Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance | Page 34

March 25, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

1808

In the Islands, Paki “appears in the genealogy of the Chiefs of this Nation, from ancient times, and he is a high Chief of this land descended from Haloa, that being the one father of the children living in this world, and the father of our people.”

“Part of his genealogy is taken from the High Chiefs of the land, and he is part of Kamehameha’s, and he is part of Kiwalao’s, and he is a hereditary chief of a single line from ancient times; and he was a father who rescued from trouble his people of this nation from Hawaii to Kauai.” (Nupepa Kuakoa, Elele E, 6/16/1855, p. 20)

“He was born at Kainalu, Molokai, in the month of Nana.” (Nupepa Kuakoa, Elele E, 6/16/1855, p. 20) Handy and Pukui tell us that “Nana (March) means ‘getting better,’ referring to the subsiding of the stormy weather characteristic of the preceding month (February).” (Hawaiian Planters)

Paki was “the last of the family of old high chiefs. … His father’s name was Kalanihelemaiiluna, and his mother’s Kahooheiheipahu. He was born on the island Molokai, in the year ‘Ualakaa’”.

Per Fornander, Paki’s birth reference points to a National Chronological Era that refers to the time frame that Kamehameha I was farming uala (sweet potatoes) at Ualaka‘a (rolling sweet potato – what we now call Round Top at Mānoa Valley).

“[Paki] was an intimate friend of the King [Kamehameha III] and was a person of considerable weight and importance in the affairs of the nation. He held during his life, some high offices of trust and honor; being at different times, one of the judges of the Supreme Court, acting Governor, Privy Councillor, member of the House of Nobles, and Chamberlain to the King.” (Bennett)

Paki’s and his wife Konia (also a high chief) were the parents of Bernice Pauahi Pākī (born December 19, 1831); she later married Charles Reed Bishop.

On the continent, on a Saturday afternoon in August, 1806, five Williams College students, Congregationalists in background, gathered in a field to discuss the spiritual needs of those living in Asian countries. The five who attended were Samuel J. Mills, James Richards, Francis L. Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and Byram Green.

The meeting was interrupted by the approaching storm. This became known as the Haystack Prayer Meeting. The first American student missionary society began in September 1808, when Mills and others called themselves “The Brethren,” whose object was “to effect, in the person of its members, a mission or missions to the heathen.” (Smith)

The young seminarians convinced the General Association of Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts to form The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. (Williams College)

In 1808, ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia, the lone surviving member of his family, was at Kealakekua Bay, training under his uncle, Pahua, to be a kahuna at Hikiʻau Heiau. But ʻŌpūkahaʻia was not destined to be a kahuna.

“I began to think about leaving that country, to go to some other part of the globe. I did not care where I shall go to. I thought to myself that if I should get away, and go to some other country, probably I may find some comfort, more than to live there, without father and mother.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

The convergence of the Triumph sailing to Kealakekua, and ʻŌpūkahaʻia desiring to leave Hawai‘i, set in motion a chain of events key to the sending of missionaries to Hawai‘i, a decade later.

“About this time there was a ship (the Triumph) come from New York; – Captain Brintnall the master of the ship. As soon as it got into the harbour, in the very place where I lived, I thought of no more but to take the best chance I had, and if the captain have no objection, to take me as one of his own servants and to obey his word.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

‘Ōpūkaha’ia swam out to and boarded Brintnall’s ‘Triumph’ in Kealakekua Bay. “After supper the captain made some inquiry to see if we were willing to come to America; and soon I made a motion with my head that I was willing to go.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

“My parting with them (grandmother, aunt & uncle) was disagreeable to them and to me, but I was willing to leave all my relations, friends and acquaintance; expected to see them no more in this world.” “We set out on our journey …” (‘Ōpūkaha’ia)

After travelling to the American Northwest, then to China, they landed in New York in 1809. They continued to New Haven, Connecticut. ʻŌpūkahaʻia was eager to study and learn – seeking to be a student at Yale.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia “was sitting on the steps of a Yale building, weeping. A solicitous student stopped to inquire what was wrong, and Obookiah (the spelling of his name, based on its sound) said, ‘No one will give me learning.’”

The student was Edwin Dwight, a distant relative of the college president. “(W)hen the question was put him, ‘Do you wish to learn?’ his countenance began to brighten. And when the proposal was made that he should come the next day to the college for that purpose, he served it with great eagerness.” (Dwight)

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was taken as a servant into the family of the Rev. Dr. Dwight, President of Yale College, where he was treated with kindness, and taught the first principles of Christianity. At length, Mr. Samuel J. Mills Jr., took him under his particular patronage, and took him to live with his father, the Rev. Mr. Mills of Torringford.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was being groomed to be a key figure in a mission to Hawai‘i, to be joined by Samuel Mills Jr. Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died at Cornwall on February 17, 1818, and several months later Mills died at sea off West Africa after surveying lands that became Liberia.

Dwight is remembered for putting together a book, ‘Memoirs of Henry Obookiah’ (the spelling of the name based on its pronunciation), as a fundraiser for the Foreign Mission School. It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries. The book about his life was printed and circulated after his death, becoming a best-seller of its day.

‘Ōpūkaha’ia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Hawaiian Islands.

From Andover Theological Seminary, Hiram Bingham wrote in a letter dated July 18, 1819, to Reverend Samuel Worcester of the ABCFM that “the unexpected and afflictive death of Obookiah, roused my attention to the subject, & perhaps by writing and delivering some thoughts occasioned by his death I became more deeply interested than before in that cause for which he desired to live …”

“… & from that time it seemed by no means impossible that I should be employed in the field which Henry had intended to occupy … the possibility that this little field in the vast Pacific would be mine, was the greatest, in my own view.” (Bingham noted by Brumaghim)

In Europe, 1808 was also the year Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony premiered. The symphony premiered on December 22, 1808, in Vienna, and it soon became a standard against which many other symphonies were measured. (Britannica)

“The most common story that is told is that Beethoven allegedly said that the opening of the symphony was supposedly symbolizing fate knocking at the door,” Matthew Guerrieri, author of “The First Four Notes: Beethoven’s Fifth and the Human Imagination,” told NPR.

“By the time he was twelve, Ludwig van Beethoven was earning a living for his family by playing organ and composing. He was eventually known as the greatest pianist of his time. One of Beethoven’s favorite foods was macaroni and cheese. He also loved strong coffee – exactly 60 coffee beans to one cup.” (Dallas Symphony Orchestra)

“One of the greatest composers in the Western musical tradition, Ludwig van Beethoven revolutionized virtually every form and genre of music in which he composed.” (LA Philharmonic)

”Beethoven never married even though he proposed to plenty of women who rejected him (he wasn’t very attractive and he had a rather nasty temper). Yet in spite of his unpleasant personality, Beethoven is best defined by his music.”

“His first two symphonies are very much in the same style and form as those of composers that came before him, most notably Franz Joseph Haydn, his teacher. Beethoven’s writing – as seen in his third symphony – had developed beyond that of his teacher.”

“Although Beethoven gradually lost his hearing, he continued composing. He composed many of the most famous musical works of all time, such as his Ninth Symphony, after he had become totally deaf.” (Dallas Symphony Orchestra)

March 22, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Liholiho, Through the Eyes of William Ellis

In the words of William Ellis, Liholiho, the “king of the Sandwich Islands was the son of Tamehameha, former king, and Keopuolani … He was born in the eastern part of Hawaii, in the year 1795 or 1796.”

“The name by which he was generally known was Rihoriho, which was only a contraction of Kalaninuirihoriho, literally, the heavens great black – from Kalani, the heavens, nui, great, and rihoriho, applied to any thing burnt to blackness.”

“On public occasions, he was sometimes called Tamehameha, after his father, though names are not always hereditary. Besides these, he had a variety of other names, the most common of which was Iolani. The word lani, heaven or sky, formed a component part in the name of most chiefs of distinction.”

“The early habits of Rihoriho did not warrant any great expectations. His natural disposition was frank and humane.”

“The natives always spoke of him as good natured, except when he was under the influence of ardent spirits: his manners were perfectly free, at the same time dignified, and always agreeable to those who were about him.”

“His mind was naturally inquisitive. The questions he usually presented to foreigners were by no means trifling; and his memory was retentive.”

“His general knowledge of the world was much greater than could have been expected. I have heard him entertain a party of chiefs for hours together, with accounts of different parts of the earth …”

“… describing the extensive lakes, the mountains and mines of North and South America; the elephants and inhabitants of India; the houses, manufactures, &c. of England, with no small accuracy, considering he had never seen them.”

“He had a great thirst for knowledge, and was diligent in his studies. I recollect his remarking one day, when he opened his writing desk, that he expected more advantage from that desk, than from a fine brig belonging to him, lying at anchor opposite the house in which we were sitting.”

“Mr. Bingham and myself were his daily teachers, and have often been surprised at his unwearied perseverance. I have sat beside him at his desk sometimes from nine or ten o’clock in the morning, till nearly sunset, during which his pen has not been out of his hand more than three quarters of an hour, while he was at dinner.”

“We do not know that Christianity exerted any decisive influence on his heart. He was willing to receive the missionaries on their first arrival-availed himself of their knowledge to increase his own …”

“… and, during the latter years of his life, was decidedly favourable to their object; declared his conviction of the truth of Christianity; attended public worship himself on the Sabbath, and recommended the same to his people.”

“His moral character was not marked by that cruelty, rapacity, and insensibility to the sufferings of the people, which frequently distinguish the arbitrary chiefs of uncivilized nations.”

“He appears in general to have been kind; and, in several places on our tour, the mothers shewed us their children, and told us, that when Rihoriho passed that way, he had kissed them, – a condescension they seemed to think much of, and which they will probably remember to the end of their days.”

“But though generous in his disposition, he was addicted to intoxication; whether from natural inclination, or the influence and example of others, is not now to be determined; frequently, to my own knowledge, it has been entirely from the latter.”

“Had he in early life been privileged to associate with individuals whose conduct and principles were favourable, to virtue and religion, there is every reason to suppose his moral character with respect at least to this vice, would have been as irreproachable as his mental habits were commendable. But, alas for him,! it was quite the reverse.”

“Though not distinguished by the ardour and strength of character so conspicuous in his father, he possessed both decision and enterprise: the abolition of the national idolatry was a striking instance of the former; and his voyage to England, of the latter.”

“The motives by which he was induced to undertake that long and hazardous voyage were highly commendable. They were, a desire to see, for himself, countries of which he had heard such various and interesting accounts …”

“a wish to have a personal interview with his majesty the king of Great Britain, or the chief members of the British government, for the purpose of confirming the cession of the Sandwich Islands, and placing himself and his dominions under British protection.”

“It was also his intention to make himself acquainted with the tenor and forms of administering justice in the courts of law the principles of commerce-and other subjects which seemed important to the welfare of the islands.”

“Although the melancholy death of the king and of his queen prevented the accomplishment of these objects so fully as might have been wished, yet no unfriendly feeling is likely to be entertained by the people, as to the cause of it.”

“The account the survivors will convey to their countrymen, of the generous reception they met – the hospitable manner in which they were entertained, while they lived-the high respect paid to their remains, and other tokens of friendship, will not only prevent suspicion, but combine to confirm that attachment and confidence which they have so long felt towards England.”

“No disturbance of the general tranquillity, or change in the government, is to be apprehended from this event. Rihoriho left a younger brother, Kauikeoule, about ten years of age, who will be his successor.”

“A regency will govern during his minority, and the executive authority will probably continue to be exercised by Karaimoku, and the other chiefs with whom Rihoriho left it, when he embarked for England.”

March 21, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaipalaoa

Ka niu peʻahi kanaka o Kaipalaoa.
The man-beckoning coco palms of Kaipalaoa.

(The swaying palms that once grew at Kaipalaoa, Hilo, seemed to wave an invitation. ʻŌlelo Noʻeau #1502)

Hilo is likely to have been one of the first Polynesian settlement areas on Hawai‘i Island; oral history and local legend indicate that Polynesians first settled Hilo Harbor around 1100 AD.

Early accounts of Hilo Bay describe a long black sand beach stretching along present day Bay Front from the Wailuku River to the Wailoa River.

Many heiau (temples) attested to the prosperity of Hilo. Kaipalaoa (Sea Whale) Heiau sat on the southern banks. The village at Kaipalaoa was a major trade center, where people from the northern districts met the people of the southern portions of Hilo and Puna.

Kamehameha was familiar with the Hilo district from his youth. Kaipalaoa, across the Wailuku River from Pu`u`eo was a favorite surfing area, and at least eight excellent breaks could be found from Pu‘u‘eo to Waiākea. (Yuen)

Kamehameha I began a war of conquest, winning his first major skirmish in the battle of Mokuʻōhai (a fight between Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo in July, 1782 at Keʻei, south of Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawaiʻi.) Kiwalaʻo was killed.

Captain George Vancouver, an early European explorer who met with Kamehameha at Hilo Bay in 1794, recorded that Kamehameha was there preparing for his invasion of the neighbor islands, and that Hilo was an important center because his canoes were being built there.

Desha wrote that “It is thought that there were as many as seven mano [twenty eight thousand] people who gathered at the shore at Kaipalaoa when the ali‘i landed”. The people of Hilo had long prepared for Kamehameha’s arrival and collected a large number of hogs and a variety of plant foods, to feed the ruler and his warriors.

Kelly surmised that the people of Hilo had actually prepared for a year prior to Kamehameha’s visit and expanded their fields into the open lands behind Hilo to accommodate the increased number of people that would be present.

Kelly also speculated that many of the fishponds in Waiākea were created to feed Kamehameha, his chiefs, and craftsmen. The area at Hilo Bay that housed Kamehameha’s canoe fleets continues to be the site of canoeing, both recreational and competitive. (Rechtman)

By 1795, having fought his last major battle at Nuʻuanu on O‘ahu with his superior use of modern weapons and western advisors, he subdued all other chiefdoms (with the exception of Kauai).

However, after a short time, another chief entered into a power dispute with Kamehameha; his name was Nāmakehā (the brother of Kaʻiana, a chief of Kauai who had been killed in the Battle of Nuʻuanu.)

Previously, Kamehameha asked Nāmakehā (who lived in Kaʻū, Hawai‘i) for help in fighting Kalanikūpule and his Maui forces on O‘ahu, but Nāmakehā ignored the request.

Kamehameha, on Oʻahu at the time, returned to his home island of Hawaiʻi with the bulk of his army to suppress the rebellion. The battle took place at Kaipalaoa, Hilo. Kamehameha defeated Nāmakehā.

This was the final battle fought by Kamehameha to unite the archipelago. (Kamehameha negotiated a settlement with King Kaumualiʻi for the control of Kauai and Niʻihau, in 1810.)

Although Kamehameha’s warriors had won the battle over Nāmakehā, they then turned their rage upon the villages and families of the vanquished. It was about the same time and place of the Nāmakehā Rebellion that Kamehameha decreed Ke Kānāwai Māmalahoe (The Law of the Splintered Paddle.)

When Liholiho was born at Hilo in November 1797, he was immediately taken from his mother and given to the guardianship of Kaahumanu. (Sinclair) The first-born child of Keōpūolani and Kamehameha, his piko was ceremonially cut at Kaipalaoa, at the heiau of the same name. (Correa)

Stokes included descriptions of Kaipalaoa heiau as: “Probably located just west of Isabelle Point. The native name of this point is Kaipalaoa”. (Scheffel)

Kaipalaoa Point is now known as Cocoanut Point. “The native name of [Isabelle Point] is Kaipalaoa.” (Stokes) Isabel and Kaipalaoa points are separated by only about three hundred feet. (Hawaiian Place Names)

“The site of Kai-palaoa Heiau was on the land of Kai-palaoa, and lay just seaward, and a little toward Wai-anuenue St, from the site of the Hilo Armory at the upper end of the short street from the shore to Ke-awe St, and on the side toward the river a little below the bridge to Pu-u-eo, near the Library.”

“The Armory site was formerly occupied by the royal residence of King Ka-mehameha I, which was named Ka-hale-‘ilio-‘ole – The House Without Rats (or, commoners).” (Kekahuna)

Kaipalaoa heiau is “Near armory site, Hilo; of pookanaka class; the heiau at which Umi’s life was threatened, and the place where Kamehameha is said to have proclaimed his Māmalahoe law (Law of the Splintered Paddle). Destroyed in the time of Kuakini’s governorship of Hawaii.” (Hawaiian Place Names)

Between 1863 and 1890 a landing wharf and US Coast Guard lighthouse were built at the foot of Waiānuenue Avenue. Passengers and freight were transported to steamers anchored in the bay. (HHF & Cultural Surveys)

By 1870, three heiau in Hilo – Kaipalaoa, Kanowa/Kanoa, and Honokawailani – were described as already being “ruins”. Lydgate describes the Hilo bay front area as it looked in 1873:

“The sea at that time came right up to the bank edge of Front street, so that in heavy weather the spray blew more or less up into the street. Along Front street tall coconut trees of great age towered up over the street.”

“From the foot of Church street extending along the beach it was open country, with the exception of one Hawaiian home, one canoe-builder’s workshop – or halau, as it is called by the Hawaiians – and a tumbled down little blacksmith shop some distance farther on.” (Hawaii County)

March 19, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pueo Kahi

Na ka Pueo kahi ke aloha
Nēnē ‘au kai o Maui

Kōwelo kō hae Hawai‘i
Ma ka ‘ilikai a‘o Māmala

Mālama ‘ia iho ke aloha
I Kuleana na‘u e hiki aku au

Ha‘ina ‘ia mai ka puana
Nā ka Pueo kahi ke aloha

The Pueo is my one love
The seafaring gull of Maui

The Hawaiian flag flutters
Over the surface of Mamala Bay

Take care of my love
That’s mine until I return

The story is told
Of the ship, Pueo that I love
(Na Ka Pueo – by Samuel Kalani Kaea)

Na Ka Pueo, a song which was perhaps written by a sailor, tells of a ship named Pueo-Kahi, a cargo vessel which sailed between Hāna and Honolulu harbors during the end of the monarchy period and during the republic.

The Pueo-Kahi was named for a place near Hāna, Maui. It is an earlier name of what we now call Hāna Bay and near the birthplace of Queen Ka‘ahumanu. ‘Pueo-Kahi,’ which could be translated as ‘Lone Owl,’ was named for the owl (pueo) demigod of that area. (Hau‘oli)

Ship, boat or canoes in Hawaiian mele were used as a poetic reference to woman. Owls were also family aumakua (ancestral gods).

“[T]he ‘aumakua was represented in marine life such as great fish, mano (shark), puhi (moray eel), mo‘o (lizard), honu (turtle), and land animals such as pueo (owl).”

“Many of [the people] looked for appearances by their ‘aumakua. For example, one informant shared that at a family funeral, his ‘aumakua, the pueo, appeared to lend support to his family.”

“The family knew where their ‘aumakua could be found and always made efforts to nurture or never harm them. … Pueo is symbolic of Wisdom and the whole universe, light and enlightenment. It is an ‘aumakua or ancestral guardian spirit.” (Matsuoka, etal)

Hāna is located on the eastern most point of Maui, approximately 60 miles from the population centers of Wailuku and Kahului. Hāna, or Kapueokahi, “the single owl”, is considered one of the most beautiful and historically important areas of Maui.

Prior to the unification of the Hawaiian Islands by King Kamehameha, Hāna was used as a staging ground for battles between warring chiefs on Maui and the island of Hawaii. (AECOS)

Alenuihaha Channel, between the southeast and south coast of East Maui and ‘Upolu Point (the northwest tip of Hawaii) could easily be crossed in either direction in a couple of hours when a trade wind was blowing.

As a sanctuary, both in wartime and peacetime, Hāna was an ideal seat for ruling ali’i of either island, as well as a much pleasanter and more beautiful place in which to live.

“Hana is called ‘a land beloved of chiefs because of the fortress of Ka‘uiki [a high rocky hillock by the bay] and the ease of living in that place.’”

“In time of war the hill was reached by a ladder of ohia poles bound together with withes. On the summit was spread a springy plant to serve as bed. Fishponds below furnished unlimited stores of fish. Heaps of ‘awa root ‘delighted the nostrils of the dear firstborn chiefs’”. (Beckwith; Handy, Handy & Pukui)

The sugar industry transformed the ecology of Hāna beginning in 1860 with the Ka‘eleku Sugar Company that formed the backbone of Hāna’s economy until sugar production ceased in the early 1930s.

Paul Fagan bought the sugarcane plantation, converting the area into cattle ranching, and in 1946, built the exclusive Hotel Hāna Ranch, historically known as Hotel Hāna Maui and today as Travaasa Hāna.

The pier at Hāna Bay (also historically known as Kauiki Bay ca. 1920, and as Kapueokahi Bay ca. 1882) was completed in the first half of 1921.

It replaced an earlier landing located near the foot of Keawa Place, on the shore of Hāna Bay, about 250 yards to the west. Here, a series of landings, jetties, and a pier had been in use since at least 1882.

When the 1921 structure was built, it was referred to as “Hāna Wharf”, not as a pier (as it is known today). As such, the historical context that follows uses the historically accurate terms “wharf” and “Hāna Wharf” to describe what is now known as Hāna Pier. (AECOS)

March 17, 2024 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

“The child will not die, he will live.”

A mile south from Kahaluʻu, and five from Kailua, lies the village of Keauhou, once supremely sacred, and a proudest of the royal lands on the big island of Hawaii. (Kelsey and Kekahuna; Maly)

So exceedingly tabu, indeed, was Keauhou, that if even so much as a shadow of a commoner fell toward it from near at hand he would be put to death for his heinous sacrilege! (Kelsey and Kekahuna; Maly)

Therefore, in the morning, when shadows fell seaward, travelers had perforce to swim across the bay from its point of Ha‘ikaua on the north to that of Kaukulaelae on the opposite shore, or vice versa. (Kelsey and Kekahuna; Maly)

In the afternoon, however, when shadows fell inland, passers-by kept at a respectful distance behind the pali of ‘Ahuʻula – Feather Cape or Cloak – that enfolded from the rear the low portion of the village between it and the curve of its splendid white sand beach of former days. (Kelsey and Kekahuna; Maly)

Most tabu of all the tabu chiefesses of Keauhou, in her day, was Keōpūolani, whom Kamehameha the Great made his tabu state wife (wahine kapu). (Kelsey and Kekahuna; Maly)

While she was carrying the child several of the chiefs begged to have the bringing up of the child, but she refused until her kahu, Kaluaikonahale, known as Kuakini, came with the same request. (Kamakau)

She bade him be at her side when the child was born lest someone else get possession of it. He was living this side of Keauhou in North Kona, and Keōpūolani lived on the opposite side. (Kamakau)

On the night of the birth the chiefs gathered about the mother. (Kamakau)

The queen-mother had just bathed in the cold water near the southern extremity of Keauhou’s formerly picturesque white sand beach, and a few steps into the sea, where slowly gushed the now mostly destroyed sea-spring of Kuhalalua. (Kelsey and Kekahuna; Maly)

There, in a shallow seat formed by a hollow in the top of a large rock, the mother had sat as she enjoyed her bath. (Kelsey and Kekahuna; Maly)

Suddenly she was seized with her birth pains. Aided by her attendants she struggled to the near-by shore. There, grasping the trunk of a coconut tree to support and sustain her, she gave birth. (Kelsey and Kekahuna; Maly)

Early in the morning, the child was born but as it appeared to be stillborn, Kuakini did not want to take it. (Kamakau)

Then came Kaikioʻewa from some miles away, close to Kuamoʻo, and brought with him his prophet who said, “The child will not die, he will live.” (Kamakau)

This man, Kamaloʻihi or Kapihe by name, came from the Napua line of kahunas descended from Makuakaumana whose god was Kaʻonohiokala (similar to the child of God). (Kamakau)

The child was well cleaned and laid upon a consecrated place and the seer (kaula) took a fan (peʻahi), fanned the child, prayed, and sprinkled it with water, at the same time reciting a prayer addressed to the child of God, something like that used by the Roman Catholics. (Kamakau)

The child began to move, then to make sounds, and at last it came to life. (Kamakau)

The child was named Kauikeaouli, a name from his ancestors, that being the name of his grandfather, Keōua (Keaoua), the one called Kalanikupuapaikalaninui Kauikeaouli. (Kuokoa Home Rula)

This name puts on high the sacred kapu of Keōua – his chiefly kapu extends above and touches the great heavens, and rests upon the dark clouds. (Kuokoa Home Rula)

So therefore, the importance of the names Keaouli and Keaoua, is the dark, black, thick, esteemed cloud. This cloud is a rain cloud. (Kuokoa Home Rula)

An Orator of the old times said that the name Kauikeaouli is the bank of clouds that Kapihe, the prophet, saw spread high in the heavens when he was called to go to see if the child that Keōpūolani gave birth to was alive or not alive. (Kuokoa Home Rula)

The tale of the birth of Kauikeaouli, born seemingly without a spark of life, but who was destined by the narrowest margin to return to this world from the spirit realm, that he might become the great King Kamehameha III. (Kelsey and Kekahuna; Maly)

His exact birth date is not known; however, a generally accepted date is August 11, 1813. Never-the-less, Kauikeaouli was apparently an admirer of Saint Patrick and chose to celebrate his birthday on March 17. (Kauikeaouli died December 15, 1854 (age of 41.))

Kamehameha_III,_1825