The Hale Nauā was a secret society that had existed among Hawaii's ruling class before the 1778 arrival of Captain James Cook. Believed to have originally been an organization to unite the Hawaiian aristocracy, it gradually disappeared as the influx of outside cultures changed the dynamics of the island kingdom. Kalākaua revived the Hale Nauā, purposed with educating and developing knowledge of modern sciences, art, and literature among native Hawaiians. His incarnation of the society ended with his 1891 death. In the 1970s, Rocky Jensen and other artists formed Hale Nauā III to promote Hawaii's culture through the creative arts.
Prologue
Hale is the Hawaiian word for "house", but "nauā" has been up for interpretation. Historian Nathaniel Bright Emerson's translations of native Hawaiian (and Christian minister) David Malo's writings led him to believe Malo's conclusions about membership were in error. Malo had stated that the original Hale Nauā was an organization to promote peaceful relations among leaders, with membership requirements that were non-discriminatory by social position. Emerson believed that "nauā" was a challenge question for membership candidates, something along the lines of, "Whose house do you belong to?" At that point, the candidate would be required to recite their ancestry for consideration of membership. Based on a criterion of lineage, Emerson concluded that membership was open only to the ruling class.
Cultural drift
King Kalākaua's motto was "Hoʻoulu Lāhui", translated as "to increase, restore, re-establish and advance the lāhui or people." Diseases brought to Hawaii by outsiders had decreased the native Hawaiian population from 300,000 in 1778, when Captain James Cook became the first European in the islands, to 49,944 in 1872. The influx of foreigners to the kingdom also brought a more diverse influence on daily life. Hawaiians intermarried with non-Hawaiians, and missionaries supplanted the native beliefs with their own ethos. By the mid-19th century, non-Hawaiians constituted an overwhelming majority in the legislature. The Alien Land Ownership Act of 1850 allowed foreigners to hold title to Hawaiian land. Many Native Hawaiians were disenfranchised by legislation that made property ownership a qualification for voting, and most of the property owners were either Hawaiian nobility/gentry or non-Hawaiian sugar plantation owners. At the end of the rule of Kamehameha dynasty, the 1864 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom provided for legislative elections to select the monarch.
Fraternal organizations in Hawaii
Kalākaua was well-versed in the role that fraternal organizations played in leadership skills, as well as their political connections as an international power base. He joined the all-male freemasonry Lodge Le Progrès de L'Océanie at age 21, and was not the first in the royal line to do so. Both Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V had been members. During his 1874–75 state visit to secure a reciprocity treaty, he was a guest at lodges in multiple United States cities. On his 1881 world tour to negotiate labor contracts, he was feted at masonry lodges in Hong Kong, Singapore, Egypt and Edinburgh, Scotland. When the construction of Iolani Palace was completed in 1882, the king opened it to the Lodge Le Progrès de L'Océanie (The Progress of Oceania) for masonry activities.
The High Court of the Ancient Order of Foresters in Sheffield, England granted authorization on July 17, 1879, for Kalākaua to establish the Ancient Order of Foresters in Hawaii. These organizations, along with the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, were active in Hawaii during Kalākaua's lifetime. All of them were centered around a white male culture that excluded women from their memberships.