Government leaders and leaders of top Hawaiian organizations yesterday paid tribute to the ali‘i Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana‘ole Pi‘ikoi for having invested a lifetime in helping Hawaiians improve themselves. Mayor Bryan Baptiste, Kaua‘i County Council chairman Kaipo Asing, Laurie Yoshida,
Government leaders and leaders of top Hawaiian organizations yesterday paid tribute to the ali‘i Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana‘ole Pi‘ikoi for having invested a lifetime in helping Hawaiians improve themselves.
Mayor Bryan Baptiste, Kaua‘i County Council chairman Kaipo Asing, Laurie Yoshida, Gov. Lingle’s representative on Kaua‘i, the Royal Order of Kamehameha, Na Wahine Hui O Kamehameha and other groups remembered Kuhio during the annual ceremony held at the Prince Kuhio Park in Koloa Saturday to mark Kuhio’s birth at the site overlooking Ho‘ai Bay.
Also attending were Alexander & Baldwin executive Tom Shigemoto and Mike Roberts, vice president of Kukui‘Ula Development Co. Hawai‘i. The developer is proposing a 1002-acre residential, commercial and resort project at Kukui‘ula, and will be dedicating 16 acres of the project for an expansion of Kuhio Park.
Letters of recognition came from U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, Gov. Lingle and U.S. House Rep. Ed Case.
Kuhio was largely remembered as the man who advocated in Congress the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920.
The legislation provided homestead and farming land for thousands of Native Hawaiians in the Territory of Hawai‘i, and later in the State of Hawai‘i.
Baptiste said Kuhio’s political achievements and his care for Hawai‘i has inspired him to do the best job he can for Kaua‘i.
“I try to emulate the foresight and vision he had, things that are still lasting and benefiting people of Kaua‘i and Hawaiians,” Baptiste said before the ceremony.
The mayor said Kuhio was remembered as excellent statesmen and warrior, adding that it was “that mix that got things done for the people of Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i.”
So that future generations of Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian children of Kaua‘i can appreciate Kuhio, Baptiste said he would ask Ron Iida, the ali‘i moku, or leader, of the Royal Order of Kamehameha to have children bussed to the yearly event at Kuhio Park.
Audience member James Kimokeo, an 80-year-old resident of Anahola, said he has a homestead lease from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands because of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920.
Kimokeo said he was born in Po‘ipu, and lived in Portland, Ore. for 41 years before moving back to Kaua‘i in 1996.
Today’s generation of Hawaiian leaders should remember Kuhio’s legacy and work together to bring more social and medical services to benefit Hawaiians, Kimokeo said.
“If he was still living, things would be moving forward,” he said.
Healani Trembath of Lihu‘e said Kuhio’s legislation allowed her ancestors to have use of the land in Hawai‘i.
Warren Perry, a leader in the Order of Kamehameha, took pride in noting that business, government and Hawaiian organization leaders came out to pay tribute to “our prince.”
Asing and Baptiste set offerings, or ho‘okupu, in front of a commemorative monument at Kuhio Park erected in Kuhio’s memory.
The event was hosted by the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Chapter 3, “Kaumuali‘i” and the Na Wahine Hui O Kamehameha.
The yearly event has been held at the park because it marks the birthplace of Kuhio in the late 1800s, at the time a fishing village.
Kuhio was born at Ho‘ai, Kualu in the Koloa District of Kaua‘i in 1871, and was the youngest of three sons of Kaua‘i ali‘i David Kahalepouli Pi‘ikoi and Princess Kinoiki Kekaulike.
Kuhio was the second cousin of King David Kalakaua and of his sister, Queen Lili‘uokalani, and was the nephew of Queen Kapiolani. In time, Kuhio was named as an heir to the throne by Lili‘uokalani.
Kuhio also was the grandson of King Kaumuali‘i, the last king of Kaua‘i. He was educated in California, and surfed the waves of Santa Cruz as a teenager, and attended the Royal Agricultural College in England.
Kuhio returned to Hawai‘i shortly before the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.
When Queen Lili’uokalani was deposed, Kuhio joined revolutionaries and tried to restore the monarchy in 1895. He then was arrested and convicted for treason and sentenced to a year in prison.
Kuhio was later pardoned when the queen surrendered her monarchy rather than have U.S. Marines kill her people in a bloody revolution.
In 1896, Kuhio married Elizabeth Kahanu Ka‘auwai, who was the daughter of a Maui chief. Members of the Ka‘auwai family live on Kaua‘i today.
Kuhio’s remains are interred at the royal mausoleum in Nu‘uanu Valley on O‘ahu.
Among the Hawaiian groups or government agencies at gathering were Aha Hui Ka‘ahumanu; Hale O Na Ali‘i; Hawaiian Civic Clubs of Lihu‘e, Hanalei and Kaumuali‘i; state Department of Hawaiian Lands; Alu LIKE Inc., Kauai-chapter; Ho‘ola Lahui Hawaii; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Ka Pa Kui A Holo-Kaua’i; Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center; Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate and Ka Lahui Hawaii.
Also present was Margy Parker, executive director of the Poipu Beach Foundation, which wrote a grant to fund the commemorative event.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
