Kaahumanu
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Ka‘ahumanu, formally Elizabeth Ka‘ahumanu, (1768-1832), Queen Regent of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. She was born on 17 March 1768 on the Hawaiian island of Maui to Ke‘eaumoku and Namahana. Ke‘eaumoku was a royal advisor and friend of Kamehameha I, to whom Ka‘ahumanu was arranged to be married at the age of 13. Kamehameha had numerous wives but Ka‘ahumanu would become his favorite. She was the one who encouraged her husband's war of unification of Hawai‘i.
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Queen Regent
Upon Kamehameha's death on 5 May 1819, Ka‘ahumanu asserted that it was deemed the late king's wish that she share governance over the Kingdom of Hawai‘i with her 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 eventually ruled with the title of Queen Regent during the reigns of both Kamehameha II and Kauikeaouli, who assumed the throne as Kamehameha III.
Hawai‘i's First Feminist
Ka‘ahumanu was ahead of her time and championed the rights of native Hawaiian women. She removed the taboos that were forced on Hawaiian women. She conspired with Keopuolani, Queen Regent under Kamehameha II, to eat at the same table with the young king, breaking the rules of native society.
Kaumuali‘i of Kaua‘i
When her husband died, Kaahumanu feared the island of Kaua‘i, which was never conquered forcibly by Kamehameha, would end its relationship with the united kingdom. On 9 October 1821, Ka‘ahumanu kidnapped the governor of Kaua‘i, Kaumuali‘i, and married him by force.
Embracing Christianity
In April of 1824, Ka‘ahumanu publicly acknowledged her embrace of Protestant Christianity and encouraged her subjects to be baptized into the faith. That same year, she presented Hawai‘i with its first codified body of laws modeled after Christian ethics and values. Ka‘ahumanu was baptised on 5 December 1825 at the site where Kawaiahao Church stands today.
Missionaries persuaded Ka‘ahumanu that the Roman Catholic Church should be abolished from the island nation. On 7 July 1827, she ordered the first Catholic missionaries to leave. In 1830, Ka‘ahumanu signed legislation that forbade Catholic teachings and threatened to deport whoever broke the law.
Establishing American Relations
Ka‘ahumanu, not her son the king, negotiated the first treaty between the Kingdom of Hawai‘i 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 Hawai‘i to do business. Americans were also afforded the right to sue in Hawaiian courts and be protected by Hawaiian laws.
End of Reign
In 1827, Ka‘ahumanu fell ill and her health steadily declined. She died on 5 June 1832. In her honor, missionaries printed a copy of the New Testament in the Hawaiian language. Her funeral was held at Kawaiahao Church, which she commissioned as the Westminster Abbey of Hawai‘i. Services were presided by Hiram Bingham. She was laid to rest on Iolani Palace grounds but was later moved to the Royal Mausoleum.
Further Reading
- Rosemary I. Patterson, Kuhina Nui: A Novel Based on the Life of Ka‘ahumanu, the Queen Regent of Hawai‘i (1819-1832) (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=BQv18c9ySO&isbn=1880836211&itm=1), Pine Island Press, 1998
- Jane L. Silverman, Ka‘ahumanu: Molder of Change (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=BQv18c9ySO&isbn=0961923407&itm=4), Friends of the Judiciary History Center of Hawai‘i, 1995nds:Kaahumanu