Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 1, 1 January 1993 — ʻOnipaʻa: legacy of the Queen sustains her people [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

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ʻOnipaʻa: legacy of the Queen sustains her people

On Sept. 2, 1838 Hawai'i's beloved Queen Lili'uokalani was born in Honolulu to high chiefs Anale'a Keohokālole and Cesar Kapa'akea. Their home was very close to where Queen's Hospital stands today. She was named Lili'u (smarting) Loloku (tearful) Walania (a burning pain) Wewehi Kamaka'eha (the sore eye) because her godmother Klna'u had an infected eye at the time of her birth. David Kalākaua and William Leleiōhoku were her brothers. Likelike was her younger sister. Following Hawaiian tradition,

soon after her birth she was given to her hānai parents high chiefs Konia Kanahola and Abner Pākl to raise. At that time they already had a six-year-old daughter, Bemice Pauahi. At the age of four Lili'u was sent to the Chief's Children's School with 15 other royal pupils, including the four future kings of Hawai'i. Their teachers were Amos S. and Juliette Cooke. She was a pupil there until age 13, then continued her education at home. She was passionate about leaming and her studies included reading, writing, arithmetic, history, music and art. Lili'u inherited the poetic ability of her greatgrandmother Ululani, a famous haku mele who was a counselor of Kamehameha I. While in school Lili'u composed the song "Nani Nā Pua Ko'olau," the

first of over 166 songs she was to compose in her Ufetime. At the age of 24 Lih'u married John Owen Dominis and the happiness of their marriage led her to write many beautiful songs. 1hey lived at Washington Plaee, the home built by his sea eapiain father. The next year their good friend Prince Lot became King Kamehameha V, and he asked Lili'u to compose a new nahonal anthem. She eomplied with "He Mele Lāhui Hawai'i." Kamehameha V named Dominis Governor of O'ahu.

When Kalākaua was elected King on Feb. 12, 1874, Lili'u became a princess. Happy years followed, and in 1878 she eomposed her famous "Aloha 'Oe." When Kalākaua left on his 1881 trip around the world, Lili'u was appointed regent and from that time was known as Lili'uokalani. In January 1891 Lili'uokalani was again regent when Kalākaua went to California. He died there Jan. 20, 1891 and Lili'uokalani became Queen. Her two years as Queen were troubled - darkened by personal grief and poliheal turmoil. When she eame to the throne the eeonomy of the kingdom had been seriously affected by the passage of the McKinley tariff whieh wiped out the advantages that the Hawaiian sugar planters had enjoyed since the Reciprocity

Treaty went into effect in 1876. The sugar industry faltered and tax revenues paid to the govemment decreased. She started a royal tour of all the islands, but her husband became ill and died Aug. 27, 1891. Lili'uokalani greatly missed his wise counsel. Succeeding advisors were neither experienced nor wise. Lili'uokalani proposed a new consitution to restore the royal prerogatives lost under the constitution of 1887 and to strengthen her poliūeal position, but the Cabinet refused to eooperate, and a "Committee of Public Safety" was formed, whieh in short order proclaimed a provisional government. To avoid bloodshed, Lili'uokalani yielded her throne Jan. 17, 1893, hoping for U.S. justice to restore her throne. Two years later, her subjects revolted against the provisional govemment; Lili'uokalani was arrested Jan. 16, 1895 and imprisoned in 'Iolani Palaee for eight months. During that time, she eomposed seven songs, including the beautiful, reverent "Queen's Prayer." A year after her release from prison she was given a full pardon and went to Washington, D.C. to plead for the restoration of her throne. However, Congress approved the annexation of Hawai'i on July 7, 1898 and Lili'uokalani retumed home. In 1896, at age 58, Lili'uokalani became a member of the Episcopal congregation of Honolulu and was baptized and confirmed at St. Andrew's Cathedral. Sbe had been a staunch supporter of Kawaiaha'o Church for decades and had even directed the church choir and played the organ. Yet during her imprisonment, it was not their clergy but the Bishop Alfred Willis of St. Andrew's Cathedral who visited her to bring spiritual comfort. She found too in the Church of England moral support for the role of the monarchy and eom-

fort in its joyous liturgy. Tbe next 19 years at Washington Plaee, her residence until her death on Nov. 11, 1917, were the golden years of her life, filled with flowers, friends and songs. Those songs and her memory will live forever in the hearts of the Hawaiian people. Queen Lili'uokalani, the last monarch of Hawai'i, mled in an era of tumultuous change in Hawai'i. The mō'i wahine of her people, she represented the best of Hawaiian culture and values. When forced to renounce the throne, against her will and by threat of force, she chose to spare her people by refusing to incite her many supporters who would have had to faced armed troops arrayed against her. She was imprisoned and then placed

under house arrest for many months, a fate whieh she, a bom monarch, endured with dignity. Her motto was "'Onipa'a," "steadfast." Even after she was dethroned, she continued to inspire her people through her music and poetry and to support them through acts of charity. In 1912 she dedicated an elementary school in Kaimukl named in her honor, and in 1992 the school completed a mural in remembrance of her. To this day, her statue at the state Capitol is honored by spontaneous offerings of leis and flowers, and is a symbol of Hawai'i's love and respect for this far-sighted and astute monarch. E Lili'u! E ola mau loa kou inoa me kou hali 'a aloha!

More than 200 students, parents and staff of Lili'uokalani Elementary School helped create this colorful tile mural whieh features the Queen at center. They plan a January program to remember her.

Her Majesty Queen Lili'uokalani Hawai'i State Archives photo

Oueen Lili'uokalani died at Washington Plaee and was given a state funeral. The procession was more than two miles long. A 21-gun salute was fired from the Palaee lawn. She is buried at the Royal Mausoleum. Hawai'i State Archives photo.