‘Iolani Palace and its Importance to Hawai’I
Today, ‘Iolani Palace is the only royal palace in the United States and it was the last official residence of the Hawaiian Monarchy after the dethronement of Queen Lili’uokalani by American businessmen. It took three years to complete the palace, 1879-1882. Under the hands of King Kalakaua, he envisioned ‘Iolani Palace to be a modern building to show the rest of the world that the Hawaiian Kingdom was as competitive as any of the other nations in the world. It has been the setting for many celebratory occasions as well as many changes to the Hawaiian Government . ‘Iolani Palace is important to native Hawaiians for it is one of the last remaining treasures of the Hawaiian culture and it is a reminder
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of how close Hawai’i came to having its culture erased. King Kalakaua was concerned about the threats to the Hawaiian sovereignty, so he built the palace to show the world that Hawaiians were proud people, their monarchs were in power, and Hawai’i was independent.
But, predominantly, he wanted to raise the self esteem of his people, who were declining in number (A King’s Noble Vision). ‘Iolani Palace is located in downtown Honolulu. It took three years, three architects, and it cost $360,000 to build.
Nearly ten years after statehood, preservation and restoration of ‘Iolani Palace began. It is an on going project led by the Friends of ‘Iolani Palace, a non profit organization with support from the state legislature and donors, millions of dollars were spent to restore the building and return the palace to its dignity of the Kalakaua dynasty.
Before ‘Iolani Palace was constructed, an earlier palace was built by Kamehameha III on the current site of the palace which was named Hale Ali’i meaning House of the Chiefs.When King Kamehameha V was the ruler, He changed the name of the palace from Hale Ali`i to Iolani Palace (Hawaii History, 3). King Kamehameha V envisioned a grand royal palace fit for a modern kingdom. He started the construction of Alii`iolani Hale, the future home to the Hawaiian monarchy. The palace was built right across of the Iolani Palace today. During that time of modernization, the Hawaiian government needed a new building. Rather than constructing a new government building, Alii`iolani Hale became the new home
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to the Kingdom of Hawaii`s government. When King David Kalakaua became king of Hawai`i, he traveled around the world dreaming of a new palace. He was very inspired by many of the architecture he saw during his tour of the world. By the time he arrived home, King Kalakaua realized that the palace was very old and suffered from severe termite damage. On December 31, 1879 the cornerstone was placed beginning the construction on the new Iolani Palace. The palace took three years to finish the construction in November 1882 costing over $340,000. Through the many years King Kalakaua implemented the newly invented telephone and bulb lights to the palace even before the White House making ‘Iolani Palace one of the most modern head of state buildings in the world. On a trip to San Francisco, King Kalakaua passed away after seventeen years of ruling the kingdom. Since the king and his wife had no children, the rulership of Hawaii would be inherited to King Kalakaua's sister Princess Lydia Liliuokalani. On January 29, 1891 Liliuokalani was made queen to the Kingdom of Hawaii making her the first queen to rule the Kingdom and the first queen rule in the Iolani Palace. During her time in the palace the Queen was put on trial for treason by American conspiracist and rationalist. The Queen was guilty and was overthrown from her kingdom and was imprisoned in a room on the second floor of Iolani Palace for nine months. During her time in imprisonment, the queen composed many compositions some which are still famous till this day like “Aloha O`e” and “Ke Aloha O Ka Haku”. During the overthrow, many of the royal families furniture and treasures were sold at public auctions or even stolen. The palace was stripped of its royal value and was renamed the “Executive Building for the Republic of Hawaii”. Upon annexation, many native Hawaiians protested against the move towards being annexed by the United States so they petitioned against the annexation treaty which was later passed annexing Hawaii to be apart of the United States. The annexation ceremony was held on the palace grounds with the lowering of the Hawaiian flag which flew high above the palace to the U.S. flag. Some celebrated after the ceremony while others wept knowing the once great Kingdom is now nothing but a memory. After her eight months under house arrest, Lili’uokalani went to Washington with documents signed by Hawaiians asking President Cleveland to have their Queen return to power and she thanked him for his earlier actions to help restore the kingdom, but it was now too late for him to do further help. Hawaiians sent a petition to Congress with 29,000 signatures that opposed the annexation. They also sent a petition to the Republic of Hawai’i, asking if the annexation could be put to public vote. However, they were never allowed to vote on this issue. Eventually, the annexationists won, and Grover Cleveland wrote: “I am ashamed of the whole affair” (Pat Pitzer, 87). Although they lost their independence and monarchy, the Queen was still deeply admired and remained invincible by her people, and is still looked upon in that way today...
“the Hawaiian people are still working on seeking justice through legal reparations, a fulfillment of trust commitments, settlement of land claims and the return of lands” (Pat Pitzer, 91). Additionally, they are still working toward the recognition of Hawaiian sovereignty, which is no longer a distant dream, but an attainable goal.
On November 23, 1993, President William J. Clinton signed the “Apology Resolution” to endorse the 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the “Kingdom of Hawai’i on January 17, 1893 with the participation of agents and citizens of the United States”… “and expresses its commitment to acknowledge the ramification of the overthrow… in order to provide a proper foundation for reconciliation between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people.” (Apology
Resolution). In the year of 2008, two of several sovereignty groups locked up the gates of ‘Iolani Palace. The first one which happened in April and the other happened in August of that same year. On April 30, 2008, the first sovereignty group, called the Kingdom of Hawai’i, locked the gates and they, along with state deputy sheriffs, were not allowing anyone to enter the palace grounds. The group does not recognize Hawai’i as a U.S state. The protesters were there not to be aggressive, rather they are there to claim that law enforcements have no right being on the grounds because the “native hawaiians” believe that they are not trespassing on the palace grounds because the palace belongs to the kingdom of Hawai’i. The executive director of ‘Iolani Palace, Kippen de Alba Chu, says that they do respect Hawaiian groups to hold an opinion on the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, but they believe that blocking the access to ‘Iolani Palace is unfortunate to their mission of sharing the palace and its history with the residents, children, and visitors. (Hawaiian Group Takes Over, 20) On August 15, 2008, a group that calls themselves the Kingdom of Hawai’i, Nation, was reportedly intending to have their king sit on the throne. The group said the doors of ‘Iolani Palace has to be open or they are going to break them down. The group also allegedly assaulted an employee of the palace. The group had 15 to 20 guards who did not allow people into the gates as they were locking it. Other sovereignty groups were upset with this. Kippen de Alba Chu, executive director of Friends of ‘Iolani Palace, says that “it’s ridiculous” because they are preserving Hawai’i’s history and culture by not having anything damaged. They have an obligation to the Hawaiians and the nation, to protect and preserve the palace. (Palace Takeover, 18). These two articles mentioned above are important because the Hawaiians see the palace not as a museum but as a royal treasure to the Hawaiian Kingdom. They want the palace to be restored to its original purpose as a building that signifies power to the Hawaiian people. ‘Iolani Palace is one of the most important surviving symbols of Hawai’i. It reminds us that Hawaiians had their own kingdom. Just as it was mentioned earlier, King Kalakaua built the palace to send a message to the world: Hawaiians were proud people, their monarchs were in power, and Hawai’i was independent. Knowing the history about the ‘Iolani Palace and probably the most important historical event that happened there, it gives us, the people of Hawai’i or others outside of Hawai’i, a sense of why it is important, why did it change, how did it change, and it reminds us that it was a close call to losing our culture. It is not only a museum, but it is a sign of respect for their history and all of the struggles it went through. That is why “history should not repeat itself.”
The role of a kahuna in the Hawaiian culture takes on the responsibility of keeping a balance between the people and the nation. In doing so, they apply their field of expertise towards assisting the aliʻi and the makaʻāinana. In ancient Hawai’i, there were many different types of kāhuna that had a skill set that contributed or benefited the community. In this paper I will discuss the different ways a kahuna achieves this type of balance within the lāhui. These kuleana include advising the aliʻi to make pono decisions, guiding the makaʻāinana in their daily lives and practices, and taking care of the spiritual side of the Hawaiian culture and traditional practices of the people.
A small company of thirty-four New England missionaries came to Hawaii between 1820 and 1930, were the first modern immigrants. (Lind p.59) Missionaries were powerful agents of cultural destruction, coming to Hawaii to settle and teach their ways and beliefs. Bloodthirsty priests and despotic chiefs had ruled one reason for missionaries arriving and settling in Hawaii, due to the fact that they believed ancient Hawaiians. (Trask p.14) Bringing along cultural havoc by establishing a western style educational system, which included the first textbook as the Bible. The most critical change was in the use of language as a tool of colonization. Language had once been inseparable from the Hawaiians and their history by communicating their heritage between and among many generations, now came to be used as the very vehicle of alienation from their habits of life.
The Hawaiian culture is known throughout the western world for their extravagant luaus, beautiful islands, and a language that comes nowhere near being pronounceable to anyone but a Hawaiian. Whenever someone wants to “get away” their first thought is to sit on the beach in Hawai’i with a Mai tai in their hand and watch the sun go down. Haunani-Kay Trask is a native Hawaiian educated on the mainland because it was believed to provide a better education. She questioned the stories of her heritage she heard as a child when she began learning of her ancestors in books at school. Confused by which story was correct, she returned to Hawai’i and discovered that the books of the mainland schools had been all wrong and her heritage was correctly told through the language and teachings of her own people. With her use of pathos and connotative language, Trask does a fine job of defending her argument that the western world destroyed her vibrant Hawaiian culture.
The people of Hawaii and other Pacific Island Nation groups have experienced great injustice from their colonial powers and the acts of imperialism. Lands were seized, cultural practices banned, language lost, and people were even forced to move away from their homes for the purpose of bomb testing. The United States and other countries abroad sent out representatives to do their work for them; in return their future actions would be justified in describing the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as savages that need to have wider powers enforced upon them; thus resulting in a tangled web of political mythologies.
In the beginning, Hawaii was unknown to any humans. Polynesians eventually came across its islands, and decided to make it their home. In the early days, each island was ruled by a chief, and many times the islands were in conflict with each other. Centuries like this passed, but then "in 1782, [Queen Lili'uokalani's] cousin Kamehameha set out to conquer and unite the islands". Thirteen years later, in 1795, Kamehameha finally fulfilled his vision of a unified Hawaiian state, and he became king. The nation was then to be ruled by Kamehameha's sons. (Guzzetti 10)
Queen Ka’ahumanu was also his most powerful wife. When the King died on May 5, 1819, he left Ka'ahumanu a share of the governance over the islands. On the morning of Kamehameha I’s death, a few chiefs advised Ka’ahumanu to do away with the kapu system, but she thought it was too soon to act. The kapu system was the ancient Hawaiian set of laws and regulations that forbid many acts. Kapus were strictly enforced, and breaking one often led to immediate death. One of the main causes of the Hawaiians beginning to question the kapu system was seeing the foreigners break the kapus with no consequences. Ka’ahumanu had also secretly broken the kapu multiple times with no consequences. Two weeks following Kameha...
Sonia P. Juvik, James O. Juvik. Atlas of Hawaii. 3rd Edition. Hilo: University of Hawai'i Press, 1998.
The arrival of the missionaries in Hawaii changed the lives of the natives in huge ways that lasted forever. The introduction of western houses and culture had a big influence on Hawaii. The native Hawaiians built their houses out of grass and had very simple villages, but when the missionaries established their settlement they built more sophisticated and sturdy homes out of coral and used western architectural methods to construct buildings. The Hawaiians soon following their lead and the royalty all had western palaces for homes. This also lead to an increase in technology, such as the use of wells and water lines to store fresh water for the towns. They also began to bring in and
While walking down the beach, the white, warm sand mushes between your toes. The sun’s radiant rays beam off your glowing skin. The sound of waves crashing blocks out the external world. There is no other place like the gorgeous tropical islands of Hawaii. The wide range of flowers, cuisine, and wildlife makes it one of the most picturesque places on Earth. It also leads the United States with the highest racial minority rate making it the most diverse state. However, there are numerous hidden dangers of Hawaii, and not all ethnic groups get along causing sharp tensions across the island.
...e" (Trask xix). This incident beautifully illustrates and signifies tourism's impact in American society. Like most Americans, this woman uses a discourse that has been shaped by tourist advertisements and souvenirs. The woman's statement implies that Trask resembles what the tourist industry projects, as if this image created Hawaiian culture. As Trask asserts, Hawaiian culture existed long before tourism and has been exploited by tourism in the form of advertisements and items such as postcards. Along with the violence, endangered environment, and poverty, this exploitation is what the tourist industry does not want to show. However, this is the Hawai'i Haunani-Kay Trask lives in everyday. "This is Hawai'i, once the most fragile and precious of sacred places, now transformed by the American behemoth into a dying land. Only a whispering spirit remains" (Trask 19).
Kualapai, Lydia. "The Queen Writes Back: Lili'uokalani's Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen." Studies in American Indian Literatures. 17.2 (2005): 32-62.
Racism in Hawaii has caused various issues, and one of them is racial tension. It states that “ some say…”[there are]”...racial tensions between the islands white community and native hawaiians” (Hansen, paragraph 3). Well, in history, it was quite difficult for most of the
Jovik, Sonia P. and James O. Jovik. (1997). “History.” Atlas of Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, p.408.
The Treaty of Waitangi is a very important document to New Zealand. It is an agreement that was drawn up by representatives of the British Crown and Maori Hapu and Iwi. It was first signed at the Bay of Islands on February 6th, 1840. There has been a lot of debate over the years about the translation of words between the English and Te Reo Maori versions of the text and the differences in the word meaning over the who languages. In this assignment I am going to cover the rights and responsibilities that the treaty contains and an explanation of the differences in wordings and I am also going to contextualise my understanding of the differences of wording against the Maori Worldview and the Declaration of Independence.