We invite all of our Kauai vacation rental guests to honor Kauai native son Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Piikoi. The two week long Prince Kuhio Celebration is held every March along the Poipu Beach coastline.
There are many Kauai events this year including hands-on cultural education offerings, music and hula performances, plenty of chances to eat ono (delicious) Hawaiian food, a Hawaiian outrigger canoe race and the Commemorative Ceremonies with the Royal Order of Kamehameha. Many events are free.
2016 Kauai Event Schedule: See the Prince Kuhio Celebration website for a list of this year’s Kauai activities from March 25-27, 2016.
About Prince Kuhio
Prince Kuhio was born March 26, 1871 in Koloa. He was an heir to the Hawaiian throne, but never got there because of the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893. Two years later, he was arrested for his part in an attempt to restore the monarch and spent two years in jail.
On his release Prince Kuhio and his wife, Chiefess Elizabeth Kahanu Kaauwai, spent traveling extensively in Europe, where they were treated as visiting royalty. After he returned to Hawaii, he was elected as the Republican delegate to the U.S. Congress, where he served many years.
In 1919, he sponsored a bill calling for Hawaiian statehood, 40 years before it became a reality. Perhaps he is best known for the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921, with the goal of assuring Native Hawaiians would be able to have homes on their native land.
Prince Kuhio also reorganized the Royal Order of Kamehameha and was the founder of the first Hawaiian Civic Club. He died in Honolulu in 1922 at the age of 50. He is buried at Mauna Ala, the Royal Mausoleum in Nuuanu, Oahu.
Biographical information about Prince Kuhio provided by the late Stella Burgess, Grand Hyatt Kauai.