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.
