The
Last Monarch of Hawai‘i
Sociology
100
11
August 2011
On September 2nd, 1838, a baby girl was born in Honolulu,
Hawai‘i to parents who were high ranking chiefs, Caesar Kapa‘akea and Anale‘a
Keohokālole. She was the sister of David Kalākaua, Miriam Likelike and William
Pitt Leleiōhoku. She was given the name Lili‘u Loloku Walania Wewehi
Kamaka‘eha. When she was born, she was adopted by chiefs Abner Paki and his
wife, Laura Konia (Keira, 2005).
Since she was born, she had a high social status.
Everyone revered and respected Queen Lili‘uokalani and her family because they
were Ali‘i, the highest ranking status there was, besides the gods. She
attended the Royal School which was conducted by U.S. missionaries, and learned
to speak English fluently. There, she was given the Christian name Lydia. Her
childhood years were spent studying and playing with her foster sister Bernice
Pauahi, the Pakis' natural daughter. She rode horses, explored the outdoors,
and wrote songs for family competitions. Queen Lili‘uokalani was definitely privileged growing up as royalty. She
had the best education, she had things others didn’t have and she experienced
things that other people didn’t have the privilege to experience.
When
her brother, David Kalākaua, became king in 1874, she was given the name Lili‘uokalani
(Keira, 2005).
On September 16th, 1862, Lili‘uokalani married John Owen Dominis,
who later became Governor of O‘ahu and Maui. They lived with his widowed mother
at Washington Place, which is today the official residence of Hawai‘i's
Governor. Lili‘uokalani had three hānai (adopted) children: Lydia Ka‘onohiponiponiokalani
Aholo, Kaiponohea ‘Ae‘a, and John Dominis. When her brother died in 1891, Lili‘uokalani
became queen of Hawai‘i and moved into ‘Iolani Palace. Queen Lili‘uokalani was
ready to propose a new constitution that restored power to the monarchy and
voting rights back to the people (Queen Lili‘uokalani, 2011). Afraid that trouble
would arise from this new proposal, her advisors asked her to wait for things
to settle. In the meantime, her opposition overthrew the existing government
with help from soldiers from the U.S.S. Boston. The Americans set up a
provisional government and appointed Sanford Dole as President. This group who
now claimed power asked the U.S. to act fast and annex Hawaii. President Grover
Cleveland refused but the provisional government stayed in power, and on July
4, 1894, they renamed the islands the Republic of Hawaii. Queen Lili‘uokalani
chose to surrender her throne, under protest, rather than risk bloodshed in her
beloved islands. She had faith that President Cleveland would restore power to
the monarchy, but those who had taken control of her homeland were too
powerful. She retained the title of queen, but no longer held any power. The
following is part of the statement that Queen Lili‘uokalani declared yielding
her authority to the United States Government: “ Now, to avoid any collision of
armed forces and perhaps loss of life, I do, under this protest, and impelled
by said forces, yield my authority until such time as the Government of the
United States shall, upon the facts being presented to it, undo the action of
its representative and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the
constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.” - Queen Liliuokalani, Jan
17, 1893 (Stone, 1947)
Queen
Lili‘uokalani's supporters were enraged that she had been dethroned and wanted
to put her back in power. One night, a group of her supporters were caught on
the beach with a shipment of guns. After a search of her house and grounds,
more guns were found in her garden. She was charged with leading a revolt and
was held captive in ‘Iolani Palace for the next eight months. On January 24,
1895, she gave up the throne forever with the promise that the lives of those
supporters who had been arrested would be spared. The new government broke this
promise when they killed the six men arrested and kept other supporters in
jail. She was finally released as a free citizen after her long imprisonment.
Three years later, the new President McKinley approved the annexation of
Hawaii. Some stories say that while held captive, Queen Lili‘uokalani began to
write songs, just as she had when she was a young girl. She continued to do
this throughout the rest of her life, at times blending ancient Hawaiian and
newer western musical styles. Her most famous piece is thought to be
"Aloha ‘Oe," or "Farewell to Thee," a song written as a
final goodbye to her country. On November 11, 1917, the former queen died of a
stroke at the age of seventy-nine (Keira, 2005).
Her dedication to her people and her fight to save the independence of her land
were commemorated in a statue erected in 1982. Made of bronze and standing on
the state capitol grounds, she is accurately described as "the Polynesian
chiefess of olden times" who bravely took it upon herself to defend and
preserve Hawai‘i's independent spirit.
The Hawaiian culture and traditions had a big influence
on why Queen Lili‘uokalani chose to amend the constitution. In Hawai‘i, she was
most likely taught to live by aloha: love, respect, and empathy. To show aloha
in everything we do is usually a high value
in Hawaiian families. Meaning it has great importance and/or relative worth in
this culture. She felt for her people, she knew they were hurting because their
voices were not being heard and seemed to become less and less important.
Because showing compassion was one of her main values, she wanted to change
something to make a difference for her people, like when she wanted to propse a
new constitution reinstating voting rights back to the common people. The
people of Hawai‘i are what motivated the queen to be the best she could be and
to stay strong through the hard times.
The
native Hawaiians went through some really challenging times, but Queen Lili‘uokalani
also went through some difficulties. It was probably proposed by her supporters
that she was discriminated against
during her reign by the American businessmen. What was the reason that the
provisional government wanted to take over the Hawaiian Islands and annex the
Hawaiian Kingdom? Did they think they were higher or any better than Hawaiians?
It’s possible that a distinction was made against her based on her skin color
or ethnicity, rather than on individual merit. If that was the case, Queen
Lili‘uokalani really stood firm in what she believed in, to fight for the
freedom of her people. If we look at the situation she was in through the
conflict perspective, we would see that this association is unequal. It benefits
the provisional government under the United States, at the expense of
Lili‘uokalani’s reign as queen in the Hawaiian Kingdom. She could have been
readily open to whatever plans or recommendations the government wanted to
offer, and still the U.S. would overthrow the kingdom. Why? Possibly for the
ideal location of the islands right in the middle of the pacific that they
could use for their military boats, or maybe because of the rich agriculture so
they could grow abundant crops of food for trade, or perhaps simply because
they wanted more control. It is this type of relationship that a conflict
theorist would use to show that social relationships are about power and
exploitation.
I
believe that Queen Lili‘uokalani is a very inspirational person. Although the
Hawaiian kingdom still got overthrown and annexed, she stood up for her people
and culture so proudly. Even when she yielded to the superior United States
power, she did it gracefully with the people at heart, so that there would be
no war in her homelands. The way she was calm and collected while being tough
inspires me to stand up for what I believe in and push for what I know is right
and never to lose composure. She was probably under so much pressure, a whole
Hawaiian Kingdom on the weight of her shoulders, but yet she never once lost
her self-control. I also learned some things about her that I didn’t know already.
I found out that she was very artistic. Lili‘uokalani was an accomplished
author and songwriter. Her book, Hawai‘i's Story by Hawai‘i's Queen, gave her
view of the history of her country and the overthrow and therefore, she became
the first Native Hawaiian female author. Lili‘uokalani was known for her musical
talent. She is said to have played guitar, piano, organ, ‘ukulele and zither.
She also sang alto, performing Hawaiian and English sacred and secular music. She
was the composer of over 150 other songs. She would find herself in her music (Liliuokalani). I love everything
about music, I grew up in a home filled with music. My father taught me how to
sing melodies and harmonies and how to play ‘ukulele when I was young, and I
kept what he taught with me ever since.
This is another reason I look up to her, I feel that I can connect to
her through our love and appreciation of music. To be musically talented like
she was is actually a rare and beautiful thing.
I
chose to do my paper on Queen Lili‘uokalani because she’s the kind of woman I
want to grow up to be like. She stayed humbled and loving, even through the
fact that there was injustice
happening amongst her and her people. I say this because there was a lot of
violation of the native Hawaiians’ rights. How was the Hawaiian kingdom of any
less worth than the Americans, that they thought they could just overthrow the
kingdom? It was a complete unjust action. When I learned about the story of
Queen Lili‘uokalani and the annexation, I was completely surprised. I couldn’t
understand why or how the United States got away with this cruel deed. Although
President Bill Clinton apologized for the U.S. Governments’ role in the
annexation of Hawai‘i and the imprisonment of Queen Lili‘uokalani, many
Hawaiians still believe to this day that an apology is just not enough, and I
agree. Give back what was rightfully the Hawaiians’, the ‘aina (land), the wai
(water), and our pride. I truly love Lili‘uokalani for everything she did for
the Hawaiian people. She’s not just an inspiration to me, but also an ancestor
that I will always look up to. Hawaiian rulers in the past like Queen
Lili‘uokalani make me extremely proud to call myself a Hawaiian.
References
Keira, S. (2005). Queen
Liliuokalani. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from University of Hawai‘i
Maui
College Library: http://system3.lib.hawaii.edu:2174/ehost/
Liliuokalani. (n.d.).
Retrieved August 1, 2011, from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia Web
Site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Liliuokalani
Queen Lili‘uokalani. (2011).
Retrieved August 1, 2011, from Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s
Center:
http://qlcc.org/queen.htm
Stone, A. (1947).
Hawaii's Queen. New York: Sixth Printing.
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