Kini Kapahu Wilson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kini Kapahu Wilson
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Kini Kapahu, c. 1895
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| Born |
Ana Kini Kuululani
March 4, 1872 |
| Died | July 24, 1962 (aged 90) Honolulu, State of Hawaiʻi
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| Other names | Ana Kini Kapahukulaokamāmalu Kuululani McColgan Huhu |
| Occupation | Hula dancer |
| Spouse(s) | John H. Wilson |
Kini Kapahu Wilson (born March 4, 1872 – died July 24, 1962) was a talented Hawaiian hula dancer, musician, and singer. She traveled the world in 1893–94, performing for important leaders like Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Later, she married John H. Wilson, who became the Mayor of Honolulu. Kini was even called the "Honorary First Lady" of Hawaii.
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Kini's Early Life
Ana Kini Kapahukulaokamāmalu Kuululani McColgan Huhu was born in Honolulu on March 4, 1872. She was the fourteenth child of Kalaʻiolele, who was Hawaiian, and John C. McColgan, an Irish tailor and sugarcane plantation owner.
Kini was given in hānai to Kapahukulaokamāmalu and her husband Kuʻula. Hānai is a Hawaiian tradition where a child is raised by someone other than their birth parents. Kini was named Kapahu after her hānai mother.
She grew up next door to King Kalākaua and only went to school for three years. Kini learned to dance the hula from her birth mother, who was a court dancer and chanter.
When Kini was 14, the King asked her to join his court's hula dance group, Hui Lei Mamo. At first, her hānai mother did not want her to perform publicly. But Queen Kapiʻolani later convinced her to agree when Kini was 16. She was one of seven dancers for the King. She learned Hawaiian dance, ballroom dance, singing, and how to play the ukulele.
Her Amazing Career
World Dance Tours
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After King Kalākaua passed away in 1891, Kini continued to learn Hawaiian dance. She studied with Kapaona and Namakeʻelua from Kauaʻi. She learned special, traditional hula forms called hula pahu and hula ālaʻapapa.
In 1893, Kini toured the United States. She performed in San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, and at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This was a very big fair where people from all over the world showed off their inventions and cultures.
The next year, she traveled to Europe. She performed in Paris at the Folies Bergère, a famous entertainment hall. She also danced in Germany for Kaiser Wilhelm II and in Russia for Tsar Nicholas II. She returned to Chicago in 1895.
Kini Kapahu was part of many Hawaiian dance groups that toured in the years that followed. She performed at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha in 1898. She also danced at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901. Kini later said that she was the one who invented the tī leaf skirt, which is now a famous part of hula costumes.
Marriage and Politics
Kini Kapahu married an engineer named John H. Wilson on May 8, 1908. They moved to Molokaʻi and lived in the Pelekunu Valley. There, Kini farmed taro and worked as the postmistress.
They moved back to Honolulu in 1919. That year, John Wilson was elected Mayor of Honolulu. After women gained the right to vote in the United States, Kini organized a meeting for women in Hawaii. They met to talk about their new roles and rights.
After this, Kini supported her husband's political career. He was reelected mayor several times. He also worked as the territory's postmaster and helped manage Social Security and Public Welfare programs.
Later Life and Legacy
The Hawaii State Legislature gave Kini Kapahu the title of "Honorary First Lady" after Hawaii became a state in 1959. In December 1960, Kini went to ʻIolani Palace to cast one of Hawaii's four votes for the presidential election that year.
Kini Kapahu Wilson passed away on July 24, 1962, at the Queen's Hospital in Honolulu. She was 90 years old and had a mild stroke. She was buried next to her husband at Oahu Cemetery in the Nuʻuanu Valley. In March 2017, Hawaiʻi Magazine recognized Kini Kapahu as one of the most influential women in Hawaiian history.
