Ceremony offers 'mahalo to the queen'
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
A day of celebration began with a trip to a mausoleum. They are celebrations nonetheless, say those who planned the various observances of Queen Lili'uokalani's birthday yesterday, during a week when many in the Hawaiian community are finding more reason for anxiety than joy.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
At Mauna 'Ala, the Royal Mausoleum in Nu'uanu, the morning presentation of verbal and floral tributes is an annual fixture. Strands of purple crownflower, the queen's favorite, hung yesterday at the podium, where representatives and beneficiaries of the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center offered thanks for the social programs for families financially supported by the queen's trust.
Gov. Linda Lingle and Thomas Kaulukukui, chairman of the Lili'uokalani Trust board, carry offerings of maile as they prepare to enter the royal crypt on Queen Lili'uokalani's 165th birthday anniversary.
In the keynote address, Roberta Lorenzo told how she and her sisters were wards of the center, which saw that they were placed in a loving foster family. She spoke tenderly about 50 years of assistance from the center — and especially its first social worker, the late Grace Oness — as she and her family weathered various life challenges.
"Mahalo to the queen," Lorenzo said tearfully.
"Mahalo to the trust."
The queen, Hawai'i's last monarch, would have appreciated those who strive for justice, said Thomas Kaulukukui, chairman of the trust board.
"She was a model of strength — ikaika — but strength with steadfastness and wisdom," he said.
Last night, the governor's office presented a program at Washington Place, the queen's former residence, for Hawaiian civic and cultural dignitaries. Also last night, Ka Lei Maile Ali'i, a Hawaiian civic club; Living Nation; and Native Books/Na Mea Hawai'i presented a play titled "Ka Lei Maile Ali'i: The Queen's Women," re-enacting a gathering of Lili'uokalani supporters in Hilo, Hawai'i, to sign the petition opposing the annexation of the Islands by the United States.
Noenoe Silva, assistant professor of political science at the University of Hawai'i, provided much of the research for the play, first presented in 2001.
Such observances have acquired a special poignancy, Silva said, with the controversy over admissions to Kamehameha Schools, plans for a march by Native Hawaiians set for Sunday and a ruling expected Monday in a court challenge to Hawaiian-only programs.
Even before recent developments, the interest in marking the queen's birthday had been mounting, she said.
The queen's birthday has always been important," she said, "but there has been an increase in the last few years. There's an increase in the consciousness in the community that Hawai'i has a national history."
Lynette Cruz, who serves on the board of the Friends, said the organization also has planned a Sept. 28 "grand lu'au" for the queen's 165th birthday (information: 522-0824).
And the play inspired Cruz to form a Hawaiian civic club, also named Ka Lei Maile Ali'i.
"For us, what we're doing is affirming that she stood for the nation, and that there were people at the time that stood with her," Cruz said.
"The play is to express the fact that we still stand with her, so her presence is felt, and she's with us."
Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.
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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly indentified the sponors of the play titlled "Ka Lei Maile Ali'i:
