Don’t Forget, if you are on Oahu nei, there are many events coming up to celebrate the memory of Queen Liliuokalani, like the Onipaa Celebration happening on the grounds of Iolani Palace on Sunday, September 1, from 10:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. Also there are the Mai Poina Walking Tours on the 1st, 6th, 7th, and 8th!
What about the rest of the islands? What are all of you up to?
As Israel in ancient times sat weeping by the waters of Babylon listening to the plaintive songs which arose from their singers, so sits Hawaii in grief and mourning to-day and to Her our bard sings:
I had a dream, I saw a vision pass before me,
Long ages past arose in swift array,
Adown the stream of time my fleeting fancy bore me
From age to age unto the present day,
Far o’er the southern sea I saw brave ships a-sailing
From isle to isle, till at Hawaii’s shore
They touched, and soon with joy the natives came, them hailing
With pious awe, incarnate Gods of yore,
From all the land they flocked with speed to see the stranger,
Adoring gave their gifts both rich and rare,
But time brought fuller knowledge, knowledge brought its dangers
And Captain Cook’s life paid the forfeit there.
And down the stream still visions came a-floating;
Vancouver came unto this race so brave;
Restored the friendship Cook had lost; while noting
That Britain ne’er would hold them as her slave.
Still swept the vision on with flight so speedy;
One ship alone this time comes into view—
America’s gift unto these islands needy,
Peace, love, goodwill—and Christianity too.
Right lovingly was welcomed each new teacher,
The people flocked to hear good news so true,
That more and more it seemed to every preacher,
The harvest plenteous, but the laborers few.
And time flew by on wings. The isles grew fair, and fairer;
One Briton thought to seize them for his land,
But Britain’s Admiral, our independence bearer,
Restored the flag midst praise from every hand,
The years passed by. Through all the land there rose the steeple—
The preacher controlled all with kindly hand;
Give land and constitution to your people!
(O King! Give heed!) and God will bless your land.
Year followed year. Changed Kings and constitution.
The stranger increased: took mortgages on land:
Kept Hawaii’s daughters, sisters, wives in prostitution:
Spread poverty and vice around on ev’ry hand.
Still years rolled on. With sugar now grown wealthy,
The foreign Christians lifts his eye around,
And says: “For me no doubt the climate is most healthy,
“Tho’ poor and dying Hawaii’s native sons are found.
“Some seventy years ago we gave this land the Bible
“And tried to teach them then its use,
“(To say we’ve showed them poor examples is no libel)
“And fair exchange ‘t will be to cook their goose.
“Their cries for right and justice soon we’ll stifle:
“Take for ourselves this Paradise on earth.
“If they object, we’ll each one tap our rifle,
“And call for help upon our land of birth.
“Unfit to rule with all these years of training—
“(We’ll spread the lie around on every hand,)
“You’ll see they’ll let us do it, uncomplaining,
“For they have got our Bible, and so we’ll take their land.”
At this a noise awoke me, and in wonder
I saw the very instance of my dream.
Hawaii’s Queen and Natives were put under
To bolster up their money-getting scheme
And now forth from them goes across the waters
One last appeal for Justice and for Right.
Preserving peace, Hawaii’s gen’rous sons and daughters,
Before God’s throne on high, in prayer unite:
“Great God! the Judge of All! The records thou art keeping!
“Look down in mercy on our sad estate!
“Be kind unto us! Hear our voice of weeping!
“Till thou restore, grant us in peace to wait.
“And thou, great nation! home of truth and bravery!
“Freedom’s defender! we pray thee us O, hear!
“Restore our Queen and us; now, as in slavery,
“Held by usurper’s armed fear.
“Restore our rights and help us to maintain them!
“O let our prayer be crowned with success!
“Our conduct and your friendship will retain them,
“The God of nations will for ever bless.”
[This mele was probably composed by Kahikina Kelekona, J. G. M. Sheldon.
The image taken from the microfilm is hard to make out at the bottom. Hopefully there will be funding found to have the Hawaiian-Language Newspapers be unbound and rescanned clearly. How can you get to all the pearls stored in the newspapers if you can’t make out the words?]
(Hawaii Holomua, puka pule, 1/28/1893, p. 4)
Hawaii Holomua (Puka Pule), Buke III, Helu 5, Aoao 4. Ianuari 28, 1893.
We refer, of course, to the Hawaiian political Moses, who has recently broken camp, and set the faithful in motion through sea, desert and wilderness to the Land of Promise, beyond the shadow of the Throne. Yes! We refer to the Hawaiian political Moses, but whether his other name is Dole or Thurston, has not, at this writing, fully transpired. Still, the doubt as to his other name is a merely nominal doubt, not affecting the merits of the case. And as the original state—man of that name was not gifted with immunity from error, so neither has the Hawaiian Moses, even during his very brief pilgrimage, avoided all mistakes. It should ever be the part of a friend to note his friends’ infirmities, and, by bringing them mildly to their authors’ notice, suggest their reform, or convey a warning against their repetition.
———
We are all aware of the high pressure of seeming necessity under which the present government was formed. We can therefore appreciate, to some extent, the causes of the neglect to observe, towards the numerous Native element, those marks of regard and confidence without which no government can hope to endure in Hawaii. We repeat, that the pressure of the occasion must be the excuse of the gentlemen at the head of the movement for their seemingly unfriendly, and even hostile attitude toward the entire Native race, in the ordering of early events under the new dispensation.
———
The exclusion of Hawaiians from a participation in the beneficent project not only seemed, but was, and is complete. There may have been, and no doubt were reasons, seemingly sound to those who adopted them, for such a course,—reasons of which the public cannot judge, because the public know them not. Yet it would seem that one of two propositions must be true; viz.: either the Hawaiians were needlessly, and, therefore, harshly excluded from such participation in the reforming of their own government, or else the entire race were deemed by the leaders to be unfit to participate in such an enterprise.
———
If the former of the above propositions be true, one would naturally expect the mistake to be rectified at the earliest opportunity. That it has not been rectified would seem to stamp it as having been no mistake, but a course deliberately adopted, for, note the opportunity to retrieve the error, (if error it had been thought to be) in the filling of the four vacancies in the Advisory Council, on the 21st inst. It was then, as seems to us, the manifest duty of the government to seek out and appoint to those vacancies, men of Hawaiian blood, whose brains, interests and loyalty to the new idea bespoke than as deserving of such honor and confidence.
———
The failure of the government to attempt to bring even one Hawaiian to a seat at the Council Board is susceptible of only one of two meanings:—1st, that no Hawaiian could be found possessing those qualifications, or, 2nd, that the government were determined to ignore and exclude them, in any event.
———
If such exclusion was premeditated and malicious, the less said of it the better, as it is self-condemnatory. If on the other hand, there be no native Hawaiian fit to occupy a seat in the government councils, with what degree of candor or confidence can the Provisional Government request of expect the United States to incorporate our country into itself? What a commentary upon that request is the action of the government itself, in thus excluding from their confidence the entire aboriginal race, more completely than the Mongolian is now excluded from the Union. Forty odd thousand Hawaiians on these shores, and not one, (in the opinion of the government,) entitled or qualified to have a voice in the government of his native land. What a text for the American enemies of annexation, and how they will use it!
(Liberal, 1/25/1893, p. 2)
The Liberal, Volume I, Number 39, Page 2. January 25, 1893.
There is much talk these day; some say that there is no way that the United States of America will listen to the request of the Commission to annex Hawaii, being that there is no Native Hawaiian of the land asking for this. Some say that a Republic will be established if the U. S. doesn’t agree.
(Liberal, 1/25/1893, p. 4)
The Liberal, Volume I, Number 39, Page 4. January 25, 1893.
MORENO ON THE MISSIONARIES.
Editor Post: For several years your public-spirited paper has published correspondence and statements submitted by me about Hawaii in which was foreshadowed the present state of affairs. The revolution which has just taken place is the inevitable result of missionary rule; the long-standing and deep-rooted cause of the unrest.
The missionaries in Hawaii, as in China, Japan, and elsewhere, consider that country as their open hunting grounds, regardless of the rights, customs, wishes, and priviliges of the natives and of stipulations.
I positively know that the self-appointed four chiefs of the Provisional Government in the Hawaiian Islands and the five commissioners coming to Washington to negotiate a treaty of annexation are, without a single exception, missionariesʻ confederates. Not a single native Hawaiian is with them, therefore, they cannot be considered as the representatives of the Hawaiian nation, of which they are aliens and enemies, but only as the emissaries of one side (or of a higher), which is not the right side.
The truth about Hawaiian affairs has never reached the State Department and that is the reason why, in the department, the knife has always been taken by the blade instead of by the handle in dealing with the Hawaiian question.
The United States always sent third rate politicians as ministers and consult to Honolulu, hence the erroneous information about Hawaii. I have on the spot studied Hawaii and the Hawaiians, their troubles with the missionaries of all creeds, and when distant from the islands I have kept an uninterrupted correspondence with the leaders of the Hawaiian nation, such as the Hons. Wilcox, Bush, Testa, Kaai, Kapena, Kaunamano, Kimo Pelekane [James I. Dowsett], and others.
My views on the Hawaiian question I explained at length to President Hayes and Secretary of State Evarts, to President Cleveland and to Assistant Secretary of State Porter: later, to Senator Morgan and to Congressman McCreary, and these are the statesmen that ought to dispose of the Hawaiian question and render justice to the weak, ill-treated, honest, and generous Hawaiian people that have been continually misrepresented, misjudged, and grossly wronged.
In accordance with the good order of things the coming self-appointed and self-styled Hawaiian commissioners, with more appearance than substance, should not be received by the United States authorities, because their self-attributed mission to Washington is based only upon selfish and malignant motives.
This will be a good opportunity for the great people of the United States to show their sentiment for fair play and generosity toward the unfortunate, harmless, friendly, and oppressed Hawaiian people, worthy of sympathy and of help in this their hour of national distress.
Celco Cæsar Moreno.
(Liberal, 2/25/1893, p. 2)
The Liberal, Volume I, Number 48, Page 2. February 25, 1893.
Circuit:—On Wednesday of the week last, that being the 22nd, some of the royal descendants made a circuit of Oahu nei, that being Mrs. Pauahi Bishop, Mrs. Kamakeha Dominis [Kamakaeha Dominis] and her husband, the Honorable D. Kalakaua, and Captain Hanham, the captain of a single-masted warship, along with their travelling companions. Splendid was their view of Kaliuwaa, where the youth Kamapuaa revealed himself and his strength; along with the other famous sites. Long live the young Alii in God!
(Kuokoa, 3/30/1865, p. 2)
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke IV, Helu 13, Aoao 2. Maraki 30, 1865.
I was engaged to Mr. Dominis for about two years and it was our intention to be married on the second day of September, 1862. But by reason of the fact that the court was in affliction and mourning, our wedding was delayed at the request of the king, Kamehameha IV., to the sixteenth of that month; Rev. Dr. Damon, father of Mr. S. M. Damon, at present the leading banker of the Islands, being the officiating clergyman. It was celebrated at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, in the house which had been erected by my father, Paki, and which, known as the Arlington Hotel [Haleakala], is still one of the most beautiful and central of the mansions in Honolulu. To it came all the high chiefs then living there, also the foreign residents; in fact, all the best society of the city.
[This is what Queen Liliuokalani had to say about her marriage in Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen, first published in 1898. Mahalo to Heather Wilkinson Rojo for her response on the previous post, saying she posted an image of their marriage certificate on her blog. This is one of the many priceless treasures cared for by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum!]
(Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen, 1988. p. 22.)
Marriage.—At 8 in the evening of Tuesday, the 16th of this month, the Honorable Lydia Kamakaeha Paki and Adjutant General Major J. O. Dominis were wed at the Residence of the Honorable C. R. Bishop and his Queen. The two were married in the Anglican faith.
Present were the King; her Highness Princess V. K. Kaahumanu; his Highness Prince L. Kamehameha; the Honorable M. Kekuanaoa, the Royal Governor of Oahu; Colonel Peter Young Kekuaokalani; also there were the parents of the bride, and the mother of the groom, and his cousins.
Rev. Samuel C. Damon was who performed the ceremony. It was appreciated for its righteousness and honor. With the two of them are the thoughts of aloha of this paper.
(Kuokoa, 9/20/1862, p. 3)
Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke I, Helu 43, Aoao 3. Sepatemaba 20, 1862.
On this past Saturday, September 2, it was the birthday of Queen Liliuokalani, and a royal audience was held midday of that day between 11 a. m. and 1 p. m. in the afternoon.
At 8 a. m. in the morning of this Saturday, the Royal Hawaiian Band [Bana Hawaii] appeared at Washington Place [Wakinekona Home] and played Hawaiian songs which were composed by the alii during the Monarchy of Hawaii nei, and some of these songs were composed by Queen Liliuokalani. The Royal Hawaiian Band played for an hour in the morning to commemorate the birthday of Liliu at Washington Place, and they played once again from 11 midday to 1 in the afternoon.
At 11, the public was allowed to come and see the alii. The Kalama Society, Kaahumanu Society, and Kauikeaouli Society arrived to see the Queen.
The interior of Washington Place was decorated with kahili, just as during the era when the alii ruled—it was beautiful and awe inspiring to see that morning. The Queen sat upon her cotton chair [noho pulu], with two boys behind her chair, holding long kahili, with ahuula upon their shoulders. The Princess Kawananakoa was on the Queen’s right, and Colonel Iaukea was on her left, and he was the one who introduced the Queen to the malihini and to the townspeople. There also, were the heads of the Territory, County, and Federal government. There were many distinguished people of this town who went to see the alii, and by the looks of it, almost one thousand people came during this royal audience.
What shocked this reporter on that morning, was that two-thirds of the people who went to give their congratulations on the birthday of the Queen were malihini and haole. As for the true Hawaiians, only but a few went to see the alii. Reflecting back in time, and seeing Liliu in her finery, i am lulled into recalling the days when Hawaiians were proud upon the soil of their native land.
(Kuokoa Home Rula, 9/8/1911, p. 4)
Kuokoa Home Rula, Buke IX, Helu 36, Aoao 4. Sepatemaba 8, 1911.
‘Onipa‘a 2013 Celebrates Queen Lili‘uokalani’s 175th Birthday
Check out the many upcoming activities put on this year by the Hawaii Ponoi Coalition in honor of the Queen’s 175th birthday at http://www.hawaiiponoi.info/!!
nupepa 