
10/17/2025
On July 31, 1843, Pauahi watched her nation rise again. That day, later celebrated as Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Restoration Day, became the first national holiday of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
As a student at the Chiefs’ Children’s School, Pauahi recorded the joy of that moment in her own hand: “[t]hey pulled down the English flag and hoisted the Hawaiian flag and we were all rejoicing. This evening the largest children went down to Mrs. Hooper’s and we sang, ʻGod Save the King.’”
On the inside cover of her journal, the young chiefess drew the symbols she held most dear: the hae Hawaiʻi, flying proudly on its staff, and the hae kalaunu (royal standard) of her uncle and king, Kauikeaouli. Beneath them were the carefully written letters “BERN,” a tender shorthand for her own name.
Education as the Hope of a Nation: The founding of Kamehameha Schools was never about laws, treaties, or politics By Sterling Wong at kawaiola.news/hoonaauao/education-as-the-hope-of-a-nation.