CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Students from Kuhio School placed leis yesterday at the Royal Mausoleum in Nuuanu to honor the birthday of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole. Jessica Tuquero, left, Dillion Yaji, Yuta Ito, Vina Diep and Ilea Beddow took part in the ceremony.

Students honor
school’s namesake

Kuhio School council members
sing for the prince’s birthday

Eleven students made their way cautiously down a steep stairway and draped leis on the wooden stand fronting the underground crypt of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole.

Then the Kuhio School students sang two songs in Hawaiian in sweet, high-pitched voices that echoed off the walls of the entryway: "Happy Birthday" and the school alma mater.

Each year, the ceremony is repeated by the students of Kuhio School because it is the namesake of Prince Kuhio, often called "Prince of People."

Eleven members of the Student Council went to the Royal Mausoleum on three acres of sacred ground in Nuuanu to commemorate Prince Kuhio's birthday. He was born on March 26, 1871, but the youngsters had to come about a week early because their spring break starts next week, said Debbie Nishihira, council adviser.

Fourth-graders April Jingco and Jessica Tuquero, council vice president, couldn't believe there actually were people buried behind the pristine white marble walls.

"When I heard we were coming here, I was very excited because I've never been to a place where royal people have been buried," Jingco said.

"It was nothing like I thought it would be. I thought it would be like the graveyard next to our school. But here the people are buried under the ground (instead of having their graves marked by headstones on ground level), and it's more peaceful," she said.

Tuquero said, "I was proud to get to see the royal people."

Fourth-grader Sierra Akana added, "I (felt) royal, too," in the presence of the Hawaiian alii buried at the Royal Mausoleum.

As part of the tour, curator and kahu Bill Maioho gave the students a brief history of the mausoleum while they sat in the little church on the grounds. The building, formerly just a burial site for royalty, was converted into a sanctuary where the Hawaiian people could come and pay homage to the alii on their birthdays, he said. It was dedicated to Kuhio when he died in 1922, and opened to the public in 1947.

Maioho constantly referred to the mausoleum as "Mauna Ala" or "fragrant mountain," a specific portion of Nuuanu Valley, because the "fragrance (of trees and flowers) brings back favorite memories of the people buried here."

The state will celebrate the birthday of Prince Kuhio with an official holiday on Friday. Kuhio was the first Hawaii delegate to Congress and spearheaded the establishment of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, among other significant contributions.