Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance | Page 11

February 6, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Gift from the Duke of Edinburgh

“In the year 1869 the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred of England, arrived in the harbor of Honolulu [on July 21], being in command of Her Britannic Majesty’s ship-of-war Galatea.” (Lili‘uokalani)

Prince Alfred, the fourth child and second son of Queen Victoria and Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Prince Consort, was born at Windsor Castle and was second in the line of succession behind his elder brother, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.

Alfred was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Howley, at the Private Chapel in Windsor Castle on 6 September 1844. He was given the names Alfred Ernest Albert, although was always known to the family as “Affie”.

Alfred expressed a wish to join the navy and in accordance with this he passed the entrance examination in August 1858, and was appointed as midshipman in HMS Euryalus at the age of fourteen.

He remained in the navy and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on February 24. 1863, serving under Count Gleichen on HMS Racoon, and captain on February 23, 1866, being then appointed to the command of the frigate HMS Galatea.

On May 24, 1866, Alfred was created Duke of Edinburgh and Earl of Ulster and Earl of Kent by his mother Queen Victoria. (English Monarchs)

“As soon as the king [Kalakaua] learned of the duke’s presence he made special preparations for his reception; and for his better accommodation on shore he assigned for his use the residence of the late Kekuanaoa, who died in November of the preceding year.”

“My own mother having died about three months prior to the arrival of the Galatea, I was not taking part in any festivities, being in retirement from society. But this was considered an exceptional occasion, and the king signified his wish to me that I would not fail to do it honor.”

“So at his specific request I gave a grand luau at my Waikiki residence, to which were invited all those connected with the government, indeed, all the first families of the city, whether of native or foreign birth. …” (Lili‘uokalani)

A “large number of Hawaiians men, women and children amounting to some thousands, visited HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, each bringing a present, in accordance with an ancient custom among the people called hookupu.”

“Many of the presents were of value, while others were only valuable as showing the good feeling of the donors towards His Majesty’s Guest.” (Hawaiian Gazette. August 4, 1869)

“Major JH Wodehouse, so long the ambassador of Great Britain at Honolulu, had just arrived with Mrs. Wodehouse; and they were of the invited guests, the prince specially inviting them to drive out to my house with him. I suppose the feast would be styled a breakfast in other lands, for it was to begin at eleven o’clock in the forenoon.”

“The sailor-prince mounted the driver’s box of the carriage, and taking the reins from that official, showed himself an expert in the management of horses. … Kalama, widow of Kamehameha III, drove out to Waikiki in her own carriage of state”. (Liliʻuokalani)

“The drivers of these carriages wore the royal feather shoulder-capes, and the footmen were also clad in like royal fashion. It was considered one of the grandest occasions in the history of those days, and all passed off as becoming the high birth and commanding position of our visitor.”

“The guests were received with every mark of courtesy by my husband and myself, as well as by His Majesty Kamehameha V, who was one of the first arrivals.”

“When the prince entered, he was met by two very pretty Hawaiian ladies, who advanced and, according to the custom of our country, decorated him with leis or long pliable wreaths of flowers suspended from the neck.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“As Mrs. Bush, considered one of the most beautiful women in the Hawaiian Islands, advanced, and proceeded to tie the Bowery garland about the neck of the prince, he seemed perhaps a bit confused at the novel custom …”

“… but, submitting with the easy grace of a gentleman, he appeared to be excessively pleased with the flowers and with the expression of friendly welcome conveyed to him by the act.”

“Balls, picnics, and parties followed this day of enjoyment; and the prince gave an entertainment in return at his own house, which was attended by my husband and myself, and by most of the distinguished persons in the city.” (Lili‘uokalani)

“The day of departure for the Galatea arrived; and the prince called on me to express the pleasure he had taken during his visit, and the regrets he felt at leaving us.”

“On this occasion he presented me with an armlet emblematic of his profession; it was of solid gold, a massively wrought chain made after the pattern of a ship’s cable, with anchor as a pendant.” (Lili‘uokalani)

February 4, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Polynesian Confederacy

The last decades of the 19th-century were a period of imperial expansion, especially in the Pacific. European (primarily Britain, France and Germany,) Asian (Japan) and American (US) were making claims and establishing colonies across the Pacific.

After the British took control of Fiji in 1874, only three major island groups remained independent in the Pacific: Tonga, Hawai‘i and Sāmoa. The Euro/American powers had marked off all three of these groups as falling under their own spheres of interest.

However, the Americans took a specific interest in Hawai‘i, the British in Tonga, and the Germans, British and Americans all claiming a right to determine the future of Sāmoa. (Cook)

Kalākaua was filled with visionary schemes for the protection and development of the Polynesian race; (Walter Murray Gibson) fell in step with him … The king and minister at least conceived between them a scheme of island confederation. (Stevenson)

“(Gibson) discerned but little difficulty in the way of organizing such a political union, over which Kalākaua would be the logical emperor, and the Premier of an almost boundless empire of Polynesian archipelagoes.” (Daggett; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 6, 1900)

“The first step once taken between the Hawaiian and Samoan groups, other Polynesian groups and, inclusively, Micronesian and Melanesian groups, might gradually be induced to enter into the new Polynesian confederation just as Lord Carnarvon gets colony after colony to adopt His Lordship’s British Federal Dominion policy.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 17, 1877)

As early as 1880, the American consul in Hawaiʻi had complained that Kalākaua was “inflamed by the idea of gathering all the cognate races of the Islands of the Pacific into the great Polynesian Confederacy, over which he will reign.”

On June 28, 1880, Kalākaua’s Premier Walter Murray Gibson, introduced a resolution in the legislature noting, “the Hawaiian Kingdom by its geographic position and political status is entitled to claim a Primacy in the family of Polynesian States …”

“The resolution concluded with an action “that a Royal Commissioner be appointed by His Majesty, to be styled a Royal Hawaiian Commissioner to the state and peoples of Polynesia …” (Kuykendall)

It passed unanimously and within six months Gibson became the head of a new ministry, as Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Although Kalākaua had been elected and serving as King since 1874, upon returning from a trip around the world, it was determined that Hawaiʻi’s King should also be properly crowned.

“It was through (Gibson’s) influence that the Hawaiian Legislature ceremonies of the occasion were impressively enacted in the presence of the representatives of the most of the great civilized powers and with the warships of many nations giving salutation to the event in the harbor of Honolulu.” (Daggett; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 6, 1900)

“ʻIolani Palace, the new building of that name, had been completed the previous year, and a large pavilion had been erected immediately in front of it for the celebration of the coronation. This was exclusively for the accommodation of the royal family; but there was adjacent thereto a sort of amphitheatre, capable of holding ten thousand persons, intended for the occupation of the people.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“On Monday, 12th February, the imposing ceremony of the Coronation of their Majesties the King and Queen of the Hawaiian Islands took place at ʻIolani Palace. … Like a mechanical transformation scene to take place at an appointed minute, so did the sun burst forth as the clock struck twelve, and immediately after their Majesties had been crowned.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 17, 1883)

Then, to set the stage for the assemblage of the Polynesian Confederacy, Gibson wrote a diplomatic protest that the legislature officially approved, condemning the predatory behavior of the Great Powers in the Pacific.

“Whereas His Hawaiian Majesty’s Government being informed that certain Sovereign and Colonial States propose to annex various islands and archipelagoes of Polynesia, does hereby solemnly protest against such projects of Annexation, as unjust to a simple and ignorant people, and subversive in their ease of those conditions for favourable national development which have been so happily accorded to the Hawaiian nation.” (Gibson Protest, August 23, 1883)

The protest evoked the goals of the Confederacy and justified Hawai‘i’s right to lodge such a protest based on its dual status as both a Polynesian state and part of the Euro/American community of Nations. (Cook)

Kalākaua’s vision of a Polynesian Confederacy reflected a complex and multi-dimensional understanding of both the identity of the Hawaiian people and how that identity connected and allied them with a broad array of other peoples and states across the globe.

It was a project that envisioned Hawai‘i as intimately connected to the Euro/American powers through the bonds of an international community built on the shared ideals of constitutional governments, formal diplomatic recognition, and the rule of law.

At the same time, it envisioned the nation as closely allied with other non-European peoples against the shared threat of the Euro/American empires. More specifically, however, it envisioned Hawai‘i as part of a Polynesian community whose members needed to rely upon one another in order to maintain both their independence and shared identity. (Cook)

John Bush, Hawaiʻi’s ambassador to Sāmoa, succeeded in negotiating Articles of Confederation, which the Hawaiian cabinet ratified in March 1887. Kalākaua sent the Kaimiloa to salute High Chief Malietoa Laupepa in Sāmoa. (However, a German warship there warned Kalākaua to stop meddling in Samoan affairs.) (Chappell)

Later, the Berlin Act (signed June 14, 1889,) between the US, Germany and Britain, established three-power joint rule over Sāmoa. This ultimately led to the creation of American Sāmoa.

Eventually, the confederacy attempts failed. It part, it is believed too many changes to existing systems were proposed, many of which were modeled after the Western way.

However, Kalākaua’s dream was partially fulfilled with later coalitions (although Hawaiʻi is not the lead.) In 1971, The Pacific Islands Forum, a political grouping of 16 independent and self-governing states, was founded (it was initially known as the South Pacific Forum, the name changed in 2000.)

Members include Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Sāmoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Later (2011,) eight independent or self-governing countries or territories in Polynesia formed an international governmental cooperation group, The Polynesian Leaders Group.

The eight founding members are: Sāmoa, Tonga and Tuvalu (three sovereign states;) the Cook Islands and Niue (two self-governing territories in free association with New Zealand;) American Sāmoa (an unincorporated territory of the United States;) Maʻohi Nui (French Polynesia) and Tokelau (a territory of New Zealand.)

Its members commit to working together to “seek a future for our Polynesian people and countries where cultures, traditions and values are honored and protected”, as well as many other common goals. (PLG Memorandum of Understanding, 2011)

February 3, 2025 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Two Wills, Two Outcomes

Prince Lunalilo was born on January 31, 1835 to High Chiefess Miriam ‘Auhea Kekauluohi (Kuhina Nui, or Premier of the Hawaiian Kingdom and niece of Kamehameha I) and High Chief Charles Kanaʻina.

Lunalilo’s grandparents were Kalaʻimamahu (half brother of Kamehameha I) and Kalākua (sister to Kaʻahumanu). His great grandfather was Keōuakupupailaninui (Keōua, father of Kamehameha I.)

Lunalilo was educated at the Chiefs’ Children’s School, and at age four, became one of its first students. He was known as a scholar, a poet and a student with amazing memory for detail.

From a very young age, he loved to write with favorite subjects in school being literature and music. He composed Hawai’i’s first national anthem, E Ola Ke Ali`i Akua, or God Save the King.

He also developed a sense of justice and love for people. These traits were recognized by the age of six in the unselfish and caring manner in which he interacted with his servants.

As a young man, he was courteous and intelligent, generous and friendly. His close friends affectionately called him “Prince Bill”. His native people called him ”Lokomaikaʻi”, meaning “generous or benevolent”.

When Lunalilo died on February 3, 1874, while he was king, he was the first of the large landholding aliʻi to create a charitable trust for the benefit of his people.

His estate included large landholdings on the five major islands, consisting of 33-ahupuaʻa, nine ʻili and more than a dozen home lots. His will, written in 1871, established a perpetual trust under the administration of three trustees to be appointed by the justices of the Hawaiian Supreme Court.

The purpose of the trust was to build a home to accommodate the poor, destitute and infirm people of Hawaiian (aboriginal) blood or extraction, with preference given to older people. The will charged the Trustees to sell all of the estate’s land to build and maintain the home.

His will states “all of the real estate of which I may die seized and possessed to three persons … to be held by them in trust for the following purposes, to wit …”

“… to sell and dispose of the said real estate to the best advantage at public or private sale and to invest the proceeds in some secure manner until the aggregate sum shall amount to $25,000, or until the sum realized by the said trustees shall with donations or contributions from other sources, amount to the said sum of $25,000.” (District Court Records)

“The will leaves the testator’s real estate to his Trustees in trust to sell the same at public or private sale and invest the same till the amount realized from such sale or by additions from other sources shall be $25,000 …”

“… and then directs that they shall expend the whole amount in the purchase of land and in the erection of a building or buildings on the Island of Oahu for specified eleemosynary purposes.” (Supreme Court Records)

His will notes, “Then I order the trustees to exceed the whole amount in the purchase of land and in the erection of a building or buildings on the Island of Oʻahu, of iron, stone, brick or other fireproof material, for the use and accommodation of poor, destitute and infirm people of Hawaiian blood or extraction, giving preference to old people.” (District Court Records)

According to the instructions in the will, the Estate trustees sold the land, built Lunalilo Home and invested the remaining proceeds in mortgages, securities and government bonds.

Unfortunately, those investments went sour, and today the Lunalilo estate has limited assets, other than Lunalilo Home in Hawaiʻi Kai and the land under it, and the trust must constantly raise funds to maintain the operation of the home. (Byrd)

Reportedly, Lunalilo left an estate even larger than the one left by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, founder of Kamehameha Schools. However, the outcome of her estate has had a different ending.

High Chief Abner Pākī and his wife High Chiefess Laura Kōnia (Kamehameha III’s niece) had one child, a daughter, Bernice Pauahi Pākī (born December 19, 1831.)

When her cousin, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani, died, Keʻelikōlani’s will stated that she “give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauaʻi, all of said property to be hers (about 353,000 acres.)”

(Keʻelikōlani had previously inherited all of the substantial landholdings of the Kamehameha dynasty from her brother, Lot Kapuāiwa (King Kamehameha V.))

Pauahi died childless on October 16, 1884. Her will formed and funded the Kamehameha Schools; “I give, devise and bequeath all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate real and personal … to erect and maintain in the Hawaiian Islands two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools.”

Bernice Pauahi Bishop’s will (Clause 13) states her desire that her trustees “provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women”.

That same Clause gives the “trustees full power to make all such rules and regulations as they may deem necessary for the government of said schools and to regulate the admission of pupils, and the same to alter, amend and publish upon a vote of a majority of said trustees.”

She directed “that the teachers of said schools shall forever be persons of the Protestant religion, but I do not intend that the choice should be restricted to persons of any particular sect of Protestants.”

However, in order to support her vision, her will did not require her trustees to sell the land; rather, they can only sell “for the best interest” of the estate. Clause Seventeen notes, “I give unto the trustees … the most ample power to sell and dispose of any lands or other portion of my estate, and to exchange lands and otherwise dispose of the same … “

“I further direct that my said trustees shall not sell any real estate, cattle ranches, or other property, but to continue and manage the same, unless in their opinion a sale may be necessary for the establishment or maintenance of said schools, or for the best interest of my estate.”

Today, the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate has net assets of nearly $7-billion and annual operating revenue of $1.34-billion.

“Had Lunalilo directed its trustees, as Princess Pauahi Bishop did, to retain the land and sell it only as necessary to run the home for the aged, the Lunalilo Trust today would rival the Bishop Estate in its net asset value, and it would be able to assist many more than the approximately fifty elderly Hawaiians who now live in Lunalilo Home.” (Takabuki)

“Princess Pauahi was wise when she directed her trustees to retain the “ʻĀina,” her primary endowment, and sell it only when necessary for the Kamehameha Schools or the best interest of the trust. Real estate has been, and will continue to be, a sound, prudent, long-term investment.” (Takabuki)

This summary is intended to address one key differing statement in the respective wills. While each called for trustees selected by the Supreme Court (thereby not knowing who would eventually carry out its instruction,) Lunalilo instructed his trustees to sell his land; on the other hand, Pauahi gave her trustees that right, but only in the “best interest” of the trust.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop,_about_age_twenty-three-1854

Bernice_Pauahi_Bishop,_San_Francisco,_1875

Charles Reed Bishop and his wife Bernice Pauahi Bishop in San Francisco in September 1876

Kamehameha School for Boys campus-(KSBE)-before 1900

Kamehameha School for Girls campus is the first to be completed on Kapälama Heights-(KSBE)-1931

Kamehameha_School_for_Girls-makai-Diamond Head corner of King and Kalihi Streets.(KSBE)

V2_5A Kamehameha Schools for Boys-(KSBE)-before 1900

Kamehameha_Schools_Land_Holdings-Google_Earth

January 11, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Life in the Islands (1823)

Reverend Charles Samuel Stewart and his wife Harriet Bradford (Tiffany) Stewart were in the 2^nd Company of missionaries that arrived at Honolulu April 27, 1823.

On May 20 1823, Stewart wrote the following, noting some of his observations about life of the maka‘āinana (common people, as he called them) …

“[The] class of the [common people] constitutes at least one hundred and forty-nine thousand of the one hundred and fifty thousand supposed at present to be the population of the group.”

“In external appearance, and manners and habits of life, the kanakas, or common natives, present a strong contrast to the chiefs; and are indeed a wretched people, subject not only to a total blindness of mind and heart, but also to the most abject poverty. …”

“The greatest wealth they can boast consists of a mat on which to sleep, a few folds of kapa to cover them, one calabash for water and another for poe, a rude implement or two for the cultivation of the ground, and the instruments used in their simple manufactures.”

“Kalo, potatoes and salt, with occasionally a fish, constitute their general food, while all else that they grow, or take, and every result of their labor, goes to meet the series of taxes levied by the king and his governors, and their own respective chiefs.”

“The spontaneous production of the islands is very limited; and labor at all times of the year is necessary to the support of life. …”

Kalo “occupies most of the cultivated ground, especially such as is capable of being overflown by water; and the planting, irrigation, and of it, forms the most laborious part of the native farming.”

“The islanders have arrived at great skill in the cultivation of this plant and perhaps their mode of growing it … Next to kalo, the sweet potato is a principal article of cultivation. The yam also is grown; but chiefly at the leeward islands, Kauai and Nihau….”

“ In the cultivation of the ground, the making and care of artificial fish-ponds, a part of the possession of every chief, may be included. These are constructed much in the manner of the kalo plantations; and after the water is let into them, are filled with young fish from the sea, principally the fry of the grey mullet, a fish of which the chiefs are particularly fond. …”

“The building of houses, construction of canoes, making of fishing nets, wooden dishes and bowls, &c. are labors assigned to the men; while the manufacture of cloth in all its processes, and the platting of mats, &c. fall to the department of the women. …”

“The thickness of the different kinds of cloth is various. I have seen females with mantles of it, as thin and transparent as Italian crape; which, at a short distance, it greatly resembled. That generally used for malos and paus, is more compact, like paper.”

“The kiheis of the men and covers for sleeping, are still firmer and thicker, and are composed of several sheets of the former, spread with a gelatinous wash made from the gum of a tree, and then beaten together.”

“There is a kind still superior in text ore , and beauty, worn by the chiefs both for malos and paus; it is made of the best bark, and is as thick as morocco, to which, stamped with the brightest colors, and glazed with a composition having the effect of varnish, it bears a striking resemblance.”

“The kapa moe, or cloth for sleeping, is the largest in size; each sheet, ten of which, fastened together at one end, form a bed-cover, being as large as an ordinary counterpane. …”

“The manufacture, by the females, next in importance to the making of kapa, is that of mats, which form the seats of the islanders in the day and their beds at night.”

“The lounges and beds of the chiefs are generally eight or ten feet square, and consist of many thicknesses of these, from a dozen to thirty and forty, and even a greater number.”

“The materials of which they are made are of two kinds; one, a species of rush, and the other, the leaves of the hala …. Those of the last article are most valuable, as they are much the most durable, and admit of frequent washing, which the rush mats do not.”

“Both kinds are woven or braided by hand, without the aid of frame or instrument; and though often twenty feet square, and even larger, are finished with great evenness of texture and regularity of shape. …”

“Besides being engaged in these manufactures of cloth and mats, the females, especially those attached to the households of the chiefs, spend much time in making articles of ornament; in the braiding of human hair for neck· laces; trimming and arranging feathers for wreaths and kahiles; polishing tortoise shell and the ivory of whale’s teeth, for finger rings, and the handles of feathered staffs, &c. …”

“One of the strongest inducements to labor – that of a right of property – is entirely unknown. Were not this the case, the profit which every farmer might derive from the visit of ships for refreshments, would soon cause the face of the country to assume a new aspect.”

“But this means of emolument is a monopoly of the king and chiefs; and only proves a new source of oppression to the people, by increasing their toil, without adding to their possessions.”

“Two-thirds of the proceeds of anything a native brings to the market, unless by stealth, must be given to his chief; and, not unfrequently, the whole is unhesitatingly taken from him. …”

“Nor is there greater inducement to industry, from motives of immediate personal enjoyment. Any increase of stock, or growth of a plantation, beyond that necessary to meet the usual taxes, is liable to be swept off at any hour; and that, perhaps, without any direct authority from king or chief, but at the caprice of some one in their service. …”

“The poverty of many of the people is such, that they seldom secure a taste of animal food, and live almost exclusively on kalo and salt. A poor man of this description, by some means obtained the possession of a pig, when too small to make a meal for his family.”

“He secreted it at a distance from his house, and fed it till it had grown to a size sufficient to afford the desired repast. It was then killed, and put into an oven, with the same precaution of secrecy …”

“… but when almost prepared for appetites whetted by long anticipation to an exquisite keenness, a caterer of the royal household unhappily came near, and, attracted to the spot by the savory fumes of the baking pile, deliberately took a seat till the animal was cooked, and then bore off the promised banquet without ceremony or apology!”

“Such is the civil condition of the mass of the nation.”

January 3, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaʻōleiokū

At the time of ‘contact’ (Captain Cook’s arrival (1778,)) the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

On the Big Island, one of Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s wives was Kānekapōlei (Kāne in the circle of beloved ones (ksbe.)) She is claimed by some to have been the daughter of Kauakahiakua of the Maui royal family and his wife Umiaemoku; some suggest she is said to have been of the Kaʻū family of chiefs.

According to Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau, her father Kauakahiakua owned the sea cucumber (loli) ovens of the district of Kaupo on the island of Maui.

Kalaniʻōpuʻu was born about 1729. His brother was Keōua. When Keōua (the father of Kamehameha) died, he commended Kamehameha to the care of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who received him, and treated him as his own child. (Dibble)

Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Kānekapōlei had two sons, Keōua Kuʻahuʻula and Keōua Peʻeale.

In accordance with the ways of the high chiefs at the time, in his youth, Kamehameha had sexual relations with Kānekapōlei and had a son, Pauli Kaʻōleiokū (1767.)

(Among the chiefs, a boy was not only trained in warfare and government but when he was grown physically, a matured chiefess was chosen to train him in sexual practices. This was part of his education. Should a child result, he or she was reared by the mother. (Handy & Pukui))

Thus it was that Kamehameha claimed Kaʻōleiokū as “the son of my beardless youth,” at the dedication of the heiau of Puʻukohola. This was the son borne to him by Kānekapōlei, one of the wives of his uncle Kalaniʻōpuʻu. (Handy & Pukui) He was known as ‘keiki makahiapo’ (first-born child) of Kamehameha. (Stokes)

On December 1, 1778, Kaʻōleiokū, his brother Keōua Kuʻahuʻula and cousin Kamehameha, slept on board Captain Cook’s vessel ‘Resolution,’ when off the Maui coast. Since Cook’s vessels were regarded as “temples,” the stay overnight probably had a religious significance to the Hawaiians, because their worship ordained spending certain nights in the temples. (Stokes)

Lieut. King says Kaʻōleiokū was about twelve years old in 1779, and “used to boast of his being admitted to drink ava, and shewed us, with great triumph, a small spot in his side that was growing scaly. … (the) young son pointed to us some places on his hips that were becoming scaly, as a mark of his being long indulged in this Liquor.”

Kaʻōleiokū witnessed Cook’s death on February 14, 1779, with Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Keōua; he had already accepted Cook’s invitation to spend the day on board and proceeded ahead to the pinnace (a tender boat,) where he was seated at the time of the massacre. Greatly frightened at the firing, he asked to be put ashore again, which was done. (Stokes)

Keōua Kuʻahuʻula and his younger brother Kaʻōleiokū had for many years resisted Kamehameha’s attempts to conquer the whole of Hawaiʻi Island, after the death of Kiwalaʻo in the Battle of Mokuʻōhai (1782.) Keōua escaped the battle to relatives in the Kaʻū district to the South. (Stokes)

Keōua was killed in 1791, when Kamehameha invited him to the Puʻukoholā Heiau in Kohala. Kamakau tells of how Pauli Kaʻōleiokū was spared:
“On the arrival of the canoe of Pauli Kaʻōleiokū, in the vicinity where Keōua was killed … Kamehameha said: ‘He shall not die, as he is the son of my youth and this is the payment for my food on which I was reared.’ … (he then) proclaimed the Māmalahoe Law: the law of life in Kamehameha’s kingdom. When the people on board Pauli Kaʻōleiokū’s canoe heard the law proclaimed, they came ashore, and wails of mourning for the death of Keōuakū‘ahu‘ula resounded.”

Kamehameha had been living on Hawai‘i for four years when the news of the attempts of the Russians to set up a compound at Honolulu Harbor reached him (1815.) He sent Kalanimōku, Ulumāheihei, Nāihe, Kaikioʻewa, Kaʻōleiokū and Keʻeaumoku with numerous warriors equipped with foreign weapons. (Desha)

These aliʻi were commanded to go and fight with those foreigners if they opposed them, and to expel them from the land. They expelled the Russians. Kalanimōku, with the help of Kaʻōleiokū and other high chiefs built a fort at Honolulu, setting up some cannons on it. (Desha)

Pauli Kaʻōleiokū is said to have married twice, first Keōuawahine and then Luahine. With Luahine they had one child, Princess Konia; Princess Konia married Abner Paki, they had one child, Princess Bernice Pauahi. (He was also the maternal grandfather of Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani.)

Great granddaughter of Kamehameha I and granddaughter of Kānekapōlei, Princess Bernice Pauahi officially was eligible to the throne by order of Kamehameha III; she was offered the throne by Kamehameha V, but refused it. (Stokes)

In 1850, the princess was married at the Royal School to Mr Charles Reed Bishop of New York, who started the bank of what is now known as First Hawaiian Bank. A small wedding was conducted with only a few attending.

Princess Bernice Pauahi died childless on October 16, 1884. She foresaw the need to educate her people and in her will she left her large estate of the Kamehameha lands in trust to establish the Kamehameha Schools for children with Hawaiian blood.

(Some suggest Kaʻōleiokū was the son of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, not Kamehameha. Kalākaua suggests Kaʻōleiokū had four fathers, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Kamehameha, Keawemauhili and Kaukamu, suggesting Kānekapōlei was sleeping with all of them.) The image shows Konia, daughter of Kaʻōleiokū.