Hawaiian Moment — ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu, Hawaiʻi’s oldest Hawaiian civic society

The Kaʻahumanu Society, officially named ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu, is Hawai’i’s oldest Hawaiian civic society. Founded on Aug. 8, 1864, at Kawaiahaʻo Church by Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, it predates the Royal Order of Kamehameha I by one year.

The organization honors Queen Kaʻahumanu and preserves Hawaiian culture. Founding officers included notable leaders such as Bernice Pauahi Bishop and the future Queen Lili’uokalani.

Originally established to provide relief during the smallpox epidemic, the society focused on nursing the ill and arranging burials. While the organization celebrated traditional Hawaiian female leadership, it was disbanded in 1866 following the death of Princess Victoria Kamāmalu.

On June 14, 1905, after a 39 year absence, the group was re-chartered under the leadership of Lucy Kaopaulu Peabody, a lady-in-waiting of the former Hawaiian royal court, and a group of 11 women, in a ceremony at Kawaiahaʻo Church. The organization chose not to invite the deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani even though she had been an original member of the 1864 club.

Today, women of the society wear black muʻumuʻu (loose gown) with yellow lei hulu (feather lei), black gloves and hat, all symbolic of Queen Kaʻahumanu. Memberships are restricted to women of Native Hawaiian descent who are invited to join. There are nine chapters across Hawai’i.

The modern group continued the original mission of nursing the sick and the elderly and aiding in burial expenses for the deceased while also fundraising for charitable causes, promoting Hawaiian culture and representing the Hawaiian monarchy at special events such as the annual Kamehameha Day observances.