Lili Uokalani's Autobiography Analysis

The first text examined for this study is Lili’uokalani’s autobiography, The End of Hawaii’s Independence: An Autobiographical History by Hawaii’s Last Monarch, which was originally published in 1898, nineteen years before her death in 1917. Utilizing an autobiography has many advantages; the reader gets a first person account of the various events that happened in the subject’s life as well as an account of the subject themselves. Through her autobiography, Lili’uokalani describes her childhood, her marriage, her regencies, her reign, her travels, her music, her imprisonment, and her life after the fall of the monarchy. She also describes the reign of monarchs before her, America and England, and the events that occurred to bring about her

usurpation and the ultimate end to the monarchy in Hawai’i. Perhaps one of the greatest strengths of her autobiography is the normalizing of Hawaiian practices in the eyes of non-Hawaiian readers. She discusses the practice of “Hanai,” where another family raises a child after it is born to its biological parents, as if it is nothing, which to her it was; she herself took in a Hanai child later in life. She states in her autobiography that she “knew no other father or mother” than her “foster-parents.”
Through her autobiography, one can also see the blending of the American, European, and Hawaiian cultures as the British struggled to maintain their relationship with Hawaii and Americans settled more in Hawai’i.

Lili’uokalani was a fervent Christian woman (a religion brought over by non-Hawaiian missionaries). She begins her autobiography with a discussion on the end of worship of the fire goddess that occurred when Queen Kapiolani (Lili’uokalani’s great-grandaunt) ruled with her husband, references her Christian background and influence throughout the text, and describes how her Presbyterian friends did not “remember” her while she was imprisoned even after all she had done for the

church.
One of the topics that Lili’uokalani spends a large portion of her text discussing, aside from her own reign and fall, is the reign of her brother, King Kalakaua. Under Kalakaua, Lili’uokalani was named “Heir Apparent,” and served as Regent twice while her brother traveled to world and to the United States on, what she describes as diplomatic missions. Because the King was her brother, she sympathizes his reign, ignores or glosses over his faults. The world trip he took to “promote immigration” was very costly for Hawaii, but Lili’uokalani defends what many describe to be King Kalakaua’s “reckless spending.”
She also paints her brother as solely a victim of the American businessmen that eventually took over, rather than give him any responsibility in the eventual usurpation.

She argues that Kalakaua’s passion for domestic prosperity caused him to be blind to the actions that led his coercion to sign a document in 1887, the Bayonet Constitution, and sign a reciprocity treated with the United States, which essentially turned him into a figurehead and placed a lot of financial and political power into non-Hawaiian hands. The Bayonet Constitution disallowed changes to the Royal Cabinet without legislative approval; whereas prior, the monarch could change his cabinet at his/her leisure; and Lili’uokalani herself states that the reciprocity treaty with the US could have been the “entering wedge for the loss of our (Hawaiian)

independence.”
Lili’uokalani also victimizes herself in the text when it comes to the usurpation of power by the Americans, which appears to be contradicting of the rest of the text. Throughout the text, Lili’uokalani presents herself as a strong, independent, philanthropist woman who built schools, ruled a nation, and challenged her cabinet and won. She claims that she was forced to take the oath of the crown before her brother’s funeral by his cabinet of foreigners, and argues the unfairness of the situation because of the state of her emotions. It is not wrong of her to victimize herself, but goes against the otherwise stoic nature of her autobiography.
Because it is an autobiography, there are obvious biases that are apparent to the reader. While Lili’uokalani describes a multitude of events throughout the text, she chose what to include and what not include, as well as, the manner to which subjects were discussed. Even though it is an autobiography, little is discussed about her personal life in terms of her relationship with her husband and her emotions. She tends to go on tangents about topics that ultimately have little relevance in the history of Hawaii and her life. There is also something to be discussed about her discrepancy when it comes to mentioning names and dates. She cites many influential people and dates throughout her text with an air of confidence, never stating, “around this time,” or anything to that nature. That is, until she discusses the details of her initial imprisonment, where she speaks very vaguely. Because of the vagueness displayed in that portion of the text, one has to question her accuracy when naming the dozens of people and dates involved in her narrative. She notes that her diaries were taken from her and never returned when she was placed under arrest in 1893, so one can assume that she was not utilizing those texts for reference. In addition, because of the personal nature of the text, it is hard to specifically date certain events because she will just state the month and day, or a vague period such as “from the end of 1891 through the beginning of 1892.”
Lili’uokalani’s autobiography is quintessential for understanding the fall of the monarchy of Hawaii. Lili’uokalani introduces the readers to world of Hawaii prior to complete American takeover, and provides a personal narrative in aiding in the understanding of how Hawaii came to be a product of America. The term “product” is used because annexation did not occur immediately after the fall of the monarchy; it occurred in 1898, and while she discusses her protest against annexation, Lili’uokalani never discusses the actual annexation occurring. Hers is the foundational text for which all other scholarship on herself and the fall of the monarchy is based on.