(Lot Kapuaiwa Kalanimakua Aliiolani Kalani Kapuapaikalaninui)

Royal Festival in Hawai’i, December 11, 2014

Hear ye, one and all! The royal procession moves slowly and deliberately into the Supreme Court chamber of Aliiolani Hale, just across the street from Iolani Palace, the imposing home of the Hawaiian monarchs in Honolulu and the only legitimate palace in the United States. Various alii (royalty) and elders, wearing capes, tall feathered hats, eight-pointed crosses, long white and black dresses, are preceded by the ceremonial blowing of the conch shell, a pule (prayer) and the royal pahu (drum), which lift the sacred silence.

 

What century are we in? What place? Here, in the year 2014, in post-modern Hawai’i, where popular culture, tourism and the military appear to reign, there exists a special hidden treasure of rich social and cultural history, ritual and knowledge, that survives from the time of the monarchy, even though much was destroyed or forced underground after contact with the settlers from abroad.

 

The preparations and protocol are familiar to the honored participants and hosts, the Most Royal Order of King Kamehameha I (founded by Kamehameha V), the Royal Guard and other nobles, as the royal celebration begins. It commemorates the birthday, death, life, principles and accomplishments of His Majesty King Kamehameha V, fondly known as Prince Lot, who succeeded to the throne in 1863. The event takes place in Aliiolani Hale, Hawai’i’s first courthouse. Originally designed to be the new palace of Kamehameha V, it became instead an elegant house of justice, representing the principles and the service to the people of Hawai’i of the laws that protected their rights as subjects and nationals of the kingdom. It was here that the monarch convened the first Constitutional Convention in 1864.

 

Among this group of dignitaries there is a palpable aura of understanding of the meaning of the ritual and ceremony—representing reverence, love and spirituality—that have been meticulously passed down like jewels through generations of ruling kings and queens and their families since 1810.

 

The annual celebration provides a social roadmap of the islands’ noble history and reflects the vision of Hawai’i’s leaders and recognition of its centrality to world leaders, policy, negotiations and trade, as a connecting place between the east and the west, exemplified by the 90-plus foreign nations, embassies and consulates with which Hawai’i established treaties during a time when missionaries, traders and entrepreneurs set out to explore the world in the 1800s.

 

A select few dignitaries are chosen and invited to participate in and/or witness the royal rituals held perennially in this very private event honoring the noble history and bloodline of Hawai’i, and to share their special service and contributions to Hawaiians and the larger world community. The honored and invited guests at this event included members of the Supreme Court, several knightly orders, and a few knights representing the Knights of the Orthodox Order of St. John Russian Grand Priory: Prior of Hawai’i, Dr. Terry Shintani; Knight, Honorable U.S. Senator (ret.) Daniel Akaka; Dame, award-winning poet, Dr. Kathryn Takara; Knight, Steven Onoue, one of the organizers of the Prince Lot Hula Festival (whose designation incorporates the name of Kamehameha V before he became king); and Knight, Aaron Mahi, former head of the Royal Hawaiian Band, descendant of the royal house and relative of Kamehameha V. Our Knight, the Honorable U.S. Senator (ret.) Akaka attracted much of the attention, as he is Hawai’i’s highest-ranking retired government official and much beloved.

 

The Orthodox Order of St. John Russian Grand Priory descends from the original Order of Knights Hospitaller, established in 1048 in Jerusalem, whose members were readily identified by the eight-pointed cross indicating their commitment to the principles expressed in the Order’s motto, Pro Fide, Pro Utilitate Hominum (For Faith, for Service to Humanity). The order eventually evolved into various hospitals and global service organizations.

 

The almost forgotten connections between the ruling families of Hawai’i and Imperial Russia (confirmed by treaty in 1869) have been resurrected with the establishment of the Orthodox Order of St. John Russian Grand Priory in Honolulu. In fact, at Iolani Palace, the visitor can see some of the gifts and emblems exchanged between Emperor Alexander II and King Kalakaua (who succeeded Kamehameha V), such as a bust and an oil portrait of Alexander II himself.