The Royal Mausoleum Mauna Ala, Hawaiʻi - Hawaiʻi last Queen Liliuokalani Burial

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Keoni Kealoha Alvarez
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This law informed me that our Hawaiian Monarchy and the Hawaiian Kingdom Government kept burials as high priority as sacred places, and severe penalties were set in place to any person caught desecrating a Hawaiian burial site. I decided to visit another sacred place to all the people of Hawaiʻi: it’s called Mauna ʻAla, which means “fragrant mountain.” It's also known as the Royal Mausoleum. It is another very special place to our Hawaiian people. This is where the Kamehameha Dynasty has been buried. Kamehameha II, Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV, and Kamehameha V are buried there; and then also you have distant relatives like Queen Emma, Chiefess Ruth, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, and Princess Kaiulani. They are a few others buried on this property.
A lot of times, our Hawaiian people view this place as a sacred place. They come here to pray, they bring offerings of flowers, leis, to pay homage to our ruling chiefs of Hawaii. As I stand alone, I visit this place, holding a few flower leis offerings to place on the marble monument over the crypt of our chiefs. I noticed many visitors also left their offerings of aloha.
Located in the center of the Royal cemetery, I paid my respects to the royal family of Kalākaua Dynasty, protected and locked with an iron gate as a crypt. Stairs lead to the crypt below-ground. The room was surrounded by marble walls with gold chiefs' names engraved in the marble. A life size statue of King Kalakaua awaits visitors at the base of stairs. This room gave me chills to know that I am in the presence of our chiefs.
The Royal Order of Kamehameha I was established on April 11, 1865 by his Majesty King Kamehameha V (Lot Kapuaiwa) to honor the legacy of his grandfather, the unifier of these islands-- Kamehameha the Great. Lot Kapuaiwa, His Majesty King Kamehameha V, founded the Royal Order of Kamehameha I to promote and to defend the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. This Royal Order of Kamehameha still continues to carry out their royal mission and operate on each Hawaiian island.
I met with a member of the Royal Order of Kamehameha named Paul Neves, and he shared with me his feelings of Queen Liliuokalani: “Queen Liliuokalani wanted was real justice and the justice which identifying the crime that the United States of America has committed. She testifies “America came into my County. American landed their troops. America supported a revolution of treason by the people of my country. America stationed your military troops in Hawaii and forced me to abdicate my throne and forced our flag to fall before yours by force. Five years after that incident, our people themselves signed a petition. 80-90% of our people said and signed a petition they did not want to be a part of The United States of America. But because of greed and corruption America hides that information from the world. They forced us into their government against our will. So, what we want is our freedom.
What a woman Queen Liliuokalani was! You talk about a warrior...a woman with her strength alone... her courage and dignity. And then after all those injustice and insults and taking for her whole country-- not a little part, not a couple of acres, a whole country-- by the great military power, the United States of America.”
In 1993, on the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, President Bill Clinton signed an apology resolution into law acknowledging the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom by the United States of America. Paul commented, “Too bad our Queen Liliuokalani didn't live for 193 years so that she can hear that apology. And I think if she heard that apology, she would say, ‘You're one hundred years too late. And where's the restitution of my government and the dignity of my people, her iwi, still waiting for restitution?” When I spoke with Paul his words of wisdom of international law came from a deep understanding the issues Hawaiians have suffered. He mentioned to me how important it is to get our Hawaiian Kingdom back from the United States of America. Paul says “We must talk about what has happened to our kingdom. Because a lot of people keep telling us that we are something else and we're not. We're living people. We are not museum pieces and our iwi (bones) should never be a museum piece ever.