Kuini Liliha

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Kuini Liliha
Born	circa 1802 United States
Died	August 25, 1839 Honolulu
Occupation	Royal governor

Kuini Liliha (circa 1802 — August 25, 1839) was a chiefess in the ancient Hawaiian tradition and served the Kingdom of Hawaii as royal governor of Oahu. She assumed administration of the island from 1829 to 1831 after the tragic death of her husband Boki, an advisor and friend to Kamehameha II.^[1]

1 United Kingdom
2 Royal Governor
3 Catholicism
4 References

[edit] United Kingdom

Boki and Kuini Liliha were principal members of the entourage that accompanied Kamehameha II and the Queen Consort on an 1824 diplomatic tour of the United Kingdom, visiting King George III. The entire delegation contracted the measles one after the other, a disease foreign to Native Hawaiians. As a result, the Queen Consort Kamehamalu and several chiefs died, including Kamehameha II who became so distraught that he died in Kuini Liliha's arms.

Boki and Kuini Liliha survived the measles and took charge of what was left of the delegation. They managed to secure agreements of friendship from the British government. The Kingdom of Hawaii also became a protectorate of the British military under those agreements. Boki and Kuini Liliha returned to Oahu with the bodies of Kamehameha II, Kamehamalu and several island chiefs.

[edit] Royal Governor

As royal governor, Boki incurred large debts and attempted to cover them by traveling to the New Hebrides to harvest sandalwood. Before departing, Boki entrusted administration of Oahu to his wife, Kuini Liliha. One of her new responsibilities was to become legal guardian and sole trustee of the properties of Kamehameha III, who became king as a child. This was opposed by Kaahumanu who was ruling Hawaii as queen regent. Kaahumanu had developed a rivalry with Kuini Liliha.

Boki and his entourage of chiefs were lost at sea and pronounced dead, leaving Kuini Liliha permanently in administration as royal governor.

[edit] Catholicism

Kuini Liliha became embroiled in the dispute over freedom of religion in the kingdom. Kaahumanu had become influenced by the Protestant missionaries in Honolulu and was baptized into the Congregational church. Heeding the advice of her Congregationalist ministers, Kaahumanu influenced Kamehameha III to ban the Roman Catholic Church from the islands.

The priests and lay brothers of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary were forcibly deported from the kingdom. Native Hawaiians who had converted were persecuted. Some were beaten and imprisoned. When Kaahumanu discovered that Boki and Kuini Liliha were among the first chiefs to convert to the suppressed Hawaii Catholic Church it angered the queen regent, who wanted all the chiefs to accept Protestantism in order that all Hawaiians would follow. Kuini Liliha's steadfastness in her Catholicism influenced Native Hawaiian Catholics to persevere even in suppression. Kaahumanu stripped Kuini Liliha of her power.

Only after the intervention of the French government and Captain Cyrille-Pierre-Théodore Laplace and Kamehameha III's proclamation of the Edict of Toleration did Native Hawaiians like Kuini Liliha have the right of membership in the Hawaii Catholic Church.