Kuini Liliha, 1830 to 1831
Kii: Images of old Hawaii-Kuini Liliha 1824
Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii
Samuel M. Kamakau
Kamehamehja Schools Press
Honolulu 1961
CHAPTER XXIII
Kuini Liliha, 1830 to 1831
Ka Nupepa Kuʻokoʻa, july 25- Aug. 22, 1868
pgs. 207-325
https://www.ulukau.org/ulukau-books/?a=d&d=EBOOK-CHIEFS.2.25.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txPT-----------
Before sailing to the New Hebrides Boki had announced to Kinaʻu and Ke-ka-ulu-ohi that Kuini Liliha was to be his successor in the care of the king. All Boki's functions as governor were therefore transferred to Liliha. She took charge of the young king and she ordered all the chiefesses and women of rank who had been wives of the chiefs who accompanied Boki to join her at her Beretania place with their attendants. She treated them with such kindness that she was soon so surrounded by followers that the wind could not even touch Beretania. Liquor had been prohibited prior to Boki's sailing. After a little Liliha allowed it occasionally but barred it from women. She also looked in person after Boki's taro patches in Nuʻuanu.
In March, 1830, Liliha sailed with her chiefesses on the steamer Pu-puka to ʻEwa to look after the loading of the king's sandalwood and stayed at Wahiawa at the house of Ka-piʻi-oho whose wife was Ka-ʻiako-ili. There was much liquor on the boat and Liliha, all her company, and officers of the boat drank so much that they would have been wrecked at Puʻuloa had not the natives of the place come to their aid. The ship went on and stopped at Kalaehopu, and Liliha and her party stayed near the banana, ʻape, and yam plantings along the streams of Kuhia-waho and Kuhia-loko. Meanwhile Ka-ʻahu-manu, Mr. Levi Chamberlain, and other church members had been traveling about Waialua preaching the gospel. On the day when they were expected at ʻEwa Ke-ka-ulu-ohi, Ka-naʻina, Ka-niʻau, Ka-hoʻokiʻekiʻe and others went to Waikele to await their arrival. This was on Thursday, there had been a great storm at ʻEwa and the water was running in muddy, red streams to Puʻuloa. Ke-ka-ulu-ohi sailed to the point of Paʻauʻau where the flood was high and found Liliha there with the wives of Kahe-huna, Puni-haole, and Ka-lua, all drunk. At the cry, "Here comes Ke-ka-ulu-ohi!" the women leaped into the stream and disappeared among the food patches leaving Liliha, who was less overcome by the liquor than the others, to greet the visitor alone. Ke-ka-ulu-ohi gave her a kiss and asked where John ʻIʻi was living. Liliha directed her to his place at Haulani and offered her food, but Ke-ka-ulu-ohi refused it and went on to Waipiʻo, ʻEwa, where ʻIʻi was. Now this story is related to explain why the young king was taken away from Liliha. The next Saturday Liliha and her friends went to Puʻuloa to await Ka-ʻahu-manu's arrival. She was warmly greeted, and Ka-ʻahu-manu returned to Honolulu. Soon after, John Palu came to Liliha with a note from the king asking her to return as he was ill and also because Ka-ʻahu-manu was proposing to take him on a tour of the islands. When the king saw her he said, "Ka-ʻahu-manu wishes to take me away from you because you drink liquor and she is afraid you will lead me into evil. Ke-ka-ulu-ohi caught you all drunk." Liliha wailed aloud and the king joined her. She said, "If Ka-ʻahu-manu asks you to go with her you must go; do not refuse her." "Boki left me in your charge; I do not wish to go with Ka-ʻahu-manu!" And indeed so great was the young king's love for Liliha that he ran away from Ka-ʻu to Kaʻawaloa. It was customary for the chiefs to travel about the islands and honor the citizens by a visit; the king had been ten times about Oahu. But everybody said that the purpose of this trip was to get him away from Liliha. The chiefs ʻAi-kanaka, Na-makeha, Ka-ʻeo, Ka-ʻai-malalo, Ulu-maheihei, Ka-hahana, Haʻalilio, were in the party, and Ka-lau-ʻalu, Ka-iako-ili, Ka-ʻahu-manu and her grandnieces, Ke-ka-ulu-ohi and Ka-iki-oʻewa from Kauai, and many others. Just as the party was setting off Ku-hoʻoheihei-pahu Paki came to Ka-ʻahu-manu and said that he would be unable to accompany her. "Why not? You are one of the king's uncles, and the king is fond of you because you are strong and handsome." "I have taken land." "Where is this land?" "It is the Fort and its lands, Punchbowl and Waikiki." Who gives you this land?" "Liliha." Ka-ʻahu-manu said angrily, "Where are you, my son! You are my lord's chosen child brought up in my house. Ka-ʻahu-manu has been mother and sister to you. I have trusted you, and you are turning traitor."
The purpose of this famous circuit was to encourage the people to learn to read and write, to instruct the land agents to take care of the teachers and use the resources of the chiefs' lands to maintain the teachers, and not to overburden them. Anyone who did not give heed to these words or heed the teachers' instructions was threatened with dismissal as land agent (konohiki).* Ka-ʻahu-manu also pronounced certain laws orally about which she wished to instruct the people: before the word of God became known are to be regarded as legally married.
1. Worshiping of idols such as sticks, stones, sharks, dead bones, ancient gods, and all untrue gods is prohibited. There is one God alone, Jehovah. He is the God to worship.
2. The hula is forbidden, the chant (olioli), the song of pleasure (mele), foul speech, and bathing by women in public places.
3. The planting of ʻawa is prohibited. Neither chiefs nor commoners are to drink ʻawa.
4. The manufacture of liquor is prohibited, such as distilling ti plant and fermenting potatoes, mountain apples, and other such foods.
5. Let us seek after truth and keep the words of God. I am traveling in my old age with my chief (the king) in order to turn you to the word of God, which has come to me in my old age and which I prize. Here is my command to you, to pray to God for your chief. He is our child.
On this expedition Paia-ʻopio son of Paia-ʻai-kuala', the land agent at Halawa, made himself famous for his skill in bringing the party safe across the raging surfs of the sea of Halawa. Lahaina [was] the largest village on Maui or on the entire group and famous as the land of chiefs, "Lahaina of the breadfruit leaves," as the old saying was. At this time [it was] the center of religious and educational interest. [Here] the party met the chiefs and commoners who were members of the church and prominent in church work, men like David Malo, Daniel ʻIʻi, One-ʻo, Kalai-koa, Pikanele, Puaʻa Ka-ʻohana, and the Borabora teacher Tau-ʻa. A blind man named Bartimeus Puaʻa-iki was noted as the first convert of the church at Lahaina. Harriet Nahi-ʻenaʻena and Maria Hoa-pili were active in church work and had many helpers. They were, as the saying is, "Like Ka-ʻu (district) regal in the wind," and "Majestic as the high hills of Wailau"; they snapped like dogs at the faces of wrongdoers and were like the wild beasts when they heard anything evil said of their chief, as the saying is "Only a dog who has a master will bark."
When Ka-ʻahu-manu arrived she told Hoa-pili that she had taken the king away from Liliha because she was afraid of her influence over him because of her indulging in drinking and other worldly pleasures. She described the ʻEwa incident, and suggested that he go to Oahu and teach his daughter to let liquor alone and abandon drunkenness, loose living, and wastefulness. Hoa-pili demurred, saying, "What more could I do than you chiefs have done in taking the king away from her? She is but his caretaker, the chief belongs to you." But Ka-heihei-malie said, "I will go to Oahu to see my daughter Kinaʻu." Hoa-pili said to Ke-ahi-kuni Ke-kau-ʻonohi, "You must accompany her; I fear Ka-heihei-malie will be hard on my daughter." So the two sailed to Honolulu in June on the boat Hoʻoikaika, but they found Liliha living quietly. She had given up drinking and was devoting her time to learning to read and write under Puni-haole and ʻApiʻi as her teachers; and all the chiefesses and attendants who lived with her were their pupils. Kinaʻu and Ke-ku-ananoʻa were following in the footsteps of Ka-ʻahu-manu and had become church members, although in Boki's time they had belonged to his party; Ke-ka-ulu-ohi and Ka-naʻina had been the first to accept the faith. Ke-ka-ulu-ohi went to visit Liliha at the house called Poli-o-keawe on the Beretania place and after the customary wailing she related to Liliha the report of her doings which had reached Maui.* Liliha said, "It is true that my name stinks, and I have been called a wicked woman. I did not lead the king to drink. It was the white people who gave him the liquor; he had many of them about him. But I have indeed done wrong." And to Hoa-pili's wife and others whom she met she admitted her fault and promised to do right.
A few days later a council of chiefs was held at the stone house at Pohukaina where were gathered chiefs, commoners, and foreigners to discuss financial matters. Three chiefesses spoke for the chiefs, Ke-ahi-kuni Ke-kau-ʻonohi, Ka-hoʻano-ku Kinaʻu, Kuini Liliha. Ke-kau-ʻonohi opened with the words which appear so often in newspapers today and which I then heard for the first time— "Hawaii of Keawe, Maui of Kama-lala-walu, Oahu of Kakuhihewa, Kauai of Manokalanipo." She spoke of the goodness of God, of guarding what was good and forsaking what was evil, of not worshiping other gods; Jehovah alone was the one true God. Kinaʻu spoke in the same way. Then Liliha spoke to the people: "Chiefs and people of my chief, hear me. The stink of my name and that of my husband Boki has spread from Hawaii to Kauai. It is said that we do evil and that we have led the young king to do evil, and so he has been taken away from me. But we are not guilty; it is the white people and the naval officers who are guilty; it is they who tempted the king, and the blame has been put upon me. But I admit I have done wrong." At these words both natives and foreigners shed tears. Then Ka-heihei-malie, who had been sitting on the stairway during the council, rose and spoke about the goodness of God and urged the people to listen to the words of Ka-ʻahu-manu and Kau-i-ke-aouli and of Nahi-ʻenaʻena. Then she added, drawing a figure from the communal method of fishing for swordfish, "In the time of Kamehameha the fishermen swam together in a row, and if one got out of line or lagged behind he was struck by the sharp nose of the fish. So those who do not follow God's word and do not obey our king, but fall out of line, they shall be struck by the sharp sword of the law, so do not lag behind lest you be hurt." As these words fell upon the ears of the people, they applied them to Liliha and raised an uproar and talked of war against Ka-ʻahu-manu and the chiefs. When the chiefesses had gone back to Maui, preparations were actually made for the war which was called the Pahikaua, and it was rumored that no one but the king was to be allowed to enter the harbor of Kou (Honolulu).
The Lord had blessed the land during those years. Fish were so plentiful, especially at Waialua and Waiʻanae, that pigs and dogs feasted on those that rotted. On Hawaii and Kauai there was the same abundance. The fish caught were the ʻuwiʻuwi', aʻuaʻu, ʻopelu, akule, ʻalalaua', kala, weleʻa, kalaliilii (also called pahikaua), heʻe kukuliʻi (called kukuma in honor of Manuia who died at Rutuma). At Molokai, kawakawa, aku, and ʻahi were simply washed up on the beach, and flying fish came in huge schools. At Wailua the kahala fishing grounds were so rich a man could catch as many as twenty to forty fish at one haul. Perhaps this blessing upon the land was in compensation for the difficulties into which the government was falling and the extinction of the old families of chiefs and commoners which occurred at this time.
Those who stirred up the Pahikaua war were a bald headed man named ʻAuʻa and a tall man named Haia', and these jeered at Hoa-pili's wife's words as follows, finding them double-edged:
O Pahulu ke ʻkua hapai ʻokoʻa e a Pahulu was the ghost who could
carry away a man's body,
O Ka-ulu-laʻau i ka moku puakala Ka-ulu-laʻau was the man who hid
e a among the thistles.*
There were other loud-voiced, sharp-tongued men; Ke-aniani, son of Ka-nopa, Kalai-mamahu, father of a line of chiefs and a war commander, Hua, and Ka-ʻeo, husband of Ka-nau-kapu (who died lately at Paukaʻa, Hilo). They plotted to disembowel Ka-ʻahu-manu and cut off her head. The chiefs in whose behalf the war was started were Kuini Liliha and Ku-hoʻoheihei-pahu Paki. Many of the lesser chiefs helped on the war. They went to the house where Boki's guns were stored at Kuaiwi in Waiʻanae in charge of Ka-ʻapu-iki and at Waialua in charge of Noho-nihi. The men at Waiʻanae, ʻEwa, and the Koʻolaus gathered at Kula-uka's place at Leleo [Webb Lane, Honolulu]. At first everything was done secretly, soldiers gathering in crowds at night at the fort where guns and ammunition were distributed, but later activities were carried on openly. Even the foreigners joined in the preparations. Kinaʻu and her household were much troubled. She was pregnant with the future Kamehameha V. The church people and some of the missionaries, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Judd, and Mr. Chamberlain, acted as her guards; Mr. Bing-ham had accompanied Ka-ʻahu-manu to Maui. I often met Ke-ku-anaoʻa during those days going on a crooked-mouthed horse to the fort. Sometimes he was admitted, at other times the gate was closed, and on one occasion there was a plan to shoot him for breaking open the gate.*
Rumors of war spread throughout the group. Ka-ʻahu-manu was marooned at Lahaina; Kinaʻu lived in fear of death. Ka-iki-o-ʻewa and some of the other chiefs proposed going to Oahu, but Na-ihe and Kua-kini said, "You cannot get to Oahu; they will shoot you down as the British did. And it is not their fault. We sent you to Oahu to speak the word of God and persuade the people to turn to right living, but you condemned and insulted them and hurt their feelings." The council of chiefs finally agreed to send Ulu-maheihei to Oahu since there was some chance of his being spared. Should he be killed they would all retire to Hawaii. He was accompanied by Pikanele, Ka-ʻohana, Ka-pahu-wai, Ka-hoa-haka, the teacher Tau-ʻa, Keawe-a-mahi, and others. It was early morning when the boat Hoʻoikaika reached Mamala where many boats had been forced to turn back when they tried to enter the harbor because the guns from the fort were turned upon them. Some boats, like the passenger boat of Ka-iki-o-ʻewa and ʻAi-kanaka, had landed passengers at Waikiki. They prayed to God therefore for protection and passed Mamala, approached and passed ʻUla-kua, approached makai of Ku-loloia with mouths of the guns threatening them from the fort, but passed through safely and reached Pakaka. Pikanele said, "We may be killed if we go to the fort." "There is nothing more to fear," said Ulu-maheihei. "They would have killed us already if Liliha had been of their mind. The Lord is protecting is." They entered the fort where more than a thousand rifles were stacked together. Within were Haia', ʻAuʻa, Ke-aniani, Ka-honu, other chiefs, and a part of the soldiers. Liliha and Paki were at once sent for. When Ke-aniani found that Ulu-maheihei was the leader of the party he went to Liliha and said, "Our father must die; if he dies we shall be rich, if he lives we shall be poor in this world." "No, he must not die," said Liliha. "People would say we were heartless to kill the only parent we have left in the world." "This is a crafty plan of the chiefs to send us Ulu-maheihei whom they know we would not harm. It is a pity that we must destitute in this world!" The chiefs held council and Hoa-pili said, "It was your son(the king) who sent me; I would not have come for the chiefs. I put myself in your hands. What is to be my fate?" "There is no death here for you; if it had been anyone else he would have died," said Liliha. Ulu-maheihei went on, "People have been talking about you, and I have been worried. Will you and Paki consent to dismiss the soldiers, call off the war, and let me have the fort, I to be the person to live here?" Liliha and Paki consented, and Ulu-maheihei bade Paki go to Maui and bring the king back to Oahu. Soon after, Ka-ʻahu-manu, the king, and the chiefs of Hawaii and Maui returned to Oahu bringing with them the old soldiers of Kamehameha, the Palena, Luahine, and the rest.
In October, 1830, the chiefs held a council at Pohukaina in regard to the late doings on Oahu known as the Pahikaua. Ulu-maheihei was appointed to be in charge of the fort and the harbor of Honolulu, to which the words of the Kauai chant refer:
Haʻi ka nalu, o Ka-lehua-wehe e The wave of Ka-lehua-wehe
breaks,
Ke hili wale la no It rolls gently in.
Haʻi ka nalu o Kaʻahe'e The wave of Kaʻahe' breaks,
Ke hili la no It too rolls in.
Haʻi ka nalu o Makaiwa The wave of Makaiwa breaks
Kupono i Keweʻai. Just outside of Keweʻai.
The main things decided by the council were:
at Beretania at night when Ulu-maheihei and Kinaʻu came [to protest].
On December 11, 1830, after the lands had been divided by the chiefs, Ka-hoʻano-ku Kinaʻu gave birth at her own house to Lot Kapu-aiwa, who became Kamehameha V.* The mother suffered greatly and became unconscious. She had taken some medicine administered by Dr. Judd, and her menstruation period was long overdue. Ka-oʻo ʻOpu-nui, a Hawaiian medicine kahuna, was sent for, and when she recovered consciousness and was asked whether she would have the foreign or the native doctor she pointed to ʻOpu-nui. Treatment was quickly administered externally and she recovered. She was then given a dose of medicine and asked for and partook of food. The child was given to Hoa-pili to be brought up at Lahaina as his grandchild and as foster child for Harriet Nahi-ʻenaʻena. Kane-maʻai-kou and his wife Maʻele were his attendants, and Ka-lau-kele was his wet nurse.
Upon J. A. Kua-kini's coming into command of the fort in 1831, he had it rebuilt. The old fort was made mostly of adobe and some stones. In 1831 it was rebuilt with coral rock, cut by the people of Koʻolauloa and assembled down at Kukuluaʻeʻo and Kahalepuaʻa, and extended to thirty-six feet in length and sixteen in height. Kua-kini stationed soldiers on guard both inside and outside the fort.
Now that there was peace all over the country Ka-ʻahu-manu was anxious to stamp out all other forms of worship. She ordered foreign houses of prostitution closed, but did not molest the liquor-selling establishment run by the foreigners inside the city or the two outside, one at Pawaʻa owned by a black foreigner, Mr. Allen, the other at Kalia in the coconut grove belonging to Ka-Hanau-maikaʻi owned by the Englishman James C. Lyman.
In this year the High School at Lāhaināluna was founded, with pupils selected from all over the islands. The chiefs sent their own people to this school in order to train them as teachers. They were all eager for education. The educated people were like chiefs in those days because the chiefs treated them as chiefs. They did not depend entirely on the foreigners but made every effort themselves to get an education and were supported in this by the chiefs. Today those who want an education seek help from the Evangelical Association. During this year Kinaʻu and her household lived on Kauai, and the large church at Waimea was built. In this year also, on June 7, came the fourth reinforcement of missionaries. The Rev. D. Baldwin (Balauwina) and his wife were stationed at Waimea, Hawaii, and moved to Lahaina in 1835. The Rev. S. Dibble (Dibela) and his wife were stationed at Hilo, Hawaii, and in 1835 moved to Lāhaināluna, where they remained until Mr. Dibble's death in 1844. The Rev. Rueben Tinker (Tiueka) and his wife were stationed at Wailuku, then at Lahaina, then Honolulu, then Koloa on Kauai, and returned to America about 1838. Mr. Johnstone and his wife, teachers, lived at Kawaiahaʻo until about 1832 and taught in a school for white and part-white children which went by the name of "Mililani." Afterwards he left the mission and worked independently of it until his death.
In this year, too, great excitement was caused by a man from Waiʻanae coming into the city shouting, "Boki is at Waiʻanae! Boki is at Waiʻanae with a warship!" The man was taken before Kuakini until his words could be verified. The people were in an uproar, some frightened, some pleased. People ran from place to place in their joy. The red dust rose in clouds from the plain of Kaiwiʻula as natives and foreigners started out on horseback for Waiʻanae. The church party who had declared Boki a stinking spirit became like a blunted needle. When messengers and horsemen returned reporting all false, the man was given a hundred strokes with a rope's end at the gates of the houses of the city for his lying tale.
On December 19 of this year Haiha' Na-ihe died at Hanamua, at his house at Kaʻawaloa. When the four chief counselors of Kamehameha had died their sons were made counselors in their place. Ka-ʻahu-manu, daughter of Keʻe-au-moku, and Ka-lani-moku were the only others who constituted this council. But Ka-lani-mamahu was permitted to enter it and Ke-liʻi-maikaʻi. These were the leaders in counsel in the later days of Kamehameha and in the time of Liholiho. Koa-hou, the son of Ka-manawa, had died in Punahou, Hilo, in 1826. Ka-lani-moku died February 8, 1827. Now it was Na-ihe's turn. The great chiefs of Hawaii were passing away.*
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