Maritime Madams: Emma Kaʻilikapuolono Metcalf Beckley Nakuina

Emma Kaʻilikapuolono Metcalf Beckley Nakuina (1847-1929) was a highly regarded authority on Hawaiian water rights law and unofficially considered Hawaii’s first female judge. Descended from an American sugar planter and a Hawaiian high chiefess, she was born a kaukau ali’i and educated in cultural customs and water rights from a young age. She was a curator of the Hawaiian National Museum, a Commissioner of Private Ways and Water Rights, a supporter of women’s suffrage, and a prolific writer on Hawaiian culture during  the colonization of her homeland.