More about The Spirit of Lili'uokalani

Sr. Contributor

Lili'uokalani, America's only QUEEN, suffers the indignity of colonialism. 

 

King Kalakaua was the first king to circumnavigate the globe, he was the honored guest at the first U.S. State dinner, and his home, Iolani Palace, had electricity before the White House. Obviously, he was a primitive hick who needed a bunch of greedy rich white dudes to force him to give up most of his power and the voting rights of his people. Rich white dudes know best.

 

 

Kalakaua died of liver disease in 1891 (he liked to drink) and his sister, Queen Lili'uokalani inherited the throne. When U.S. troops landed in Honolulu in 1893 to quell her “revolutionary acts” (i.e. peaceful attempts to pass a new Constitution) she yielded the throne under protest to avoid bloodshed. The following year a president was elected for the new government by a bunch of rich white guys who had rigged the system (sound familiar Florida?). A protest broke, and Lili'uokalani was imprisoned in her own palace, eventually abdicating the throne to save those who had protested on her behalf.

 

 

This 6 foot bronze statue of the Queen stands between Iolani Palace and Hawaii’s State Capitol holding the self-composed song Aloha ‘Oe, the Constitution of the kingdom, and the Hawaiian chant of creation Kumulipo.

 

 

Unable to rule during her life, her ghost supposedly roams the grounds presiding over the dealings at the capitol. She has often been heard in the stairwells crying for the loss of her kingdom or seen near her aptly titled statue holding leis out to visitors.