Bernice Hula's Impact On Hawaiian Culture

Many stories about kind, beautiful, loving, and caring princesses are just fairy tales. But, the story of Bernice Pauahi Bishop is no fiction, and it’s better than all the other princess stories combined.

Bernice Pauahi [puh-wuh-hee] Bishop wasn’t just a princess of Hawaiʻi [huh-vai-ee], she was a heroine. She was benevolent, selfless, compassionate, firm in her beliefs, and never stopped finding ways to give back to her community. According to philanthropyroundtable.org, she led the Stranger’s Friend Society, founded to help sick travelers, and the Woman’s Sewing Society, a group that provided clothes to the needy. She used her skills as a contralto singer and pianist to benefit others, too. She performed with the Amateur Musical Society

and gave music lessons at the Royal School. She taught Sunday schools, which showed that she was unafraid to embrace new ways because Christianity was different from traditional Hawaiian beliefs.

The daughter of High Chief Abner Pākī [pah-kee] and High Chiefess Laura Konia [ko-nee-uh] Bernice Pauahi Pākī was born on December 19, 1831. Pauahi was named after her mother’s sister, her aunt Pauahi. Choosing an inoa [ee-no-uh] or name for their child was an extremely important task for Konia and Pākī. Traditionally, Hawaiians believed names had mana [muh-nuh] or power. Selecting an insufficient name could jeopardize the future of their child. However, it appears Bernice Pauahi was correctly named because her name helped her carry out her legacy. Ruth Keʻelikōlani [ke-eh-lee-koh-luh-nee], the daughter of the original Pauahi, would leave lands to Bernice Pauahi that would make up most of her estate, which would ultimately become Pauahi's legacy.
Pauahi was born into a family of noble rank, giving her the title of princess. Her great-grandfather was King Kamehameha I, who united the Hawaiian Islands in 1810. She was the last direct descendant of King Kamehameha I.
When Pauahi was about a week old, she was adopted by her hānai [huh-nai] or adoptive mother Prime Minister Kahoʻanokū Kīnaʻu [kuh-ho-uh-no-ku kee-nuh-oo], who was Konia’s aunt.
Konia and Pākī, like any parent, did not want to give up their hiapo [hee-aw-poh] or first-born child, but it was custom to do so.
Pauahi was born in a tempestuous year. The year 1831 was often referred to by Hawaiians as “Ka Makahiki o kapilikia nui” [kuh maw-kuh-hee-kee oh kuh-pee-lee-kee-uh] which means “The Year of Heavy Trouble”. In that year, there was certainly no shortage of troubles.
A civil war almost occurred against the ruler Kaʻahumanu [kuh-uh-hoo-muh-noo] after she enforced strict new kapu [kuh-poo] or laws controlling drinking, gambling, dancing, and the Sabbath.
The collapse of the sandalwood trade left the chiefs in great debt.
Lastly, hundreds of Hawaiians continued to die from foreign diseases.
Hundreds of Hawaiians dying from foreign diseases hadn’t just occurred recently. It had been happening for generations since Hawaiʻi came into contact with foreigners for the first time in 1778. In fact, from 1778 to 1780, one in seventeen Hawaiians died from diseases like chickenpox, measles, polio, the flu, and tuberculosis. The Hawaiians were so susceptible to foreign diseases because they had never been exposed to them before, so they lacked an immunity to the diseases.
Like the Hawaiian population, Hawaiian culture also declined.

A year before, in 1830, Kaʻahumanu forbade dancing hula in public because Kaʻahumanu felt it wasn’t Christian. Hula is very significant in Hawaiian culture because the Hawaiians didn’t have a written language, so one way they expressed themselves besides language was through hula.

Growing up, Pauahi would’ve seen all this, which affected her perspective and legacy. According to pewresearch.org, By 1840, the Hawaiian population had decreased by 84% since first contact with foreigners.

In 1840, Pauahi had been attending the Chiefs’ Children’s School (later renamed the Royal School) for one year. The school was operated by Mr. and Mrs. Cooke, two missionaries from the United States. The previous year, in 1839, Kīnaʻu had died of mumps, and the year before that, in 1838, Pauahi began living with her birth parents, because Kīnaʻu gave birth to her own daughter. Pauahi’s parents were overjoyed because they had never really got over giving up their

daughter.
In 1848, a new system of land ownership was introduced in Hawaiʻi. The introduction of the new land system is known as “The Great Māhele” [muh-heh-lay]. Before, ownership of ʻāina [ai-nuh] or land was an unknown concept to Hawaiians. They believed ʻāina was sacred and no one owned it. Most Hawaiians did not know the importance of claiming land. Claiming land was also a difficult process. The book Hawaii’s Royal History stated that it first required enough money to survey the land being claimed. Then, it required two witnesses to confirm the person claiming land had worked the land. In the end, titles for most of the land went to either higher classes or aliʻi [uh-lee-ee], or nobles. Only one percent of all of Hawaiʻi was claimed by the Hawaiian people.
This is very important because Hawaiians value ʻāina.

The moʻolelo [mo-oh-le-lo] or story of Hāloa [haw-loh-uh] teaches about the importance of ʻāina. The story of Hāloa began when a stillborn baby named Hāloa was born. Hāloa’s body was buried, and from it grew first kalo [kah-lo] or taro plant, a Hawaiian food staple which foods like poi is made from. Eventually, Hāloa’s younger brother was born. He was the first man ever and was named Hāloa after his older brother. This moʻolelo shows the importance of ʻāina to Hawaiians. Hāloa who grew into the first kalo plant represents ʻāina and all its resources. ʻĀina is the older brother of the kānaka [kuh-nuh-kuh] or people because he cares for them by providing nourishment. In return, the kānaka, younger brother, takes care of the ʻāina by not being wasteful or harmful to the ʻāina. To the Hawaiians, losing land was like losing an older brother. Because of The Great Māhele, 99 percent of Hawaiʻi’s ʻāina belonged to nobles and foreigners. This is another example of how the Hawaiians were losing their

culture.