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Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole (March 26, 1871 – January 7, 1922) was a prince of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi until it was overthrown by a coalition of American and European businessmen in 1893. He went on to become the delegate of the Territory of Hawaii to the United States Congress, and as such is the only royal-born member of Congress.

On July 9, 1921, President Warren G. Harding signed the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 as amended, an effort spearheaded by Prince Kūhiō and a group of advocates.

Through its passage, the United States set aside approximately 200,000 acres of land to establish a permanent homeland for native Hawaiians, who were identified as a “landless and dying” people as the result of disease, intermarriage, and loss of lands.

“After extensive investigation and survey on the part of various organizations organized to rehabilitate the Hawaiian race, it was found that the only method in which to rehabilitate the race was to place them back upon the soil,” Kūhiō wrote to U.S. Senators before the passage of the Act.

The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act intended to return native Hawaiians to the land while encouraging them to become self-sufficient homesteaders on the leased parcels of trust land. Kūhiō was often called Ke Aliʻi Makaʻāinana (Prince of the People) and is well known for his efforts to preserve and strengthen the Hawaiian people. His birthday is celebrated as a state holiday in Hawaiʻi.