In 1883, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a member of the Hawaiian Royal Family, directed in her will, after naming heirs for gifts of money and land, that the remainder of her estate be held in trust to create the Kamehameha Schools. A majority of the Bishop estate was inherited from her parent and her cousin Ruth Keelikōlani, who in turn had inherited a substantial amount from her first husband Leleiohoku I and her half-siblings Victoria Kamāmalu and Kamehameha V, all who were given substantial amounts of land in the Great Mahele of 1848 which had divided the land of the kingdom amongst the King, the ali'i and the common people. During her lifetime, she experienced and encountered the decline of her Hawaiian people. She was well aware that education was key to the survival of her people and culture; therefore, she left 375,000 acres of ancestral land, entrusting her trustees to use this gift to educate her people.