PAUAHI (KALANIPAUAHI) // PRINCESS OF HAWAI’I
“She was a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii in the House of Kamehameha. The name Pauahi originated in an incident which occurred in her childhood. By an accidental explosion of gunpowder she narrowly escaped being burned to death. Five men were killed in the catastrophe, her mother house was burned to the ground, and she was badly injured. In commemorating her escape she was given the name Pauahi, which is composed of two Hawaiian words, pau, "finished", or "completed" and ahi, "fire", which, when translated, means "the fire is out". When she was 11, the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawai’i was restored. She was raised as an older hānai sister to Lili’uokalani and was offered the throne on two occasions. She declined, believing she could take care of her lāhui by not taking the throne. She married her uncle Kamehameha II as one of his five consorts. Her first husband Kamehameha II died in London in 1824 and she became Queen dowager like all his other wives at a very young age. She remarried twice more to Prince Kahalaiʻa Luanuʻu and Mataio Kekūanaōʻa. She died soon after giving birth to her daughter, who had been born after being married to her third husband for only a few months. Her daughter's unorthodox birth was a reason Keʻelikōlani was regarded somewhat outside the legitimate Hawaiian nobility. Her will gave life to schools for the aboriginal Kānaka of Hawai’i, honouring her great-grandfather, Kamehameha, who unified Hawai’i.”
