liliʻu learned and became fluent in English and studied music and the arts. (Her talent for music blossomed and she eventually wrote more than 150 songs including, “Aloha Oe.”)

At 24, on September 16, 1862, Liliʻu married John O. Dominis. Dominis’ father, a ship’s captain, had built a New England style home, named Washington Place, for his family.  They lived with his widowed mother.  The home later served as the former official residence of Hawai‘i’s Governor and today serves as a museum.

On February 12, 1874, nine days after the passing of King Lunalilo, an election was held between the repeat candidate David Kalākaua (her brother) and Queen Emma – widow of King Kamehameha IV.  Kalākaua won.

At noon of the tenth day of April, 1877, the booming of the cannon was heard which announced that King Kalākaua had named Liliʻuokalani as heir apparent to the throne of Hawaiʻi. Liliʻu’s brother changed her name when he named her Crown Princess, calling her Liliʻuokalani, “the smarting of the royal one”.

From this point on she was referred to as Crown Princess with the name Liliʻuokalani. One of her first acts as Crown Princess was to tour the island of Oʻahu with her husband, sister and brother-in-law.

King Kalākaua died on January 20, 1891; because he and his wife Queen Kapiʻolani did not have any children, his sister, Liliʻuokalani succeeded him to the Hawaiian throne.

Kalākaua had been a staunch supporter of native Hawaiian civil rights.  In part, this led to a rebellion in 1887 forcing him to sign a new constitution relinquishing his powers as head of state and relegated him to a figurehead.

Queen Lili‘uokalani sought to amend the constitution to restore some of the power lost during the reign of her brother. Local sugar planters and businessmen feared a loss of revenue and influence and instigated an overthrow.

On the afternoon of January 16, 1893, 162 sailors and Marines aboard the USS Boston in Honolulu Harbor came ashore under orders of neutrality.

To avoid bloodshed, the Queen yielded her throne on January 17, 1893 and temporarily relinquished her throne to “the superior military forces of the United States”.  A provisional government was established.

The Queen issued a statement yielding her authority to the United States Government rather than to the Provisional Government:
“I Liliuokalani, by the Grace of God and under the Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the Constitutional Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain persons claiming to have established a Provisional Government of and for this Kingdom.”

“That I yield to the superior force of the United States of America whose Minister Plenipotentiary, His Excellency John L. Stevens, has caused United States troops to be landed a Honolulu and declared that he would support the Provisional Government.”

“Now to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do this under protest and impelled by said force yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the Constitutional Sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.”

In 1895, Lili‘uokalani was imprisoned for eight months in ʻIolani Palace for her alleged knowledge of a counterrevolutionary attempt by her supporters.

On May 18, 1896, at 6:30 am, Lili‘uokalani was baptized and confirmed by Bishop Willis into the Episcopal Church, although she had been a long-time member of Kawaiahaʻo Church.

In her Deed of Trust dated December 2, 1909, which was later amended in 1911, Liliʻuokalani entrusted her estate to provide for orphan and destitute children in the Hawaiian Islands, with preference for Hawaiian children. Her legacy is perpetuated through the Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Center.

Queen Lili‘uokalani died at Washington Place on November 11, 1917, at the age of 79.  After a state funeral, her remains were placed in the Royal Mausoleum at Mauna ʻAla.

The image shows Queen Liliʻuokalani in 1891.  I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook page.

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© 2012 Hoʻokuleana LLC

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‘Iolani Palace

 

‘Iolani Palace was the official residence of both King Kalākaua and Queen Lili‘uokalani.
It is actually the 2nd palace for Hawaiian Royalty.
The first palace was known as Hale Ali‘i (House of the Chief).  Kamehameha V changed its name to ‘Iolani Palace in honor of his late brother and predecessor.
Although the old palace was demolished in 1874, the name ‘Iolani Palace was retained for the building that stands today.
(‘Io is the Hawaiian hawk, a bird that flies higher than all the rest, and ‘lani’ denotes heavenly, royal or exalted.)
The cornerstone for ‘Iolani Palace was laid on December 31, 1879 with full Masonic rites.  Construction was completed in 1882; in December of that year King Kalakaua and Queen Kapi‘olani took up residence in their new home.
The first floor consists of the public reception areas – the Grand Hall, State Dining Room, Blue Room and the Throne Room.
The second floor consists of the private suites – the King’s and Queen’s suites, Music Room, King’s Library, and the Imprisonment Room, where Queen Lili‘uokalani was held under house arrest for eight months in 1895, following  a counter-revolution by royalists seeking to restore the Queen to power after the overthrow of 1893.
The Palace area was originally enclosed by an eight-foot high coral block wall with wooden gates.  Following the Wilcox Rebellion in 1889, it was lowered to 3’6″.  In 1891, it was topped with the present painted iron fence.
The four principal gates each display the Coat of Arms of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and have a distinctive name and purpose:
  • Kauikeaouli – was named in honor of King Kamehameha III and used for ceremonial occasions
  • Kina‘u – was named after the mother of Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V and used by tradesmen
  • Hakaleleponi – was named for Queen Kalama, consort of Kamehameha III and used by servants and retainers of the royal household
  • Likelike – was given the name of Princess Likelike, sister to King Kalakaua and Queen Lili‘uokalani and reserved for private use by the royal family

 

The Sacred Mound (previously a stone mausoleum) – Pohukaina – was constructed in 1825 to house the remains of Kamehameha II (Liholiho) and his consort, Queen Kamamalu. Both had died of measles while on a journey to England the year before.
For the next forty years, this royal tomb and the land immediately surrounding it became the final resting place for the kings of Hawai‘i, their consorts and important chiefs of the kingdom
In 1865, the remains of 21 Ali‘i were removed from this site and transferred in a torchlight procession at night to Mauna ‘Ala, a new Royal Mausoleum in Nu‘uanu Valley.
Halekoa – ‘Iolani Barracks – was completed in 1871 to house the Royal Guard.  This coral block structure contains an open courtyard surrounded by rooms once used by the guards as a mess hall, kitchen, dispensary, berth room and lockup.
Kanaʻina Building – Old Archives – was built in 1906 and was the first building in the US erected solely for the custody and preservation of public archive materials.
ʻIolani Palace was outfitted with the most up-to-date amenities, including indoor plumbing with hot and cold running water.  The King also installed a modern communications system that included the recently invented telephone.
Gas chandeliers installed when the Palace was first built were replaced by electric lighting five years later (less than seven years after Edison invented the first practical incandescent bulb, and, four years before the White House).
After the overthrow of the monarchy, `Iolani Palace became the government headquarters for the Provisional Government, Republic, Territory, and State of Hawai‘i.  The palace was used for nearly three-quarters of a century as a government capitol building.
During WWII, it served as the temporary headquarters for the military governor in charge of martial law in the Hawaiian Islands.
Government offices vacated the Palace in 1969 and moved to the newly constructed capitol building on land adjacent to the Palace grounds.
After the overthrow of the monarchy, Provisional Government officials inventoried the contents of `Iolani Palace and sold at public auction whatever furniture or furnishings were not suitable for government operations
‘Iolani Palace is owned by the State through DLNR.  While Director of DLNR, I had several opportunities to visit and tour the property.  Through a lease agreement with the State, the Friends of ʻIolani Palace supports, guides and manages Palace activities, including public guided tours.
The image shows ‘Iolani Palace in 1882, shortly after it was completed.