Poppies
Painted in England, 1890
by Princess Ka'iulani
October 16th, 1875- March 6, 1899
"Four years ago, at the request of Mr. Thurston, then a
Hawaiian Cabinet Minister, I was sent away to England to be educated privately
and fitted to the position which by the constitution of Hawaii I was to
inherit. For all these years, I have patiently and in exile striven to fit
myself for my return this year to my native country. I am now told that Mr.
Thurston will be in Washington asking you to take away my flag and my throne.
No one tells me even this officially. Have I done anything wrong that this
wrong should be done to me and my people? I am coming to Washington to plead
for my throne, my nation and my flag. Will not the great American people hear
me?"
"Seventy years ago, Christian America sent over Christian men
and women to give religion and civilization to Hawaii. Today, three of the sons
of those missionaries are at your capitol asking you to undo their father’s
work. Who sent them? Who gave them the authority to break the Constitution
which they swore they would uphold? Today, I, a poor weak girl with not one of
my people with me and all these ‘Hawaiian’ statesmen against me, have strength
to stand up for the rights of my people. Even now I can hear their wail in my
heart and it gives me strength and courage and I am strong - strong in the
faith of God, strong in the knowledge that I am right, strong in the strength
of seventy million people who in this free land will hear my cry and will
refuse to let their flag cover dishonor to mine!"
2 comments:
The Museum of British Surfing recounts that her cousins surfed in Bridlington in 1890 and mentions that she lived in Brighton: http://www.museumofbritishsurfing.org.uk/2012/04/09/hawaiian-royals-surf-bridlington-in-1890/
great fuckn painting
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