Aloha Style Polynesian Dance

She owned 9% of Hawaii. She could speak English but refused. She lived in a grass house by choice. And she made sure her people could never be erased.

Her name was Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani. And she spent her life proving that power means very little if it costs you your identity.

Born in 1826, Ruth descended from some of the highest-ranking Hawaiian royal bloodlines. As a member of the aliʻi, or Hawaiian nobility, she carried enormous influence from birth.

But she also grew up watching her culture change.

Missionaries and foreign influences were reshaping Hawaii. Traditional beliefs were discouraged, Hawaiian customs were criticized, and English was becoming increasingly important. Many members of the royal family adopted Western customs and Christianity.

Ruth chose a different path.

She continued honoring Hawaiian traditions and remained deeply connected to the beliefs and practices of her ancestors. While others adapted to foreign expectations, Ruth refused to abandon who she was.

Her influence only grew.

As Royal Governor of Hawaiʻi Island, she became one of the most powerful figures in the kingdom. Yet one of her most famous decisions had nothing to do with politics.

She refused to speak English.

Not because she couldn't.

She understood it perfectly and could follow conversations without difficulty. But if someone wanted to speak with Princess Ruth, they spoke Hawaiian or brought a translator.

She did not make exceptions.

Businessmen, diplomats, missionaries, and visitors all faced the same rule.

Hawaiian came first.

Her commitment extended beyond language. Although she owned a comfortable Western-style residence and possessed immense wealth, she preferred living in a traditional Hawaiian grass house known as a hale pili.

She slept there, welcomed guests there, and conducted much of her daily life there.

It was not a symbol for visitors.

It was her home.

By the 1870s, Ruth had become the largest private landowner in Hawaii. She controlled approximately 353,000 acres, nearly nine percent of the entire Hawaiian Islands.

With that level of wealth and influence, she could have aligned herself with powerful foreign interests.

Instead, she used her position to preserve Hawaiian identity.

Ruth understood that Hawaii's future was uncertain. Foreign business interests were growing stronger, and the kingdom faced increasing pressure from outside forces.

Knowing this, she made a remarkable decision.

When she died in 1883, she left her vast lands and wealth to her cousin, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Those lands later helped establish the Kamehameha Schools, educational institutions created to serve Native Hawaiian children and preserve Hawaiian culture for future generations.

More than 140 years later, those schools continue educating thousands of students.

Princess Ruth never lived to see the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, but she created something that outlasted it.

She protected her language when others abandoned it.

She preserved her traditions when others dismissed them.

And she used her immense wealth not for personal legacy, but to ensure future generations would remember who they were.

She refused to disappear.

And in doing so, she helped make sure her people would not disappear either.

We always love being a part of the Delaware County AAPI Heritage Festival and sharing the culture of Hawai’i with folks from Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, China, and much more.