Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day in Hawaii

Prince Kalanianaole was a prince indeed – a prince of good fellows and a man among men. A man of sterling sincerity and strong convictions – he always stood for what he deemed right – yielding to no weakness, and manly always.

Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day was created to honor him in 1949.

The observance for the second holiday on the same calendar day shall be governed by the applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement, Memorandum of Agreement, Supplemental Agreement, and Administrative Directives.

Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole’s was born on the island of Kauai, Hawaiian Islands, on March 26, 1871. His father, Kahalepouli, was a high chief and the son of the last King of Kauai; his mother was Princess Kinoiki Kekaulike, sister of Queen Kapiolani, consort of King Kalakaua. As a member of the royal family he was brought up in the court of his uncle, the King, and took part in all official functions and receptions at the palace.

Although he grew up to early manhood as one of the royal family, with the probability ever before him that he would some day be the King of the Hawaiian Islands, he was democratic by nature, taking part in all athletic sports and excelling in football and rowing. He was an expert horseman and there was nothing he enjoyed more keenly than going with the cowboys after wild cattle and horses on the rugged slopes of Mauna Kea, or spearing wild boars from the back of a horse. He was a polo player of no mean ability. He also was fond of yachting and game fishing – sports which he enjoyed almost to the day of his death.

Of royal lineage and a probable future king, his outlook on life and his prospects were brought to an abrupt change by the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, when the Republic of Hawaii was established.

The young prince was then 21 years of age. Two years later there was a revolution of the Hawaiians, with the object of reinstating the ex-Queen, and Prince Kuhio, true to his beliefs, took part in this revolution. For this he and other leaders were arrested as political prisoners and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment. While he was in prison he became engaged to a young chiefess whom many of you know as his gracious princess wife. They were married soon after his release and left shortly for a tour of the world, among other places visiting Africa, where he hunted big game. He was there during the Boer War and took part on the side of the British.

He returned to his island home in the fall of 1901, and in 1902, after urgent persuasion, became the Republican candidate for delegate to Congress and was in that year elected for his first term.

Characteristically, after having made up his mind as to his path of duty, he never swerved, and was elected to Congress for 10 consecutive terms notwithstanding that he continued at the head of his party’s ticket at great personal sacrifice. In all these elections he was loyally supported by the great majority of the white residents of Hawaii, as well as his own people.

The Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day celebrations vary in duration and are celebrated by festivals and parades.

Source: hawaii.gov

In 2025 Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day in Hawaii in USA falls on March 26.