My first post of 2024 is still celebrating women who are not celebrated enough. This post sees us in the Hawaiian Islands. A leader, visionary, and pillar of the community; Queen Lili’uokalani was the last reigning monarch of the unified Hawaiian Kingdom. She spent her entire adult life trying to improve the lives of her people. Her legacy is one of beauty and of heartbreak for she would be forced to abdicate and live under house arrest when the United States illegally seized the Hawaiian Islands. Yet it is one of her many hymns, Aloha ‘Oe that continues to remind us of her unbreakable spirit, her legacy, and her dedication to duty and service.
Queen Lili’uokalani (1838-1917), born Lydia Lili‘u Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamaka‘eha would be hānai (honorarily adopted) into the Kamehameha royal family. She was baptized into the Christian faith at an incredibly early age and was educated at the Royal School which would make her eligible to become one of King Kamehameha III’s heirs. She married John Owen Dominis in 1862 who would later become the Governor of O’ahu. Both Lydia and John Owen would become high ranking Free Masons. When her brother David Kalākaua become King, Lili was announced as his immediate heir, became Princess, adopted her royal name Lili’uokalani, and the Official Envoy for the Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1878, Lili’uokalani would pen one of the most famous songs of the Hawaiian Islands, Aloha ‘Oe. *
Over the course of her life, Queen Lili’uokalani became a prolific author and songwriter. She would help to preserve Hawaiian religious traditions. She would translate a copy of the Kumulipo, the Creation Chant as an act to ensure that the Hawaiian religion, culture, and peoples would not be forgotten.
As Princess, Heir, and Official Envoy, Princess Lili’uokalani would travel the continental United States, gain multiple audiences with Queen Victoria during Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. Another role as heir would see Lili’uokalani function as Regent when her brother King Kalākaua would go on official trips and world tours. While she was Regent in 1881, Lili’uokalani had to deal with a smallpox epidemic. She issued a massive quarantine which helped to keep the infected localized to Honolulu and O’ahu. The quarantine was considered successful as there was only 789 reported cases with 289 fatalities. The quarantine also brought to the Regent’s attention the growing leper colony on Moloka’i. She convinced the governmental board of health to establish lands for a state-run hospital devoted to caring for those with leprosy.
As Princess and occasional Regent, Lili’uokalani became devoted to taking care of her people. She would also become quite the champion to see the success of women. In 1886, she established a bank for women, the Lili’uokalani Savings Bank, and a Money Lending Group dedicated to providing women with funds. Lili’uokalani also understood the value of education. She would establish and personally fund the Lili’uokalani Educational Society which would fund Indigenous Hawaiian girls to attend prestige schools located on the islands.
King Kalakaua unexpectedly died while on a world tour. Nine days after his death, Princess Lili’uokalani became Queen. Her ascension to the throne took place on January 29,1891. She became devoted and keenly focused on making the lives of her people, especially the Indigenous Hawaiians, better. She focused on reform and reconstruction. She was in the process of drafting a new constitution which would give back more power, voice, and agency to the Indigenous Hawaiians. She was determined to institute voting rights to the substantial amounts of disenfranchised groups. **
Queen Lili’uokalani’s popularity, intelligence, and efficient leadership threatened many United States Corporations, US military, and Christian Missionaries which would see an illegal military coup on January 17, 1893. The large amount of support and participation of the military coup was that of American and European lineage.
Queen Lili’uokalani was imprisoned and forced to abdicate her crown under extreme duress. Queen Lili’uokalani did initially try to outsmart the military coup by stating she was temporarily giving over her reign to the United States, not the provisional government. She was hoping that her connections that she made while Official Envoy with the United States President and Congress would see their support of her reign.
The illegal seizure of the Hawaiian Islands would first see a proclamation of the Hawaiian Islands as a protectorate and then later declared as permanent territory of the United States. When official envoys for Queen Lili’uokalani reached President Grover Cleveland, an official investigation was order, The Blount Report found that the lands seized and the overthrown of the reigning monarchy was done illegally, that the military troops and American citizens that were involved were at fault, and that the lands and power needed to be returned to Queen Lili’uokalani and her cabinet. Not only was there massive support out of Washington D.C. but also internationally. Queen Victoria voiced her support of Lili’uokalani and the independence of the Hawaiian Kingdoms. If it was not for the emergence of the Spanish-American War, Queen Lili’uokalani might have been reinstalled as Queen and the independence of the Hawaiian Islands restored. But unfortunately, the United States would formally annex Hawai’i as a territory and would officially make the Hawaiian Islands the 50th State to the Union in 1959. ***
Queen Lili’uokalani would remain for the rest of her life under one form of house arrest or another. One of the only times Queen Lili’uokalani was allowed to leave her residence and the islands was when she would visit Utah and other religious communities. She was known for her enthusiasm towards learning and experiencing all forms of religion. She attended a celebration of the birthday of Buddha which helped to gain validation and support of Buddhist and Shinto Hawaiian communities. Her support was reported in Chinese and Japanese newspapers.
Her memoir released after her death provided the true accounts of how she was forced and under duress which saw her removed from the throne and the United States gaining control. The illegal seizure of power also saw an illegal seizure of Crown Lands. In 1909, Lili’uokalani would start an unsuccessful lawsuit against the United States for the seizure of Crown Lands. On November 11, 1917, Queen Lili’uokalani died at the age of seventy-nine. She was granted a state funeral which was recorded.
But in 1921, her home saw a devasting fire which destroyed not only the filmed footage but the majority of her belongings, Crown documents, and artifacts.
After her death, The Lili’uokalani Trust was formed. Which continues to help to make the lives of the Hawaiian people better. They write:
Lili‘uokalani never faltered in her commitment to the people of Hawai‘i. In her will, she entrusted her estate to provide for orphan children of Hawaiian blood, amended later to include other destitute children. Her legacy is perpetuated today through the Trust that bears her name and the thousands of kamaliʻi and ʻohana whose lives have been transformed by her generosity. E onipaʻa kākou.
Lili’uokalani Trust
* Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and Disney’s Film Lilo and Stitch would all find success in their versions of the song. It is the one of the most known Hawaiian songs still to this day.
**Many of the disenfranchised groups were non-white, non-Christian, and Indigenous groups.
***The attack of Pearl Harbor happened while Hawai’i was still a territory. And there has always been grass roots movements for Hawaiian Sovereignty. The strategic location of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific has made it especially valuable for the United States.
feminismandreligion.com 
Please note: there was never a formal treaty of annexation ratified by the US. The islands were seized by a small force instigated by a group of businessmen.
https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-fa540350934340a0b27fab473f982ab8
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