For Kānaka ʻOiwi, our Aliʻi are so important. They symbolize us as a people, and the generations who forged the path on which we walk.
As Native Hawaiians, our kingdom was stolen, our lands reallocated under colonialist laws, blood quantum requirements were enacted by the American Congress to try and assure that we do not survive as a people for many more generations. Because of land mismanagement and invasive species introduction, many scientists have called us the endangered species capital of the world.
To add insult to injury, people can’t even let us keep the images of our beloved Queen who strove to do so much for her people. Emalani sold her personal jewels and hit up her friends to do the same to build the Queen’s Hospital so that Hawaiians could have proper health care.
And people can’t even let us have her image without appropriating it and giving it to someone else! Honestly, it is hurtful on a personal AND A CULTURAL level.
Below is one of the images often misrepresented as Mary Ellen Pleasant (August 19, 1814 – January 11, 1904), a Black entrepreneur who lived many years in San Francisco. It does a disservice to BOTH women to steal Emalani’s image and use it for Mrs. Pleasant. Mrs. Pleasant does not need to be represented by a Hawaiian. And Queen Emma is OUR beloved Emalani, not a San Francisco businesswoman. Please respect BOTH women and stop using Emalani’s image to represent Mrs. Pleasant, and please speak up when you see others do so.
One of the images claimed to be Mary Ellen Pleasant. It is heavily documented as being an image of Dowager Queen Emma of Hawaiʻi.
The below standing portrait was made based on a photograph taken after August of 1862. We know this because the original photo has the christening cup of her son, Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Leiopapa a Kamehameha. The cup was a gift from Queen Victoria. Tragically, the little prince died on August 27, shortly before the cup arrived. I expect it was a mourning photo and that there is symbolism to the flowers.
The photo may even be after the death of her husband, Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku, whom she lost a little over a year later, November 30, 1863.
For more images of Queen Emma which have been misidentified as Mary Ellen Pleasant, visit this web page.
This is a lei for the Holy Sovereigns Two foremost of the world May your sacred heavenly kapu be eternal Your lei is the anguish of the people
The jewels of Heavenly Emma were transformed A hospital was built Life was restored for the flowers of the land By the acumen of the king
Your fame is much discussed Even from the mouths of children And the teachers of this land A love unmatched on these shores
It is right you are transformed The people of distant lands heard About the many good deeds Of your humble souls
And what of us, the people of the land What work for this day Learn steadfastly, harvest the healing herbs Heal the wounds of the land
In honor of the Holy Sovereigns
Though their lives were filled with personal sorrow, the Hawaiian King and Queen strove always to do their best for their people.
This mele is based on He Lei Keia no ʻ Ema, one of the lei songs written for Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻ ea Rooke. I wanted to retain much of the feel of the songwriting of her era, and for those who know the mele, bring it back so that they can see that imagery, as well as my own. Lines were selected from throughout the original mele to act as the haku of this lei, with new verses braided in.
The first verse takes its first line from the original, but is dedicated to both Emma and Alexander ʻ Iolani Liholiho. The verse references the attention that Hawaiʻ i was receiving on the world stage, and the difficulty of retaining sovereignty. The difficulties of the people were taken to heart by the royal couple.
The second verse references the diligence with which ʻ Ema and ʻ Iolani worked to create hospitals and health care for the people of Hawaiʻ i. When the missionary-influenced legislature refused to work to create health care, the Queen sold her personal jewelry, and called on her friends to do the same. The King worked with local business people to fundraise. Through their personal networks, they raised the funds to create what is now the Queen’s Health Care System.
The third verse honors the royal couple as strong proponents of education. At his funeral, some 800 students and teachers processed to the funeral to offer ʻ Iolani their aloha.
The second to the last verse is almost the same as the second to the last in He Lei Kēia no ʻ Ema. Here, I use it to reference the honoring of them in the liturgical calendar of the Anglican and Episcopal communions as the Holy Sovereigns. They are heard of in distant lands, wherever the Anglican and Episcopal calendars are observed.
As the last verse of the original mele called for people to rally to support and vote for ʻ Emalani, to continue her work, the last verse of this mele calls us to rally and carry on their work of education and healing.
Even after the death of their son, little Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehameha and then the November 30, 1863 death of her husband, ʻ Emalani remained dedicated to her people, taking a personal and active interest in healthcare and education.
Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Leiopapa a Kamehameha in his fireman outfit. by H.L. Chase Hawaiʻ i State Archives image
In 1865, on the advice of her physician, ʻ Emalani voyaged from Hawaiʻ i to improve her health and in support of the Anglican church in Hawaiʻ i, which she and her husband had been instrumental in formally establishing in the islands.
She traveled first to England, visited London, and then spent the winter at Hyères in the French Rivera. From there she went to Northern Italy and Southern Germany, and then to Paris. She returned to London in June 1866, and then went sightseeing in Ireland before sailing for New York and then traveling on to San Francisco.
Queen Emma: A Narrative of the Object of Her Mission to England, a pamphlet describing her travel and mission in England, was published in London in December 1865 by Day and Son. American missionary Samuel C. Damon re-published it in his newspaper The Friend in June 1866, pointing out some errors in the work.
ʻ Emalani became an especial friend of Queen Victoria. The two women had much in common. Both were of island kingdoms. Both had lost sons. Both were widowed. They already had exchanged letters for some time and at last them met on September 9, 1865. In November, ʻ Emalani spent a night at Windsor Castle.
Queen Victoria recorded in her journal on the afternoon of September 9, 1865:
After luncheon I received Queen Emma, the widowed Queen of the Sandwich Islands or Hawaii. Met her in the Corridor & nothing could be nicer or more dignified than her manner. She is dark, but not more so than an Indian, with fine features & splendid soft eyes. She was dressed in just the same widow’s weeds as I wear. I took her into the White Drawing room, where I asked to sit down next to me on the sofa. She was moved when I spoke to her of her great misfortune in losing her only child. She was very discreet & would only remain a few minutes. She presented her lady, Mrs. Hoopile whose husband is her Chaplain, both being Hawaiians….
Kanahele 1999
An image of Queen Emma taken during her stay in England. “Dowager Queen Emma”; Taken in England; Ethel Damon Coll.; PC #110-M glass negative 5×7 Queen Emma in San Francisco, 1866, age 30. Portrait taken when she was mourning the deaths of her son and her husband. Judging by her dress, at this time she was in Second Mourning. Despite claims otherwise, this is NOT an image of Mary Ellen Pleasant. Bradley & Rulofson imageThe Queen’s Hospital, 1905 Hawaiʻ i State Archives, Old Hospital; c. 1905; PP-40-9-013
One of the mele, songs, that I love is Kuʻu Pua i Paoakalani, written by Liliʻuokalani. The moʻolelo, story, of it that I was taught is this:
On September 4, 1895, the monarch of Hawaiʻi, Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha, who ruled as Liliʻuokalani, was imprisoned in her own palace. She would be held in a small room there for eight months.
One of her very few companions was Eveline “Kitty” Townsend Wilson, the Queen’s protégé and lady in waiting. Kitty agreed to share her friend and mentor’s imprisonment.
Kitty’s husband was Charles Burnette Wilson, had held various posts in the Kingdom, and struggled to balance loyalty to his sovereign and expediency in the new régime. And so, he must participate in the imprisonment of his Queen.
While imprisoned, Liliʻu was under a news embargo. Her letters were read before being given to her, her windows were painted over, and no newspapers were allowed to be sent her.
Here are the Queen’s own words:
“It was the duty of the guards to search whatever was sent to me before it was delivered into my hands; so the baskets, whether of food, flowers, clothes, or papers, went to them first, and at least at the start were closely examined; yet there were some kindly disposed towards me and not over-critical. Every newspaper, however, had to come through the hands of Mr. Wilson; and if he detected in it anything whatever relating to the government, he would take it away, not permitting me to see it. I used to find great comfort in the bits of newspaper that were wrapped around my bouquets which were brought to me from my own garden at Uluhaimalama.
“These were generally wrapped in the newspapers, foreign and local. . .”
“Flowers from home I unwrapped myself, so as to be sure to save these bits of news which I sought opportunity at intervals to read. There were times when I saw something of such interest that I could not resist the temptation to mention it to my companion, Mrs. Wilson. Then it seems she would faithfully report all that I said to her husband, whose custom it was to call every other day, . . . for the purpose of ascertaining if there was anything required. At such times he would withdraw with his wife to the boudoir, where she would repeat to him what had been said by me. . . By some things she occasionally mentioned, he thought that newspapers had been secretly sent in; but when finally he discovered that they had come as wrapping-paper, it made him very angry, and his poor little wife had to suffer for it, even bursting into tears at his sharp reproaches. For this reason I became quite guarded in what I said to her.”
The person who brought these bouquets to the queen was Johnny, the young son of Kitty and Mr. Wilson. Usually the flowers came from Uluhaimalama, a project the Queen had organized with her friends as something like a community garden. One day, Liliʻu noticed that the bouquet included flowers from her own beloved garden at her home, Paoakalani.
As a gift for Johnny, Liliʻu wrote a song, Kuʻu Pua i Paoakalani, cast in the form of a riddle, asking him to name that special flower among the others.
Well, Hawaiian people love nane and kaona, riddles and layered meanings. And so I was taught that the mele also is a love song for her people – the many beautiful flowers of her islands. The fragrance is the news of her beloved people, and the gentle breeze which brings it is young Johnny.
Liliʻuokalani left legacies in both land and music. Her lands have benefited the Hawaiian people through the Liliuokalani Trust and Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center. Her music has preserved valuable knowledge and poetry of an important era in Hawaiian history. “To compose,” she once said, “was as natural to me as to breathe.” Hui Hānai was organized in 1969 to assist in carrying out the objectives of the Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center and to perpetuate the memory of the Queen and her accomplishments. In 1973, it decided that the most meaningful contribution it could make would be to collect and publish the Queens Song’s, and a Songbook Committee authorized by the Hui Hānai Council compiled The Queen’s Songbook with lyrics, musical scores, and stories of mele written by Liliʻu and of mele associated with her.
