Queen Regent Ka'ahumanu: Spiritual and Educational Visionary

PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW SUMMER 2024, 2024

“Purea defied the chiefs, ‘Aimata the French, Ka‘ahumanu the gods, and Lili‘uokalani the haole” (p. 104) This robust book examines political power and movements to animate change by wahine/vahine in Tahiti and Hawai‘i during the nineteenth century. The examinations underscore attempts to erode political power and imperialist encroachment by European and Amer- ican colonists over the course of a century while the melodious defiance of Purea, ‘Aimata, Ka‘ahumanu, and Lili‘uokalani tune to the rhythms of the land.

Unconquered States: Non-European Powers in the Imperial Age, 2024

From an archaic state to a British protectorate to a sovereign and independent state, the Hawaiian Kingdom’s evolution of governance during the imperial age is unparalleled in the world. While being the first country of Oceania to become a member of the international community of states since the nineteenth century, the Hawaiian Kingdom was not able to escape the tentacles of empire, but it was able to engage foreign aggression on its own terms and ultimately survive. This chapter covers the Hawaiian Kingdom from the death of Captain James Cook, the rise of the warrior king Kamehameha I—progenitor of the kingdom, government reform, independence, the overthrow of its government by United States forces, and its continued existence as a state under international law.

Hawaiian, Marquesan, Tongan, and other prophetic women and priestesses

Abstract: Archaeology of traditional religious sites in Polynesia tends to focus on the “pre-contact” era, before religions were transformed by European influence. An historical archaeology of traditional religious sites is essential, however, for understanding the relationship between 21st-century traditional or indigenous religious beliefs and practices, and the transformations wrought during the colonial era. Traditional religion certainly did not disappear with the arrival of Christian missionaries, but there would have been some transformations. Using case studies from the Hawaiian Islands (Puhina o Lono or “Cook’s Heiau” on Hawai‘i Island and the leprosarium at Kalaupapa, Moloka‘i Island), we explore some of the ways that sacred sites were transformed in the 18th and 19th centuries. These are initial observations and we offer a number of recommendations for future research, particularly relating to the interpretation of architectural modifications and ritual offerings. The largely unexplored colonial archaeology of traditional religious sites merits a more prominent place in Polynesian archaeology. Keywords: Religious sites, historical archaeology, Hawai‘i, heiau, Captain Cook

The Journal of Bahá'í Studies, 2006

History of Education Quarterly, 2014

On August 27, 1862, the much-loved crown prince and heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai'i died tragically and inexplicably at the tender age of four. Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa, the beloved child of a long line of chiefs, was the only son of Alexander Liholiho (Kamehameha IV) and Emma Na'ea (Queen Emma). He was believed to be the last child to be born to a reigning Hawaiian monarch and the last hope of the Kamehameha Dynasty. Adored by the Hawaiian public, his birth was celebrated for days throughout the islands. Likewise, his untimely death was mourned for years to come as it left his parents heartbroken and the Hawaiian nation without a constitutionally recognized heir. One of the Hawaiian newspapers is quoted as saying, “The death of no other person could have been so severe a blow to the King and his people.” The following year, the King himself died of grief and despair.

The study of the mythical status today of the first Polynesian king of Hawai'i, Kamehameha the Great (1736-1819) allows for a powerful comparative analysis of the mythical figure of the Carolingian Emperor Charlemagne and his large influence on western politics and culture.

1996

This article has grown out of an attempt to reevaluate the history of Russian Fort Elisabeth State Historical Park in Waimea, Kaua'i. The construction of the fort occurred in 1816 following an agreement between Kaumuali'i, paramount chief of Kaua'i, and Dr. Georg Anton Schaffer, a representative of the Russian-American Company (RAC). The agreement involved establishing the sovereignty of Kaua'i and Ni'ihau, independently of Kamehameha, as well as plans to conquer other islands. The history of the fort's construction has been explored primarily through Russian-American Company documents published under the title Russia's Hawaiian Adventure. 1 A premise in this account is that the arrival of the Russian-American Company prompted Kaumuali'i to renege on an agreement he had made with Kamehameha in 1810. This premise has been generally accepted by Hawaiian historians. In Edward Joesting's Kaua'i: The Separate Kingdom, the construction of the fort is presented in a chapter titled "An Interesting Diversion," suggesting that the event was atypical of Kaua'i's political history. 2 This premise is also supported by a statement attributed to Kamehameha in 1817 by a Russian naval officer, Otto Von Kotzebue: But what was the consequence of my hospitality? Even before he [Schaffer] left Owhyee, he repaid my kindness with ingratitude, which I bore patiently. Upon this, according to his own desire, he travelled from one island to another; and, at last, settled in the fruitful island of

Current Anthropology, 1994

Changes in temple labor investment and sacrificial offerings indicate that the rise in religious authority of the Hawaiian chiefly hierarchy correlates with an increase in political centralization and the intensifying role of the chief as divine intermediary through time. Initially, temples were small public courts akin to traditional Polynesian shrines used to reaffirm genealogical ties. During a period of internecine warfare and political instability and conflict in the 15th century A.D., temples became extremely large, a practical symbol of the burgeoning power of elites as they used ritual labor obligations to reaffirm chiefly genealogical relationships and enhance class cooperation. After island unification in the 16th century, chiefly religious activity shifted to sacrificial ceremonies and the consumption of surplus goods and food-stuffs as a result of status competition. By the time of European contact in the 19th century, divinely sanctified rituals associated with war and levying taxes were instituted to enhance the status and power of the paramount chief through personal displays of material wealth. The Hawaiian case appears to follow a common trajectory among complex societies, where religious authority is increasingly expressed through the political economy, and serves as a contextual model of a complex chiefdom undergoing rapid political stratification.

Journal Of Sport History, 2004