It’s women’s history month! This is the one month out of the year when HERstory is more relevant than HIStory. I’ll be doing my part in honoring the incredible women in history by fighting the patriarchy with increased fervor and by writing this profile on a woman who deserves a turn in the spotlight for her immense strength, ingenuity and wisdom.
The kween I have chosen to write about was exactly that: a Queen. Queen Liliʻuokalani was the first female monarch and last sovereign ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi before The Whites™ snatched it for pineapples. Seriously.
Queen Liliʻuokalani was not only a monarch; she was an author, a poet and a composer of music. She produced upwards of one hundred and sixty songs in her lifetime, including the beloved classic “Aloha’Oe” (which you may remember as the song Nani sings to Lilo in Disney’s 2002 film Lilo and Stitch when Mr. Bubbles says he must take Lilo away). Queen Liliʻuokalani was born as Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha on September 2, 1838 and was adopted into the Hawaiʻian royal lineage. She was given the official title of Princess Liliʻuokalani when her elder brother, King Kalakaua, took the throne. She became King Kalakaua’s heir apparent after the death of her younger brother. She was extremely well-educated and a devout Christian.
Princess Liliʻuokalani laid the foundation for her rule by dedicating her time and efforts into establishing schools for Hawaiʻian children and carrying out her duties as regent when King Kalakaua left Hawaiʻi on a world tour in 1881. In 1887, while the Princess was accompanying her brother’s wife (the Queen consort) on a trip to attend Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in England, King Kalakaua was compelled by force of an armed militia to sign a new constitution which stripped potent power from the monarchy to consolidate it in white American and European businessmen. This accord was later referred to as the Bayonet Constitution.
One of the American businessmen who were at the forefront of this forceful abdication of power was Sanford (FRIGGIN’) Dole. Sanford Dole, aside from being the ripest d*uchecanoe of the century, was a sugar plantation owner. If Dole is a name that sounds familiar to you, it should: the Dole company, to this day, are the scumbags that sell us canned pineapples in thick syrup. Here’s a curse for the Dole company– may all your bacon burn.
King Kalakaua died in 1891 and Princess Liliʻuokalani rose as a the sovereign Queen of Hawaii. She attempted to establish a new constitution that would restore some power to the monarchy, but was thwarted in January 1893 by a group of American and European businessmen who, with the support of U.S. Minister John Stevens and a contingent of U.S. Marines, staged a coup to unseat the Queen. Queen Liliʻuokalani surrendered to avoid bloody conflict; she appealed to President Grover Cleveland to restore the monarchy. Cleveland offered to reinstate her if she would grant amnesty to those who had led the coup. She initially refused, but eventually agreed. The provisional government that had formed after the coup (led by our favorite POS, Stanford Dole) did not allow her to be reinstated. In 1894, Dole’s government declared the Republic of Hawaiʻi with Stanfart Dirtbag as it’s president. Hooray. There was a failed revolt early (in 1895) led by Hawaiʻian nationalists who wanted to restore Queen Liliʻuokalani to the throne. The Queen was charged with treason and sentenced to house arrest. She later signed a formal abdication of her throne in exchange for a pardon for the nationalists.
Queen Liliʻuokalani spent the rest of her years in the public light fighting for the native Hawaiʻian peoples’ freedom. In 1896, Queen Liliʻuokalani and her niece (the chosen heir of the Hawaiʻian throne) traveled to Washington to convince Cleveland to reinstate the monarchy, to no avail. Queen Liliʻuokalani fought the annexation of Hawaiʻi as the leader of the Oni pa’a (stand alone) movement. President William McKinley annexed Hawaiʻi in July of 1898, and Queen Liliʻuokalani’s niece died in 1899. She withdrew from public life and passed away in 1917 at the age of 79.
We can say without a doubt that Queen Liliʻuokalani was a real BAMF– she fought for her people relentlessly, sacrificed a great deal in an effort to keep Hawaiʻi free, and stood up to authority on behalf of every Hawaiʻian native. Not to mention the fact that the woman was a musical and poetic genius. Her legacy is survived by several schools and charities which bear her name and honor her history. We commend Queen Liliʻuokalani on her incredible strength and bravery. Aloha ʻoe, aloha ʻoe.