Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole is memorialized by streets, beaches, plazas and a federal building named in his honor.

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole of Hawaiʻi (March 26, 1871 – January 7, 1922) was a prince of the reigning House of Kalākaua when the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was overthrown by American residents in 1893. He later went on to become a politician and served in the United States Congress.

[edit] Early life

Kalanianaʻole was born in Kōloa on the island of Kauaʻi as an aliʻi or Hawaiian nobleman. Like all aliʻi his genealogy was complex, but centered mainly on his ancestry as an heir of Kaumualiʻi, the ruling chief of Kauaʻi. Like many members of the Hawaiian nobility in the nineteenth-century he was well educated, attending the Royal School and Punahou School in Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu. After completing his basic education he also traveled abroad for further study. He studied for four years at St. Matthew's College in California and at the Royal Agricultural College in England before graduating from a business school in England.

[edit] Prince of the Kalākaua Dynasty

In 1874 the Kalākaua Dynasty ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ending the Kamehameha Dynasty. Kalanianaʻole himself was hanai'ed by Kalākaua's wife, Kapiʻolani, who was herself descended from the Kauaʻi chiefs. Hanai is a customary form of adoption widely used in Hawaiʻi and Kalanianaʻole became a royal prince. When Kalākaua came to power Kalanianaʻole was appointed to a seat in the royal Cabinet administering the Department of the Interior. After Kalākaua's death Liliuʻokalani became queen, and she continued to favour Kalanianaʻole. After her own heir apparent, Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani, died at the age of twenty three, Liliuʻokalani made Kalanianaʻole and his brother David Kawananakoa heirs to the throne. As a result, Kalanianaʻole became one of the most important members of the Hawaiian nobility in the late nineteenth century.

[edit] Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom

The Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was overthrown by American businessmen in 1893. In 1895, native Hawaiians and American sympathizers organized a rebellion against the newly formed Republic of Hawaiʻi led by President Sanford B. Dole. The rebels proved no match for the Republic troops and police, and shortly after hostilities began, all those involved in the rebellion were routed and captured. Kūhiō was sentenced to a year in prison while others were charged with treason and sentenced with execution. In a show of mercy, death sentences were commuted to imprisonment. Kūhiō served his full term.

Disenchanted with what had become of his homeland, Kūhiō and his wife left Hawaiʻi upon his release and traveled widely in Europe, where they were treated as visiting royalty. He also traveled to Africa from 1899 to 1902. He joined the British Army to fight in the Second Boer War.

[edit] From prince to American statesman

Kūhiō eventually returned from his self-imposed exile to take part in politics in post-annexation Hawaiʻi. He became active in the Home Rule Party, which represented native Hawaiians and continued to fight for Hawaiian independence. A much smaller Democrat party, led by his relative David Kawananakoa, was less radical and also less powerful. The Republicans represented business interests and the people who had originally overthrown the Monarchy.

In 1901 Kūhiō switched parties and joined the Republicans. He was disillusioned with the complete lack of progress made by the Home Rule Party, and its control by radicals bent only on embarrassing the administration of Sanford Dole. The Republicans eagerly accepted him into the fold. By endorsing the heir to the throne of the Hawaiian kingdom they gained significant traction in local communities, and Kūhiō was given a strong leadership position.

Jonah was elected to the U.S. Congress as the Republican delegate in a landslide victory for the Republicans, and helped establish a Republican hold on the legislature. He served from March 4, 1903 until his death in Waikīkī on January 7, 1922. During this time he instituted local government at the county level, creating the county system still used to-day in Hawaiʻi. He staffed the civil service positions that resulted with Hawaiian appointees.^{[citation needed]} This move combined the political patronage system of nineteenth century American politics with the traditional Hawaiian chiefly role of benificiently delegating authority to trusted retainers.

However, the most notable achievement of Kūhiō during this period was undoubtedly the creation of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, which was signed by President Warren Harding into law in 1921. Despite his wishes, the Act contained high blood-quantum requirements, and leased the land instead of granting it fee-simple, creating a perpetual government institution. This act and the others that followed from it continue to be controversial in contemporary Hawaiian politics and have been used to justify more recent race-based legislation like the ʻAkaka Bill.

Kūhiō died on 7 January 1922. His body was laid to rest with the rest of his royal family at the Royal Mausoleum in Nuʻuanu on the island of Oʻahu.

[edit] References

• Rayson, Ann (2004). Modern History of Hawaii. Bess press. ISBN 1-57306-209-X.  (a high school textbook on Hawaiian history, see especially chapter 3: "Prince Kūhiō and the Hawaiian Homestead Act").
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress