Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 1992 — OHA honors Queen Liliʻuokalani 1838-1917 [ARTICLE]

OHA honors Queen Liliʻuokalani 1838-1917

by Jeff Clark On the morning of Sept. 2, OHA staff members and guests gathered around Queen Lili'uokalani's portrait in the OHA reception area to pay a birthday tribute to Hawai'i's last reigning monarch. Administrator Richard Paglinawan told how his experiences as a young social worker at the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center brought home to him that "her love, her commitment to her people will live on." OHA culture officer Pikake Pelekai said the portrait was given

to OHA by Lydia Namahana Mai'oho because she wanted Lili'uokalani' s values to be "instilled in us and in everything we do." Mai'oho received it from the family of the late Helen Kane and had it cleaned and framed by Kunani and Ipo Nihipali for display at OHA. The accompanying plaque was donated byRockne Freitas.

OHA culture specialist Manu Boyd chanted an 'oli, "He Inoa No Kahu Aupuni," whieh was eomposed when Lili'uokalani was Queen Regent. Boyd and Paglinawan presented the portrait

with a ho'okupu lei. Like the words of the 'oli, the materials composing the lei had meaning. The pua kalaunu (purple crown flower) was a favorite flower of Lili'uokalani and the crown formation is a symbol of her reign. Hala, whieh also means "to pass," acknowledges something of our past and its fragrance often signifies love, Boyd said. Woven together with the pua kalaunu and hala was maile kaluhea, whieh, like many of the Queen's ancestors, eame from the island of Hawai'i. La'i (ti leaf) for purification, and

'iwa'iwa (maidenhair fern), to signify Lili'uokalani's very feminine qualities, were also included. Also offered as a ho'okupu was a mele hula chanted by Pi'ilani Smith, and performed vety gracefully by 10-year-old Makanani Ah Sing. They performed under the direction of kūmū hula Alieia K. Smith of Hālau O Nā Maolipua. Boyd said the mele hula was written by a woman who exemplifies the qualities of Queen Lili'uokalani, Malia Craver.