Royal Family of Hawai'i

[Kasumi]

King Kamehameha the Great is celebrated royally every June 11, a state holiday in Hawai'i, with parades, festivals and other tributes.
This year also marks the 200th anniversary of his unification of the Hawaiian islands. - SFGate

[Kasumi]

On October 16th, 2010, the Hawaiians had paid tribute to Queen Keopuolani and Crown Princess Ka‘iulani Cleghorn with full honors during the “Lahaina Royal Ho‘ike — From the Keiki to Ka‘iulani and the Crown” ceremony for the first time in the history.
The ho‘ike at Waiola Church (meaning that which is shown, to know, as in the sight to see) had celebrated Ka‘iulani’s 135th birthday and the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Bicentennial (1810-2010). - Lahaina News

[LadyGabrielle]

That was a wonderful celebration. It brought tears to my eyes. My husband and I could not attend as we had prior engagements. My husband is a cousin of Kaiulani through his 3rd or 4th generation grandmother so it was nice to see Kaiulani celebrated like that along with his 4th generation auntie the Queen.We were so honored to know that the kanaka maoli still care about the ancestors. I mua! Mahalo and aloha nui.

[scooter]

Lady G how wonderful that you were able to be there., if not in person at the event. We love Hawai'i nui and visit every chance we get. Mahalo for letting us know what is going on!

[JessRulz]

I have just returned from a holiday to O'ahu, Hawaii; I naturally had to tour the 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu, the residence of the two last Hawaiian monarchs (King Kalākaua and Queen Lili'uokalani) and is the only royal palace on United States soil.

The palace is really nice, but is so much smaller than its European counterparts (I've also been to Schloss Schonbrun in Vienna, which is huge). A lot of the items and furniture from the palace is still missing - according to the tour guide, they have only recovered about 5,000 pieces which were listed on the palace inventory following the overthrow (which amounted to just over 10,000 pieces - 900 of them items of sationary ). I was surprised at how small the bedroom suites were - they are shorter than my bed (so the Hawaiian monarchs must have been quite short, or slept in the fetal position).

#1 - 'Iolani Palace front exterior
#2 - Centre tower of the Palace, the Hawaiian state flag is flying at half-mast on top of the tower in accordance with President Obama's order for all United States flags to be flown at half-mast in respect of the shootings in Tuscon, Arizona the previous Saturday (photo taken on the Tuesday after)
#3 - Detail work of the centre tower
#4 - Main entrance staircase
#5 - Right hand side of the Palace, this room on the first floor is the Throne Room
#6 - Centre of the Palace front exterior
#7 & 8 - Detail work of the centre tower
#9 - Right hand side of the Palace, second floor; this was Queen Lili'uokalani's bedroom suite, where she was imprisoned following the monarchy's overthrow (the bottom row of windows are a different, less clear glass - I assume that was so she could not see out of the windows during her imprisonment)
#10 - Front door, the two bottom panes are not the original glass (they had to be replaced following a vandalism attack several years ago) while the top two are
#11 - The Palace from the outside
#12 - Coronation Pavillion
#13 - Coronation Pavillion, with the Palace on the left
#14 - Royal Coat of Arms as seen on the Palace gates
#15 - Statue of Queen Lili'uokalani at the rear of the Palace, between the Palace and the State Capitol
#16 & 17 - Statue of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop

[Duchessmary]

Many thanks for posting! When I went to Hawaii, I remember seeing a more informal residence in Honolulu, but the admission price was a bit outrageous.

[Iain]

"The palace is really nice, but is so much smaller than its European counterparts"

It is large compared to other Polynesian palaces such as the royal palace in Mata'utu the capital of Wallis or the one in the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa. This palace had only eight rooms, four on the ground floor and four on the first floor but last year was enlarged by adding two wings which trebled the size.

[David V]

Some nice pics there.

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by JessRulz

I have just returned from a holiday to O'ahu, Hawaii; I naturally had to tour the 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu, the residence of the two last Hawaiian monarchs (King Kalākaua and Queen Lili'uokalani) and is the only royal palace on United States soil.

Maybe I am wrong, however, wasn't King Kameheameaha's palace on the Big Island considered a royal palace as well? And Queen Emma's summer place on O'ahu, was that not royal as well?

[JessRulz]

All the tour guides I encountered on my trip (and there many of them) kept referring to 'Iolani Palace is the only royal palace on US soil. However, Wikipedia lists it as the "only royal palace in the US used as an official royal residence by a reigning monarch". What are the chances of the tour guides amping up their selling point of the Palace to get more visitors?

Following that, that would make Queen Emma's Palace a private residence, but still a royal palace. So, my apologies for copying out what the tour guides kept incorrectly saying (then again, one of them told me that Queen Victoria was the daughter of Queen Elizabeth - yes, the British monarchs )

[Russophile]

Golly DAy! Doesn't THAT put faith in your guides?
Did you correct them?
Mr. RUsso and I never went to the Iolani however we went to the other two and Daughters of Hawai'i who take care of Queen Emma's palace were wonderful and full of knowledge. At the time were were at Khamehameha's the earth quake had hit and only the bottom was open to visitors, however, our tour guide was another gentleman who had a lot of knowledge of the times and the palace and it was a lovely time.

[JessRulz]

Unfortunately, no. By the time I had ceased banging my head against the bus window, he had moved on to another subject I did however lose faith in the IQ of the others on the bus - they all were smiling and nodding along

I would have loved to go to Queen Emma's Palace - it was on my list of things to do - but no one would go with me (it was hard enough to wrangle my mother to come to 'Iolani).

[David V]

Kamehameha was one of the classical "unifying Kings"- one who successfully unified a nation under his rule. One of the last to do so (you could say Zog I did the same in Albania). Prior to then, Hawaii was comprised of a number of states.

And depending on interpretation, Hawaii wasn't the only monarchy to have existed on present-day American soil, if you consider that numerous Native American peoples have had hereditary chiefly lineages, some of which continue today.

[norenxaq]

is there any evidence for pre-european chiefly lines? it seems these were imposed upon various tribes by colonials to suit their own purposes

[CordeliaFitzgerald]

Among the many things that make me sick to be an American, the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy for colonial purposes has to be one of them. It isn't even covered in the history books! (Well, it's been a decade since I graduated from high school, so maybe the history books have changed.)

This topic is very informative and I will definitely be reading the books suggested here.

I love the pictures of the palace posted!

[Russophile]

Our country has done many things that were not ethical or correct. It's still committing some of them. Not unlike other countries. My history is Norwegian. We raped and pillaged our way across Europe.
The thing to do is to recognize the bad, and strive for the good.
What do the Hawaiians want? I saw many "Free Hawai'i" bumperstickers the last time I was in Kaua'i. Let them vote.

[David V]

Bill Clinton apologised for the overthrow a century after it happened.

[PrincessKaimi]

There's plenty of evidence for kingly/chiefly lines in the pre-Columbian Americas. The most obvious was at Cahokia, where no other English word than "King" has ever been used to translate the term "Sun-King."

One of the many problems with Hawaiian monarchy (as well as many Native American chiefdoms) is that they were of course greatly influenced by European rules and conquest. That's why the history of King Kamehameha I is so intriguing (and again, I've never seen a successful attempt to translate his title(s) as anything other than King).

There were Kings on other islands, which lead to warfare. All Hawaiians are fairly closely related, having come from the old land (Kahiki/Tahiti) with stops on the Marquesas (and probably Easter Island) on the way.

Applying Western notions of "blood" and inheritance to the various Hawaiian monarchies is tricky. Adoption (hanai) was common and it's clear throughout Polynesia that a strong King (whether adopted or not) is better than one by blood who can't rule. Hence, the current state of affairs of various Hawaiian groups viewing restoration of the monarchy in different ways. There are local families on each island who view themselves as ali'i (not claiming titles of Kings of course), and are clearly descendants of older leaders (pre-contact leaders). As with many nations, convening a group of existing leaders is a traditional Hawai'ian way of establishing leadership.

The kings who existed just prior to the coming of Europeans were all solidified in their roles by inter-island warfare. They shared many connections of blood, marriage and adoption (their chanted genealogies are well-preserved).

Hawai'i had its ruling Queens, as I suppose everyone knows, and to some extent, the roles of ruling Queen and ruling King were quite different (and the relationship between the two parties was not as strictly governed by marriage or lineage as in many European monarchies).

So it is the view of many of us that the number of "true claimants" to the throne of Queen Liliuokalani are many. She herself was hanai and the translation of her parents' titles into English as "Chief" and "Chieftainess" reflects European notions of the time. Perhaps they should have been called Archduke and Archduchess? Grand Prince and Princess? Who knows at this point? At any rate, Hawai'i has its own terminology and principles of rule.

Adoption is a perfectly acceptable way of raising a child to a throne (as in the case of Queen Liliuokalani and many others), and some would say, preferable (Tahiti worked the same way; Polynesian voyages were not led by average (common) people and the rules for who went and who stayed are quite interesting. Warfare among the royals of Tahiti is cited by many Hawai'ian historians as a factor in the migration to Hawai'ian islands and archaeology evidence and Tahitian lore bears this out.

DNA analysis is showing us more and more about where we came from, in Hawai'i, but along with most others who are Hawai'ian on this thread, I tend very much to listen to the words of my grandmother, grandfather, and great-grandmother and great-aunts and uncles (some of whom have written books on the subject of Hawai'ian language, culture, history and principles). Oh, and to some extent I listen to my dad too. They know their genealogy pretty well, I'd say. My great-grandmother and great-aunts and -uncles are now gone, but as I said, some of them were writers and translators and they knew a lot about their adopted island (Big Island) and even more about the royalty of Maui.

My family, originally from Maui, certainly does not believe that King Kamehameha I settled once and for all the question of autonomy for Maui. The more viable parts of the Hawai'ian sovereignty movement (I have several young relatives whose lifework is centered on this movement) are not concerned with resurrecting King Kamehameha I's bloodlines as much as they are with finding leaders (spiritual and political - ali'i). A mo'i and mo'i wahine for each island that originally had one, before the Hawai'ian conquest makes as much sense to them, as the idea is similar to that in Britain - the culture and the land itself needs guardians. Traditionally, ka mo'i and ka mo'i wahine had very different roles in reigning over the lands, and did not necessarily have to be married to each other. The role that is sometimes translated (wrongly, I believe) as prime minister (Kuhina Nui) was often held by a woman, often the wife or other relative of a mo'i (but not necessarily). I also don't believe that Kamehameha I was the first to invent such an office.

There is a family on Big Island whom I believe to be direct lineal descendants of Kalaunui-Ohua, and they are certainly involved in the sovereignty movement.

As to palaces, of course the mo'i had larger places to live, but Hawai'ian homes were not as designed to be permanent, not like the really important places, the heiaus. There was less tendency to accumulate jewels and so on, in a land of mostly volcanic rock.

But I'm guessing all the old mo'i and ali'i of the islands had great beaches and access to swimming pools that royalty of other places could only dream of.

King Kamehameha I had already stepped away from enforcement of all the old ancient kapus before the missionaries came (and so had Kahekili II on Maui), because of the difficulties of enforcement but also, I believe, because both men did some thinking about the system. Queen Ka'ahumanu had also agreed (and may have been more zealous than either of the two men) that most of the kapus had to go, so when Christianity was presented to her, she was ready for a different system. But to say she through out the entire old religion in favor of Christianity is not true.

Perhaps it's in our blood, but Hawai'ians really do like the idea of royalty (hence the Merry Monarch, and I daresay that many of us would not mind at all if one of those Monarchs began a new dynasty!)

[Russophile]

Originally Posted by PrincessKaimi

Perhaps it's in our blood, but Hawai'ians really do like the idea of royalty (hence the Merry Monarch, and I daresay that many of us would not mind at all if one of those Monarchs began a new dynasty!)

I was just disgusted to find out that Queen Emma and her family, on a transAmerican trip via train were so shabbily treated by the Americans due to the color of their skin.

[David V]

Originally Posted by Russophile

I was just disgusted to find out that Queen Emma and her family, on a transAmerican trip via train were so shabbily treated by the Americans due to the color of their skin.

To make it worse, this was also a factor in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy- because the Royals attempted to protect the interests of the indigenous population.