Ke Kumu Hawaii
Cover Image: Masthead of Ke Kumu Hawaii, printed on May 22, 1839.
Aloha Nūhou Monday!
Dear Reader,
The book launch and signing event for Awaiaulu’s Nā Hunahuna ‘Ike Hawai‘i: Hawaiian Insights by John Papa ‘Ī‘ī, is on July 29, 2026. Meet us at Bishop Museum from 6-9pm to get your book signed and meet our Nūpepa Team to hear more about Hawaiian language newspapers and He Aupuni Palapala project.
Born in 1800, John Papa ʻĪʻī was a respected Hawaiian writer and educator, and served in the courts of the first five sovereigns of the Hawaiian Kingdom. His writings, found in 19th century newspapers such as Ke Kumu Hawaii, Ka Elele Hawaii, and Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, include personal memoirs, historical accounts, and cultural descriptions.
Ke Kumu Hawaii was the first newspaper printed in Honolulu. It was published by the Sandwich Island Mission and edited by Reuben Tinker, and ran from November 12, 1834 to May 22, 1839. Kumu Hawaii was a bi-monthly paper beginning on November 12, 1834, making it the second Hawaiian-language newspaper, after Lahainaluna Seminary’s Ka Lama Hawaii, which ran from February 14, 1834 to May 16, 1834. There were eight pages in each issue of the first volume and a subscription went for a dollar a year. In the following three volumes the issues were reduced to four pages in length, and a subscription dropped to fifty cents a year.
This week’s blog features an excerpt from ʻĪʻī’s personal account of Kīnaʻu, published in the last issue of Ke Kumu Hawaii in 1839. The nūpepa article was digitized by the He Aupuni Palapala team and the translation is from Awaiaulu’s new book.
A reprint of the May 22, 1839 issue of Ke Kumu Hawaii has been produced for the official launch and book signing. On its front page appears ʻĪʻī’s opening account, “He Moʻoʻōlelo no Kīnaʻu.” Each book purchased that evening will come with a Ke Kumu Hawaii reprint. Receive your copy, open it up, and step back in time.
Image: Daguerreotype of John Papa ʻĪʻī, ca. 1851. Bishop Museum Archives, SP 127362
Image sharing on social media is welcome. For all other uses please contact Archives@BishopMuseum.org.
Image: “He Mooolelo no Kinau.” Ke Kumu Hawaii, May 22, 1839, p. 101.
A Story About Kīnaʻu.
I do not know about Kīnaʻu’s childhood, though others among us might know it well.
However, I did know about her and that she was in the care of Peleuli, Kamehameha’s sister, with little being known about her from the time Kamehameha was here on Oʻahu until he returned from Oʻahu to Hawaiʻi. When Kamehameha and the chiefs took up permanent residence on Hawaiʻi, Kīnaʻu was living on Maui with Peleuli and company until her brother, Kekuāiwa, died there, after which they moved to Hawaiʻi, when I saw her again in Kailua. When we, Liholiho and his retinue, made the circuit around Hawaiʻi to consecrate the temples, Kīnaʻu was also present on that tour. I again saw her at Laupāhoehoe in Hilo, perhaps having come from Kohala, being in the company of Kawelokalani, Peleuli’s husband. We traveled with her along the cliffs of Hilo, seeing Puna and Kaʻū, all the way to Kona, to Kailua and into the presence of Kamehameha and his court. She had not yet been with a man at the time, though was betrothed by Kamehameha in her early childhood to be a wife for Kauikeaouli, but I have forgotten whether they were promised before or after our circuit. Because her older sister, Kamāmalu, became the wife of his [Kauikeaouli’s] older brother, this one [Kīnaʻu] was then paired with his [Liholiho’s] younger brother. It was heard that their father arranged these two daughters to be paired with those two sons to produce royal offspring, and for them to be subjects for the good of the kingdom. Had these two girls lived separately and not wed the two boys, they could have become independent, which was a reason Kamehameha arranged these two with those two boys, for it was heard that each of those girls had many subjects.
Image: Awaiaulu’s latest publication: Nā Hunahuna ʻIke Hawaiʻi: Hawaiian Insights, by John Papa ʻĪʻī, translated by Puakea Nogelmeier.
This post is part of He Aupuni Palapala: Preserving and Digitizing the Hawaiian Language Newspapers, a partnership between Bishop Museum and Awaiaulu with assistance from Kamehameha Schools. Mahalo nui loa to Hawaii Tourism Authority for their support. Learn more about this project here.
