Kauaians turn out to honor Kuhio: ‘The Chief of the People’

PO’IPU — When Judy Naumu-Stewart thinks how tough life can be, she will walk around her Department of Hawaiian Home Lands home in Kekaha.

Or she will take her family to a 200-acre ranch in Koke’e she leases for a nominal amount from DHHL.

And then she will thank Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana’ole.

It was Prince Kuhio, as territorial Hawai’i delegate to Congress, who successfully pushed through the Hawaiian Homes Act of 1919, which has provided homesteading and farming opportunities to thousands of Hawaiians throughout the years.

“What we have is because of him, and I am grateful,” said Stewart, who was among 150 people who attended a ceremony at Prince Kuhio Park yesterday to celebrate Prince Kuhio’s contributions to Hawaiians and to mark his March 26 birthday, a state holiday.

Leading Hawaiians groups and government agencies gathered to honor Prince Kuhio — a Kaua’i man who lived from 1871 to 1922, and was the last descendent of King Kaumuali’i, the last reigning monarch on the island.

They included the Royal Order of King Kamehameha I and its women’s auxiliary, Ahau Hui ‘O Ka’ahamanu, Hale O Na Ali’i, the Waimea branch of the Hawaiian Civic Club, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Alu Like, Kamehameha Schools, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and others.

Hanapepe resident Janet Kahalekomo urged young people, non Hawaiians and Hawaiians, to take time out from their busy lives to commemorate Prince Kuhio’s birthday each year.

“We come and pay tribute to our ali’i before we move on,” Kahalekomo said.

Prince Kuhio was born in Koloa in 1871, the son of the high chief of Kaua’i, D. Kahalepouli, and Princess Kekaulike.

Prince Kuhio was the second cousin of King David Kalakaua and of his sister, Queen Lili’uokalani, and was the nephew of Queen Kapiolani. He was named as an heir to the throne by Queen Lili’uokalani.

He was educated in California and at the Royal Agricultural College in England and returned to Hawai’i shortly before the overthrow in 1893.

At age 24, Prince Kuhio joined opponents of the new Hawai’i republic in 1895, was apprehended, convicted for treason and sentenced to a one-year jail term.

He made friends among business people on O’ahu who had supported the overthrow. By 1907, they convinced him to run for office as a delegate from the Territory of Hawai’i to the United States Congress.

Prince Kuhio was very popular and was elected 10 time before he died Jan. 27, 1922. During his years in office, he tried to convince former chiefs and Hawaiian leaders to run for office as Republican candidates.

Prince Kuhio was remembered for pushing for the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Act of 1919.

He also was remembered as a man of the earth. He supported agriculture and was interested in the “back to the farm” movement in Hawai’i.

As a congressional delegate, Prince Kuhio pushed for the development of more businesses in Hawai’i, the development of Pearl Harbor and Honolulu Harbor and mail delivery to Hawai’i.

Prince Kuhio was sometimes called “Prince Cupid” because of his penchant for good-humor fun and his easy-going manner, historians said.

On Prince Kuhio’s casket was placed a plate with the inscription, “Ke Ali’i Maka’ainana” (The Chief of the People).

Today, buildings, highways and parks are named after Prince Kuhio.

Kuhio Beach Park, his birthplace, and Kuhio Highway, the main highway on Kaua’i, are named for him.

On O’ahu, the federal building in Honolulu, various hotels on Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki, Kalaniana’ole Beach Park in Nanakuli and Kalaniana’ole Highway are named after Prince Kuhio. Sites elsewhere in the state also are named after Prince Kuhio.

Dignitaries who attended yesterday’s event included OHA board chairperson Haunani Apoliona, OHA board vice chair Donald Cataluna, Sen. Jonathan Chun (D-7th District) and Kaua’i County Councilman Bryan Baptiste.

Staff Writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net