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Pauahi Nona ka Lei: Songs Honoring Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop

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Hānau ka lani, ke kani nei ka pahu
Ku‘i ka hekili, lapa ka uila
Iho mai ka uakoko, ka ‘ālewalewa
Ka pūnohu kūha‘o wale i ka moana
Ua ‘ikea ka lani me ka malama

The Royal One is born, the drums are resounding
The thunder claps, the lightning flashes
Descending is the red rain, the floating cloud
The low-lying rainbow that stands alone in the ocean
The sky and light appear

Excerpt from the birth chant He Inoa no Pauahi.

Born on December 19, 1831, to high chiefs Abner Pākī and Laura Konia, Ke Ali‘i Wahine Bernice Pauahi has undoubtedly become one of the most beloved and renowned figures in Hawaiian history. We remember her today for her foresight in establishing the Kamehameha Schools, which she named to honor the memory of her great-grandfather and founder of the Hawaiian Kingdom. We celebrate her for the boundless compassion she showed her people, manifested not only in this gift of education but in her choice to lead a life of humble service and sacrifice. We hold her in the highest regard for the countless number of lives she has impacted across generations.

And yet, Pauahi’s decision to create the Kamehameha Schools was so much more than simply the final wish of a benevolent princess. She was a true Hawaiian chiefess, groomed from birth to uphold the mantle of leadership in a kingdom that had been built upon a foundation of education. Within a mere handful of decades, the efforts of our ali‘i had created a highly literate populace capable of navigating the social, economic, and political transformations occurring in Hawai‘i and beyond. It is this legacy that Pauahi inherited, and every decision she subsequently made was filled with intention, purposefully designing a pathway forward for her people.

From a young age, Pauahi was surrounded by the most powerful ali‘i in the nation, a family of rulers who were actively involved in the diverse acts of governance in the Hawaiian Kingdom for the betterment of its citizens. At eight years old, Pauahi began her formal education as one of the first students at the Chiefs’ Children’s School, established by Kauikeaouli during his rule as Kamehameha III. The purpose of this school was to not only provide a comprehensive education for the royal children, but to also prepare them for the responsibilities of future leadership to protect the sovereignty of the kingdom and its people. Our ali‘i understood that education was the key to developing an informed Hawaiian citizenry that could navigate international politics, preserve self-governance as an independent nation, and act in the interests of the kingdom on a global stage. This was the ea of Pauahi’s time.

In February of 1843, while she was attending the Chiefs’ Children’s School, an event took place in Honolulu that would shake the very foundations of that sovereignty. The illegal occupation of Hawai‘i led by British naval officer Lord George Paulet saw Kauikeaouli forced to cede the kingdom to Lord Paulet, who raised the British flag over the islands. While this occupation lasted only five months until the British government intervened and restored the sovereignty of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the affair left its mark on a blossoming generation of upcoming ali‘i. As a young girl, Pauahi wrote in her journal about the joy she felt at seeing the Hawaiian flag raised during Lā Ho‘iho‘i Ea ceremonies of July 31st, the ea of her beloved kingdom rightfully restored.

The Paulet Affair was just one of many crucial moments that shaped Pauahi’s worldview, as she lived through some of the greatest changes in Hawai‘i’s history. Within her lifetime, she would see the islands grow into an economic power and leader in the Pacific, the government transform into a constitutional monarchy, and the kingdom engage in diplomatic missions resulting in the recognition of Hawai‘i as a member of the family of nations.

Amidst such rapid change, the nation’s leaders remained steadfast in their belief that education played a critical role in ensuring that their people would continue to thrive in their own kingdom.

Pauahi and her young peers needed only look to their predecessors for guidance, from Ka‘ahumanu’s sponsorship of reading and writing shortly after the arrival of American missionaries in 1820, to the assertion “He aupuni palapala ko‘u; mine is a kingdom of literacy” by Kauikeaouli in 1836, followed by the establishment of schools across the pae ‘āina. Moreover, intertwined with this expansion of education was the growth of a national consciousness and pride. Powerful national narratives were formed that would serve to uplift Hawaiian identity in the face of rapid depopulation, growing internal and external racism, and threats to the nation’s sovereignty. Education was a tool that allowed the ea of the kingdom’s subjects to continue.

When Pauahi signed her will in October of 1883, she did so carefully carrying forward the hopes of her royal ancestors while actualizing her place in that history.

Significantly, the future she was strategizing towards presumed the continuance and longevity of the Hawaiian Kingdom. At the opening of the Boy’s School, all students were native subjects of the kingdom, with the inaugural address of 1887 given in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i by reigning monarch King David Kalākaua. She laid forth her vision for Kamehameha Schools as a true chiefess caring for her lāhui in a way she knew would best serve them—through education that empowers Hawaiians to lead their people with aloha.

Tonight, a new generation of students gathers to lift their voices in honor of Pauahi. These students are a part of the future she envisioned, the latest in the multitude of people impacted by her legacy, year after year. The collection of mele featured this evening are compositions honoring Pauahi, with the four co-ed songs composed by students representing each grade level. The theme for this year’s 106th Song Contest, “Pauahi Nona Ka Lei,” is both a celebration of our founder Ke Ali‘i Pauahi, as well as a response to the challenges facing Kamehameha Schools, our lāhui, Hawai‘i, and the world.

Pauahi lani nui, Pauahi nona ka lei.
Princess Pauahi, to whom this legacy belongs.

“He mau ola kekahi i kūkulu mai ai i waena o kekahi lāhui e like me nā ipukukui i kūkulu ‘ia ma nā lae kahakai no ka pono o nā moku e holo laulā ana ma waena o ka moana laulā o ke ola honua ‘ana a e lilo ai ho‘i ko lākou ola ‘ana i mea alaka‘i a kumu ho‘ohālike e hahai ‘ia aku e nā po‘e o nā hanauna e hō‘ea mai ana ma hope o lākou.

I waena o kēia mau ola kamaha‘o ‘ana o kekahi po‘e, a i lilo ho‘i ko lākou mau ola ‘ana i ipukukui mālamalama no ko lākou lāhui, e lawe mai ana wau i ke ola ‘ana o ke Ali‘i Wahine Bernice Pauahilani Bishop i kumu ho‘ohālike maika‘i loa e ho‘omana‘o ‘ia ai kona ola ‘ana, a e lilo ai ho‘i kāna i hana ai no ko kākou lāhui i mea ho‘omana‘o mau ‘ia nona no nā hanauna e hō‘ea mai ana. Ua kūkulu ‘o ia i kia ho‘omana‘o ola i waena o kona lāhui, e pohā mau ai ka mālamalama nani no ka pōmaika‘i o ka lāhui o kona mau kūpuna ali‘i.”

Some people arise from within a nation much like lighthouses are erected along shoreline capes to help ships traversing the expansive oceans of this earthly life, and their lives become guideposts and examples to be followed by those of the generations that succeed them.

From amongst these astonishing stories of some whose lives have become shining beacons for their people, I would like to use the life of Princess Bernice Pauahilani Bishop as an outstanding model, so that her life may be remembered, and that all she has done for her nation may never be forgotten by the generations to come. She has established a living legacy within her nation, from which glorious enlightenment will forever burst forth to benefit the nation of her royal ancestors.

Excerpt from Ke Aliiwahine Pauahi A‘u i Hoomaopopo ai, a speech delivered by Stephen Desha Sr. to the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu. Ka Hoku o Hawaii, 23 June 1931.

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