Ua lilo nā 'āina ali'i iā Luka Ke'elikōlani Keanolani Kanāhoahoa ma hope o ka hala 'ana o kona mau kaikunāne, Kamehameha IV lāua 'o Kamehameha V. 'O Ke'elikōlani ka mo'opuna o Kamehameha Nui. Pa'i 'ia kēia ki'i me kona mau kuene, 'o Sam Parker ma ka hema, a 'o John Cummins ma ka 'ākau. - Ki'i: Hale Hō'ike'ike o Pīhopa.

Ho'ohanohano 'ia ke kūpa'a
o ke ali'i Ke'elikōlani

Na T. Ilihia Gionson / Ka Wai Ola Loa

Ma kona lā hānau ho'i i ho'ohanohano 'ia ke ali'i Luka Keanolani Kanāhoahoa Ke'elikōlani, ka wahine lei 'ula ho'i nāna i ho'opakele iā Hilo kaona, no kona 'ano kūpa'a ma hope o kona mo'omeheu, kona ho'omana, a me kāna 'ōlelo makuahine, 'o ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i ia.

Ua komo nā haumāna me nā kumu o ke koleke 'o Ka Haka 'Ula o Ke'elikōlani ma ke Kulanui o Hawai'i ma Hilo, nā limahana o ka 'Aha Pūnana Leo, a me nā haumāna me nā kumu o Ke Kula 'o Nāwahīokalani'ōpu'u ma ka hana kulāia o ka lā 9 o Pepeluali ma ka lumi Moanahōkū o ka hale hō'ike'ike 'o 'Imiloa.

I mea e ho'ohanohano i ke kūpa'a o ke ali'i ma hope o kona 'ōlelo makuahine, ua kapa 'ia ke koleke 'ōlelo Hawai'i ma ke Kulanui o Hawai'i ma Hilo 'o Ka Haka 'Ula o Ke'elikōlani ma ka makahiki 1997.

'O Ke'elikōlani, he ali'i 'o ia no ka 'ohana Kamehameha. Noho 'o Keōuakupuapāikalaninui iā Keku'iapoiwa, hānau 'ia 'o Pai'ea, 'o Kamehameha Nui ho'i. Noho 'o Pai'ea iā Kānekapōlei, hānau 'ia 'o Ka'ōleiokū. Noho 'o Ka'ōleiokū iā Keōua Wahine, hānau 'ia 'o Pauahi. Noho 'o Pauahi iā Kekūanao'a, hānau 'ia 'o Ke'elikōlani ma ka makahiki 1826.

Ma ka makahiki 1881 i kahe ai ka pele i o Hilo kaona, a no kona mana nui, ua nonoi 'ia 'o Ke'elikōlani e ho'okū i ke kahe 'ana o ka pele. 'O ka pi'i akula nō ia o kahi Ke'elikōlani i uka o Hilo, waiho 'ia he 'ālana lei silika 'ula'ula, a pule 'o Ke'elikōlani iā Pele. Moe 'o Ke'elikōlani ma kahi e kahe ana ka pele, a kū ke kahe 'ana, he hapalua wale nō mile ma waho o Hilo kaona.

Ma kāna mau hana a pau, ua kūpa'a 'o Ke'elikōlani ma kona ho'omana kahiko, kona mo'omeheu, a me kāna 'ōlelo.

"Ua mālama piha 'o Ke'elikōlani i ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i. Pane 'o ia ma ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i wale nō. 'A'ole ia he kū'ē i ka 'ōlelo haole, akā, 'o ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i ka 'ōlelo makuahine o ka 'āina nei," wahi a Alapa'i Bungo no Nānākuli, O'ahu, he haumāna ia ma Ka Haka 'Ula o Ke'elikōlani.

Princess Luka Ke'elikōlani Keanolani Kanāhoahoa became the heir to the royal lands after her half-brothers Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V died. She was the granddaughter of Kamehameha the Great. In this photo, her attendants are Sam Parker, left, and John Cummins. - Photo: Bishop Museum

Ke'elikōlani honored for standing firm in her beliefs

By T. Ilihia Gionson / Ka Wai Ola Loa

Ruth Keanolani Kanāhoahoa Ke'elikōlani, the woman with the red silk scarf who saved Hilo from Pele, was honored on her birthday for her steadfast belief in her culture, her traditions and most of all her mother tongue, the Hawaiian language.

Students and teachers from Ka Haka 'Ula o Ke'elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, employees of 'Aha Pūnana Leo, and students and teachers from Ke Kula 'o Nāwahīokalani'ōpu'u Hawaiian immersion school honored Ke'elikōlani with festivities on Feb. 9 in the Moanahōkū Hall of the 'Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo.

UH Hilo's college of Hawaiian language was named Ka Haka 'Ula o Ke'elikōlani in 1997 in honor of the ali'i who, although she knew other languages, would not respond if anything other than Hawaiian was spoken to her.

Ke'elikōlani was a member of the Kamehameha dynasty. Keōuakupuapāikalaninui and Keku'iapoiwa bore Pai'ea, Kamehameha Nui. With Kānekapōlei, he fathered Ka'ōleiokū. With Keōua Wahine, Ka'ōleiokū fathered Pauahi. And with Kekūanao'a, Pauahi gave birth to Ke'elikōlani in 1826.

Ke'elikōlani was the governor of Hawai'i Island, and was one of the richest people in Hawai'i in the 1800s. Ke'elikōlani gave to Bernice Pauahi most of the land that became the Kamehameha Schools, which has educated countless Native Hawaiians since the school was founded in 1887.

In 1881, Ke'elikōlani was asked to intervene when a lava flow was headed straight for Hilo town. Ke'elikōlani headed for the uplands of Hilo, left an offering of a red silk scarf, prayed to Pele and slept in the path of the lava. The lava stopped a half-mile short of Hilo town.

In all of her endeavors, Ke'elikōlani stood firm in her convictions, her old religion, her history and her language.

"Ke'elikōlani was a stalwart of the Hawaiian language. She would only respond to Hawaiian. It wasn't meant to discredit any other language, but rather to honor Hawaiian as the mother tongue of the land," said Alapa'i Bungo of Nānākuli, O'ahu, a student at Ka Haka 'Ula o Ke'elikōlani.

"She is a role model for all Hawaiians."