Kaûahumanu ("The Feathered Mantle", March 17, 1768 â June 5, 1832) was queen consort and acted as regent of the Hawaiian Kingdom as Kuhina Nui. She was the favorite wife of King Kamehameha I and also the most politically powerful, and continued to wield considerable power as co-ruler in the kingdom during the reigns of his first two successors.
Kaûahumanu was born in a cave called Puu Kauiki in HÃÂna on the Hawaiian island of Maui. She was born on March 17, 1768. The present Kaûahumanu Society celebrates her birthday on March 17.
Kaûahumanu's father was Keûeaumoku PÃÂpaûiahiahi, a fugitive aliûi (noble) from the island of Hawaiûi, and her mother was NÃÂmÃÂhÃÂnaikaleleokalani, daughter of Mà Â'ë Kekaulike Kalaninui Kui Hono and wife of her half-brother, the late king of Maui, Kamehamehanui. Through her mother, she was related to many aliûi nui of Maui. Through her father, she was the third cousin of Kamehameha I, both sharing the common ancestor, Princess Kalanikauleleiaiwi of the island of Hawaiûi. She was named after her father's rival, Kahekilinuiûahumanu, because it was from him that her father was fleeing at the time.
Her siblings include Governor John Adams Kuakini of the island Hawaiûi, Queen KalÃÂkua KaheiheimÃÂlie, and Governor George Keûeaumoku II of Maui.
Her father became an advisor and friend to Kamehameha I, eventually serving as the royal governor of Maui. He arranged for Kaûahumanu to marry him when she was thirteen years old. Kamehameha had numerous wives, but Kaûahumanu would become a favourite and encouraged his war to unify the islands.
Kaûahumanu was one of Kamehameha I's favorite wives and his most powerful. Upon Kamehameha's death on May 8, 1819, Kaûahumanu announced that late king had wished that she share governance over the Kingdom of Hawaiûi with his 22-year-old son Liholiho, who took the name of Kamehameha II. The council of advisors agreed and created the post of kuhina nui for her, which was similar to co-regent or modern-day prime minister. Her power base grew and she ruled as Queen Regent during the reigns of both Kamehameha II and Kauikeaouli, who assumed the throne as Kamehameha III.
In some ways Kaûahumanu was ahead of her time and championed the rights of native Hawaiian women, although this was to her own advantage. In what became known as the <nowiki/>'Ai Noa (free eating), Kaûahumanu conspired with Keà Âpà «olani, another of her late husband's wives who was also Kamehameha II's mother, to eat at the same table with the young king. Notably, she also convinced the Kahuna-nui (translatable to High Priest) of the kingdom, Hewahewa, to support her efforts to abolish the kapu. While breaking a major kapu was a death penalty offence, Kamehameha II refused to kill his mother, Keà Âpà «olani; this event effectively broke the monarchy's support of the kapu, and resulted in the system being outlawed.
The island of Kauaûi and its subject island Niûihau had never been forcibly conquered by Kamehameha. After years of resistance they negotiated a bloodless surrender in the face of Kamehameha's armada. In 1810 the island's King, Kaumualiûi, became a vassal to Kamehameha. When Kamehameha I died, Kamehameha II and Kaûahumanu feared Kauaûi would break away from the kingdom. To preserve the union they kidnapped Kaumualiûi on October 9, 1821, and Kaûahumanu married him by force. After Kaumualiûi died in 1824, and a rebellion by Kaumualiûi's son Humehume was put down, she married his other son Kealiûiahonui.
In April 1824, Kaûahumanu publicly acknowledged her conversion to Protestant Christianity and encouraged her subjects to be baptized into the faith. That same year, she presented Hawaiûi with its first codified body of laws modeled after Christian ethics and values, and the Ten Commandments. Kaûahumanu was baptized on December 5, 1825, at the site where Kawaiahaûo Church stands today, taking the name âÂÂElizabethâÂÂ.
Missionaries persuaded Kaûahumanu that the Roman Catholic Church, which had established the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, should be removed from the island nation. On July 7, 1827, she ordered the first Catholic missionaries to leave. In 1830, Kaûahumanu signed legislation that forbade Catholic teachings and threatened to deport whoever broke the law.
In 1832, Kaûahumanu visited Maui, and came to the site of what is now Kaûahumanu Church, witnessing services being presided by Jonathan Smith Green. Upon seeing this, KaâÂÂahumanu asked the Congregationalist mission to name the permanent church structure after her. However, this request was not honored until 1876, when Edward Bailey built the fourth and current structure on the site, naming it after the Queen.
As regent of Hawai'i after the death of her husband, King Kamehameha I, Ka'ahumanu took it upon herself to enforce Christian policies with her power, banning of the Hawaiian Dance hula in 1830. After her death in 1832, some chiefs ignored this ban, including King Kamehameha III. However it was not until King Kalakaua's reign in 1886 that hula was celebrated openly once again: "Hula is the language of the heart and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people." Ka'ahumanu's policies on hula have had a ripple effect on the acceptability of the art form ever since.
Kaûahumanu and King Kamehameha III negotiated the first treaty between the Kingdom of Hawaiûi and the United States in 1826, under the administration of President John Quincy Adams. The treaty assumed responsibility on behalf of native Hawaiians with debts to American traders and paid the bill with $150,000 worth of sandalwood; this won her the support of chiefs who owed money to the traders. The same document was also a free trade treaty, ensuring Americans had the right to enter all ports of Hawaiûi to do business. Americans were also afforded the right to sue in Hawaiian courts and be protected by Hawaiian laws.
In 1827, after Kaûahumanu returned from a tour of the windward islands, her health steadily declined. During her illness missionaries printed the first copy, bound in red leather with her name engraved in gold letters, of the New Testament in the Hawaiian language. She kept it with her until her death of intestinal illness, June 5, 1832, in the MÃÂnoa Valley near Honolulu. Her funeral was held at Kawaiahaûo Church, often referred to as the Westminster Abbey of Hawaiûi. Services were presided by Hiram Bingham. She was laid to rest on ûIolani Palace grounds but was later moved to the Royal Mausoleum. The monument of Kaumualiûi in Waiola Church cemetery includes the inscription, "Kaahumanu was his wife, Year 1822," leading some to mistakenly conclude that she is buried there.
A portion of the Hawaii Belt Road, state highway 19, on the Big Island of Hawaiûi is named in her honor. It connects the towns of Kailua-Kona and Kawaihae. Often referred to by locals as "the Queen K," it is used for the bicycle and running portions of the Ironman World Championship Triathlon. It also provides access to the Kona International Airport.
Queen Kaûahumanu Center shopping mall is located at 275 West Kaûahumanu Avenue (Hawai state route 32) in Kahului, Maui, .
Kaûahumanu Society, a Hawaiian civics club, was founded and named in her honor in 1864 to celebrate her legacy, serve the poor and sick and promote the importance of Hawaiian female leadership.