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March 17, 2020 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Kauikeaouli

Kauikeaouli appeared to be stillborn, but was revived.  He was the second son of Kamehameha I.   His birth site is at the head of Keauhou Bay (the Daughters of Hawaiʻi own and maintain the area.)

His exact birth date is not known; however, the generally accepted date is August 11, 1813.  Never-the-less, Kauikeaouli was apparently an admirer of Saint Patrick and chose to celebrate his birthday on March 17.

Kauikeaouli spent the first 5-years of his life with Chief Kaikioʻewa in the ‘O‘oma ahupuaʻa in Kona (the place where he first learned to be a king.)

Other early education the infant Prince received was at Kailua-Kona, from the Rev. Asa Thurston and Thomas Hopu, a native Hawaiian who had been educated on the continent and who came with the first missionaries to Hawaiʻi.  In Honolulu, the Prince was the pupil of Rev. Hiram Bingham.

The younger brother of Liholiho, he served as Hawai‘i’s King from 1825 to 1854 – the longest ruling monarch over the Hawaiian Kingdom.  Kauikeaouli was a pre-teen when he ascended to the throne; in the early years of his rule, he served under a regency with Kaʻahumanu, his father’s favorite queen, as joint ruler.

During the early- to mid-1800s timeframe, there were significant changes occurring that greatly affected the Hawaiian people:

  • his mother Keōpūolani and Kaʻahumanu convinced Liholiho to effectively break the Kapu system
  • the health of many Hawaiians was weakened by exposure to new diseases, common cold, flu, measles, mumps, smallpox and venereal diseases
  • as more ships came in, many of those who came to Hawaiʻi chose to stay and settle
  • Hawaiʻi changed from a land of all Hawaiians to a place of mixed cultures, languages and races
  • many new plants and animals were brought to the islands, both on purpose and by accident
  • new products by foreign ships were traded
  • the economy and everyday life was changing from a subsistence way of life to a commodity-based economy that started with barter and trade, that eventually changed to a monetary system
  • there was growth of business centers, where people ended up living closer to one another, typically surrounding the best seaports for western ships (small towns soon grew into large cities)

There is scarcely in history, ancient or modem, any King to whom so many public reforms and benefits can be ascribed, as the achievements of his reign. Yet what King has had to contend with so many difficulties as King Kamehameha III? (The Polynesian, 1855)

“That the existence of the King, chiefs and the natives, can only be preserved by having a government efficient for the administration of enlightened justice, both to natives and the subjects of foreign powers residing in the islands, and that chiefly through missionary efforts the natives have made such progress in education and knowledge, as to justify the belief that by further training, they may be rendered capable of conducting efficiently the affairs of government; but that they are not at present so far advanced.”  (Kamehameha IV, In Obituary to the departed King)

In private life, Kamehameha III  was mild, kind, affable, generous and forgiving. He was never more happy than when free from the cares and trappings of state. He could enjoy himself sociably with his friends, who were much attached to him. (The Polynesian, 1855)

Having associated much, while a boy, with foreigners, he continued to the last to be fond of their company. Without his personal influence, the law to allow them to hold lands in fee simple could never have been enacted; neither could conflicting claims to land have been settled and registered by that most useful institution, the Board of Land Commissioners.  (The Polynesian, 1855)

It is hardly possible to conceive any King more generally beloved than was Kamehameha III; more universally obeyed, or more completely sovereign in the essential respect of independent sovereignty, that of governing his subjects free from any influence or control coming from beyond the limits of his own jurisdiction.  (The Polynesian, 1855)

Under his leadership, Hawaiʻi changed from an isolated island kingdom to a recognized member of the modem world. Many of the things he did as king still influence life in Hawaiʻi today.  (Kamehameha Schools Press)

The following are only some of the many accomplishments of Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli:)

  • On June 6, 1825, Kauikeaouli was proclaimed king of Hawaiʻi. To the people he said, “Where are you, chiefs, guardians, commoners?  I greet you.  Hear what I say! My kingdom I give to God.  The righteous chief shall be my chief, the children of the commoners who do you right shall be my people, my kingdom shall be one of letters.”  (Kamakau – Kamehameha Schools Press)
  • June 7, 1839, he signed the Declaration of Rights (called Hawai‘i’s Magna Charta) that, in part, noted, “God hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the earth, in unity and blessedness. God has also bestowed certain rights alike on all men and all chiefs, and all people of all lands.”
  • June 17, 1839 he issued the Edict of Toleration permitting religious freedom for Catholics in the same way as it had been granted to the Protestants.
  • June 28, 1839 he founded Chief’s Children’s School (The Royal School;) the main goal of this school was to groom the next generation of the highest ranking chiefs’ children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaiʻi’s Kingdom.  (Missionaries Amos and Juliette Cooke were selected to teach the 16 royal children and run the school.)
  • October 8, 1840 (the King was about 27-years-old) he enacted the Constitution of 1840 that, in part, changed the government from one of an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. It provided for a separation of powers between three branches of government, with executive power in the hands of the king, the kuhina nui (similar to a prime minister) and four governors; a bicameral legislative body consisting of a house of nobles and a house of representatives, with the house of representatives elected by the people; and a judiciary system, including a supreme court.
  • April 27, 1846 he declared that “the forests and timber growing therein shall be considered government property, and under the special care of the Minister of the Interior …;” effectively starting the process of protecting our mauka watersheds.
  • January 27, 1848 through March 7, 1848 he participated in what we refer to as the “Great Māhele” that was a reformation of the land system in Hawaiʻi and allowed private ownership
  • June 14, 1852 he enacted the Constitution of 1852 that expanded on the Declaration of Rights, granted universal (adult male) voting rights for the first time and changed the House of Nobles from a hereditary body to one where members served by appointment by the King. It also institutionalized the three branches of government and defined powers along the lines of the American Constitution.
  • Toward the end of Kauikeaouli’s reign there were 423 schools in Hawaiʻi with an enrollment of over twelve-thousand-students. Most of the schools were elementary schools using Hawaiian as the language of instruction.

Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) died December 15, 1854 (at the age of 41.)

Happy Birthday and Cheers to Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III.  I think I’ll have a Guinness (or two) tonight in his honor.  (Happy St Patrick’s Day.)

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Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Liholiho, Kauikeaouli, Asa Thurston, Kamehameha III, Keopuolani, Amos Cooke, Hawaii, Kalama, Hiram Bingham, Daughters of Hawaii, Great Mahele, Hawaiian Constitution, Kaahumanu

February 21, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaluakauka

In 1793, Captain George Vancouver gave a few cattle to Kamehameha I; when Vancouver landed additional cattle at Kealakekua in 1794, he strongly encouraged Kamehameha to place a 10‐year kapu on them to allow the herd to grow.

In the decades that followed, cattle flourished and turned into a dangerous nuisance. Kamehameha III lifted the kapu in 1830 and the hunting of wild cattle was encouraged. The king hired cattle hunters from overseas to help in the effort.

By 1846, 25,000-wild cattle roamed at will and an additional 10,000-semi‐domesticated cattle lived alongside humans. A wild bull or cow could weigh 1,200 to 1,500-pounds and had a six‐foot horn spread. Vast herds destroyed natives’ crops, ate the thatching on houses, and hurt, attacked and sometimes killed people.

In addition to traditional practices in the forests (i.e. bird feather collecting, harvesting koa and ʻōhiʻa, etc,) wild cattle were hunted for consumption, as well as provisioning ships with salt beef, and hides and tallow to the growing whaling fleets replenished their stocks.

Hunting wild cattle in the upper forest where they roamed was dangerous. Bullock pits were dug to trap the animals (they were about seven or eight feet long, and four feet wide and were walled up and covered with fragile brush;) they were near established trails; cattle were also drawn to the area by adjoining water holes. When animals fall in the pits, they were unable to climb out the steep sides.

On July 12, 1834, the pits proved they can be a peril to people, too. Douglas was killed by a wild bullock at Keahuaʻai (a knoll at the top of Laupāhoehoe near the boundary of Humuʻula and Laupāhoehoe (now called Kaluakauka or Douglas Pit.)) (Maly) “In the forest under the shadow of Mauna Kea I have seen the bullock pit where the dead body of the distinguished Scottish naturalist, (David) Douglas”. (Coan)

Douglas was born at Scone, near Perth, Scotland, in 1799, and started his career, there; he was a botanist. He was affiliated with the University of Glasgow and served as botanical collector for the Horticultural Society of London. He was hired by the Hudson’s Bay Company to do a botanical survey of the Oregon region.

In mid-August 1823, Douglas was in Philadelphia looking at the plants brought back by Lewis and Clark that even then were flourishing in some American, as well as European gardens. By September Douglas was in the Northwest, looking as always for seeds and cuttings of fruit trees, as well as wild woody plants.

Even though first Menzies (1790, while sailing with Captain Vancouver) and then Lewis and Clark (1804, through the expedition through the Louisiana Purchase and to the Northwest) had collected plants in the area, they had found only the obvious. Almost every day Douglas was in the field he was finding curious plants that proved to be new to science.

One of the collections he sent back to England with a home-bound ship was the dried branches and needles of what he called “Oregon pine,” that today is known as Douglas Fir (his namesake that is now a common wood in construction, as well as the festive and adorned Christmas tree.)

For 4 years, he travelled approximately 8,000-miles throughout the Northwest, cataloging and collecting samples. He returned to England in 1827. He achieved fame in Europe for his collection, and has been referred to as “one of the founding fathers of the British forestry industry as it exists today” by one biographer.

He returned to the Northwest in 1829 hoping to convince the Hudson’s Bay Company to finance a trip to Alaska and beyond. They refused, so David Douglas sailed to Hawaiʻi, arriving here just before Christmas of 1833.

Douglas was a gifted collector, but in the field he was often in trouble. He once fell on a nail that penetrated his leg under the kneecap. He nearly drowned in a glacier-fed river, and was weeks away from civilization with little but his wet clothes. He grew blind in one eye, and his vision was slowly failing in the other.

In January 1834, he set out to “to ascend and explore Mauna Kea, as soon as possible” Having completed his trek to both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, Douglas also visited Kilauea and then returned to O‘ahu.

In July of 1834, Douglas returned to Hawai‘i for a second trip to Mauna Kea. This trip was made via the Waimea-Laumai‘a mountain trail.

“Douglas left the vessel at Kawaihae to cross over by land, engaged a foreigner for a guide and several natives to take along his baggage. The guide accompanied him till they passed all the pit falls dug to entrap wild cattle on the north side Mauna Kea, he then left him to return.” (Lyman, Greenwell)

On July 12, 1834, while exploring the Island; “Douglas, a scientific traveller from Scotland, in the service of the London Horticultural Society, lost his life in the mountains of Hawaii, in a pitfall, being gored and trampled to death by a wild bullock captured there. (Bingham)

“This has been one of the most gloomy days I ever witnessed. … Soon after Mr. Douglas went back a short distance for something and in retracing his steps fell into a pit (into which a bullock had previously fallen) and was found dead a short time afterward. This was Sat. Morning.”

“Sunday he was taken the shortest distance to the sea side, wrapped in a hyde, put on board a canoe and brought here as he was taken from the pit. His close are sadly torn and his body dreadfully mangled. Ten gashes on his head.” (Lyman, Greenwell)

Some have suggested it was not an accident. “(T)he dead body of the distinguished Scottish naturalist, Douglas, was found under painfully suspicious circumstances, that led many to believe he had been murdered for his money.” (Coan)

While examination at the time suggested death by the bullock – “On the 3rd instant the body was brought here (Oʻahu) in an American vessel. I immediately had it examined by the medical gentlemen, who gave it as their opinion that the several wounds were inflicted by the bullock.” (Charlton, British Consul) – many remain skeptical.

As Titus Coan noted (1882,) “A mystery hangs over the event which we are unable to explain.”

David Douglas was buried in the Kawaiahaʻo Church Cemetery. A plaque on the wall of Kawaiahaʻo Church and a stone marker at Kaluakauka (near where the pit was located) commemorate David Douglas’s death.

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Filed Under: Place Names, Prominent People Tagged With: Humuula, David Douglas, Titus Coan, Kaluakauka, Hawaii, Hawaii Island, Kamehameha, Kamehameha III, Laupahoehoe, Mauna Kea, George Vancouver

January 13, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Tea Party

The mission compound at Kawaiaha‘o was always a bustling place. There were many duties to attend to by the mission women: cooking cleaning teaching, entertaining guests and visitors, and raising their own children to name just a few.

These many domestic labors were hard on the mission women, so many of them hired for wages, Native Hawaiians to aid them in this domestic work. This interface between Native Hawaiians and Missionaries, and the women in particular was a major one, as it occurred on a daily basis, and occurred within the 1821 Mission House. (Mission Houses)

Then, they invited the leading chiefs to a tea …

“On Tuesday of last week (December 11, 1827,) Mrs. Bingham & Mrs. Richards, undertook to make a ‘tea party’ to bring all the chiefs in the place & the members of the mission family together to join in a friendly & social cup of tea, to shew Christian kindness & civility to our Sandwich Island neighbors and to promote kind feelings among the chiefs themselves now assembled from the different Islands.”

“The two sisters with their native domestics spent most of today in preparing biscuit, cakes &c. & making such arrangements as seemed to them desirable.”

“We sent out our billets in due form in the morning to the king & Ka‘ahumanu, and all the chiefs of the first & second rank and to some others connected with them by marriage. As soon as Kaahumanu received her invitation she sent over a supply of good white sugar for the occasion.”

Those in attendance included, Ka‘ahumanu, Kalākua, Pi‘ia, Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III,) Nahienaena, Kuakini, Naihe, Kapi‘olani, Hoapili, Kaikioewa, Keaweamahi, Kapule, Kaiu, Kekāuluohi, Kīna’u, Kekauōnohi, La‘anui, Keli‘iahonui, Kana‘ina, Leleiōhoku and Kamanele.

“But look, for a few moments, at the present group: twenty-one chiefs of the Sandwich islands mingling in friendly, courteous and Christian conversation with seven of the mission family, whom you have employed among them. Contemplate their former and their present habits, their former and their present hopes. They have laid aside their vices and excesses, and their love of noise and war.”

“(T)o this interesting group we should have been happy to have introduced you, or any of our Christian friends; and I doubt not you would have been highly gratified with the interview. …”

“Listen, and you will not only hear the expressions of gratitude to us and to God for the privileges they now enjoy, but you will hear these old warriors lamenting that their former kings, their fathers, and their companions in arms, had been slain in battle, or carried off by the hand of time, before the blessed gospel of Christ had been proclaimed on these benighted shores.”

“Your heart would have glowed with devout gratitude to God for the evidence that, while our simple food was passing round the social circle for their present gratification, the minds of some of these children of pagans enjoyed a feast of better things; and your thoughts, no doubt, like ours, would have glanced at a happier meeting of the friends of God in the world of glory.”

“When our thanks were returned at the close of our humble repast, though you might not have been familiar with the language, you would have lifted up your heart in thank-fulness for what had already appeared as the fruits of your efforts here, and for the prospect of still greater things than these.” (Bingham, December 15, 1827)

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'OLD MISSION HOUSE' (LOC)-photo ca 1907

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Kaahumanu, Chiefs, Kauikeaouli, Kapule, Kamehameha III, Kaiu, Nahienaena, Naihe, Hoapili, Keaweamahi, Leleiohoku, Kekauonohi, Hawaii, Kinau, Laanui, Kuakini, Kekauluohi, Keliiahonui, Kapiolani, Kalakua, Kamanele, Missionaries, Piia, Kaikioewa, Kanaina

December 21, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

William Sumner

William Sumner was born in 1786 in Northampton, England; he boarded a British vessel as a steward of the captain, and came to Hawaiʻi in 1807.

When the ship arrived on Kauai, William Sumner jumped-ship and lived amongst the Hawaiians there. Kaumuali‘i was the king of Kauai at the time, and when he saw Sumner, he was entranced by this youth, and took him as a “keiki hoʻokama” (adopted him.)

Archibald Campbell in his visit to the islands in 1809, referring to the vessels of Kamehameha, said, “I counted more than thirty vessels; they are kept with the utmost care, having sheds built over them, their spars laid alongside, and their rigging and cables preserved in stores.”

“They are chiefly sloops and schooners, under forty tons burden, and have all been built by his own carpenters, principally natives, under the direction of an Englishman of the name of Boyd.”

Captain William Sumner served as one of the captains on ships in this fleet. In doing so, he also participated in some of the monumental moments in Hawai‘i’s history of his time.

When Kamehameha called for Kaumuali‘i to meet, in 1810, reportedly, it was Sumner who accompanied King Kaumuali‘i to Pākākā for the peaceful settlement between Kaumuali‘i and Kamehameha.

After this meeting, Kaumuali‘i returned to Kauai, but because Kamehameha took a fancy to Sumner, he was held back to stay with Kamehameha. Sumner became one of the few who lived with the family of Kamehameha.

In 1817, he was Chief Mate on Brig Forrester, bound for China, under the command of Alexander Adams. On this trip they proceeded first to Kauai to haul down the Russian flag at Fort Elizabeth. After expelling the Russians, they then sailed for China.

In addition to interisland travel, Sumner captained ships for trade for the Kingdom.

In 1821, he commanded the Brig Thaddeus and sailed for Kamchatka with a load of salt; in 1824, he was given charge of the brig Ainoa for a sealing voyage, returning October with 5,845 fur skins, a quantity of elephant oil and fish; in 1829, he took charge of the Brig Neo bound to Tahiti, to recover “lost” cargo; and over the years, he transported sandalwood.

In 1822, Captain Sumner captained an expedition to claim Nihoa as a possession of Hawai‘i. He also took Ka‘ahumanu and a royal party including Kaumuali’i, Liholiho, Keōpūolani and Kahekili Ke‘eaumoku on a visit to Ni‘ihau.

In 1831, Captain Sumner played a role in expelling and deporting the Catholics priests out of Hawai‘i. On May 5, 1831, King Kamehameha III issued a commission to Sumner, as commander of the brig Waverley, “to receive on board two French gentlemen and their goods, or whatever they may bring on board, and to proceed on to California, and land them safe on shore, with everything belonging to them, where they may subsist, and then to return back to the Sandwich Islands.”

Some foreigners, like Captain William Sumner who sailed ships for Kamehameha, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) and Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III,) were awarded land grants for their services.

In 1819, Kamehameha I gave LCA 155 to ship Captain William Sumner for services rendered. This site was at the corner of today’s Hotel and Punchbowl Streets (near where the present Barracks are at ʻIolani Palace.)

In 1840, Kamehameha III granted William Sumner the “farmland to the west of Honolulu known as Kahaohao” (about 60-acres.) The deed included a “proviso that the said property cannot be transferred to any other than a native-born citizen of the Sandwich Islands.”

Sumner was also awarded “… a fishery of the 647 Diamond Head acres of the reef lying between the Kalihi and Honolulu Harbor Channels. The area carried the Hawaiian name of Kaholaloa (Koholaloa, Kahololoa, Kaholoa.) The Ewa portion of this reef was designated Mokauea.”

Following the Mahele, Mokapu Peninsula was kept as Crown Lands. Koʻolaupoko District Chief Abner Pāki was awarded over 3,000 acres in Heʻeia ahupua`a (LCA 10613) and Queen Kalama, wife of Kamehameha III was awarded over 9,000 acres in Kāneʻohe ahupuaʻa (LCA 4452). Both awards were given for nearly the entire ahupuaʻa.

Pāki’s portion of ili Mokapu was sold at auction to brothers William and John Sumner and included 464 acres. John Sumner became sole owner upon his brother’s death, and left the lands in trust to Robert Wyllie Davis, his nephew.

The area was later divided into house lots in 1932 and sold off. In 1940, by Federal Executive Order through the U.S. Navy, all 331 parcels on the 464 acres were condemned and a Declaration of Takings enacted.

Sumner married the High Chiefess Keakuaaihue Kanealai Hua in 1818; they had three children, William Sumner, Jr.; John K. Sumner; and Maria K Sumner. In 1847, William Sumner died; he’s buried at O‘ahu Cemetery.

The map shows the approximate area of William Sumner’s 60-acres of “farmland” (green) and 647-acres of “fishery” (blue) – this covers most of what is now Honolulu Harbor and Sand Island. Note Sumner’s house across from what is now downtown Honolulu.

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Filed Under: Prominent People Tagged With: Kamehameha, Kaahumanu, Kamehameha III, Honolulu Harbor, Captain William Sumner, Alexander Adams, Mokapu, Oahu Cemetery, Fort Elizabeth, Hawaii, Nihoa, Oahu

October 4, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Nāhiʻenaʻena

The only daughter of Kamehameha the Great and Keōpūolani, Nāhiʻenaʻena was born in 1815; her brothers were Liholiho (Kamehameha II – born circa 1797) and Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III – born 1813.)

Her mother refused to follow the custom of the period and hānai her baby daughter to the rearing of another chief. Keōpūolani wanted to keep the last of her children at her side.

This decision tells us much about the mother’s force of character and meant that Nāhiʻenaʻena was in the very center of the stage during the crucial period in 1819: the illness and death of Kamehameha I, the assumption of the throne by Liholiho as Kamehameha II and the abolition of the kapu (initiated by her mother and Kaʻahumanu.)  The princess was four years old when these great changes occurred. (Sinclair)

Toward the end of 1820, the decision was made to move the king’s official residence from Kailua-Kona to Honolulu.  In early-1821, Liholiho, with his family, including Keōpūolani, Kauikeaouli and Nāhiʻenaʻena, and the important chiefs, established the seat of government on Oʻahu.

In the spring of 1823, Keōpūolani established a residence away from Honolulu in a grove at the foot of Diamond Head; there she hoped to find a quiet place to restore her health and to hear the new gospel without interruption.

“She, at this time, expressed her earnest desire that her two children, the prince and princess, then able to read and write, might be well educated, and particularly that Nahienaena might be trained up in the habits of Christian and civilized females, like the wives of the missionaries. She wished, too, that the missionaries would pray for Liholiho.”  (Bingham)

“The missionaries and their wives earnestly desired to withdraw her (Nāhiʻenaʻena) from the scenes of heathen corruption, and throw around her daily the protecting shield of Christian families. But this could be accomplished only in part, as in that state of the nation she could not well be detached from the native community. She is said to be very amiable and kind, and is universally beloved and respected by her people.”  (Bingham)

At the end of May in 1823, Keōpūolani, Nāhiʻenaʻena and Hoapili (Keōpūolani’s husband) moved to Maui and took up residence in Lāhainā. Missionaries Charles Stewart and William Richards were assigned to establish a church and teach “letters and religion”.

The princess and her mother spent warm peaceful days in the study of letters and religion, interrupted occasionally when people came to celebrate their affection for the chiefesses by dancing and singing. Usually a great crowd assembled to watch.

Later that year, Keōpūolani became very ill and died.  After Keōpūolani’s death, Nāhiʻenaʻena was placed in the care of Hoapili, her mother’s husband and governor of Maui, and of the two missionary teachers, Stewart and Richards, to whom she was already devoted.

In accordance with Hawaiian custom, Hoapili soon remarried. Nāhiʻenaʻena’s mother had been the first chief to be baptized a Protestant; her stepfather became the first chief to be married in a Christian ceremony.  Richards conducted the service which united Hoapili to Kalākua, one of Kamehameha’s former queens.

In 1825, Nāhiʻenaʻena’s brother – King Kamehameha II – traveled to England.  To celebrate his return, a yellow feather pāʻū was made for Nāhiʻenaʻena.

A pāʻū was a women’s garment that was typically a rectangular piece of kapa (tapa) wrapped several times around the waist and extended from beneath the bust (for royalty) or the waistline (for commoners) to the knee.

This special pāʻū was about 9-yards long, made of feathers, instead of kapa (it is the largest Hawaiian feather piece ever recorded.)   Due to the unfortunate death of Liholiho and his wife Kamāmalu, the pāʻū was worn in grief, rather than celebration.

Hiram Bingham described the occasion, “The young princess had partly wrapped round her waist, above her black silk dress, a splendid yellow feather pau, or robe, nine yards in length and one in breadth, manufactured with skill and taste, at great expense, and designed for her anticipated reception of her brother Liholiho. In its fabrication, the small bright feathers were ingeniously fastened upon a  fine netting, spun without wheels or spindles, and wrought by native hands, from the flaxen bark of their olona, and the whole being lined with crimson satin made a beautiful article of “costly array,” for a princess of eight years.”

The problem of a suitable marriage for Nāhiʻenaʻena had been in the minds of the chiefs from the time of her childhood. Before she was ten years old, a possible union between her and her brother was discussed. The purpose of such brother-sister marriages was to concentrate the royal blood so that the issue would have the highest possible rank. (Sinclair)

Queen Keōpūolani had been the issue of a brother-sister marriage, a naha mating of niʻaupiʻo chiefs; her parents had had the same mother but different fathers, both descended from the chiefly lines of Maui and Hawaiʻi.  Liholiho had half-sisters among his five wives. They consulted the missionaries, who pointed out that such a marriage was forbidden in the eyes of God. (Sinclair)

There were repeated claims of incestuous behavior between Nāhiʻenaʻena and her brother, Kauikeaouli.  On November 25, 1835, Nāhiʻenaʻena and Leleiōhoku (son of Kalanimōku) were married in Waine’e Church; the ceremony was performed by Richards.

She became pregnant the next year and on September 17 she had a son, who lived only a few hours.  Nāhiʻenaʻena had been ill and continued to be gravely ill after the childbirth.  She died shortly thereafter, December 30, 1836.

On February 14, 1837, Kauikeaouli, King Kamehameha III, was married to Kalama Kapakuhaili.  Leleiōhoku married a second time to Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani; he had a son William Pitt Kīnaʻu from his second wife.

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Nahiennaena_Robert_Dampier-(WC)-1825
'Nahienaena_Soeur_germaine_du_Roi_des_iles_Sandwich_Tamehameha_III',_Barthélémy_Lauvergne-(WC)-1836
Nahienaena_Pau-(kaiana)
Nahienaena_Pau-(StarBulletin)
Nahienaena_Pau-(star-bulletin)
Waineʻe (now Waiola) Church Cemetery-Nāhienaena, daughter of Kamehameha I and Keōpūolani-1836

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Nahienaena, Hawaii, Keopuolani, Hiram Bingham, Leleiohoku, Kamehameha, Pau, Lahaina, Liholiho, Kamehameha II, Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III, Waiola, Wainee

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