In the mid-1880s, EP Adams was marketing for sale ‘Hānaiakamalama,’ “formerly occupied by WL Green, Esq, as a private residence”.
It was through this land that Kamehameha the Great marched during what would become the Battle of the Nuʻuanu in April 1795.
The house was originally constructed by John George Lewis in 1848. John Young II (Keoni Ana) bought it in 1850 and named the home “Hānaiakamalama” (after a favorite family homestead in Kawaihae.) (Rivera) Queen Emma inherited it from her uncle, John Young II, in 1857.
Queen Emma was born Emma Naʻea in Honolulu on January 2, 1836, the daughter of a British aristocratic woman and a Hawaiian high chief.
A notice in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser (November 11, 1890) noted that the government Water Works department purchased Hānaiakamalama for $8,000.
The water works plan waned and thoughts of a park at the site were considered; there was, reportedly, a proposal to tear down the house and put in a baseball diamond.
Hānaiakamalama was saved from demolition by the Daughters of Hawaiʻi.
In addition to Hānaiakamalama, the Daughters own and maintain Kamehameha III’s birth site at Keauhou Bay, Kona. Through an agreement with the State of Hawaiʻi, the Daughters use and maintain Huliheʻe Palace in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.
Hānaiakamalama is open to the public with docent-guided tours, daily 9:00 am – 4:00 pm; closed major holidays; Admission: Adult Self Guide $8, Adult Docent Guide $10; Child 17 and under $1, Kamaʻāina or Senior (62+) Self Guide $6, Senior Docent Guide $8; reservations required for groups of 20 or more.
The nearly 170-year-old Hānaiakamalama is in need of the public’s help again – and, there is a way you can help.
King Kamehameha selected Missionaries Amos Starr Cooke (1810–1871) and Juliette Montague Cooke (1812-1896) from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to teach the 16-royal children and run the school.
At about this time, leprosy (later known as Hansen’s Disease) was noted in the Islands and it rapidly spread on Oʻahu. In response, the Legislative Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands passed “An Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy” in 1865, which King Kamehameha V approved.
This law provided for setting apart land for an establishment for the isolation and seclusion of leprous persons who were thought capable of spreading the disease.
On June 10, 1865, a suitable location for incurable cases of leprosy came up for discussion. The peninsula on the northern shore of Moloka’i seemed the most suitable spot for a leprosy settlement.
The first shipment of lepers landed at Kalawao (Kalaupapa) January 6, 1866, the beginning of segregation and banishment of lepers to the leper settlement.
About 8,000 people have been exiled at Kalaupapa since 1865. The predominant group of patients were Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian; in addition there were whites, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Filipino and other racial groups that sent to Kalaupapa. The law remained in effect until 1969, when admissions to Kalaupapa ended.
The image shows Peter Young Kāʻeo Kekuaokalani. In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.
Kamehameha III established Hawai‘i’s first constitution, in 1840, where the office of Kuhina Nui was first codified.
The Kuhina Nui’s primary judicial responsibility over “life and death, condemnation and acquittal” became institutionalized in that constitution (1840.) The Kuhina Nui was also given the duty of presiding, with the King, over the Supreme Court.
The following were Hawaiʻi’s Kuhina Nui.
Ka‘ahumanu, the favorite wife of Kamehameha I, created the office of Kuhina Nui. She ruled first with Kamehameha II until his departure for England in 1823 and then as regent for Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III).
Intelligent and shrewd, Ka‘ahumanu instigated the breaking of the ancient kapu system following Kamehameha I’s death in 1819. She converted to Christianity, supported the Protestant missionaries and proclaimed laws based on Christian principles.
Kīna‘u became a Christian in 1830. She succeeded her aunt Ka‘ahumanu upon the latter’s death in 1832. She acted as the Regent for her brother Kauikeaouli when he became King Kamehameha III, from June 5, 1832 to March 15, 1833.
She would rule with him until her death. She was responsible for enforcing Hawaiʻi’s first penal code, proclaimed by the king in 1835.
Kekāuluohi succeeded her half-sister Kīna‘u as Kuhina Nui. Initially, she was considered something of a “place-holder” for Kīna‘u’s infant daughter Victoria Kamāmalu, who would later assume the office.
Kekāuluohi was a co-signer with Kamehameha III of Hawai‘i’s first Constitution in 1840, which provided for an elected representative body, a first step toward the common people gaining political power. The constitution also codified for the first time, the responsibilities and authority of the Kuhina Nui.
As the pressures of international diplomacy and economic development increased on the Hawaiian kingdom, it was necessary to structure the government for better administrative control. As her life came to a close, Kekāuluohi appointed Gerrit P. Judd as Minister of the Interior to administer on her behalf.
Keoni Ana was appointed Kuhina Nui by Kamehameha III because Victoria Kamāmalu, the designated successor of her mother Kīna‘u, was still a minor.
Keoni Ana was a son of John Young, the English sailor who became a trusted adviser to Kamehameha I, and Young’s wife Ka‘ōanā‘eha. Keoni Ana held several government positions, including service in the House of Nobles and Privy Council, as a Supreme Court justice, and as chamberlain of Kamehameha III’s household.
Soon after Keoni Ana became Kuhina Nui in June 1845, the Legislative Assembly passed several acts that organized the executive ministries and departments of the government. This legislation provided that the Kuhina Nui serve dually as Minister of the Interior.
Only 17 years old, Victoria Kamāmalu was appointed Kuhina Nui by her brother Kamehameha IV soon after he ascended the throne in December 1854. As the daughter of Kīna‘u, the second Kuhina Nui, and as the highest ranking female chief of the day, it had long been her destiny to assume the responsibilities of the office.
As Kuhina Nui, Victoria Kamāmalu presided over the King’s Privy Council. Perhaps her most important contribution as Kuhina Nui was to proclaim her brother Lot Kamehameha V the rightful successor to Kamehameha IV when the latter died unexpectedly in 1863.
When Lot Kapuāiwa (Kamehameha V) succeeded his brother Kamehameha IV in 1863, he selected his father, Mataio Kekūanāo‘a to be the Kuhina Nui. Kekūanāo‘a had a long and active career in Hawaiian government affairs.
He accompanied Kamehameha II on his ill-fated journey to England in 1823, served in the House of Nobles and the Privy Council, was a governor of O‘ahu, the King’s chamberlain, and president of the Board of Public Instruction.
His marriage to Kīna‘u, a daughter of Kamehameha I, made him the father of two kings, Kamehameha IV and V.
The image shows the six Kuhina Nui who ruled in Hawaiʻi, Ka‘ahumanu (1819-1832), Kīna‘u (1832-1839), Kekāuluohi (1839-1845), Keoni Ana (1845-1855), Victoria Kamāmalu (1855-1863), Mataio Kekūanāo‘a (1863-1864). In addition, I have posted individual images of each in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.