Category: Hawaiʻi

Liliʻuokalani at Kīlauea

USGS image

No, Liliʻuokalani did not start the custom of tossing gin into Kīlauea. That was Mr. George Lycurgus, some years later. Following is a description of her visit to Kīlauea in 1800, when she was still Princess, extracted from her autobiography, Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen.

Chapter XI
Mauna Loa

IN the year 1880 Miss Helen Aldrich of Berkeley, Cal., made me a visit. She was the daughter of Mr. W. A. Aldrich, a banker, who had married a first cousin of my husband, Elizabeth, the child of Mr. R. W. Holt. Shortly after her arrival we took a trip to the largest of our islands, Hawaii, on which is situated that volcano called with truth one of the greatest natural wonders of the modern world.

I was attended by my retainers, and after a short and pleasant voyage we arrived at the port and chief city, Hilo. As though to illuminate in honor of my visit, on the night preceding our ascent of the mountain a bright glow was seen on the top of Mokuaweoweo. This was the portent which preceded that great flow of lava which soon commenced from Mauna Loa, and took its course down the sides of that mountain towards the city of Hilo. We were thus witnesses from the very beginning of one of the most extensive and long-continued eruptions which has ever been recorded in history, for it was protracted over a period of eleven months.

Early on the morning following we started on horseback on our journey to the crater of Kilauea, where we arrived about five o’clock the same evening. This is not, as some strangers suppose, a mountain by itself, totally distinct from the general volcanic system of Mauna Loa. That word in our language signifies the great long mountain, and the nature of the elevation well deserves the term; for in height, 13,700 feet, it is exceeded by few in the world, while in extent it includes about one-third of our largest island.

The eruptions are not usually from the summit, but generally through fissures in its sides. One of these is the crater lake of Kilauea, a region of perpetual fire, of an activity more or less pronounced, yet never entirely extinct, and situated some twenty miles or so east from the summit, at an elevation of about four thousand feet. It is one of the few, if not the only one, of the volcanoes in the world which can be visited at the periods of its greatest displays without the least danger to the observer; because it is always possible to watch its bubbling fires from a higher point than their source. It is not the lava from the burning lake which makes its way down the mountain, but that from other places where the concealed fires of Mauna Loa burst forth.

There is now a modern hotel at a spot commanding a good view of the points of interest; but at the date of this visit we were received and made very comfortable in a large grass house with thatched roof, under which some forty persons could have been accommodated. Here we were most hospitably received, our tired horses were cared for and sheltered near to our resting-place, and we did ample justice to the evening meal which had been provided for our company.

After our refreshment, darkness quickly succeeded the setting of the sun (there being no long twilight, as in more northern climates); so we spent the evening in watching the fiery glow in the crater, the brilliance of which seemed to be spreading along the level floor of the pit. From a flooring of light and heat the surface changed at times to billows of actual fire; then jets burst up or fountains played high in air, standing by themselves a moment like burning columns; then steam intervened to stifle the flames. Mist following this, the crater was for a while hidden from our sight, and nature’s gorgeous fireworks suspended.

At one of these intervals we retired for the night; but at two o’clock we were all awakened by our host to see an exhibition such as has seldom been furnished for the inspection of any of the many tourists who visit that region. This was a most brilliant illumination at the summit of Mauna Loa itself; and far from lessening, its manifestation seemed to render more vivid, the fires of the crater of Kilauea. The mists had cleared away in that direction, and we thus had the good fortune to watch on one and the same occasion the outbursts of light at the summit and the jets of dancing flame in the sides. It was a night never to be forgotten by any of our party, and well worth the time and labor of the journey, were there no more to be enjoyed. That which was nearest to us, the rising, boiling sheet of liquid fire, seemed to show no abatement by reason of the vent at the mountain-top, but in its agitations disclosed each moment sights more and more wonderful to our gaze.

The next day was spent by our party in descending the crater to the very limits of its seething fires, but I remained at the hotel. They were all provided with some offerings to Pele, the ancient goddess of fire, reverenced by the Hawaiian people. This custom is almost universal, even to the present day. Those born in foreign lands, tourists who scarcely know our ancient history, generally take with them to the brink of the lake some coin or other trinket which, for good luck, as the saying is, they cast into the lava. Our people, the native Hawaiians, have no money to throw away on such souvenirs of the past; but they carry wreaths of the pandanus flower, leis, made like those seen aboard the steamers at the departure of friends, necklaces, and garlands of nature’s ornaments, which are tossed by them into the angry waves of the basin.

As I have mentioned this incident, my thoughts have gone back to that paragraph wherein I wrote of the overthrow of the superstitious fears of the fire-goddess through the brave acts of my aunt, Queen Kapiolani, when she defied the power of the elements at this very spot.

So, to prevent misunderstanding now, perhaps it would be well to notice that this propitiation of the volcano’s wrath is now but a harmless sport, not by any means an act of worship, very much like the custom of hurling old shoes at the bride’s carriage, or sending off the newly wedded couple with showers of rice; usages which form a pleasant diversion in the most highly cultivated and educated communities.

After a day spent in watching the activity of the crater, the party returned to our hotel, weary, hungry, and ready to enjoy the refreshment and repose of which they were in need. One night more was spent at the volcano house of the olden time, and then we all started on our ride down the mountain for the city of Hilo.

The display had not diminished in extent nor in its strange, wild beauty. The lake in the crater was still boiling, and over Mokuaweoweo the location of the opening was easily distinguished by the brilliant glow of light. But turning our backs on these natural wonders, nature was perhaps more lovely in the charms by which she lined our pathway towards the sea; for this road is justly considered to be one of the most beautiful exhibitions of the scenery of the tropics in Hawaii, and our cavalcade passed between lines of verdure or flowers enchanting to the eye and fragrant to the sense; there were the bright blossoms of the lehua, both yellow and red varieties, and other plants or trees shading and pleasing each of us as we advanced. Although we did not arrive at our destination until about five that afternoon, and were quite fatigued with our long ride, yet it had been an excursion of great enjoyment, and I am sure no one of the company was other than satisfied with it.

The great increase in the lava flow which subsequently took place had not at this time threatened the peace of the city; so our return to our friends was made the signal for a round of social pleasures. A grand entertainment in honor of the visit of the heir to the throne was given by Mr. and Mrs. Luther Severance; and it afforded me much satisfaction to show to my California cousin some examples of the generous style of the hospitality of those days, in which those of foreign or of native birth vied with each other in a friendly rivalry of good things.

Judge F. S. Lyman was then lieutenant-governor of the island, and with his amiable wife showed us all the attention in his power; then there were Judge Akao and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Governor Kipi and their agreeable family. The family of Mr. D. H. Hitchcock, especially his wife and daughters, were also most kind and attentive to me and those who accompanied me.

If, in these reminiscences, I should fail to name those who have made such occasions pleasant, it must be accepted simply as an unintentional omission, the names I have given being but examples of that universal kindness received by me from all. Just as we were leaving our kind entertainers, Sir Thomas Hesketh arrived in the port on his own yacht for a visit to the island; he was accompanied by Hon. Samuel Parker, whom he had invited to be his guest during this excursion.

The regular steamer of passenger service between Hilo and Honolulu received me and my company for our return to Oahu, where we arrived in safety; and not long after my cousin, Miss Aldrich, took her departure for her home, with, I am sure, some very pleasant memories of the natural beauties and social pleasures of life on the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiʻi’s Story by Hawaiʻi’s Queen

Mother Marianne Cope – “Beloved Mother of Outcasts”

St. Marianne

Mother Marianne Cope in her youth
Mother Marianne Cope in her youth. Image from Wikipedia

“Beloved Mother of Outcasts”

By Leilehua Yuen
copyright 2011

Saint Marianne is beloved in Hawai`i for spending the last 30 years of her life ministering at Kalawao and Kalaupapa, on the island of Molokai, to those with Hansen’s Disease (leprosy). She died on the island in 1918 at age 80 and was beatified in St. Peter’s Basilica in 2005.

Childhood

Saint Marianne, born Barbara Koob on 23 January 1838, was baptized the following day in a Catholic church in what is now SE Hessen, West Germany. She was the daughter of farmers Barbara and Peter  Koob. In 1839, the family, including Barbara’s siblings, emigrated to the Utica, New York, in the United States, where they became members of St. Joseph’s Parish. In 1848, at age 10, Barbara received her First Holy Communion and was confirmed there. In the 1850s, the Koob family became naturalized citizens of the United States.

In her writings, Mother Marianne described experiencing at an early age the call to a religious life. However, her vocation was delayed nine years because of family obligations. When her father became an invalid, she was oldest child at home, so after completing the eighth grade she went to work in a factory to support the family. It was not until her younger siblings were old enough to provide for themselves that she felt free to enter the convent.

A Calling to the Serve the Sick

At age 24, in the summer of 1862 she was able to embark on her calling. Barbara entered the Sisters of Saint Francis in Syracuse, N.Y. and, on November 19, 1862, she was invested at the Church of the Assumption. She soon became prominently known as Sister Marianne. One year later she was professed as a religious.

Sister Marianne served as a teacher and principal in several beginning schools in New York State. Intending to spend her life devoted to schoolwork, she soon received a series of administrative appointments. As a member of the governing boards of her religious community, she participated during the 1860s in the establishment of two of the first hospitals in the central New York area, St. Elizabeth’s in Utica (1866) and St. Joseph’s in Syracuse (1869).

Far in advance of their time, both of the hospitals she helped found had unique charters. They were open to the sick without distinction as to a person’s nationality, religion, color, or moral character. Unlike other hospitals of the time, even alcoholics – then considered “morally debased” – were allowed to receive treatment. These two Franciscan hospitals were among the first sixty registered hospitals in the entire United States.

In 1870, a new career called her, now Mother Marianne, when she became nurse-administrator at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse. As the first hospital opened to the public in the city of Syracuse, St. Joseph’s owed much of its creation to her, as well as its survival. She became an innovator in its management in order to provide better service to patients.

Sanitation and Patient’s Rights

Mother Marianne also was instrumental in establishing standards of sanitation long before the importance of cleanliness was recognized by the scientific community. She was insistent on advocating practices such as washing one’s hands before ministering to the patients. This insistence would be critical years later when she developed patient care protocols at the hospital for the patients of Kalaupapa and Kalawao in Hawai`i.

When the College of Medicine in Geneva, N.Y. moved to the fledgling Syracuse University to become the College of Physicians and Surgeons, one significant factor in the choice of location was that Mother Marianne had accepted the medical students for clinical instruction at St. Joseph’s. Far ahead of her time in furthering patients’ rights, in her negotiations with the Medical College she insisted that it was the right of the patient in each and every case to decide whether or not he or she wished to be brought before medical students. Mother Marianne also was frequently criticized for accepting “outcast” patients such as alcoholics. Such patients were frowned upon for hospital admittance by the medical profession at the time. Because of her insistence on such reforms, Syracuse became one of the most progressive medical colleges in the United States.

Such innovative and progressive practices were to stand Mother Marianne in good stead when she was asked by the Kingdom of Hawai`i to develop a system for the care of the leprosy patients at Kalaupapa. Her experience in hospital systems, nursing techniques, and pharmacy work would prove invaluable.

A Call to Hawai`i

By 1883, Mother Marianne was Superior General in her religious community in Syracuse. While opening her mail one day, she received a letter asking for a capable leader to begin a system of hospital nursing. When she found out that the main challenge was to minister to leprosy patients, her response was, “I am not afraid of any disease….” Her devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi who cared for the sick poor confirmed her resolve that the call to Hawai`i was God’s Will.

Six sisters were chosen from among the thirty-five volunteers of her community. Mother Marianne accompanied them to the Islands to help them get settled in their assignments.

Arriving in Honolulu on 8 November 1883 aboard the SS MARIPOSA, the bells of Our Lady of Peace Cathedral rang out in greeting and crowds gathered on the wharf to see the sisters.

Much Work to be Done

In 1884, at the request of the government, she set up Malulani Hospital. It was the first general hospital on the island of Maui.

Soon, however, she was called back to the hospital in Oahu to advocate for the leprosy patients at the Branch Hospital in Kaka`ako who were subjected to abuse by the government-appointed administrator. She demanded he be dismissed, or the sisters would return to Syracuse. He was dismissed and Mother Marianne was given full charge of the overcrowded hospital. Her return to Syracuse was delayed when her leadership was declared by government and church authority to be essential to the success of the mission.

The work continued to increase. In November 1885, after she convinced the government it was a vital need to save the homeless female children of leprosy patients, the Kapiolani Home was opened. The unusual choice of location for healthy children to live in a Home situated on leprosy hospital premises was made because only the sisters were willing to care for the children of leprosy patients.

Meeting Father Damien

In January of 1884, Mother Marianne met Father Damien for the first time. He had come to O`ahu, apparently in good health, to attend a chapel dedication at the hospital she was to head.

While leprosy patients had not been sent to Kalaupapa for some time, with the1887 “Bayonet Constitution,” officials decided to close the O`ahu hospital and  leprosy patients were again exiled to the Molokai peninsula. They would need a hospital there. Once again, the government of Hawai`i called on Mother Marianne.

In 1888 she notified the Hawaiian government that, “We will cheerfully accept the work…” she courageously responded upon her reception of an official appeal from government authority asking for someone to found a new home for women and girls at the Kalaupapa settlement. “Our hearts are bleeding to see them shipped off,” she wrote to Damien at Molokai.

She would finally fulfill the calling she had heard all those years ago in Syracuse. Arriving at Kalaupapa several months before Damien’s death, she consoled the dying priest by assuring him she would provide care for the patients at the Boys’ Home at Kalawao, on the opposite end of the settlement from where she was stationed.

Two weeks after Father Damien’s death on 15 April 1889, she was officially chosen at a Board of Health meeting in Honolulu to be his successor at the Boys’ Home.

After dedicating over 30 years of her life to caring for the people of Hawai`i, Mother Marianne died of natural causes on 9 August 1918.

Her compassionate care earned her the affectionate title of “beloved mother of outcasts.”

Her Legacy Continues

The legacy of Mother Marianne continues. In Syracuse and Utica, the Franciscan Sisters continue to run medical centers.

In Hawaii, the sisters are well known for founding St. Francis Hospital in 1927, which developed into two medical centers. Following the transfer of these centers to Hawaii Medical Center, in 2007, the sisters continue to have a wide ranging Health Care System shifting its focus from acute care to meeting the growing needs of Hawaii’s senior population.

At Kalaupapa, Molokai, the sisters maintain the continuity of their comforting presence to the very few Hansen Disease patients living there today. Franciscan sisters work at several schools and minister to parishioners in the islands.

But perhaps her most important legacy is the most simple – cleanliness. Farmers know that sanitation is essential for healthy animals. Through her sharp observations, Mother Marianne deduced that similar standards of cleanliness applied to hospitals could prevent the spread of disease from patient to patient.

In the days before bacteria had been discovered, Mother Marianne insisted that all nurses and physicians wash their hands between patients. She implemented standards of strict cleanliness for clothing and surfaces throughout her hospitals. As she and her sisters worked closely with the leprosy patients day after day, year after year, neither Mother Marianne, nor a single one of her nurses contracted the disease.

Mother Marianne is not only the “Beloved Mother of Outcasts,” but the mother of modern hospital nursing and patient care.

Getting my Hā on

Up at four this morning to practice what I am calling “Hā Walea,” a technique of mindful breathing I am working on.

We have been working so much over the last several years, and not being mindful of our health, that unhealthy habits and practices have grown. Over the past decade I have developed type II diabetes, and stage two hypertension.

I sleep under such tension that my dentist tells me I grind my teeth all night. I’ve actually shattered some of my teeth and had to have them pulled!

Over the past year I have managed to get my diabetes under control through exercise and dietary changes.

The blood pressure (averaging around145/103) has not come down so easily. It has taken adding a third component to get my BP down.

I’ve tried many techniques, but none really worked for my lifestyle. But one early morning I could hear Aunty Nona’s voice, “Dahling! Remember your basics! when you have difficulty, always go back to your basics! Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.”

So, I began working on my hā, breathing the way she taught us for hula. So simple! Why did I ever mislay that?

I still let myself stress, but I am getting better.

This am, I awoke with a BP of 136/88, which is just below stage 1 hypertension. After a 20 minute session of Hā Walea my BP is now 119/78, right at the top of normal. No medications.

If you would like to join me in this journey to hula back to health (Or as one friend calls it “Leilehua’s Ol Fut Remedial Hula”) I would be honored.

Participating in Hā Walea and warmups is free.
Gather 11:00 am Mondays in the lobby of the Naniloa. This class is on hold until after the Christmas holidays. It will resume 9 January, 2017.

Mahalo to the Mountains

When I read this thoughtful post by Kumu Paul Neves, I was so touched that I asked him if I could share it here. He graciously said that I might. Mahalo no, Kumu Neves, for your heartfelt manaʻo!

Na Kumu Hula Paul Kevin Kealiïkea o Mano Neves

Mahalo Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa for always protecting us. We always seem to pump up the great impending disaster and we forget about the new rain that cleans our streams and refreshes our forests, flows anew to the sea and fills out water tanks. It washes the sorrows of our aina away and gives us so much to look forward to.

And yet does our Chamber of Commerce or business community ever acknowledge that if those mountains were 1,000ft instead of 14,000ft our unique opportunity to do business here on Moku o Keawe let alone live here, probably wouldn’t exist?

I have visited other parts of the world where such acknowledgement and respect are given, celebrated and their mountains or streams or oceans or creatures are given every protection.and respect.

Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa,, Hualalai, Kohala, Haleakala, Ka’ala and Wai’ale’ale are natural resources they do not exist because of human activity. But because of Akua!

Hawai’i needs to take care of these unique creations of nature. They provide a unique place for us to exist on their shoulders..

All the mauna are sacred and they prove their spiritual and unique presence each and every day and especially when a storm heads our way.

Mahalo Ke Akua for our mauna and the fresh rain and fresh start it brings!

Aloha Hawai’i,
Kumu Hula Paul Kevin Kealiïkea o Mano Neves

Esthetic of Hawaiian Art

In some ways, the traditional Hawaiian esthetic reminds one of the Art Nouveau movement. Both Hawaiian and Art Nouveau designers believed that all the arts should work in harmony to create a  Gesamtkunstwerk, a “total work,” in which form, function, line, pattern, color and texture were ideally melded together into a harmonious expression. Traditional Hawaiian culture takes this esthetic a step farther, insisting that the spiritual qualities of the work also be in harmony with its tangible expression.

Items from skirts, to water gourds, to homes, to canoes were conformed to this esthetic before their physical creation, with appropriate prayer and sacrifice made from the first impulse of creation.

For example, the creation of a water gourd began well before the plant was harvested – with the spiritual cleansing and filling of the farmer as he prepared his digging stick to loosen the soil. Each phase, from preparing the ground, to planting the seeds, to guarding the crop, to harvest, to decorating, to final cleansing had to be carefully observed. “What use,” the traditionalist thinks, “to have a beautiful object if it is spiritually unclean?”

And how much more pleasurable to have a beautiful gourd which delights the eye which sees it, and the hand which touches it?

Above is an ipu pāwehe, a modern gourd I cured in the manner of the “tattooed gourds of Kauai.” Every detail to make it a fine water gourd was attended to. Even the shell stopper was selected because the pattern on the shell resembles the pattern I incised and dyed into the rind.