NAHI'ENA'ENA DAY
Princess Nahi`ena`ena, whose name means "stirring the fires," daughter of Kamehameha I, was born approximately in the year 1815, although the exact date isn't known.
Living through a period of great change in Hawai`i, her life was tragically cut short.
Defying the customs of the time, her mother, Keopuolani, kept her infant daughter by her side.
Nahi'ena'ena grew up constantly aware about her high ranking in a changing Hawai`i. This was a source of her conflicted life.
The last years of her life were one of illness and dejection. She gave birth to a son on September 1836. The baby lived for only a few hours.
Nahi'ena'ena never recovered from child birth. She died on December 30, 1836.
Nahi'ena'ena's death, at age 21, was observed for the first time in modern times on December 30, 2001 with traditional Kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiian) protocols at `Iolani Palace Grounds in Honolulu.
Today we remember and honor this descendant of Kamehameha the Great as another fallen warrior - casualty of the invasion and occupation of a foreign culture and military power.
