Queen Lili'uokalani

Born: September 2, 1883

Died: November 11, 1917

Reigned: January 20, 1891 - January 17, 1892

Why she rocks our socks:

• Was born Lydia Kamaka’eha
• At 4 she attended the Royal School on Oahu, learning English, music and the arts
• Over her lifetime she composed 150 music pieces about the Hawai’ian islands and culture including the famous Aloha ‘Oe
• At 24 she married a Ha’ole (a Hawai’ian citizen born to American parents). The marriage was described as “unfulfilling by her husband. He died shortly after she became queen.
• In 1874 her brother was elected to be the new king of Hawai’i known as King Kalakuaua. Lili’uokalani served as his regent when he went travelling abroad.
• In 1881 while the king was on a trip there was an outbreak of smallpox on brought in by Chinese workers, killing many Hawai’ians. Lili’uokalani closed the ports, must to the discontent of the rich sugar and pineapple producing Ha’oles. It won her the affection of the rest of the Hawi’ian people
• King Kalakuaua died in 1891 while in San Fransisco. The Hawai’ians only discovered this when his body was returned to them by boat.
• Lili’uokalani was declared Queen on January 20th of that year.
• During her brother’s rule a constitution was written that disenfranchised the native Hawai’ians and was forced upon the country by armed Ha’oles. During her reign Lili’uokalani wrote a new constitution, which enfranchised the native Hawai’ians and signed it into law.
• She was forced to step down in 1893 by a committee of Ha’oles.
• Upon her forced abdication she signed a document that said: ”Now to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do this under protest and impelled by said force yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the Constitutional Sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands. - Queen Lili’uokalani to Sanford B. Dole, Jan 17, 1893.”
• Lili’uokalani appealed to President Cleavland who sent a representative to investigate. It was found that the overthrow was illegal and she was offered her crown back in exchange for clemency for the overthrowers. Initially she declined.
• While she was making up her mind Hawai’i was proclaimed by the United States in 1894
• In 1895 a cache of weapons was “found” in her residence and she was arrested and convicted of alleged knowledge of an attempted revolution
• Originally sentenced to hard labour, it was commuted to confinement in one bedroom in the palace with only one lady-in-waiting and no visitors
• During this time she translated the Kumulipo, the Creation Chant, possibly to prove that native Hawai’ians had a culture long before Captain Cook, as the Ha’oles claimed
• She was released in 1896 but had to remain under house arrest for 5 months
• Then for another 8 months she was forbidden to leave Oahu
• Hawai’i was annexed by the US in 1898
• She died at the age of 79 and left her estate to help orphans, preferably of Hawai’ian decent. This lead to the creation of Queen Lili’uokalani’s Children’s Centre
• In 1993, President Clinton apologized for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai’i.