KUKUI‘ULA — Warren Perry of the Royal Order of Kamehameha is the epitome of the spirit of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Piikoi. Perry presided over the annual Prince Kuhio Commemorative Services, Saturday, at the Prince Kuhio Birthplace and Cultural Preserve,
KUKUI‘ULA — Warren Perry of the Royal Order of Kamehameha is the epitome of the spirit of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Piikoi.
Perry presided over the annual Prince Kuhio Commemorative Services, Saturday, at the Prince Kuhio Birthplace and Cultural Preserve, more commonly known as Prince Kuhio Park in Kukui‘ula.
“The house where he was born was right there,” said Kaua‘i state Rep. Roland Sagum, D-16th District, pointing to a spot between the bust of Prince Kuhio and the neighboring Prince Kuhio condominiums.
Friday marked the Kuhio Day holiday in Hawai‘i, established in 1949 and marking the birth of Kuhio, also known as Ke Ali‘i Maka‘ainana, or The Citizen Prince, underscoring his aloha and commitment to his people, indicative of the demeanor and kuleana, or responsibility, of ali‘i from ancient times, states a flier by Manu Boyd of the Royal Hawaiian Center.
Similarly, Perry “broke tradition” in the ceremony rich with protocol, allowing na keiki of Punana Leo preschool to present its ho‘okupu ahead of higher ranking organizations.
In explaining his reason for breaking tradition, Perry said it was easier when the keiki were still attentive instead of trying to round them up when it was their turn.
The breaking of tradition went beyond allowing keiki to go first as Perry pooled all the people, dignitaries, visitors and halau alike, into a common ‘ohana, using his command of the English language to break barriers by “defining” Hawaiian oli as being requests for money and addressing Tom Shigemoto, vice president of A&B Hawai‘i, as the money man, effectively melding the several hundred attendees into a big family, bonded by the mele ho‘okupu offerings and the warm sun.
He also pulled a visiting halau of students from Punahou and Kamehameha Schools to the head of the line to present their ho‘okupu so they would not be late in catching their flight home.
Kuhio was born at Hoai, Kualu in the Koloa District of Kaua‘i in 1871, the youngest of three sons of Kaua‘i High Chief David Kahalepouli Piikoi and Princess Kinoiki Kekaulike, a sister of Queen Kapiolani, states the program flier.
He was the great-grandson of King Kaumualii, the last king of Kaua‘i, and educated at Royal and Punahou schools where he excelled at football and track. It is reported that he was the last ali‘i trained in the higher art of Hawaiian wrestling called lua.
In 1883, the Hawaiian Monarchy was overthrown and Queen Liliuokalani was put under house arrest.
Kuhio joined the revolutionaries, attempting to restore the monarchy, but was arrested, charged with treason and imprisoned for a year before being pardoned after the Queen surrendered rather than have the United States Marines kill her people in a bloody revolution.
Kuhio, following his marriage to Elizabeth Kahanu Kaauwai in 1896, left the Islands, vowing never to return to a Hawai‘i which appeared inhospitable to Hawaiians.
But homesickness drew the prince back to the Islands in 1901 when he was determined to do what he could to save the Hawaiian people.
Elected to Congress in 1902 until his death in 1922, Kuhio was responsible for the creation of county governments with elected officials, among his many accomplishments.
But his greatest contribution to the Hawaiian people was the establishment of the Hawaiian Homes Commissions, a program returning a portion of the Crown Lands confiscated by the U.S. government as homesteads and farm lands for native Hawaiians.
In 1919, Kuhio realized Hawai‘i needed a stronger position in Congress, leading him to introduce the first bill requesting Hawai‘i be admitted to the United States as a full-fledged state. That dream eventually bore fruit when Hawai‘i became the 50th state in 1959.
Among Kuhio’s other achievements at perpetuating and rehabilitating the Hawaiian people and its culture, he was instrumental in forming the first Hawaiian Civic Club in 1918, a movement that now boasts 49 distinct organizations across Hawai‘i and the United States.
He also served as Ali‘i Ai Moku for the Royal Order of Kamehameha I from its re-establishment in 1903 until he passed in 1922.
The Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Chapter No. 3, “Kaumualii” and Na Wahine Hui O Kamehameha own the Prince Kuhio Park when a deed was recorded in the Bureau of Conveyances on Oct. 27, 1924 by which McBryde Sugar Co., through A&B, donated the land for the commemorative park to the Honolulu Chapter of the Royal Order for the exclusive use and benefit of the Kaumualii Chapter.
Shigemoto said another 16 acres will be conveyed to the Royal Order for expansion of the current park.
