► Queen Emma Hunts for Hidden Alii

Honolulu Star Bulletin. June 19, 1953 - Tales About Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor 

QUEEN EMMA HUNTS
FOR HIDDEN ALII

HIDDEN ALII, No. 4

     It was a sunny day in the 1870s when Queen Emma and her mother The High Chiefess Kekala set out on their journey to Waianae, Oahu in search of the lost relatives of the Hidden Alii.

     They had no trouble locating the widow Kalehua when they arrived at Waianae. They found her living in a humble grass house with two children running about, a boy and a girl.

     The woman was flustered when she discovered that her callers were the gracious Queen Emma and her mother. She had only seen them at a distance before.

HUMBLE FISHERMAN

     She said "Yes" her name was Kalehua, but when the Queen asked if her husband was Kalawainui, the woman looked dismayed and said she had never heard of such a man. Her husband's name was Kaluhikai (Tired and Weary), a humble fisherman not a "Big Fisherman."

     The baffled Queen looked at the lovely young girl and the handsome boy in dismay. She asked many questions but could get no further information about the husband from Kalehua.

     The dejected Queen and her mother left Waianae and returned to Honolulu where they hastily summoned Kauhai and upbraided him for giving them information which led to a dreary trip for nothing.

     Kauhai assured the Queen she was on the right track, but he told her she would never discover the hidden alii by asking for him by his correct name. She must learn his assumed name and then ask for him.

     Queen Emma made a second trip to Waianae. This time she took Kauhai with her.

BUNDLED SECRET

     When the group reached the home of Kalehua, Kauhai did not stop to ask questions about the husband. He said to the woman, "Where is the bundle your husband left with you and told you never to open?"

     Immediately Kalehua ran to an inner room and came back with a bundle wrapped in beautiful tapa. She laid the bundle at the Queen's feet without opening it.

     Queen Emma's hands trembled as she opened the bundle. In it, she found a feather shoulder cape worked with a design used only by members of her family and a girdle of red feathers.

     Kalehua stared. She had never seen the contents of that bundle and she told Kauhia that her husband had never told her his true name or that he was an alii.

Next: Queen gains a family

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Source: https://familysearch.org/patron/v2/TH-300-43958-0-84/dist.pdf?ctx=ArtCtxPublic