By Carole Lanialoha Lee with Ryan Schuessler
These words, first spoken by Liliʻuokalani, have taken on a special meaning in Chicago. Here, in the heart of the Midwest, the Hawaiian civic spirit burns strong.
Founded in 2005 by Joelladean Hinano Keliikoa-Lee, Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani Hawaiian Civic Club of Chicago proudly carried Prince Kūhiō’s legacy in the Midwest until 2015.
In 2020, our city’s Kānaka gathered at the foot of the William McKinley statue in Chicago, defending our beloved Princess Kaʻiulani during a time of turmoil. We realized the need to reinstate the legacy of our club’s founder. On Oct. 19, 2023, Ke Aliʻi Victoria Kaʻiulani Hawaiian Civic Club-Chicago received its charter.
Keliikoa-Lee, our club’s founder – and my mother – chose “mai poʻina ʻole” as our club’s motto. She believed that we have the kūleana to identify and honor the burial sites of our kūpuna who moe me ka maluhia lani in the Midwest.
My mother loved history and genealogy, so “mai poʻina ʻole” made sense for her. It makes sense for Chicago too – a large city nestled in the Midwest – a region often viewed as “flyover country.” A place that gets forgotten.
Mai poʻina ʻole.
During lockdown, our civic club began digging into our community’s history. Some of our members partnered with the Field Museum to create an exhibition, and those co-curators chose to tell the story of how hula was preserved, protected, and perpetuated in Chicago.
Research for the exhibit revealed some untold stories; Hawaiians have been a part of Chicago’s cultural landscape for more than 130 years.
Among the first to visit were aliʻi. Kalākaua visited Chicago in 1875 and praised the city’s resilience following the Great Chicago Fire, just four years prior. No doubt he saw a city recovering from devastation in a country nearly destroyed by civil war a decade earlier.
Aliʻi didn’t just pass through Chicago. In the early 1900s, Lucy Iwalani McWayne – a member of the Kaʻahumanu Society and a descendant of Kamakana, granddaughter of Kahekili II – established a residence here where her daughter, Kulamanu Nash, was raising her family.
Chicago was a magnet for Hawaiians of all backgrounds – every island is represented in the city’s history. Many who journeyed here came to work as entertainers, as dancers or musicians.
“Mai poʻina ʻole” is not just our club’s motto – it’s also the name of our initiative to identify the Hawaiian performers who lived in Chicago and locate those whose ʻiwi rest here.
One such kupuna, Zachary Pali Jr., the eldest child of Pali Pahupu and Rose Kamohakau of Molokaʻi, traveled to Chicago in 1916 with a handful of musicians recruited for a new show. They played in more than 130 cities. Musicians like Zachary shaped American music as we know it, introducing the Hawaiian steel guitar to blues, jazz, and country western music.
Zachary died in Chicago in 1919 at just 22. His story was forgotten for more than 100 years. When our club learned that he was buried in an unmarked grave, we joined together with the Pali family to honor their kupuna by purchasing a headstone.
Because in Chicago, mai poʻina ʻole.
Carole Lanialoha Lee is pelekikena (president) of Ke Aliʻi Victoria Kaʻiulani Hawaiian Civic Club-Chicago. She is a musician, kumu hula, scholar, and lifelong Chicagoan. Ryan Scheussler is a senior exhibition developer at the Field Museum in Chicago. He is co-chair of the Mai Poʻina ʻOle Initiative and a proud supporter of Ke Aliʻi Victoria Kaʻiulani Hawaiian Civic Club-Chicago.
