Prince Kūhiō, the Citizen Prince

By Léo Azambuja

Members of the Royal Order of Kamehameha, Kaua‘i Chapter, left to right Chucky Boy Chock, Kimo Perry, Jimmy Viado, Leo Gonzalves and Chadley Schimmelfennig. Painting of Prince Prince Kūhiō by Evelyn Ritter

Just like many of his Hawaiian ancestors, Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole came into this world in a thatched grass hale. Born on March 26, 1871 on Kaua‘i’s South Shore, he was from a lineage of Hawaiian ali‘i many historians consider having more mana, or divine power, than the lineage of Kamehameha, the Great.

“Prince Kūhiō’s ancestry was indeed important, with ties to Kaumuali‘i, Kaeokulani, Kahekili, Kamakahelei and Kapiolani, prominent rulers of Kaua‘i, Ni‘ihau and Maui. His royal lineage was second to none even today,” said Chucky Boy Chock, executive director of the Kaua‘i Museum and a member of the Royal Order of Kamehameha.

Every March, the Royal Order of Kamehameha celebrates the birthday of its most illustrious members on the very place he was born, a fishing village called Kualu, Hoai in the Kōloa District.

Since he was a small child, Prince Kūhiō carried the nickname “Prince Cupid.” But behind those cherubic cheeks, there was a highly educated and skilled Hawaiian royal who would become a true champion of cultural and social rights for his people.

Prince Kūhiō was the great-grandson of King Kaumuali‘i and Kapua‘amoku, who were both offsprings of Kaua‘i Queen Kamakahelei. In Old Hawai‘i, it was common for royal siblings to get married in order to keep their lineage pure. Kamakahelei was feared for an ability to pray people to death, and it is believed her fame carried over even after her death, stalling and hindering Kamehameha’s plans to invade Kaua‘i.

Kaumuali‘i’s father, Kaeokulani, was the brother of the fearless Maui King Kahekili, who once controlled all Hawaiian Islands, except for the Big Island. Kahekili and his warriors were known for tattooing half their bodies black and being highly skilled in battle. He and Kamehameha engaged in a bloody naval battle that produce no winners. As a result, Kamehameha never defeated Kahekili, and was only able to control Maui after the feared ali‘i died of old age.

Prince Kūhiō as a young man. Photo courtesy of Hawai‘i State Archives

If Kaumuali‘i’s mana was considered powerful, Prince Kūhiō’s mana was even more powerful. Besides being a direct descendant of Kaumuali‘i from his mother’s side, from his father’s side he was the grandson of Piʻikoi, believed to be Kaumuali‘i’s half-brother. Piʻikoi himself was the grandson of Kamokuiki, King Kalakaua’s grandmother by marriage to Kamawana.

Prince Kūhiō’s mother, Kinoiki Kekaulike II, died when he and his two brothers were still teenagers. Kekaulike’s sister, Queen Kapiolani, took Prince Kūhiō and his brothers, Edward Keliiahonui and David Kawānanakoa, as her hanai children. When Kalakaua became king, he named Prince Kūhiō and his brothers as princes, making them rightful heirs to the throne.

Prince Kūhiō’s lineage put him on the path to one day potentially becoming king of Hawai‘i. And for that, he was well prepared. He studied at St. Alban’s College (now Iolani School) and Punahou School, then San Matthew’s School in California. After graduation, he left for England to study at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.

Upon returning from England in 1891, Prince Kūhiō worked for the Hawaiian Kingdom in the Ministry of the Interior and the Customs Service. That same year, King Kalakaua died, and Liliuokalani became Queen of Hawai‘i. She would reign for less than two years; a coup d’etat led mainly by foreign businessmen and sugar planters overthrew the monarchy and set up the Republic of Hawai‘i on Jan. 17, 1893.

In January of 1895, Prince Kūhiō would participate in a failed attempt to reestablish the monarchy, which landed him treason charges. Found guilty by military commission, he was locked up for almost a year as a political prisoner at the old O‘ahu Prison, which later became Honolulu County Jail. An old story describes that when Queen Kapiolani heard Prince Kūhiō had been arrested, she said, “Anyone who touches a hair of my boy’s head will be cursed.” He was released and pardoned on the same day Queen Liliuokalani was released from house arrest at ‘Iolani Palace. In 1896, a year after being released he got married to Elizabeth Kahanu Kaauwai and somewhat disappeared from public life.

Painting of Prince Kūhiō by Dianne Hartley, in exhibit at Kaua‘i Museum.

However, the clock was only ticking for Prince Kūhiō to rise as one of the most important Hawaiians for his people. To this day, almost a century after his death, his accomplishments in U.S. Congress and elsewhere are still extremely relevant to Native Hawaiians.

After Hawai‘i became a U.S. Territory in 1900, Hawaiians voted for Robert Wilcox — one of Prince Kūhiō’s partners in the failed attempt to reestablish the monarchy — as their delegate to U.S. Congress. Prince Kūhiō and his wife had been traveling the world since 1899, and would only return to Hawai‘i in 1901. Once back home, he joined the Republican party, and defeated Wilcox in the next elections. Prince Kūhiō would go on to win 10 consecutive elections, and served as Hawai‘i’s delegate to Congress from 1903 until his death in 1922.

One of his first achievements in Congress was being able to keep the Hansen’s Disease Settlement in Kalaupapa, Molokai a territorial institution rather than a federal one. He was also able to obtain funding for an experimental hospital in Kalaupapa.

In 1905, Prince Kūhiō attained an amendment to the Organic Act, which allowed county governments in Hawai‘i to be filled by elected officials.

King Kalakaua had conceded the use of Pearl Harbor by the U.S., but not much had been done to develop the area. It was Prince Kūhiō who approached President Theodore Roosevelt and got his support to convince Congress to release millions of dollars for Pearl Harbor’s development as well as other military installations on O‘ahu.

Prince Kūhiō was also instrumental in obtaining $5 million in funding for several projects, including improvements at Nawiliwili, Honolulu, Kahului and Hilo harbors, as well as the Hilo Post Office and Honolulu Federal Building.

A Swiss pocket watch that belonged to Prince Kūhiō, in exhibit at Kaua‘i Museum. Photo by Léo Azambuja

In 1916, the Kilauea Volcanoes National Park was inaugurated, thanks to Prince Kūhiō, who helped to pass a bill allowing the Interior Department to take over the area as a park. This represented the birth of Hawai‘i’s National Park System.

Following the enactment of the 19^th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in 1920, which allowed women on the Mainland to vote, Prince Kūhiō was successful in passing an act that allowed women in Hawai‘i the same right to vote.

Undeniably, Prince Kūhiō’s most important achievement was also his hardest one. In 1921, after years of fighting in Congress, Prince Kūhiō was finally able to pass the Rehabilitation Act, also known as the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. The intent of the act was to provide for economic self-sufficiency of Native Hawaiians through land provision.

While arguing for his cause, Prince Kūhiō described to his colleagues in Washington how Native Hawaiians had lost much of their land. He wanted to repair the great wrong that had been done to his fellow Hawaiians, and reasoned that going back to the land would be the salvation for the dying Hawaiian race.

The act gave Native Hawaiians with at least 50 percent blood quantum (his wish was 1/16^th blood quantum) the right of rehabilitation through a government-sponsored homesteading program.

Prince Kūhiō as a small boy. Photo courtesy of Hawai‘i State Archives

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, established by the act, delivers 99-year leases on homestead lands at $1 per year for Native Hawaiians. Some other benefits include direct loans or loan guarantees for home building or repairs, agricultural developments, technical assistance to farmers and ranchers, and operation of water systems.

Though Prince Kūhiō is well known for his political career, he was also a sports enthusiast in many modalities, most notably in outrigger canoe racing, and a champion of Hawaiian societies.

He reorganized the Royal Order of Kamehameha in 1903 (the original society was founded in 1865 by Kamehameha V). He also founded a now-disbanded society called Chiefs of Hawai‘i, and its last member was Kaua‘i’s Charles Rice. And in Dec. 7, 1918, in the midst of fighting for the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, he founded the Hawaiian Civic Club. The club aimed to put a stop in the decline of the Hawaiian race, to provide educational opportunities to young Hawaiians, and to help in the social welfare of Hawaiians.

Prince Kūhiō died of heart disease at 50 years old on Jan. 7, 1922. About 50,000 attended his funeral, which was the last royal funeral in Hawai‘i and had the largest procession witnessed until then in the Islands. His body was interred in the Royal Mausoleum in Nu‘uanu, O‘ahu, the same resting place of many royals of the Kamehameha and Kalakaua dynasties.

A bronze statue of the prince unveiled June 17, 1928 adorns his birthplace in Kōloa. A plaque at the bottom of the statue reads “Ke Alii Makaainana,” which means “The Citizen Prince.”

Wooden bowls and cups that once belonged to Prince Kūhiō, in exhibit at Kaua‘i Museum. Photo by Léo Azambuja

Prince Kūhiō’s home was next to Waikīkī Beach, in an area called “Pua Leilani,” or “Flower from the Wreath of Heaven.” It is now called Kūhiō Beach Park, and a bronze statue of the prince was placed there, with plaque that reads: “Prince by the grace of God. Statesman by accomplishment. Delegate to Congress by popular choice. Father of the Hawaiian Rehabilitation Act.”

In 1949, the Hawai‘i State Legislature designated March 26 as Prince Kūhiō Day, celebrating his birthday and legacy.

The celebration of Prince Kūhiō will be Saturday, March 21 at his birthplace in Kōloa. The day starts with the procession of the Royal Order of Kamehameha Kaumuali‘i Chapter, Ka‘ahumanu Society, Hale o Nā Aliʻi, Daughters of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian Civic Clubs, state and county government officials, Hawaiian charter schools, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Alu Like and other special guests.

All organizations will present a “hoʻokupu,” either a lei or a plant, as a tribute to the beloved High Chief Kalanianaʻole. Some organizations will offer an “oli,” or chant, sing or do a hula. This celebration is free and for all to attend, the procession starts at 9:30 a.m., but everyone gathers at 9 a.m. to get a seat. You may come early to secure a seat, or bring your own chair or mat.