Hawaiian Culture and Influence in America

Section 1 - Jacqueline (Jackie) Kauilani Kalama Maynard was born on October 8th, 1939
in Nanikuli, Oahu, Hawaii. She is the second youngest in a family of twelve siblings. Her father
was a manager of a lumber yard, while her mother was a stay-at-home mom. Being in such a
large family, times were financially tight. Growing up, Jackie remembers there being a lot of
chickens and rabbits running around in the yard. Often, these animals would be used for dinner,
and the family found themselves living off of the land. Coming from a family of limited means,
Jackie had to fight for everything she has accomplished in her life. She remembers walking to
and from school barefoot as a child. When Jackie was ten years old, she and all of her family,
except two siblings, were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As she
became old enough Jackie started to attend the Church College of Hawaii, which later became
BYU-Hawaii. During the nineteen years that Jackie lived in Hawaii she became a professional
hula dancer. After coming to Utah she continued this Hawaiian tradition of hula dancing in a
restaurant called, The Hawaiian.
Section 2 - In 1959 Jackie decided to transfer from the Church College of Hawaii to BYU
in Provo, Utah. She was nineteen years old when she came to Utah, and immediately started to
feel culture shock. Almost every aspect of the culture differed from what she grew up with, from
the way people acted and interacted with one another down to the weather. This was her first
time experiencing snow. Fitting in was a major concern and struggle for Jackie and many other
Hawaiian natives. Persecution and prejudices were some of the prime struggles that Jackie ran
into as she was adjusting to the new culture. She clearly remembers one day when a Hawaiian
girl walked into class late, and as she sat down the entire class stood up and sat on the opposite
side of the room of the young lady. Searching to fit in and have a support system Jackie joined

the Hawaiian club at school. Here she met many friends and the man she would eventually
marry. He had recently returned from an LDS service mission to the Hawaiian Islands, and had
joined the Hawaiian club upon returning to school in Provo. Counselors from the Hawaiian club
helped Jackie to see that not everybody in Utah was prejudiced, and she learned to cope with
those that were by showing respect to others and treating them the way she herself would like to
be treated. Jackie graduated with a degree in education and went to California for a while to
teach. Eventually she got married to Jim, the man she had met in the Hawaiian club, and they
returned to Utah to start their new life together. When asked about the culture of Hawaii, one of
the things Jackie stressed was that music is such an important part of Hawaii; it is everywhere.
Because of this, music was and is a large part of Jackies life, and upon hearing the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir, she decided that she would like to be a part of the magnificent group. After
taking vocal lessons from its director, she began her twenty years of singing for the choir, a
tradition that was carried on by her daughter a year after Jackie retired.
Section 3 Hawaii has a rich and long developed culture. It is believed that around 300500 AD a group of Polynesians first found Hawaii by canoe. By 500 AD the first Heiau or
temple was constructed on the big island of Hawaii where the locals could worship their Gods,
Ku and Lono the Gods of War, and Peace and Agriculture, respectively. By 900 AD all of the
major islands were inhabited. In 1200 AD Tahitian explorers arrived and conquered the Native
Hawaiians and established a ruling king for each island. In 1782 Kamehameha I became the king
of the Big Island of Hawaii, and in 1792 he conquered Maui, Lanai, Molokai, and Oahu. In 1810
he unified all of the Hawaiian Islands under a single rule. In 1819 Kamehameha II took over, and
destroyed the Heiau and abolished the Hawaiian religious system which opened up Hawaii to
missionaries from the Americas and England (Hawaiian History, 2000).

Section 4 Until the late 1700s Hawaii had a virgin culture untouched by the outside
world. This changed on January 18, 1778 when explorer Captain James Cook, a British
commander, found the islands of Oahu and Kauai. Many islanders thought that Cook was Lono,
God of Peace and Agriculture reincarnate. Cook brought with him many diseases that Hawaiian
natives had never experienced before and it decimated their population. It is estimated that
250,000 to 1,000,000 Hawaiian natives lived on the islands when cook first arrived in 1778, and
by 1848 the population had dwindled to a mere 88,000 (Hawaiian History, 2000).
In 1845 Kamehameha III declared the Great Mehele, which changed the way that land
was distributed. This allowed foreigners to purchase land, and soon private estates began to pop
up all over the islands. By 1893 approximately ninety percent of Hawaiian land was owned by
foreigners, who then brought outside laborers to work the sugar and pineapple fields, stripping
the natives of a valuable source of income. In the mid- to late- 1800s Japanese and Spanish
immigrants began to arrive, and Hawaii started to become a melting pot of cultures and sub
cultures. (Hawaiian History, 2000).
Seeing that Hawaii was beginning to lose its identity, King David Kalakaua began trying
to restore Hawaiian traditions. Hawaiis famous hula festival was named after this ruler in
memory of his efforts to bring back some of Hawaiis roots. David was the first king in Hawaiian
history to visit the United States, but in 1891 he died during a trip to San Francisco. The throne
went to his younger sister Liliuokalani, making her the first queen of Hawaii. (Hawaiian
History, 2000).
The influx of American businessmen into Hawaii eventually lead to a movement to annex
Hawaii to the United States. These men organized a group called the Hawaiian League. These
men wished to have more control over the port of lucrative resources that were found on the

island. Among these were sugar and sandalwood. Backed by a paramilitary group called the
Honolulu Rifle Company, the Hawaiian League forced King Kalakaua under the threat of
violence into signing a new constitution that stripped him of much of his ruling power before his
death in 1891. Liliuokalani took up rule hoping to restore some of the power to the throne that
her brother had signed away. Two rights she fought to restore were voting rights for her people
and rebuilding the power of the throne. The Hawaiian League did not appreciate her efforts and
saw them as a direct threat to the new found power and wealth they had achieved. Once again
backed by the Honolulu Rifle Company and John Stevens, who had United States Marines at his
disposal, the Hawaiian League, under its new name, Committee of Safety, removed
Liliuokalani from power and the Provisional Government of Hawaii was formed (Hawaiian
Song, 2016).
In 1895 the Provisional Government imprisoned the queen and members of her
household. She was accused of being involved in an attempt to restore her to power and
overthrow the Provisional Government; she was tried and found guilty. She was then imprisoned
in a room in Iolani Palace where she was kept for a year. It is in this room where she penned
many of the most famous traditional Hawaiian songs, including the famous Aloha Oe. (Hawaiian
Song, 2016).
Section 5 During Liliuokalanis imprisonment she composed a song entitled Ke Aloha
O Ka Haku, or more commonly known as the Queens Prayer. In this song she addresses her
captors and asks God to forgive them of their sins with loving kindness. This is an especially
powerful song when you consider that it was written during a time she was imprisoned in a
single room for a year, while her entire land and people were being taken over by foreign
invaders. This song fits right into traditional Hawaiian music as it follows the pattern of a laid

back society. With soft soothing sounds accompanied by string instruments and beautiful vocal
lines, it shows the love that the Hawaiian people have for all around them. The lyrics were
originally written in Hawaiian but Liliuokalani translated it herself in English:
1. O Lord, thy loving mercy
Is high as the heavens,
It tells us of thy truth,
And tis filled with holiness.
2. Whilst humbly meditating,
Within these walls imprisoned,
Though art my light, my haven,
Thy glory my support.
3. Oh! Look not on their failings,
Nor on the sins of men,
Forgive with loving kindness,
That we might be made pure.
4. For thy grace I beseech thee,
Bring us neath thy protection,
And peace will be our portion,
Now and forevermore. Amen.
(Queen Liliuokalani, The Queens Songbook, p. 60)

This song is written in common time in the key of C major. It is written as a hymn, which
is shown in the music as a chordal texture. In the attached recording, it is sung by male voices
and is accompanied by stringed instruments, such as the ukulele and guitar. The song is written
in four measure phrases, with an Amen cadence. (New Hope Oahu Queens Prayer, 2:12).
After the annexation of Hawaii to the United States there began to be a newfound interest
of Hawaiian music in America. Hawaiians began to participate in many American expositions.
This interest in Hawaiian music lasted well into the early twentieth century. One major influence

Hawaiian music has had on American culture is Bird of Paradise which premiered in Los
Angeles, and opened on Broadway in 1912.

Bibliography
Hawaiian History: A Brief History of Hawaii 300 AD-1900. 2000 webmaster: on-line solutions.
http://www.deephawaii.com/hawaiianhistory.htm. Accessed October 28, 2016.
Hawaiian Song. Online Text. Retrieved form the Library of Congress,
https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197484/. Accessed October 28, 2016.
New Hope Oahu Queens Prayer. YouTube, uploaded by NewHopeOahu, 28 May, 2011,
https://youtu.be/y8jRaktNVo8. Accessed October 29, 2016
Queen Liliuokalani. The Queens Songbook: Her Majesty Queen Liliuokalani. 60. Text and
music notation by Dorothy Kahananui Gillett, Edited by Barbara Barnard Smith, Hui
Hanai: Honolulu, 1999.