Day 9: Iolani Palace & Waikiki Beach Walk

Thursday morning I jumped on TheBus downtown to Iolani Palace, official residence of King Kalākaua and Queen Lili'uokalani, the last monarchs of the ruling Hawaiian royalty. The palace was built in 1879 with full Masonic rites to mark Hawai'i's status as a modern nation. The palace itself is very modern and includes indoor plumbing, gas and electric chandeliers (less than seven years after Edison invented the first practical incandescent bulb), and a telephone system. Upon entering the palace, we were given shoe coverings to protect the original floors and carpets. As the majority of the visitors to the palace elected to use self-guided audio tours (myself included), it was eerily quiet inside the palace as people shuffled around the rooms staring at strategically placed pieces of furniture and artifacts. My favorite room was the crimson and gold throne room (see photos below) in which formal audiences and diplomats were received, state balls held, and the trial of  Queen Lili`uokalani occurred.

My visit to the Iolani Palace really helped me to understand some of the political and cultural tensions between Hawaiians on the island (see www.iolanipalace.org for more information on the Iolani Palace). Perhaps ignorantly, I have been conditioned to view Hawaii as a part of the United States, no more or less than any other state but for its remote location. What I had largely overlooked prior to my trip to the palace was the ugly and painful history of Hawaii's annexation into the United States. Throughout the island handmade posters and flags can be found on display reminding passers-by that the U.S. "stole" Hawaii from its rightful monarchs and usurped not only land, but the rich culture appropriated by Hawaiian natives. I began to get a clearer picture of this when I entered the sparsely furnished room of the palace where Hawaii'a last ruling monarch, Queen Lili`uokalani, was imprisoned after being overthrown in 1893. In attempting to promote a new constitution that strengthened the power of the monarchy and limited suffrage to subjects of the kingdom, Queen Lili`uokalani was opposed by a group of Hawai`i born citizens of American parents, naturalized citizens and foreign nationals which, with the support of the American Minister to Hawai`i, orchestrated the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the establishment of a provisional government. Queen Lili`uokalani was forced to yield her authority in 1893 and was publicly apprehended and imprisoned in 1895 when a group of Hawaiian royalists attempted to restore her to power.

Queen Lili`uokalani's quilt

The excerpt below is from the Iolani Palace Website, which explains the history of the palace, its occupants, and the state. "Convicted of having knowledge of a royalist plot, Lili`uokalani was fined $5000 and sentenced to five years in prison at hard labor. The sentence was commuted to imprisonment in an upstairs bedroom of `Iolani Palace. During her imprisonment, the queen was denied any visitors other than one lady in waiting. She began each day with her daily devotions followed by reading, quilting, crochet-work, or music composition" (Iolani Palace History, 2013)

The room where Lili`uokalani was imprisoned was available on my tour. On display in this room was a famous quilt that the queen made while imprisoned, largely crafted from swatches of her own wardrobe. It details happy moments in her life and the lives of the Hawaiian people, celebrating the history and culture of Hawaii (see picture above). During this portion of the tour I came to see how the imprisonment and humiliation of the last of Hawaii's royalty at the hands of the United States government could be a cause of the anti-American sentiment that I sometimes feel on the island, despite it being a part of the U.S. So often when I am here I feel as though I am in a foreign country and not on U.S. soil. One hundred years after the overthrow, President Clinton signed a Congressional resolution (Public Law 103-150 ) in which the United States government formally apologized to the Native Hawaiian people (www.iolanipalace.org).

Emerging from the Iolani Palace, I took a transfer bus to Waikiki, where I wandered dazedly around the commercial resort that TheBus had dropped me off at before stumbling out into the street and finding my way toward the quieter Waikiki Beach Walk area. I sought refreshment in a glass of iced lemon mint tea before parousing the local shops which, as I continued down the street, gave way to large designer stores like Coach, Louis Vittone, and Gucci (which I walked past). I purchased a really pretty hand-died skirt and scarf at a local shop, ate lunch at a mom and pop sushi shop (more poke!), then jumped back on TheBus to Kaneohe to meet Derrick and Janine for dinner.

Start of Waikiki Beach Walk

Janine and Derrick being silly at the O Club

At Derrick's suggestion we headed over to the Marine Base where he works for dinner and drinks at the "O Club", the Officer's Club on base that is only accessible to those ranked officers and above. Every time I go on base with Janine, whether it be here or in Jacksonville, I am intrigued to observe the practices of what appears, to me, to be a culture completely separate from civilian cultures. Janine is saluted when she shows her military ID card at the entrance to the base, and the base itself is a little self-sufficient community, complete with elaborate housing, playgrounds, shopping centers, and aircraft. I cannot go on base without Derrick or Janine - we go there ~ 3 times a week - and we would not have been able to eat at the O Club had Derrick not been a junior Lieutenant.That being said, I had an absolutely wonderful night with my friends. We ordered pupus (appetizers), sampled adult beverages, and talked. I met some of the Navy wives that Janine associates with, and we drove home singing old songs that I'd thought had faded from my memory long ago. It was a rare night when we were all home at the same time, available, and really sensing the short amount of time that we all have together before Derrick deploys next week.