Liliuokalani--who was she?

 She was the last queen of Hawaii.

Born in the mid nineteenth century, Liliuokalani was the child of the Alii--the large royal family of the islands.  From an early age, she was educated by American protestant missionaries who came to Hawaii in order to 'civilize' the natives.  Imagine the arrogance.  Unfortunately, this was a common practice--to spread the word of a white Christian god, and then proceed in the assimilation of the natives to white culture (which of course white Americans viewed as superior. Gag.).  This is the process of "re-socialization" of the Alii children--teaching the women, in particular, to adopt the demeanor of ideal American womanhood--the so-called Angel of the House.  Look at Liliuo in fairly native dress:

 and, then, the after...

Oh dear.

This was not an isolated practice--it was common for people who called themselves both christians and reformers, to "remake" the person or persons of color in the image of the white man, to grant to them the "benefits" of white American culture.  

Suuuuuuper!

No, it wasn't.  It was systematic destruction of one culture, for another.

One of the earliest types of this assimilation is mentioned in Thomas Jefferson, in this ridiculous passage, that is often overlooked by apologist historians from Notes on the State of Virginia:

The first difference which strikes us is that of color. Whether the black of the negro resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and scarf-skin, or in the scarf-skin itself; whether it proceeds from the color of the blood, the color of the bile, or from that of some other secretion, the difference is fixed in nature, and is as real as if its seat and cause were better known to us. And is this difference of no importance? Is it not the foundation of a greater or less share of beauty in the two races? Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of color in the one, preferable to that eternal monotony, which reigns in the countenances, that immoveable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race? Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their own judgment in favor of the whites, declared by their preference of them, as uniformly as is the preference of the orangutan for the black women over those of his own species. The circumstance of superior beauty, is thought worthy attention in the propagation of our horses, dogs, and other domestic animals; why not in that of man? Besides those of color, figure, and hair, there are other physical distinctions proving a difference of race. They have less hair on the face and body. They secrete less by the kidneys, and more by the glands of the skin, which gives them a very strong and disagreeable odor. This greater degree of transpiration renders them more tolerant of heat, and less so of cold, than the whites. Perhaps too a difference of structure in the pulmonary apparatus, which a late ingenious experimentalist has discovered to be the principal regulator of animal heat, may have disabled them from extricating, in the act of inspiration, so much of that fluid from the outer air, or obliged them in expiration, to part with more of it. They seem to require less sleep. A black, after hard labor through the day, will be induced by the slightest amusements to sit up till midnight, or later, though knowing he must be out with the first dawn of the morning. 

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/the-early-republic/thomas-jefferson-notes-on-the-state-of-virginia-1788/ 

Holy Crap, Batman!

It's difficult for Americans to conceive of a man who wrote the Declaration of Independence, as someone who believed that it was possible to 'breed' out the 'undesirable characteristics' (gag) of native peoples (and in general other persons of color), and replace them with the more 'superior' traits of the 'white man.'

ewwwww.

Personally, I prefer Shaft.

What Thomas Jefferson was asserting, was a systematic breeding out of undesirable characteristics. In other words, let’s breed human beings like livestock. I know this is weird, because here is the writer of the declaration of independence and one of the fathers oWhat Thomas Jefferson was asserting was a systematic breeding out of undesirable characteristics. In other words, lets breed human beings like livestock. I know this is weird, because here is the writer of the declaration of independence and one of the fathers of the American revolution talking about what is essentially genetic engineering This was one of the earliest indications of something that would become a most popular science in the 19th century--eugenics.

Now, who? what?

There were two kinds of eugenical analysis by the end of the nineteenth century:  negative and positive eugenics.  Negative was a term that described the practice of forcible castration of both men and women.  Positive eugenics refers to laws which forbade so-called "normal" persons, to marry 'mental defeectives.'  Now  just how did the state determine which person was what they defined as defective? Each state had different determinations.  Basically, whatever the state determined was an undesirable trait, the individuals could not marry.  

Both were horrible restrictions to place on any human population  

....  And, they also smack of Hitler's Germany.

This was the racial atmosphere of America in the mid nineteenth century, so when we discuss the education of the royal children of Hawaii, it was an embedded attitude among the missionaries who supervised the tutelage of the children of the royal family,  to remake indigenous peoples into their own image:  that of a white western Christian.  Therefore, to change the ways in which native children thought, dressed, and acted--as seen in her portraits above.  This was not an unusual practice--we did the same thing with native american children.  Take a look at this;

God, what a total bummer.  I mean, what the hell were people thinking?

Understand, that this was common among white people at the time:  to bring the so-called "benefits" of white culture, to so-called "backwards" people.  Jesus, what a horror movie.

I just had to include this image, it was the first one that came to my mind when I wrote the above.

Lili'uo'kalani grew up in this atmosphere, gravitating towards the American way of life.  She even adopted a white name:  Lydia.

In 1862, at the age of 24, Lili'uo married one John Dominis--an American businessman-- to the extreme displeasure of his mother. What made matters worse for the couple, was that they moved into her house, at Washington Place. It was not exactly a happy relationship, as the schmuck often chose to socialize with his white friends, while leaving his wife at home.  Why, then, did the asshole marry her? That, Dear Reader, is a question I cannot answer.  Maybe be liked the idea of being married to a princess.  I just don't know.  She was also not allowed to eat Hawaiian fare at her meals, and her mother in law absolutely forbade Lili'uo to entertain any of her native fiends.  Wow, what an ideal living arrangement, eh?  Whenever the two women disagreed (which was pretty frequent), mama's boy took the side of his mother every time.  

According to reports, Dominis began a series of adulterous affairs, saying to friends that Lili'uo was something of a cold fish, when it came to carnal matters.  When these affairs became the subject of gossip, Dominis defended himself, by saying negative things about his wife, in an effort to excuse himself.  What a F#%ker. 

So, there she was, in what quickly became a loveless marriage.  She began to write music, which allowed her some respite from the horror of Lady Macbeth (oops! I meant her mother in law), and one of the songs she wrote, was "Aloha Oe."  In 1868, Lili'uo inherited two houses.  She had her avenue of escape, and she took it, leaving the asshole to live with his mommie.    

Her brother, Kalakaua, was named King of the islands in 1877.  He officially named her his heir.  In 1881, he went abroad (Europe), in order to sample the practices of other countries (technology).  He left Lili'uo as regent in his absence.  

When he returned, he began to build Iolani palace, equipping it with all the modern conveniences, almost bankrupting the national treasury in the process.  An example of what I'm talking about, is putting electrical lighting into the building at fantastic expense.

In general, her regency was a success.  However, when smallpox came to the islands, she was forced to close the ports, and to isolate each island, until such time as the epidemic eased.  You might imagine that the Missionary Boys didn't like this very much, as it obviously cut into the profits garnered from the sugar trade.  It never mattered to them that these measures were ultimately successful, and gradually the epidemic died down to manageable levels.  

But, all was not well with the king, and he became ill.  Doctors diagnosed a heart complaint, and suggested a trip to the mainland, in order to receive the best of care.  And, so, off he went, leaving his sister in command, as regent.

When Kalakaua returned to the islands, he found that his council had drafted a new constitution in his absence.  Referred to as the 'Bayonet Constitution,' it stripped the king of most of his power, leaving authority in the hands of his white cabinet.  

Essentially, this extraordinary document stripped the native Hawaiian of their right to vote in elections.  The Missionary Boys had built in voting restrictions into the new Constitution--voters had to be able to read and write Hawaiian, English and some other random European language.  Most of the native people could not fulfil this requirement. 

This effectively meant, that almost 90% of the Hawaiians couldn't vote in elections.

Such developments eventually took the joy out of Kalakaua's life.   He developed a heart condition.  Hem was advised by his doctors, to go to the mainland, in order to seek out top medical care. He did so, and it was not successful.  Later, the king's ship returned, flying its' flag at half mast--a clear indication of death.  So, Lili'uo became Queen.   At the beginning of her reign, the new queen went on a tour around the islands, to hear the expectations and grievances of her people.  When she returned to her council, many of whom were sugar barons, she tried to announce amendments to the constitution.  The Missionary Boys were horrified, because the changes would grant her more power, especially to regulate trade arrangements with other countries.  Needless to say, they were not happy about this development.

It was during this time, that Lili'uo adopted two children, following a practice known as hanai.    This aided her in filling a loss in her life, for she was never able to have children of her own..She did this, after finding out that ole John-baby had had a child by another woman.  Again, what a schmuck.  

In 1887, she and King Asshole travelled to England, in order to attend Queen Victoria's Silver Jubilee.  There, she and the dick were treated with deference and respect by the English people.  

A little after her return from England, she was presented with a new Constitution, which had been written by her white 'advisors.' .  Then, she was forced to sign it.  The new document granted almost total power to the sugar barons, and rendered the ruler as a leader in name only.  

But, she was not yet done.  She appealed her case to the president (US), who sent out a representative.  His name was James Blount.  What makes him so interesting to me, is that he was from the deep South (again, US).  Blount interviewed just about everyone he could think of, whites and Hawaiians.  When he was done, he wrote about a billion page report (not really), and submitted it to the government.  Oddly (and cooly), it was an absolute condemnation of American imperialist authority.  When the president read parts of it (it really was rather long), he disagreed with Blount's conclusions, which were to put the queen back in power.  The president didn't like this, and he referred the matter to Congress.   Oh Dear.  You can surely imagine what they did, Dear Reader.

The Missionary Boys didn't like it either--it would interfere too much with the sugar trade.  What they wanted, was a protectory status with the US.  This would protect their financial concerns.  Ultimately, the boys took power.  

Lili'uo tried to retire into private life, where she split her time between the mainland and the islands.  In 1895, a native rebellion tried to take power away from the sugar barons.  They responded, by asking for help from the US marines, which returned 'control' to the Honkie council.     

After, this whites held a gathering in front of Iolani Palace, to "celebrate" their "great victory."  Are you gagging yet?  They also made a show of taking down the Hawaiian flag, cutting it into small pieces, to be distributed to white residents, in order to "remember their victory."  F&%k.

The queen was charged with crimes against the state, and was sentenced with prison and hard labor..Okaaaaaaaaay.  She served part of her sentence, imprisoned in a room of the palace.

In the end, Lili'uo'kalani left Iolani palace, and retired to the home she had previously shared with her bastard husband.   There, she went into seclusion, with what remained of her court.   She agreed to remain there for the remainder of her life, as a private citizen.

She died in 1917, due to complications of a stroke.  She was 79.  She was buried with honor, wearing one of the royal crowns (which she had not worn for years).

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