by Frank McAlonan
In 1820 American Missionaries voyaged to the Sandwich Islands, later renamed the Hawaiian Islands, to convert its natives to Christianity. By 1850, as the missionary presence grew and settlers and traders arrived from the United States, there was a serious need for a regular postal service.
At 2,300 miles to the west of San Francisco, Hawaii was well positioned to provide fresh water, vegetables, fruit and meat and to do repairs for U.S. and foreign ships involved in the growing trade with Asia. Mail delivery could no longer be left to the goodness and charity of passing ship captains. Residents petitioned King Kamehameha III to establish a postal system with regular dispatch and receipt of mail.
The original missionaries are long gone, their names footnotes in the history books. But the stamps they used to prepay letters written to family, friends and missionary societies are among the most fabled and valuable of the worlds stamps.
Missionaries, as Hawaiis first stamps are known, are what collectors call classics -- stamps issued in extremely limited quantities prior to the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1875. It is estimated that less than 200 Missionary stamps on or off cover have survived.
In the 1850s the growing popularity of pre-paid letters, letters the addressees didnt pay postage for on arrival, sparked the production of thousands of examples of a given stamp. Prior to that time pre-paying a letter with a postage stamp was unusual. Hence the limited amount of stamps produced and their rarity today. The rarest of the Missionaries is the two cent blue; scarce enough to cause a murder.
This is the story:
The two cent Missionary stamp, formerly in the Count Ferrary and Henri Burrus collections, cost a previous owner his life; a prominent philatelist murdered in his Paris apartments in the 1890s. The case puzzled the police because the murderer had left a considerable amount of money behind. In a half-opened desk draw they found gold coins and a diamond studded watch. A valuable Hawaiian stamp collection was prominently displayed and apparently intact. As the victim, Gaston Leroux, had no known enemies and nothing appeared stolen, the police lacked both a suspect and a motive.
A detective working the murder case knew stamps, and with no leads to go on, he decided to compare Lerouxs Hawaiian stamp collection against its written inventory. Its not often that a homicide detective can enjoy stamps on the job.
He found the star of the collection was missing, the two cent Missionary of 1851. Following this lead, he visited the Parisian stamp dealers that might have occasion to carry high priced stamps to see if he could locate it and determine who had sold it. No dealer had the stamp nor admitted to selling it.
Among Lerouxs circle of friends a fellow philatelist, Hector Giroux, came under suspicion. By posing as an avid stamp collector the detective gained an introduction to Giroux and won his confidence. On a visit to the suspects apartment the conversation turned to rare stamps and to the Hawaiian Missionaries. The two cents issue, being the great rarity it was, came up in the conversation and Giroux, as eager as any collector to show off his better items, brought out an album containing the missing stamp from Lerouxs collection.
Giroux was brought in for questioning. After failing to give a credible explanation of how he had acquired the stamp, he was arrested, charged with murder and brought to trial. Under repeated questioning he eventually broke down and confessed that he murdered his friend because of Lerouxs refusal to sell him the two cents Missionary that would have completed his Hawaiian collection. Giroux was hanged.
Only 26 covers bearing Missionary stamps are known, and only one surviving cover bears the two cent stamp. It sold in 1995 for $2,100,000. Known as the Dawson cover, it was found in the furnace of an abandoned tannery in 1905. The building was being converted for another use and the original owners had been burning up old records. A janitor who knew a little about stamps spotted the cover in the furnace among some unburned papers. He also found the only known multiple of any Missionary stamp on a second cover addressed to Ms. Dawson; today its in the National Postal Museum in Washington. A strip of three 13 cent stamps are on it overpaying the 35 cent rate for a 1.5 ounce letter.
Before Hawaii had a postal system letters were carried to East Coast ports by ship captains as a favor, or more typically for two cents per letter. Without stamps or rate markings Hawaiian letters are known by their contents or docketing notations (date sent, received and replied to) written on the covers after delivery.
In 1850 the Hawaiian Islands signed a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with the United States. According to article 15 of the treaty Hawaiian mail would be entered into the U.S. mail system at U.S. domestic rates. Hawaiis first postmaster, Henry Whitney, had the Missionaries printed to prepay the foreign mail charge to the US. They were done at the Government Printing Office where the local newspaper, the Polynesian, was printed. Four typeset denominations of the stamps were crudely printed on a small hand operated press used to make business cards.
The two cent rate paid the Hawaiian portion of the newspaper rate and the five cent rate covered Hawaiis charge to carry mail from the Honolulu post office to a waiting ship in the harbor. If only five cents was paid the letter arrived in San Francisco, California, U.S. postage unpaid.
If the sender wanted to prepay the U.S. and Hawaiian postage charge, he bought a 13 cent stamp. The 13 cent rate included Hawaiis 5 cent foreign mail charge to carry a single weight letter out to the ship, two cents to pay the ships captain for carrying the letter from Hawaii, and the 6 cent rate to carry the letter from San Francisco to the East Coast of the United States via Panama. There was a problem with the 13 cent value.
Since the stamp said Hawaiian postage at the top, clerks at the receiving office in San Francisco were confused and thought U.S. postage was owed, so they were charging recipients postage due. To solve the problem Whitney had the stamp reprinted in early 1852 with H.I. & U.S.
Postage at the top.
The recently issued U.S. Missionaries Souvenir Sheet portrays the four stamps and the Dawson cover, all of which were sold from the fabulous Honolulu Advertiser newspapers collection in 1995 by Seigel Auction Galleries in New York City.
At the turn of the 19th century Mekeels Stamp Newspaper ran surveys to find out what were the most popular countries to collect. Hawaii consistently was at the head of the list. When Henry Whitney visited Boston, Massachusetts, where many of the Hawaiian church leaders came from, he was lionized, much to his surprise. To this day Hawaii ranks high on collectors lists.
The Missionary stamps were printed on thin and brittle pelure paper. Almost all the stamps have varying degrees of damage and most have been repaired, except for the Grinnells.
The Grinnell hoard of 51 Missionary stamps sits in the vaults of the Royal Philatelic Society in London awaiting expertising. The cache surfaced in 1919 after being found in a sermon book of a seacaptain who had stopped in Honolulu in 1853, or so the story goes. Many of the leading experts of the day declared them forgeries.
Virgin find of Hawaiian Missionaries. Very important. Come at once, read a telegram from Bertram Poole of Los Angeles to fellow stamp dealer John Klemann in New York on November 22, 1919. Poole asked $100,000 for them, ultimately settling on a price of $65,000 for 43 stamps. Klemanns principal backer was one of the greatest stamp collectors of all time, Alfred Caspary, who had backed him with $50,000.
Caspary chose sixteen of the stamps and paid $75,000 for them on December 13th. Two days later Caspary told Klemann he was convinced all the stamps were fakes, and the dealer returned his money to him. Klemann in turn sued Grinnell to get his money. The case went to trial in 1922. Grinnell, ignoring testimony that the stamps were forgeries, argued the dealer had bought the stamps without warranty.
Experts testified that the postmarks, although similar to those on genuine stamps, were not the same, and that the stamps were produced using stereotyping or photoelectrotyping. The judge declared them forgeries.
In subsequent examinations experts have noted the paper varieties among the Grinnell Missionaries did not match up with the known paper used to print genuine Missionaries. Proponents argue paper varieties are a natural occurrence with multiple printings.
Update March 2009:
The prestigious Royal Philatelic Society in London has again ruled that the Grinnells are counterfeit. In spite of having the decision go against them the heirs of the original owners are not wholly displeased with the society's findings as affirmed in their (the heirs) press release.
The press release states: ‘After two years of study and philatelic expertisation of unprecedented duration and complexity, the Expert Committee recently informed us that they have rejected several of the major, decades-long counterfeit allegations against the Grinnell Missionaries, but still ruled that, in their opinion, the stamps are forgeries. A formal report by the Royal Philatelic Society London is expected to be published in
the London Philatelist early next year.
Despite the decision, the present owners declare themselves ‘delighted and optimistic about the significant progress now made in overturning the earlier, incorrect evidence that some philatelists have repeatedly used as the basis for claiming them forgeries. We appreciate’, they continue, ‘the extensive work of the Expert Committee and their recognition that time-honoured, but absolutely mistaken beliefs about the Grinnells’ characteristics have been in error.’
Nevertheless they are ‘surprised’ that the Expert Committee ‘presented new interpretations leading to the opinion that they are forgeries’ and plan to continue research, because they ‘respectfully believe the Expert Committee’s forgery interpretation and conclusion should be challenged by further study.’
The Hawaiian Missionaries still have secrets to tell.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The monarchs of Hawai'i
from the formation of the kingdom
in 1810 until the overthrow of the
monarchy in 1893:
King Kamehameha I
Reigned 1810-1819
(called Kamehameha the Great)
(b. 1737- d. 1819)
As a young man of about twenty-five, he was present at Kealakekua when Captain Cook's ships anchored there. At the time, various kings had attempted to unite the entire island chain under one command. Kamehameha proceeded to establish his rule of the entire island of Hawaii. With the Big Island, Hawaii, safely in his hand, he set out to conquer the leeward islands, moving through Maui, Lanai and Molokai. To take O'ahu, he built an immense fleet of canoes to transport his warriors. They landed in a two-pronged attack with half the fleet coming ashore at Waialae and half at Waikiki. The united force drove Oahu's defenders into Nuuanu Valley. Trapped in the valley, the Oahuans were forced to surrender or be pushed over the precipitous Nuuanu Pali.
The King of Kauai and Niihau accepted Kamehameha as his sovereign. At this time, foreign ships began arriving in increasing numbers, bringing domestic animals, trees, fruits and plants never before seen in Hawaii. They also brought diseases, alcohol and firearms. With little immunity to new diseases, the Hawaiians soon began to die in alarming numbers while the destruction of their traditional way of life brought on (okuu) a melancholy loss of the will to live.
King Kamehameha II
Reigned 1819-1824
(also called Liholiho)
(b. 1797, d. 1824)
A great contrast from his father, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) was 22 years old when he became King. Kaahumanu, Kamehameha I's chief wife, confronted the King and said that it had been his father's wish for her to share rulership of the land. Had anyone attempted such audacity in front of Kamehameha I, the culprit might well have been slain on the spot. Liholiho offered no objection and split his power in half with Kaahumanu. Early in his reign, Kaahumanu and his mother, Keopuolani, talked him into publicly breaking Kapu by sitting down to eat with a group of noble women in view of onlooking commoners.
The signal had unmistakenly been given that the ancient religion of Hawaii was dying. Shortly thereafter, Liholiho ordered god images burned and heiaus demolished throughout the islands. The missionaries who came to Hawaii beginning in 1820 were nearly all from puritan New England, which explains much about their character. The missionaries devised a written form for the Hawaiian language, enabling the Hawaiian people to read and write in their native language. Schools were established throughout the islands as rapidly as possible.
In 1823, Kamehameha II, Queen Kamamalu and a few chiefs and women sailed to England. They toured London and joined in entertainments arranged in their honor by the British aristocracy. While there, the King and Queen contracted measles. Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu died of measles while visiting London The unhappy news of their death reached Hawaii in 1825.
Queen Kaahumanu
(b. 1772, d. 1832)
Kamehameha III's mother, Queen Kaahumanu, was Hawaii's regent from 1823 until 1832. She was Kamehameha the Great's favorite wife. A bold and intelligent woman, she served as kuhina-nui (premier sharing of kingly power) with Kamehameha II and as regent for Kamehameha III. She played a leading role in the overthrow of the ancient kapu system. In league with the King's mother, Keopuolani, she convinced Kamehameha II to sit down and eat with the women in violation of one of ancient Hawaii's most serious prohibitions. In old Hawaii, women were second-class citizens, more severely handicapped by endless kapus than the men of any class. With the overthrow of the kapu system, she was enabled to exercise political authority.
King Kamehameha III
Reigned June 1825 - December 1854
(b. 1814, d. 1854)
Kauikeaouli, the last son of Kamehameha I to be King, ascended the throne when he was ten years old, upon the death of his older brother. Queen Kaahumanu governed as regent during Kauikeaouli's boyhood with the assistance of a council of chiefly advisors. He was King at a very difficult period in Hawaii's history. He proclaimed the Hawaiian Declaration of Rights and provided the Hawaiian Kingdom with its first constitution in 1840. The influx of large numbers of foreign residents brought new problems concerning trade, credit, land titles and a plague of complications unknown to the simple Hawaii of just a few decades earlier. His reign of twenty-nine years was the longest of any Hawaiian monarch.
During his young manhood, personal troubles worthy of a Greek tragedy embittered his life. Prince Kauikeaouli and his sister, Princess Nahienaena, were very much in love. Such unions were desirable among the nobles of ancient Hawaii, conferring higher rank to the children of the union, just as they were among Egyptian pharaohs. Close relatives often married to keep the chiefly bloodlines pure and to assure children with powerful "mana." This word describes a Polynesian concept in which certain persons possess supernatural power and authority derived from ancestors who held mana. Tortured by love of her brother and guilt from new-found Christian beliefs that had made inroads into traditional Hawaiian ways, Princess Nahienaena drifted into despondency and died at the age of twenty-one. Long after Prince Kauikeaouli became King Kamehameha III, he regularly visited her grave in Lahaina, Maui.
The Hawaiian royal family, Kamehameha III c.1853
left-right:
Victoria Kamāmalu, later Kuhina Nui/Premier, Lot Kapuaiwa, later King Kamehameha V,
Kauikeaouli, King Kamehameha III, Alexander Liholiho, later King Kamehameha IV,
and Queen Kalama. whole plate daguerreotype
King Kamehameha IV
Reigned January 1855 - November 1863
(b. 1834, d. 1863) (also called Alexander Liholiho)
Kamehameha IV, born Alexander 'Iolani Liholiho Keawenui, reigned as the fourth king of the united Kingdom of Hawai‘i from 11 January 1855 to 30 November 1863. He served alongside Emma, Queen Consort of Hawai‘i. Alexander was born on 9 February 1834 in Honolulu on the island of O'ahu to Mataio Kekuanaoa, Governor of Hawai'i, and Kīna'u, the Kuhina Nui or Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. He was the grandson of Kamehameha the Great. When Alexander was born, his uncle, Kamehameha III came to visit and left a message on the door saying "This child is mine" He decreed Alexander heir to the throne and raised him as a prince. Alexander was the younger brother of Lot Kapuaiwa, who later became King Kamehameha V. He was the first grandson of Kamehameha the Great to become King of Hawaii. During Kamehameha IV's reign and that of his successor, there was a growing agitation on the part of the sugar planters for annexation to the United States. Many foreign residents did not wish to become citizens of Hawaii but wanted to be able to vote in elections. They wanted political power to safeguard their own interests and would have preferred that common Hawaiians remain voteless.
Princess Victoria Kamamalu
Queen for a day
Kamehameha IV died without a confirmed successor to the throne. Section II Article 47 of the 1852 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom provided that the Kuhina Nui, in absence of a Monarch, would fill the vacant office. "Whenever the throne shall become vacant by reason of the King's death, or otherwise, and during the minority of any heir to the throne, the Kuhina Nui, for the time being, shall, during such vacancy or minority, perform all the duties incumbent on the King, and shall have and exercise all the powers, which by this Constitution are vested in the King." Princess Victoria Kamamalu was the Kuhina Nui during the reign of Kamehameha IV and upon his death, ascended to the role of Monarch. As the Head of State to the Hawaiian Kingdom, she immediately named Lot Kapuaiwa (her other brother) to the Office of Monarch. Hawaiian Kingdom law permitted her to do this. Princess Victoria Kamamalu is often overlooked in Hawaiian history and rarely recognized as a Queen of Hawai'i. She was literally a "Queen for a day."
King Kamehameha V
Reigned November 1863 - December 1872
(also called Lot Kapuaiwa) (b. 1830, d. 1872)
Brother to Kamehameha IV, Lot Kamehameha was the final direct descendant of Kamehameha the Great to sit on Hawaii's throne and the last Hawaiian monarch to reign in the old style. After him, Hawaii's rulers were elected by the Hawaiian Legislature. Problems with the United States continued as they had during his brother's reign. Agitation by certain elements in favor of annexation by the U.S. threatened Hawaii's independence. The King tried to defuse relations by promoting a treaty of reciprocity that would allow Hawaiian sugar to enter the American market duty-free. The Civil War had cut the Union off from Southern sugar and so there was a great demand from the North for sugar. Racial troubles increased in Kamehameha V's era due to well-founded suspicions that white immigrants were trying to take over the Kingdom. In 1866, a fist fight broke out in the Legislature between white and Hawaiian members. Such an incident was probably long overdue for it was a most peculiar legislature wherein white legislators refused to speak Hawaiian, the kingdom's official language, and native Hawaiian members refused to use English. Kamehameha V never married and had no child, and died without naming a successor.
Mataio Kekuanaoa was Kuhina Nui after Princess Victoria Kamamalu, he was the birth father of Kings Kamehameha IV and V.
KING WILLIAM LUNALILO
Reigned January 8, 1873 until February 3, 1874
Prince William Lunalilo, grand-nephew of King Kamehameha the Great, became King Jan 8 1873 by vote of the people. King William was the highest living Chief. William Lunalilo was confirmed as King of Hawaii by the Hawaiian Legislature after an informal popular vote. Lunalilo was more liberal than his predecessor and made serious efforts to democratize the constitution. Once again, the question of the treaty of reciprocity with the U.S. surfaced. The Hawaiian sugar industry needed a natural market like the United States to absorb its increasing production. King Lunalilo allowed himself to endorse the cession of Pearl Harbor, though he felt it was an unwise accommodation to the powerful American giant. Once the news reached the Hawaiian public, they were outraged. Widespread disapproval of the idea forced its eventual abandonment. He died without naming a successor.He was a well educated man of high intelligence. His reign lasted only one year and twenty-five days. He passed away February 3, 1874.
KING KALAKUA I
Reigned February 12, 1874 until January 20, 1891
High Chief David Kalakua, by vote of the Legislature became King of Hawaii February 12, 1874. King David Kalakaua was elected by the Hawaiian Legislature of 1874 amid scenes of violence and indignity. His rival for the throne was the dowager Queen Emma. King Kalakaua was concerned with the well-being of his native Hawaiian people. He maintained a policy of filling administrative posts with Hawaiians wherever possible, a practice that did little to calm the fears of American businessmen who had supported him against Queen Emma. While favoring his people, Kalakaua repeatedly and sincerely insisted that there was room in Hawaii for all kinds of people. King Kalakaua became known in Hawaiian history as the "Merry Monarch." He loved parties, balls and entertainment. He enjoyed talking to such noted visitors as Robert Louis Stevenson. He included mass dances of the ancient sacred hulas in his parties. Toward the end of his reign, his cabinet was overthrown, a new constitution deprived him of almost all his power, and an ill-fated insurrection took place favoring the abdication of Kalakaua and his replacement by Princess Lili'uokalani. King Kalakaua I, died without children and appointed his sister as his heir. She succeeded to the throne when he died in 1891.
Queen Julia Kapiolani
1834 - 1899
Kapiolani, formally Julia Kapiolani or Julia Kapi'olani Napelakapuokakae, was married to King David Kalakaua and reigned as Queen Consort of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was the granddaughter of Kaumualii, the last king of the island of Kauai before being ceded to the unified Hawaiian Islands governed by Kamehameha the Great. She was also the step-daughter of Queen Regent Kaahumanu. Queen Julia Kapiolani's principal legacy was her establishment of the Kapi'olani Maternity Hospital for native Hawaiian mothers. It survives today as the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children. The premier park in Waikiki also bears her name.
QUEEN LILIUOKALANI
REIGNED 1891 until 1893
(b. 1838- d. 1917)
Queen Lydia Kamehameha Liliu-o-kalani, Queen Liliu-o-kalani was the last ruler of an independent Hawai'i, She succeeded to the throne in 1891 but was forced to abdicate in 1893 in a coup d-état by American colonists. Queen Liliuokalani was the sister of King David Kalakua and the adopted daughter of Prince Mataio Kekuanaoa.
She was already leading the nation as regent when King Kalakaua died in San Francisco. At the time that she became Queen, the political and economic climate was extremely complicated. Rivalry was intense between white businessmen who dominated the economy and native politicians who still retained the power to get things accomplished. The annexationists were badly outnumbered, and certainty the majority of the Hawaiian people, as well as many white residents, were against annexation. But the economic power structure was not intimidated by mere lack of popular support. On the whole, these businessmen were those who considered Hawaiians incapable of self-government. And, as businessmen, the annexationists believed that the monarchy was too inept to safeguard the interests of property and profits.
Lili'uokalani announced her intention to promulgate a new constitution which would restore the power of the monarchy. A Committee of Safety was formed by prominent annexationists. They took it upon themselves to create a provisional government and a militia. The Queen could have declared martial law and arrested the conspirators, but she felt that this would begin armed conflict which would result in loss of innocent lives. The Committee of Safety then made its move and armed companies of militia took over government buildings and offices. The evening before, marines and sailors from the U.S.S. Boston were landed to keep order in Honolulu and their commander, Captain G.C. Wiltse, openly supported the Provisionals. The Queen was powerless.
Finally on January 17, 1893, the Queen faced the inevitable and surrendered under protest. On January 31, Minister Stevens, at the request of the Provisional Government's advisory council, raised the U.S. flag over Honolulu. Annexation was thought to be a mere formality. President Cleveland's administration, however, concluded that the monarchy had been overthrown by force with the complicity of the U.S. minister and annexation was not accepted.
In 1895, Hawaiians loyal to the Queen staged a revolt in an attempt to restore Lili'uokalani to the throne. The revolt was soon crushed and the Queen was arrested and placed under detention in an apartment of her own I'olani Palace. She was also forced to relinquish any claim to the throne as a condition to obtain amnesty for the Hawaiian rebels.
In the United States things had changed, there was war with Spain and a new ascendence for imperialism, President McKinley signed the resolution of annexation on July 7, 1898. It may have been a happy day for businessmen and new ruling classes of Hawaii, but for many others it was a day of sadness. Large numbers of royalists and common Hawaiians gathered quietly at the home of deposed Queen Lili'uokalani and Crown Princess Kaiulani to silently console them and pay homage to the last monarch of the forever-lost kingdom.
A "post-script" to the Hawai'ian monarchy:
Princess Victoria Kaiulani
1875 - 1899 was never Queen although she was Crown Princess
Victoria Ka‘iulani, formally Victoria Kawekiu Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Ka‘iulani Cleghorn (October 16, 1875–March 6, 1899), was heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i and held the title of crown princess. Ka‘iulani became known throughout the world for her intelligence, beauty and determination. During the overthrow of her kingdom in 1893, she spearheaded a campaign to restore the monarchy by speaking before Congress and pleading with the President of the United States Benjamin Harrison and later Grover Cleveland. Her life story grew to legendary proportions after her untimely death.
Early Years
Victoria Ka‘iulani was born in Honolulu to Princess Miriam K. Likelike, sister to the reigning monarch of Hawai‘i, King David Kalakāua. It is through her mother that Ka‘iulani is descended from High Chief Kepo‘okalani, the first cousin of Kamehameha the Great. Ka‘iulani's father was a Scottish financier from Edinburgh and former Royal Governor of O‘ahu Archibald Cleghorn. Ka‘iulani was named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, whose help restored the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i during the reign of Kamehameha III. The name Ka‘iulani translates from the Hawaiian language as the highest point of heaven. Upon her birth, Ka‘iulani was gifted the estate of ‘Āinahau in Waikīkī by her godmother, Princess Ruth Ke‘elikolani. Ka‘iulani became mistress of ‘Āinahau at the age of 12 upon the death of her mother.
Education
Because Princess Ka‘iulani was second in line to the throne after her aunt, Princess Lili‘uokalani, it was predicted that the young girl would eventually become Queen. King Kalākaua, Queen Kapi‘olani, Cleghorn, and Princess Lili‘uokalani talked about the issue and it was determined that it would be in the young Princess's best interests that she be given a British education. In 1889, at the age of 13, Ka‘iulani was sent to Northamptonshire, England to be given a private education. She excelled in her studies there. She continued to study in England for the next several years, despite the fact that she had originally been told that she would only be studying in Britain for one year.
Overthrow
During her absence, much turmoil occurred back in Hawai‘i. King Kalākaua passed away in 1891 and Princess Lydia Lili‘uokalani became Queen. Lili‘uokalani immediately appointed Ka‘iulani as her heir, and Ka‘iulani became the Crown Princess. In 1893, a revolution occurred and the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. The news arrived to Ka‘iulani on January 30, 1893 in a short telegram that said: "'Queen Deposed', 'Monarchy Abrogated', 'Break News to Princess'".
Ka'iulani decided to take action and traveled to the United States the following month. She traveled through New York City and Boston where she attended numerous press conferences and banquets. She then went to Washington DC where she met with President Cleveland and his wife at the White House. She made a good impression and Cleveland promised to help her cause. Ka‘iulani felt satisfied that something would be done and returned to England. However, when Cleveland brought forth Ka‘iulani's case to Congress, the United States Senate refused to help. The situation in Hawai‘i did not improve, and Ka‘iulani grew impatient. Over the next few years, Ka‘iulani remained in Europe. There, she received news in 1894 that her childhood friend and famed author, Robert Louis Stevenson, had passed away and that Hawai‘i had become a republic. Her health slowly began to deteriorate. Ka‘iulani's health worsened when she learned that her half-sister, Annie Cleghorn, had passed away in 1897.
Late Years
Ka‘iulani returned to Hawai‘i in 1897. The return to a warmer climate did not help her health at all, as she had spent more than seven years in Europe. Her health continued to deteriorate as she struggled to readjust to the subtropical climate of the Hawaiian islands. However, she continued to make public appearances at the urging of her father.
Ka‘iulani was famous for her love of peacocks, and she kept the animals on her estate. For this reason, another name for her is the Peacock Princess.
In 1898, while on a horse ride in the mountains of Hawai‘i Island, she got caught in a storm and shortly came down with a fever. Ka‘iulani was brought back to the Island of O‘ahu where her health continued to decline. She passed away on March 6, 1899 at the age of 23.
After Death
Scottish poet Robert Louis Stevenson memorialized Ka‘iulani in an often quoted poem. "Forth from her land to mine she goes, the island maid, the island rose; light of heart and bright of face: the daughter of a double race. Her islands here, in southern sun, shall mourn their Kaiulani gone, and I, in her dear banyan shade, look vainly for my little maid. But our Scots islands far away shall glitter with unwonted day, and cast for once their tempests by to smile in Kaiulani's eye."
In 1999, a bronze statue cast by Jan Gordon Fisher was dedicated in the triangle park at Kanekapolei and Kuhio Avenues in Waikiki, Honolulu.
in 1810 until the overthrow of the
monarchy in 1893:
King Kamehameha, Kam. II, Kam.III, Kam. IV
Kamehameha V, King Lunalilo, King Kalakua, Queen Liliuokalani
King Kamehameha I
Reigned 1810-1819
(called Kamehameha the Great)
(b. 1737- d. 1819)
As a young man of about twenty-five, he was present at Kealakekua when Captain Cook's ships anchored there. At the time, various kings had attempted to unite the entire island chain under one command. Kamehameha proceeded to establish his rule of the entire island of Hawaii. With the Big Island, Hawaii, safely in his hand, he set out to conquer the leeward islands, moving through Maui, Lanai and Molokai. To take O'ahu, he built an immense fleet of canoes to transport his warriors. They landed in a two-pronged attack with half the fleet coming ashore at Waialae and half at Waikiki. The united force drove Oahu's defenders into Nuuanu Valley. Trapped in the valley, the Oahuans were forced to surrender or be pushed over the precipitous Nuuanu Pali.
The King of Kauai and Niihau accepted Kamehameha as his sovereign. At this time, foreign ships began arriving in increasing numbers, bringing domestic animals, trees, fruits and plants never before seen in Hawaii. They also brought diseases, alcohol and firearms. With little immunity to new diseases, the Hawaiians soon began to die in alarming numbers while the destruction of their traditional way of life brought on (okuu) a melancholy loss of the will to live.
King Kamehameha II
Reigned 1819-1824
(also called Liholiho)
(b. 1797, d. 1824)
A great contrast from his father, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) was 22 years old when he became King. Kaahumanu, Kamehameha I's chief wife, confronted the King and said that it had been his father's wish for her to share rulership of the land. Had anyone attempted such audacity in front of Kamehameha I, the culprit might well have been slain on the spot. Liholiho offered no objection and split his power in half with Kaahumanu. Early in his reign, Kaahumanu and his mother, Keopuolani, talked him into publicly breaking Kapu by sitting down to eat with a group of noble women in view of onlooking commoners.
The signal had unmistakenly been given that the ancient religion of Hawaii was dying. Shortly thereafter, Liholiho ordered god images burned and heiaus demolished throughout the islands. The missionaries who came to Hawaii beginning in 1820 were nearly all from puritan New England, which explains much about their character. The missionaries devised a written form for the Hawaiian language, enabling the Hawaiian people to read and write in their native language. Schools were established throughout the islands as rapidly as possible.
In 1823, Kamehameha II, Queen Kamamalu and a few chiefs and women sailed to England. They toured London and joined in entertainments arranged in their honor by the British aristocracy. While there, the King and Queen contracted measles. Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu died of measles while visiting London The unhappy news of their death reached Hawaii in 1825.
Queen Kaahumanu
(b. 1772, d. 1832)
Kamehameha III's mother, Queen Kaahumanu, was Hawaii's regent from 1823 until 1832. She was Kamehameha the Great's favorite wife. A bold and intelligent woman, she served as kuhina-nui (premier sharing of kingly power) with Kamehameha II and as regent for Kamehameha III. She played a leading role in the overthrow of the ancient kapu system. In league with the King's mother, Keopuolani, she convinced Kamehameha II to sit down and eat with the women in violation of one of ancient Hawaii's most serious prohibitions. In old Hawaii, women were second-class citizens, more severely handicapped by endless kapus than the men of any class. With the overthrow of the kapu system, she was enabled to exercise political authority.
King Kamehameha III
Reigned June 1825 - December 1854
(b. 1814, d. 1854)
Kauikeaouli, the last son of Kamehameha I to be King, ascended the throne when he was ten years old, upon the death of his older brother. Queen Kaahumanu governed as regent during Kauikeaouli's boyhood with the assistance of a council of chiefly advisors. He was King at a very difficult period in Hawaii's history. He proclaimed the Hawaiian Declaration of Rights and provided the Hawaiian Kingdom with its first constitution in 1840. The influx of large numbers of foreign residents brought new problems concerning trade, credit, land titles and a plague of complications unknown to the simple Hawaii of just a few decades earlier. His reign of twenty-nine years was the longest of any Hawaiian monarch.
During his young manhood, personal troubles worthy of a Greek tragedy embittered his life. Prince Kauikeaouli and his sister, Princess Nahienaena, were very much in love. Such unions were desirable among the nobles of ancient Hawaii, conferring higher rank to the children of the union, just as they were among Egyptian pharaohs. Close relatives often married to keep the chiefly bloodlines pure and to assure children with powerful "mana." This word describes a Polynesian concept in which certain persons possess supernatural power and authority derived from ancestors who held mana. Tortured by love of her brother and guilt from new-found Christian beliefs that had made inroads into traditional Hawaiian ways, Princess Nahienaena drifted into despondency and died at the age of twenty-one. Long after Prince Kauikeaouli became King Kamehameha III, he regularly visited her grave in Lahaina, Maui.
The Hawaiian royal family, Kamehameha III c.1853
left-right:
Victoria Kamāmalu, later Kuhina Nui/Premier, Lot Kapuaiwa, later King Kamehameha V,
Kauikeaouli, King Kamehameha III, Alexander Liholiho, later King Kamehameha IV,
and Queen Kalama. whole plate daguerreotype
King Kamehameha IV
Reigned January 1855 - November 1863
(b. 1834, d. 1863) (also called Alexander Liholiho)
Kamehameha IV, born Alexander 'Iolani Liholiho Keawenui, reigned as the fourth king of the united Kingdom of Hawai‘i from 11 January 1855 to 30 November 1863. He served alongside Emma, Queen Consort of Hawai‘i. Alexander was born on 9 February 1834 in Honolulu on the island of O'ahu to Mataio Kekuanaoa, Governor of Hawai'i, and Kīna'u, the Kuhina Nui or Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. He was the grandson of Kamehameha the Great. When Alexander was born, his uncle, Kamehameha III came to visit and left a message on the door saying "This child is mine" He decreed Alexander heir to the throne and raised him as a prince. Alexander was the younger brother of Lot Kapuaiwa, who later became King Kamehameha V. He was the first grandson of Kamehameha the Great to become King of Hawaii. During Kamehameha IV's reign and that of his successor, there was a growing agitation on the part of the sugar planters for annexation to the United States. Many foreign residents did not wish to become citizens of Hawaii but wanted to be able to vote in elections. They wanted political power to safeguard their own interests and would have preferred that common Hawaiians remain voteless.
Princess Victoria Kamamalu
Queen for a day
Kamehameha IV died without a confirmed successor to the throne. Section II Article 47 of the 1852 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom provided that the Kuhina Nui, in absence of a Monarch, would fill the vacant office. "Whenever the throne shall become vacant by reason of the King's death, or otherwise, and during the minority of any heir to the throne, the Kuhina Nui, for the time being, shall, during such vacancy or minority, perform all the duties incumbent on the King, and shall have and exercise all the powers, which by this Constitution are vested in the King." Princess Victoria Kamamalu was the Kuhina Nui during the reign of Kamehameha IV and upon his death, ascended to the role of Monarch. As the Head of State to the Hawaiian Kingdom, she immediately named Lot Kapuaiwa (her other brother) to the Office of Monarch. Hawaiian Kingdom law permitted her to do this. Princess Victoria Kamamalu is often overlooked in Hawaiian history and rarely recognized as a Queen of Hawai'i. She was literally a "Queen for a day."
King Kamehameha V
Reigned November 1863 - December 1872
(also called Lot Kapuaiwa) (b. 1830, d. 1872)
Brother to Kamehameha IV, Lot Kamehameha was the final direct descendant of Kamehameha the Great to sit on Hawaii's throne and the last Hawaiian monarch to reign in the old style. After him, Hawaii's rulers were elected by the Hawaiian Legislature. Problems with the United States continued as they had during his brother's reign. Agitation by certain elements in favor of annexation by the U.S. threatened Hawaii's independence. The King tried to defuse relations by promoting a treaty of reciprocity that would allow Hawaiian sugar to enter the American market duty-free. The Civil War had cut the Union off from Southern sugar and so there was a great demand from the North for sugar. Racial troubles increased in Kamehameha V's era due to well-founded suspicions that white immigrants were trying to take over the Kingdom. In 1866, a fist fight broke out in the Legislature between white and Hawaiian members. Such an incident was probably long overdue for it was a most peculiar legislature wherein white legislators refused to speak Hawaiian, the kingdom's official language, and native Hawaiian members refused to use English. Kamehameha V never married and had no child, and died without naming a successor.
Mataio Kekuanaoa was Kuhina Nui after Princess Victoria Kamamalu, he was the birth father of Kings Kamehameha IV and V.
KING WILLIAM LUNALILO
Reigned January 8, 1873 until February 3, 1874
Prince William Lunalilo, grand-nephew of King Kamehameha the Great, became King Jan 8 1873 by vote of the people. King William was the highest living Chief. William Lunalilo was confirmed as King of Hawaii by the Hawaiian Legislature after an informal popular vote. Lunalilo was more liberal than his predecessor and made serious efforts to democratize the constitution. Once again, the question of the treaty of reciprocity with the U.S. surfaced. The Hawaiian sugar industry needed a natural market like the United States to absorb its increasing production. King Lunalilo allowed himself to endorse the cession of Pearl Harbor, though he felt it was an unwise accommodation to the powerful American giant. Once the news reached the Hawaiian public, they were outraged. Widespread disapproval of the idea forced its eventual abandonment. He died without naming a successor.He was a well educated man of high intelligence. His reign lasted only one year and twenty-five days. He passed away February 3, 1874.
KING KALAKUA I
Reigned February 12, 1874 until January 20, 1891
High Chief David Kalakua, by vote of the Legislature became King of Hawaii February 12, 1874. King David Kalakaua was elected by the Hawaiian Legislature of 1874 amid scenes of violence and indignity. His rival for the throne was the dowager Queen Emma. King Kalakaua was concerned with the well-being of his native Hawaiian people. He maintained a policy of filling administrative posts with Hawaiians wherever possible, a practice that did little to calm the fears of American businessmen who had supported him against Queen Emma. While favoring his people, Kalakaua repeatedly and sincerely insisted that there was room in Hawaii for all kinds of people. King Kalakaua became known in Hawaiian history as the "Merry Monarch." He loved parties, balls and entertainment. He enjoyed talking to such noted visitors as Robert Louis Stevenson. He included mass dances of the ancient sacred hulas in his parties. Toward the end of his reign, his cabinet was overthrown, a new constitution deprived him of almost all his power, and an ill-fated insurrection took place favoring the abdication of Kalakaua and his replacement by Princess Lili'uokalani. King Kalakaua I, died without children and appointed his sister as his heir. She succeeded to the throne when he died in 1891.
Queen Julia Kapiolani
1834 - 1899
Kapiolani, formally Julia Kapiolani or Julia Kapi'olani Napelakapuokakae, was married to King David Kalakaua and reigned as Queen Consort of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was the granddaughter of Kaumualii, the last king of the island of Kauai before being ceded to the unified Hawaiian Islands governed by Kamehameha the Great. She was also the step-daughter of Queen Regent Kaahumanu. Queen Julia Kapiolani's principal legacy was her establishment of the Kapi'olani Maternity Hospital for native Hawaiian mothers. It survives today as the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children. The premier park in Waikiki also bears her name.
QUEEN LILIUOKALANI
REIGNED 1891 until 1893
(b. 1838- d. 1917)
Queen Lydia Kamehameha Liliu-o-kalani, Queen Liliu-o-kalani was the last ruler of an independent Hawai'i, She succeeded to the throne in 1891 but was forced to abdicate in 1893 in a coup d-état by American colonists. Queen Liliuokalani was the sister of King David Kalakua and the adopted daughter of Prince Mataio Kekuanaoa.
She was already leading the nation as regent when King Kalakaua died in San Francisco. At the time that she became Queen, the political and economic climate was extremely complicated. Rivalry was intense between white businessmen who dominated the economy and native politicians who still retained the power to get things accomplished. The annexationists were badly outnumbered, and certainty the majority of the Hawaiian people, as well as many white residents, were against annexation. But the economic power structure was not intimidated by mere lack of popular support. On the whole, these businessmen were those who considered Hawaiians incapable of self-government. And, as businessmen, the annexationists believed that the monarchy was too inept to safeguard the interests of property and profits.
Lili'uokalani announced her intention to promulgate a new constitution which would restore the power of the monarchy. A Committee of Safety was formed by prominent annexationists. They took it upon themselves to create a provisional government and a militia. The Queen could have declared martial law and arrested the conspirators, but she felt that this would begin armed conflict which would result in loss of innocent lives. The Committee of Safety then made its move and armed companies of militia took over government buildings and offices. The evening before, marines and sailors from the U.S.S. Boston were landed to keep order in Honolulu and their commander, Captain G.C. Wiltse, openly supported the Provisionals. The Queen was powerless.
Finally on January 17, 1893, the Queen faced the inevitable and surrendered under protest. On January 31, Minister Stevens, at the request of the Provisional Government's advisory council, raised the U.S. flag over Honolulu. Annexation was thought to be a mere formality. President Cleveland's administration, however, concluded that the monarchy had been overthrown by force with the complicity of the U.S. minister and annexation was not accepted.
In 1895, Hawaiians loyal to the Queen staged a revolt in an attempt to restore Lili'uokalani to the throne. The revolt was soon crushed and the Queen was arrested and placed under detention in an apartment of her own I'olani Palace. She was also forced to relinquish any claim to the throne as a condition to obtain amnesty for the Hawaiian rebels.
In the United States things had changed, there was war with Spain and a new ascendence for imperialism, President McKinley signed the resolution of annexation on July 7, 1898. It may have been a happy day for businessmen and new ruling classes of Hawaii, but for many others it was a day of sadness. Large numbers of royalists and common Hawaiians gathered quietly at the home of deposed Queen Lili'uokalani and Crown Princess Kaiulani to silently console them and pay homage to the last monarch of the forever-lost kingdom.
A "post-script" to the Hawai'ian monarchy:
Princess Victoria Kaiulani
1875 - 1899 was never Queen although she was Crown Princess
Victoria Ka‘iulani, formally Victoria Kawekiu Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Ka‘iulani Cleghorn (October 16, 1875–March 6, 1899), was heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i and held the title of crown princess. Ka‘iulani became known throughout the world for her intelligence, beauty and determination. During the overthrow of her kingdom in 1893, she spearheaded a campaign to restore the monarchy by speaking before Congress and pleading with the President of the United States Benjamin Harrison and later Grover Cleveland. Her life story grew to legendary proportions after her untimely death.
Early Years
Victoria Ka‘iulani was born in Honolulu to Princess Miriam K. Likelike, sister to the reigning monarch of Hawai‘i, King David Kalakāua. It is through her mother that Ka‘iulani is descended from High Chief Kepo‘okalani, the first cousin of Kamehameha the Great. Ka‘iulani's father was a Scottish financier from Edinburgh and former Royal Governor of O‘ahu Archibald Cleghorn. Ka‘iulani was named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, whose help restored the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i during the reign of Kamehameha III. The name Ka‘iulani translates from the Hawaiian language as the highest point of heaven. Upon her birth, Ka‘iulani was gifted the estate of ‘Āinahau in Waikīkī by her godmother, Princess Ruth Ke‘elikolani. Ka‘iulani became mistress of ‘Āinahau at the age of 12 upon the death of her mother.
Education
Because Princess Ka‘iulani was second in line to the throne after her aunt, Princess Lili‘uokalani, it was predicted that the young girl would eventually become Queen. King Kalākaua, Queen Kapi‘olani, Cleghorn, and Princess Lili‘uokalani talked about the issue and it was determined that it would be in the young Princess's best interests that she be given a British education. In 1889, at the age of 13, Ka‘iulani was sent to Northamptonshire, England to be given a private education. She excelled in her studies there. She continued to study in England for the next several years, despite the fact that she had originally been told that she would only be studying in Britain for one year.
Overthrow
During her absence, much turmoil occurred back in Hawai‘i. King Kalākaua passed away in 1891 and Princess Lydia Lili‘uokalani became Queen. Lili‘uokalani immediately appointed Ka‘iulani as her heir, and Ka‘iulani became the Crown Princess. In 1893, a revolution occurred and the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. The news arrived to Ka‘iulani on January 30, 1893 in a short telegram that said: "'Queen Deposed', 'Monarchy Abrogated', 'Break News to Princess'".
Ka'iulani decided to take action and traveled to the United States the following month. She traveled through New York City and Boston where she attended numerous press conferences and banquets. She then went to Washington DC where she met with President Cleveland and his wife at the White House. She made a good impression and Cleveland promised to help her cause. Ka‘iulani felt satisfied that something would be done and returned to England. However, when Cleveland brought forth Ka‘iulani's case to Congress, the United States Senate refused to help. The situation in Hawai‘i did not improve, and Ka‘iulani grew impatient. Over the next few years, Ka‘iulani remained in Europe. There, she received news in 1894 that her childhood friend and famed author, Robert Louis Stevenson, had passed away and that Hawai‘i had become a republic. Her health slowly began to deteriorate. Ka‘iulani's health worsened when she learned that her half-sister, Annie Cleghorn, had passed away in 1897.
Late Years
Ka‘iulani returned to Hawai‘i in 1897. The return to a warmer climate did not help her health at all, as she had spent more than seven years in Europe. Her health continued to deteriorate as she struggled to readjust to the subtropical climate of the Hawaiian islands. However, she continued to make public appearances at the urging of her father.
Ka‘iulani was famous for her love of peacocks, and she kept the animals on her estate. For this reason, another name for her is the Peacock Princess.
In 1898, while on a horse ride in the mountains of Hawai‘i Island, she got caught in a storm and shortly came down with a fever. Ka‘iulani was brought back to the Island of O‘ahu where her health continued to decline. She passed away on March 6, 1899 at the age of 23.
After Death
Scottish poet Robert Louis Stevenson memorialized Ka‘iulani in an often quoted poem. "Forth from her land to mine she goes, the island maid, the island rose; light of heart and bright of face: the daughter of a double race. Her islands here, in southern sun, shall mourn their Kaiulani gone, and I, in her dear banyan shade, look vainly for my little maid. But our Scots islands far away shall glitter with unwonted day, and cast for once their tempests by to smile in Kaiulani's eye."
In 1999, a bronze statue cast by Jan Gordon Fisher was dedicated in the triangle park at Kanekapolei and Kuhio Avenues in Waikiki, Honolulu.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Prehistoric women had passion for fashion
Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:06pm
By Ljilja Cvekic
PLOCNIK, Serbia (Reuters) - If the figurines found in an ancient European settlement are any guide, women have been dressing to impress for at least 7,500 years.
Recent excavations at the site -- part of the Vinca culture which was Europe's biggest prehistoric civilization -- point to a metropolis with a great degree of sophistication and a taste for art and fashion, archaeologists say.
In the Neolithic settlement in a valley nestled between rivers, mountains and forests in what is now southern Serbia, men rushed around a smoking furnace melting metal for tools. An ox pulled a load of ore, passing by an art workshop and a group of young women in short skirts.
"According to the figurines we found, young women were beautifully dressed, like today's girls in short tops and mini skirts, and wore bracelets around their arms," said archaeologist Julka Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic.
The unnamed tribe who lived between 5400 and 4700 BC in the 120-hectare site at what is now Plocnik knew about trade, handcrafts, art and metallurgy. Near the settlement, a thermal well might be evidence of Europe's oldest spa."They pursued beauty and produced 60 different forms of wonderful pottery and figurines, not only to represent deities, but also out of pure enjoyment," said Kuzmanovic.
The findings suggest an advanced division of labor and organization. Houses had stoves, there were special holes for trash, and the dead were buried in a tidy necropolis. People slept on woolen mats and fur, made clothes of wool, flax and leather and kept animals.
The community was especially fond of children. Artifacts include toys such as animals and rattles of clay, and small, clumsily crafted pots apparently made by children at playtime.
COPPER AGE
One of the most exciting finds for archaeologists was the discovery of a sophisticated metal workshop with a furnace and tools including a copper chisel and a two-headed hammer and axe.
"This might prove that the Copper Age started in Europe at least 500 years earlier than we thought," Kuzmanovic said.
The Copper Age marks the first stage of humans' use of metal, with copper tools used alongside older stone implements. It is thought to have started around the 4th millennium BC in south-east Europe, and earlier in the Middle East.
The Vinca culture flourished from 5500 to 4000 BC on the territories of what is now Bosnia, Serbia, Romania and Macedonia.
It got its name from the present-day village of Vinca, 10 km east of Belgrade on the Danube river, where early 20th-century excavations uncovered the remains of eight Neolithic villages.
The discovery of a mine -- Europe's oldest -- at the nearby Mlava river suggested at the time that Vinca could be Europe's first metal culture, a theory now backed up by the Plocnik site.
"These latest findings show that the Vinca culture was from the very beginning a metallurgical culture," said archaeologist Dusan Sljivar of Serbia's National Museum. "They knew how to find minerals, to transport them and melt them into tools."
The metal workshop in Plocnik was a room of some 25 square meters, with walls built out of wood coated with clay.
The furnace, built on the outside of the room, featured earthen pipe-like air vents with hundreds of tiny holes in them and a prototype chimney to ensure air goes into the furnace to feed the fire and smoke comes out safely.
"In Bulgaria and Cyprus, where such workshops have also been found, they didn't have chimneys but blew air on the fire with straws, exposing man to heat and carbon dioxide," Sljivar said.
COLOURFUL MINERALS
He said the early metal workers very likely experimented with colorful minerals that caught their eye -- blue azurite, bright green malachite and red cuprite, all containing copper -- as evidenced by malachite traces found on the inside of a pot.
The settlement was destroyed at some point, probably in the first part of the fifth millennium, by a huge fire.
The Plocnik site was first discovered in 1927 when the then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was building a rail line from the southern city of Nis to the province of Kosovo.
Some findings were published at the time but war, lack of funds and objections from farmers meant it was investigated only sporadically until digging started in earnest in 1996.
"The saddest thing for us is always the moment when we finish our work and everything has to be covered up with earth again," Kuzmanovic said. "That's the easiest for the state, conservation is very expensive and the land owners want to work in their fields."
But there was some hope that the latest excavation would be preserved due to its importance, Kuzmanovic added.
"We dream of uncovering the entire town one day, and people will be able to see prehistoric life at its fullest," she said.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Kingdom of Hawaii Issues
Some Images of Hawaiian Stamps From Before The 1893 Provisional Issues
note: pictures are not to scale (yet)
Hawaii number 6
Hawaii number 8
Hawaii number 9
Hawaii number 10R
Hawaii 10s
Hawaii number 11
Hawaii number 16
Hawaii number 25
Hawaii 30A with a nice "H" cancel
31A with "H" cancel
31A with "cogwheel" cancel
31A with cork "HI" cancel
Hawaii number 34
note: pictures are not to scale (yet)
Hawaii number 6
Hawaii number 8
Hawaii number 9
Hawaii number 10R
Hawaii 10s
Hawaii number 11
Hawaii number 16
Hawaii number 25
Hawaii 30A with a nice "H" cancel
31A with "H" cancel
31A with "cogwheel" cancel
31A with cork "HI" cancel
Hawaii number 34
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