Ka'iulani's Demise
October 25, 2009 | 07:37 PM

I would like to offer a counterpoint to the comment made by Anuhea Yagi that Princess Ka'iulani "wrought her own demise". Once again this seems a variety of "blaming the victim"; it is thought by most Ka'iulani scholars that the Princess suffered from thyroid disease (untreatable in the 1890s), and this produced the cardiac storm that ultimately killed her (the course of the disease worsened by years of unrelenting stress - certainly a serious danger for thyroid patients). While the "ride in the rain" has taken on huge proportions for the sake of dramatic story-telling, there are other versions of how she came by her last illness; most likely it was cumulative - she also took a chill while swimming on the Big Island during her attendance at the Parker wedding. The "rebel ride" was only one such outing...Ka'iulani did a lot of riding during that same time, some of which included leaping pig holes with her fellow equestrians. She was an athletic and energetic woman by nature, and perhaps that worked against her thanks to the underlying disease affecting her heart. But to say she caused her own demise is far too extreme. I agree with Jennifer Fahrni - It really is time to shed some of the negative mythology that has made Ka'iulani's life story a depressing rather than uplifting account: while it is a tragedy her life was short, it is a blessing that she lived at all and did so many positive and inspiring things during that brief span.

M Reid