Ceremonies and Honors
The Sacred Duty of Aliʻi Ceremony
Ceremony was not just a practice for Abigail it was an expression of ancestral continuity and a reaffirmation of kuleana. As a living symbol of the monarchy, she participated in and supported ceremonial practices that connected modern Hawaiʻi to its royal heritage. From regal protocols to sacred site stewardship, her presence affirmed the ongoing dignity and reverence of aliʻi identity.
Throughout her life, Abigail was honored by numerous Hawaiian organizations and royal societies. She was deeply involved in the preservation of royal traditions, including the ceremonial adornment of ʻIolani Palace and the restoration of Mauna ʻAla, the Royal Mausoleum.
Mauna ʻAla Royal Mausoleum Chapel
Symbolism and Public Ceremony
Abigail embraced the ceremonial role of aliʻi. From her participation in Merrie Monarch to the traditional adornment of palaces and sacred places, she upheld the dignity and symbolism of the Hawaiian monarchy.
She received many honors, but she also gave them. Through gifts of ancestral objects, personal presence, and financial support, she restored meaning to royal traditions not for performance, but for perpetuation.
In every appearance, she was not simply a guest she was a presence. A keeper of memory. A figure of continuity.
Through her actions and advocacy, she ensured that the ceremonies, honors, and sacred sites of Hawaiʻi would not only survive, but flourish under the watchful gaze of future generations.
The Kawananākoa Family Burials
The Resting Places of the Kawānanakoa Legacy.
“The bones of our aliʻi do not rest where they fall, they are returned to their family. They are returned to their story.”
As with all aliʻi of high rank, burial was never merely a matter of final rest it was a continuation of identity, lineage, and sacred responsibility. For the Kawānanakoa family, interment has reflected both personal choice and cultural significance, rooted in the ancient traditions of honoring one’s ancestors and maintaining the sanctity of place.
The Royal Mausoleum at Mauna ʻAla in Nuʻuanu wahi kapu of the highest order is the primary resting place for the Kawānanakoa line. It is here that many of the family’s aliʻi, including Prince David Kawānanakoa and his consort Princess Abigail Wahiikaʻahuʻula Campbell Kawānanakoa, were laid to rest. The grounds, rich with native flora and layered with sacred protocol, continue to serve as a ceremonial epicenter for aliʻi remembrance.
When Princess Kahanu, the widow of Prince Kūhiō, was buried with her second husband, it cleared a niche in the crypt at Mauna ʻAla. Princess Abigail made the choice that it would go to her and Prince Daivd’s son, David Kalakaua Kawānanakoa when he passed (he did not have any children).
Since there was now no room in the Kalakaua Crypt for any more family members, Princess Abigail purchased four contiguous lots at Oahu Cemetery. The lots are right next to the similar size plot of her sister Muriel (Campbell) Shingle. It was Princess Abigailʻs intent that her daughters could use that space for themselves and their families. The plot is the resting place of both daughters, Kapiʻolani and Liliʻuokalani along with their two favorite husbands, five children and grandchildren and two spouses. And there is room for many more.
While Mauna ʻAla and the Kawānanakoa Plot at Oahu Cemetery remain the primary resting place for the family, a few Kawānanakoa spouses and extended kin rest in other parts of Oahu Cemetery and in other cemeteries throughout the islands and abroad a reflection of cross-cultural marriage and modern transitions.
Though not every current member of the Kawānanakoa lineage has made their burial wishes known, the family’s traditional sites at Mauna ʻAla and Oʻahu Cemetery remain sanctified spaces maintained with care, visited with reverence, and marked by a genealogy that stretches back to Kauaʻi’s King Kaumualiʻi and forward into the hearts of living descendants.
A visual family tree when displayed offers not only names and dates, but place. Each branch ends not in silence, but in stone with markers that remind us this line was lived, honored, and carried forward.
Abigailʻs Final Gift to Her Family As a final gift to her family, and especially to her mother and her stepfather Clark Lee, she directed that, with the family's blessing, the plot be upgraded. The family agreed and the upgrades were installed in the fall of 2025. Designed by Mauna ʻAla consulting architect Glenn Mason, the new design has a low white marble wall surrounding the plot that matches the while marble of the gravestones in the plot. At the entrance there ar two pillars, each with the royal coat of arms that are on each gravestone that has a Kāwananakoa under it on one side and the Kawānanakoa coat of arms (two crossed puuloʻuloʻu over a kahili) on the other side. It is just as Abigail wanted it to be.
This site's Library will contain the biographies of Kawānanakoa Family members of the first and second generation of the family whose contributions to Hawaiʻi are very significant but are often not remembered or noted. These include Lili'uokalani Morris, Clark Lee, Kapiʻolani Field, Harry Field and Poʻomaikelani Kawānanakoa.