Ka'ahumanu
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| Kaʻahumanu | |
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| Queen regent & Kuhina Nui of Hawaiʻi |
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| Birth name | Elizabeth Kaʻahumanu |
| Spouse | Kamehameha |
| Born | March 17, 1768 |
| Died | June 5, 1832 |
| Kaʻahumanu served as Queen Regent of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi during the terms of Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III. | |
Kaʻahumanu, formally Elizabeth Kaʻahumanu, (1768–1832), Queen Regent of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. She was born on 17 March 1768 on the Hawaiian island of Maui to Keʻeaumoku and Namahana. Keʻeaumoku was a royal advisor and friend of Kamehameha I, to whom Kaʻahumanu was arranged to be married at the age of 13. Kamehameha had numerous wives but Kaʻahumanu would become his favorite. She was the one who encouraged her husband's war of unification of Hawaiʻi.
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[edit] Queen Regent
Kaʻahumanu was not only the king's "favorite" wife but also the most powerful, as according to the indigenous Hawaiian religion she was deemed to be the person with possessed of the most "mana" in her time. This "mana" was considered sacred, and to preserve it undiluted, the ancient Hawaiians practiced incest within the royal family. Similarly to the ancient Egyptians, it was not uncommon for brothers and sisters to marry within the royal family. This practice vanished of course with the transition to Christianity and was never practiced at all by the common people.
Upon Kamehameha's death on 5 May 1819, Kaʻahumanu asserted that it was deemed the late king's wish that she share governance over the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi with his 22-year-old son Liholiho, who took the name of Kamehameha II. The parliamentary body agreed and created the post of kuhina nui, or prime minister. Her power base grew and she eventually ruled with the title of Queen Regent during the reigns of both Kamehameha II and Kauikeaouli, who assumed the throne as Kamehameha III.
[edit] Hawaiʻi's first womens rights advocate
Kaʻahumanu was ahead of her time and championed the rights of native Hawaiian women. She conspired with Keopuolani, Queen Regent under Kamehameha II, to eat at the same table with the young king, breaking a major kapu and changing the rules of Hawaiian society.
[edit] Kaumualiʻi of Kauaʻi
When her husband died, Kaʻahumanu feared the island of Kauaʻi, because it was never conquered forcibly by Kamehameha, would end its relationship with the united kingdom. On October 9, 1821, Kaʻahumanu kidnapped the governor of Kauaʻi, Kaumualiʻi, and married him by force.
[edit] Embracing Christianity
In April 1824, Kaʻahumanu publicly acknowledged her embrace of Protestant Christianity and encouraged her subjects to be baptized into the faith. That same year, she presented Hawaiʻi with its first codified body of laws modeled after Christian ethics and values. Kaʻahumanu was baptised on December 5, 1825 at the site where Kawaiahaʻo Church stands today.
Missionaries persuaded Kaʻahumanu that the Roman Catholic Church, which had established the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, should be abolished from the island nation. On July 7, 1827, she ordered the first Catholic missionaries to leave. In 1830, Kaʻahumanu signed legislation that forbade Catholic teachings and threatened to deport whoever broke the law.
[edit] Establishing American relations
Kaʻahumanu, the king, negotiated the first treaty between the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the United States administration of President John Quincy Adams in 1826. The treaty assumed responsibility on behalf of native Hawaiians with debts to American traders and paid the bill with $150,000 worth of sandalwood. The same document was also a free trade treaty, ensuring Americans had the right to enter all ports of Hawaiʻi to do business. Americans were also afforded the right to sue in Hawaiian courts and be protected by Hawaiian laws.
[edit] End of reign
In 1827, Kaʻahumanu fell ill and her health steadily declined. She died on June 5, 1832. In her honor, missionaries printed a copy of the New Testament in the Hawaiian language. Her funeral was held at Kawaiahaʻo Church, which she commissioned as the Westminster Abbey of Hawaiʻi. Services were presided by Hiram Bingham. She was laid to rest on ʻIolani Palace grounds but was later moved to the Royal Mausoleum.
[edit] Further reading
- Rosemary I. Patterson, Kuhina Nui: A Novel Based on the Life of Kaʻahumanu, the Queen Regent of Hawaiʻi (1819-1832)], Pine Island Press, 1998, ISBN 1880836211
- Jane L. Silverman, Kaʻahumanu: Molder of Change, Friends of the Judiciary History Center of Hawaiʻi, 1995, ISBN 0961923407
