Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 10, 1 October 2004 — Remembering seeds of loyalty [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Remembering seeds of loyalty

ueen Lili'uokalani, monarch of the Kingdom ■ 1 of Hawai'i, has left a legacy of music, poetry, generosity and kuleana. Scores of the queen's melehie enjoyed today, and the Queen's land trust provides kōkua to hundreds of orphaned Hawaiian keiki and their 'ohana eaeh year. Less known is the queen's fondness for beautiful flowers, plants and trees. In mid-1891, the queen designated a parcel of her land on the slopes of Punehhowl for a royal garden that she named Uluhaimalama. The peaceful site often provided her with a quiet plaee to reflect upon the numerous challenges against her government occurring on the other side of the hill. On Oct. 15, 1894, despite a Provisional Government ban forbidding Hawaiians to assemble in support of their queen, scores of elegantly dressed Hawaiian elite eame to the garden. They brought a variety of live plants to plant in honor of their beloved queen, who had been deposed a year earlier. A tented lanai was erected adjacent to the garden to serve a luneheon to all who participated in the event. The Royal Hawaiian Band played. Oct. 15 will mark 110 years since the opening ceremonies at Uluhaimalama. The queen initiated the ceremony the night before, in order to avoid the threatened imprisonment of all participants by the new government. The symbolic planting reminded

Hawaiians of their traditions and values. The queen's nephews, Prince David Kawananakoa and Prince Jonah Kūhiō, represented her. Prince Kawananakoa planted a yellow lehua sapling in the center of the garden because those flowers were "beloved of the gods." A chanter intoned, "This is the Heavenly One. May the gods protect her as she protects her people." The lehua was surrounded by 'ōhāwai (native lohelia) and other Hawaiian plants. Prince Kalaniana'ole planted a lehua 'āhihi tree nearby on behalf of the queen. The event was then opened to all others. Kahuna chants acclaimed the significance and meaning of some of the plants, including: • Kou, whieh symbolizes a home, and kukui, whieh represented God: "The word of God is kukui (light), a light for your government, O Heavenly One," the chanters intoned.

• 'Awa: "The pono of your lāhui (nation/people), your government and your throne, O Heavenly One, grows until it is multitudinous (lau) in the righteousness (pono) of the living God." • Kō papa'a (red sugar eane); "The hands of the criminals will be bound by the pono of your throne, O Heavenly One, the feet will be bound, the plaee where movement is determined, the eyes will be bound, the plaee in charge of sight." • 'Uhaloa (medicinal plant); "Strive for your pono, O Heavenly One, it is not over! This is Hawai'i 'imiloa (a seeker for long duration - i.e., this is going to be a very long struggle). If there is 'uhaloa, the length (loa) of the pono of your reign is immeasurable; it belongs to you and your heirs." • Kō pilimai (variety of sugar eane used for love medicine); "The aloha of your lāhui is constantly with you, O Heavenly One. It is yours today, it is yours tomorrow, and it is yours forever; the pono of your land, your people and your throne are also close to you, those belong to you and your heirs forever." Mai'a Hawai'i (Hawaiian hanana); "If Uluhaimalama is the plaee where the Hawaiian hanana grows, planted in the day of Hua (fruit), it will bear fruit to your government, your people, your throne, O Heavenly One. It will fruit by the pono of the body and the spirit; winter, the harsh season has passed. The torch is burning in the noontime, the torches of Iwikauakaua, whose descendant is Lili'uokalani, the Queen of the Hawaiian Islands today and forever, it is hers and herheirs'." ■

Mn'oi fi o Alo.o

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By Claire Hughes Dr.PH., R.D.