Talk:Laura Kōnia

Song comment

To express her special love and complete the relationship of hanai she wrote Liliu a name song. Konia, combining what she considered the best of the old and the new, took an old chant and gave it new words, a method that was not uncommon, adding the suffix lani to Liliu, thus recognizing her of high birth. It goes thus:

               O Lihiu-lani

" Profuse bloom glowing as a delight And lei for Kamakaeha, For Kamakaeha the lei of the forest goddesses, The ladies with baskets of flowers.

Wear a lei, O Liliulani Wear a lei, O Liliulani

Pluck kamani flowers to link with ti flowers As a lei to adorn the lady Beloved by the forest glens And the buds in the mountain greenery.

Kaala* wears a lei of rain and showers Pouring down on Hele-auau** Rainbow mist that ia a lei on pili grass Where nene grass grows close kupukupu ferns.

Wearing a lei of hala fruit of Kelele *** Hala of Malailua that sweethearts dream of Swaying freely amid Kawelu grasses Kamakahala flower leis of Waahila**** rain.

[ Key - * Kaala ( mount Kaalala in Oahu)

         ** Hale-auau ( gulch at Waialua )
        *** Kekele ( below Nuuanu Pali )
       **** Waahila ( rain at Manoa and
                             Nuuanu )

Thus Konia gave in her song, a legacy to Liliu beyond property as the westener conceived it. She gave Liliu the flowers, fruits, the leaves of the trees and vines: she gave her rain; the riches, the verdure, the beauty of Nuuanu Valley; the showers from the mountain tops to the lowest valleys. A royal princess could have no higher heritage; but it could never be hers entirely, for it was shared by all, from forest goddesses to the being of a rainbow lei for pili grass.

Sources

I think the "Royal Ark" gives Keoua-Wahine as Konia's mother and Luahine Kahailiopua as Kalani Pauahi's mother. Need to investigate this. Also "Love remains" is a novel, not a very good source to use. W Nowicki (talk) 02:16, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

That's one of Royal Ark's mistakes. Check the appendix of Liliuokalani's autobiography and you'll see otherwise. We need to remove that then since if it's fiction. But how much of it's true? Should we remove it all?--KAVEBEAR (talk) 02:19, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

People don't like to cite the correct source & worse, misinterpreting what was said. In Liliuokalani's book, she sites Fornander, Kekuanaoa, W. D. Alexander, Kanaina and others as her genealogical source. While the other book by Krout isn't Krout but she cites exactly where her source is from which no one cared to mention. She writes: The following genealogy ,giving the ancestry of Konia, and her daughter Bernice Pauahi, is said to be correct, being substantiated by Fornander, an accepted authority of Hawaiian genealogy. Then she cites "Polynesian Races" by Alexander Fornander, vol. 1., p. 335. She continues to write: Kamehameha I. had to wife in his youth Kaneikapolei (w). There was born to them Kaoleioku, called also Pauli Kaoleioku. This chieftain had to wife Kahailiopua, called more commonly Luahine, and they had a daughter, Konia, who was married to Abner Paki. Kaoleioku, by a previous wife, Keoua (w), had a daughter, Pauahi, who was, by M. Kekuanaoa, the mother of Ruth Keelikolani." So for now, I'll leave the name as Luahine Kahailiopua since, as Fornander says as well as all genealogies acknowledged her as just "Luahine", that she was "more commonly Luahine". People really need to stop romanticizing Hawaiian culture & comparing them to European and applying all European aspects to Hawaiian culture. And citing of sources is good but let's do a better job at citing sources, shall we? Not everyone here needs to be a major part of academia to know how to actually cite sources, but if we do, let's do the research even further! Mamoahina (talk) 15:49, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Just because Luahine was used more doesn't mean it's the correct order. Notice Wahinepio's name and Kalākua Kaheiheimālie's name. I just saying. --KAVEBEAR (talk) 01:31, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Where did I say that it was the correct order? Can you show me where I said that? In the actual edit I only wrote that I'll list Luahine first since it is the name she was commonly known as and others will get confused if they see a name that begins with "K" first. I said that I'll leave it as Luahine Kahailiopua. Because if I said I'll remove "Kahailiopua", you mostly if not Jere Krischel or Zora would have a field day with that because you 3 feel only what you people dictate on anything "Hawaiian" must go and you three always have a reason why that is so. In any case, some people may combine the name or even write them separately which also is confusing. Mamoahina (talk) 09:45, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

I hear it is a good book with historic accuracy in main characters and culture, but a novel nonetheless.

Every one of the high chiefs were there, including pillars of the newly rooted Protestant Church, Queen Kaʻahumanu and Ulumāheihei Hoapili. Kōnia's childhood playmates, including, Harriet Nahienaena, the sister of the king and Kōnia's aunt; Elizabeth Kīnaʻu, the widow of Kamehameha II and Kōnia's "aunt"; Kuini Liliha, her husband's ex-wife; and other members of the court. Among these, John Adams Kuakini, the Governor of the island of Hawaiʻi; and Kekauonohi, another widow of Kamehameha II; sat in the front rows. Even Governor Boki risked being seen in a Protestant church. First, a group of eight men and women sang hymns of Zion. Pākī, with his witness, John Papa ʻĪʻī, stood at the altar, which was adorned by two large brass candlesticks and three red kahili; Konia, dressed in a white satin and embroidered silk gown and wearing a lei po'o of pale yellow feathers, came down the center isle followed by her witnesses, the High Chiefess Kapiʻolani and Kale Davis. Reverend Hiram Bingham conducted the ceremony and Kōnia and Pākī repeated their vows of devotion. Following the weding service they held a simple reception.

I guess it could be called a "dramatization" instead of "fiction". The reviews compare it to James A. Michener style, but probably a bit closer since it seems all the characters are real, but details are filled in to make it a good story. We could add Smith as a "further reading" perhaps? The Kamehameha Schools book on Bernice is online, and has the advantage of being written in modern English with modern Hawaiian orthography. W Nowicki (talk) 00:39, 23 December 2010 (UTC)