KAPAA — The mynah birds sitting atop the Norfolk trees ringing the Memorial Hall at the All Saints’ Episcopal Church and Preschool chirped their displeasure as the first sounds of the bell wafted in the morning air.
The time was 8:30 a.m. Saturday and the All Saints Episcopal Church was one of many churches statewide who hosted a remembrance service on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Queen Lili‘uokalani’s passing.
David Murray of the All Saints church said the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of Queen Lili‘uokalani with the tolling of bells and prayer and commemorative observances are encouraged as an important memorial and rememberance of the Queen.
Sierra Gore of the All Saints church said the First Hawaiian Church in Kapaa was planning on tolling its bell, along with the church in Anahola where Nathan Kalama attends.
Sandi Sterker of the Hanapepe Hawaiian Congregational Church said it planned for a special service, which included the ringing of the bell 100 times as well as singing and responses.
Queen Lili‘uokalani died on Nov. 11, 1917 and the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii is honoring her life by tolling their bells 100 times and hold service in celebration of the life of the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
“This was the Queen’s church,” said Rev. Ryan Newman. “She passed at 8:30 a.m., the same time we’re tolling the bell 100 times.”
Julie Souza, president of Ahahui Ka‘ahumanu, a benevolent Hawaiian society, was joined by members Liberta Albao and Elaine Panui in presenting ho‘okupu to a portrait of the Queen as Hawaiian music filtered through the morning air, greeting the nearly two dozen people who joined the Ahahui Ka‘ahumanu ladies in remembering the Queen’s life of faith, devotion and service to Ke Akua Mana Loa.
“I like this church,” Souza said. “There is a lot of Hawaiian things — the music, the sayings — taking place.”
Strains of the familiar “Aloha o‘e” accompanied the tolling of the bells and the congregation offered more mele composed by the Queen, including “Ke Aloha O Ke Akua (Queen’s Prayer).”
The cult of Lili’uokalani is a powerful propaganda tool calling for either racial separatism (tribe) or ethnic nationalism (secession), depending on the activist’s preference. Celebrating Lili’uokalani is a polite way to protest the overthrow of the monarchy, to express anti-haole feelings without appearing to be blatantly racist. See webpage “The Lili’uokalani Cult — A scary but true Halloween story. Hawaiian secessionists try to inspire winners for 21st Century battles by conjuring the ghosts of 19th Century losers.” at
http://www.angelfire.com/big09/LiliuokalaniCult.html
Lili’uokalani reigned for less than 2 years, and was a miserable failure. But as the last monarch, and the “victim” of the overthrow, all the activists rally to her as Catholics rally to the Virgin Mary. Some pray to her as to a saint. Some believe everything in her book is the gospel truth, and protest angrily if anyone dares to challenge anything in it.
She had only 4 significant accomplishments, which all took place in the final two weeks of her reign:
She bribed and intimidated the Legislature into passing three bills for booze, drugs, and gambling:
(1) Government-sponsored distillery;
(2) Government opium license for a company to pay $500,000 for monopoly on importing and distributing opium;
(3) Government-operated lottery;
and, of course, her greatest accomplishment of all:
(4) She put an end to the monarchy by getting overthrown when trying to proclaim a new constitution. For this, her greatest accomplishment, we will celebrate the Hawaiian revolution on its 125th anniversary, January 17.
Two quotes from Liliuokalani:
(1) Liliuokalani’s diary for 1900 included the following in her own handwriting, as confirmed by Bishop Museum archivist DeSoto Brown in his letter on page 4 of the Honolulu weekly of June 4, 2003:
“How sad and yet I gave my consent to have the old Royal Hawaiian Band who are now the Government U.S. band come and serenade me on this the occasion of my 62nd birthday. My consent is the healing over of ill will of all great differences caused by the overthrow of my throne and the deprivation of my people of their rights. Tho’ for a moment it cost me a pang of pain for my people — it was only momentary, for the present has a hope for the future for my people. 10 a.m. Went out to Kahala with Mr & Mrs Mana [?] and children. Mr & Mrs Auld, Kaipo, Myra Aimoku Kalahiki. Wakeki Paoakalani J. Aea Mahiai Robinson.”
(2) Ex-queen Liliuokalani confided to then Senator George Hoar (R. Mass.) that, “The best thing for [Native Hawaiians] that could have happened was to belong to the United States.”
Senator Hoar wrote his own autobiography in 1903 (14 years before the ex-queen died) which included that quote. “Autobiography of Seventy Years” by George Frisbie Hoar (C. Scribner’s Sons, 1903). To find that quote from Lili’uokalani, look for “Lili’uokalani” in the index to Hoar’s book.
At what time in history did navigators like James Cook, England put together the Hawai’i’s map? 1700s prior? or after. No solid evidence, but canoes and by what length? Sea travel.
No real evidence. Kaua’i’s king was King Kaumualili. Were the customs related? canoe. Honolulu and Kaua’i. Or Maui and Big Island? The tribes, were there any means of related languages? Native Hawai’ian.
Maybe up to 1700, the Hawaiians that migrated to Hawai’i, got their language from another south area of the pacific. And so on.
98 miles up north west from Oahu, is Kaua’i. No instruments in 1700, and Hawaiians lacked skills or instruments. How did this monarchy form? This is also not clear.
Weird island.