Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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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.  

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While Liholiho was in London

After King Kamehameha I died in 1819, Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i pledged his allegiance to Liholiho, Kamehameha’s son and successor.  Things were peaceful in the Islands.

Then “Liholiho sailed for Maui on October 21 [1823], but inexplicably aborted the trip and returned to Honolulu by 3 pm. Ten days later, without any advance warning, Liholiho began a momentous journey to share astounding news with his chiefs. … he was sailing to England to meet with King George!” (Corely)

“His objects in visiting England, were to see the country, to acquire a better knowledge of the nature of commercial transactions, to obtain some acquaintance with the laws, usages, and institutions of England, and to make arrangements with the British government for the protection and prosperity of the Sandwich Islands.” (Missionary Records, 1839)

“It was the desire of the king, that Mr. [William] Ellis should accompany him, as his interpreter, to England; and, in case he should afterwards determine upon visiting the United States, he proposed that Mr. Bingham should accompany him in the same capacity there.”

“But this arrangement was, unhappily, frustrated by the captain, and the consequence was, that the king and queen left their native islands without an interpreter fully acquainted with the English language.”  (Missionary Records, 1839)

Frenchman John Rives went as interpreter. Liholiho’s chosen party were Governor Boki and his wife, Liliha, Kapihe, Chief Kekuanaoa, steward Manuia, Naukana (Noukana), Kauluhaimalama, servant Na‘aiweuweu, and James Kanehoa Young. (Corley)

“At the chiefs’ request, both Hiram Bingham and William Ellis preached to packed congregations on November 23 [1823].  L’Aigle left Honolulu’s inner harbor on November 25, but Liholiho waited until 10 a.m. on November 27 to board the small boat that would ferry him out to L’Aigle.”

“His people thronged the beach near Pākākā quayside as Liholiho settled himself into the small boat, accompanied by his principal chiefs. As the boat left the shore, the loud weeping of the people mingled with the roar of cannon from the fort and from the forty vessels lying in the harbor.” (Corely)

“At his departure the natives gathered round him, and tore their hair, and shriek’d and yell’d with the most frantic gestures. The King was dressed in European fashion, and when the boat shoved off from the shore, he stood up without betraying the slightest emotion; while the natives swam round and clung to various parts, crying and yelling with the greatest bitterness.”

“On coming on Board, the decks were crowded with queens and chiefs, pigs and poultry. Of pigs there were about 300; goats, 36; sheep, 6; and bullocks, 4; with 8 dozen of fowls, and 4 dozen of ducks, – all adrift together; and potatoes and powey (poi) from stem to stern.” (Atheneum, 1824)  Their departure took place on November 27, 1823.  (Missionary Records, 1839)

While Liholiho was away at England, Hiram Bingham was on a preaching tour of the island of Kauai in 1824.  Kaumuali‘i had been living on O‘ahu for three years.  Bingham spoke to him just before coming to Kauai.

Bingham writes: “We found Kaumuali‘i seated at his desk, writing a letter of business.  We were forcible and pleasantly struck with the dignity and gravity, courteousness, freedom and affection with which he rose and gave us his hand, his hearty aloha, and friendly parting smile, so much like a cultivated Christian brother.”

Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i died on May 26, 1824. When the king died, Bingham said a gloom fell over Kauai.  Kaumuali‘i was buried at Waine‘e Church (Wai‘ola Church,) on Maui.  Tension mounted throughout the islands following Kaumuali‘i’s death.

Kauai was especially tumultuous: people indulged in various forms of excess and lawlessness, which were considered displays of intense grief. These acts often signified the beginning of periods of great upheaval and were common following the death of a chief, especially for one as beloved as Kaumuali‘i.  (Warne)

“In the summer of 1824 a civil war broke out on Kauai and the noise of it reverberated through the entire kingdom. In May of that year Kaumualii had died in Honolulu, leaving his kingdom to Liholiho.  It was Kaumualii’s wish that the existing division and possession of lands on Kauai should remain undisturbed.”

“This created dissatisfaction among some who desired a re-distribution of land; an insurrection was fomented, with George Kaumualii [Humehume, Kaumuali‘i’s son] at its head.”

“The people were unitedly of opinion that Kauai belonged to the king and that it was their duty to secure it to him. The island being at length pacified, a reliable old chief of high rank, Kaikioewa, was appointed to govern it.” (Kuykendall)

Kalanimōku sailed to Kauai to proclaim the will of the dead chief and settle government affairs and land disputes.  At Waimea Kalanimōku examined the fort. He then called a council of all the chiefs and announced to them that it was determined to give the governorship of Kauai and Ni‘ihau to Kalanimōku nephew, Kahalaiʻa Luanuʻu.

“(T)hose of the chiefs who hold land, they are well off; the commoner who holds property is fortunate; the chief or commoner who has no portion is unfortunate. The lands shall continue as they now stand. Our son, Kahalaiʻa, shall be ruler over you.”  (Kalanimōku; Kamakau)

Kahalaiʻa accordingly sailed to Kauai as governor together with several chiefs.  “The day after his arrival, he examined the state of the fort, which mounted about fifty guns, larger and smaller, and furnished a guard with muskets, bayonets, and swords, and put them in motion on different parts of the walls.”  (Bingham)

Then … on August 8, 1824, disaster. Intruders were discovered before the distribution of arms was completed. Instead of responding silently with a bayonet, a cutlass, or a traditional club or spear, one rebel fired his newly acquired rifle.  (Warne)

Kahalaiʻa and his men were awakened by the ringing of the bell and the shouts of a woman warrior who cried, ‘Here come the Kauai warriors after the arms! here come the rebels! the men of Hawai‘i still hold the fort! it is not taken for Kauai!’ (Kamakau)

Humehume “entered the magazine, supplied his men with powder and broke open two houses where the arms were deposited and armed part of his men, but …”

“… instead of securing the remainder of the fort, which they might have done with the greatest ease with their bayonets and cutlasses, they commenced firing their muskets …”

“… the contest was doubtful for about half an hour when George’s party retreated for about eight miles, leaving ten men and two women dead in the fort. They carried off a few casks of powder and about 100 muskets.”  (Hunnewell; Warne)

“Kalanimoku, who was on Kauai at the time, having gone there to settle the affairs of the island, obtained aid from the windward islands and with little difficulty put down the rebellion.”  (Kuykendall)

On September 13, 1824, Hoapili sent a letter to Liholiho, explaining the unrest. “We, of Lahaina, all fought in the battle, two ships, with four other vessels. Paʻalua stayed at the fort. Hoapili is who went to do battle. He and Kāhalaiʻa.”

“At Keahuokawelo is where the defeat occurred, where the fight had been launched. Kauai was routed by Hoapili, and all were slaughtered. Two chiefs died, Nakeu and Kiaʻimakani.”

“Humehume slipped away, and fled into the woods. He has not been found, but is being sought out. Your younger brother, Kauikeaouli, and your guardian, Kaʻahumanu, have been sent for to come and rule the land.” (Hoapili to Liholiho, Sep 13, 1824, papakilodatabase)

Unbeknownst to those in the Islands, in London, Liholiho and Kamāmalu became ill.  It is believed they probably contracted the measles on their visit to the Royal Military Asylum (now the Duke of York’s Royal Military School.)  Virtually the entire royal party developed measles within weeks of arrival, 7 to 10 days after visiting the Royal Military Asylum housing hundreds of soldiers’ children.

Kamāmalu (aged 22) died on July 8, 1824.  The grief-stricken Kamehameha II (age 27) died six days later, on July 14, 1824.  Prior to his death he asked to return and be buried in Hawai‘i.  Boki took over leadership of the delegation and finally did have an audience with King George IV. 

Shortly thereafter, the British Government dispatched HMS Blonde to convey the bodies of Liholiho and Kamāmalu back to Hawaii, along with the entourage.  The Captain of the Blonde, a newly commissioned 46-gun frigate, was Lord Byron (a cousin of the poet.)

“Very soon after the affairs of Kauai had been reduced to order, news arrived (March 9, 1825) of the death of the king and queen in London. …”

“In the evening after the receipt of the news the mid-week religious service was held as usual and at its close Kalanimoku addressed the people, ‘desiring them to mourn the death of the king with sorrow of heart and to observe two weeks of prayer.’”

“In the middle of April, Captain Richard Charlton, recently appointed British consul, arrived with word of the near approach of the frigate Blonde, bearing the bodies of the king and queen.” (Kuykendall)

The Blonde arrived back in Honolulu on May 6, 1825.  (King Kaumuali‘i’s granddaughter Kapiʻolani (1834–1899) married King Kalākaua.)

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Pūlaholaho

In former times, the area we now call downtown Honolulu was not called Honolulu; instead, each land section had its own name.  (A map in the album notes many of the different areas and their respective place names. )

‘Kou’ was later used to describe the district roughly encompassing the present day area from Nuʻuanu to Alakea Streets and from Hotel to Queen Streets Street (Queen Street was, then, only a pathway along the water’s edge.)

The harbor was known as Kuloloia.  It was entered by the first foreigner, Captain William Brown of the English ship Butterworth, in 1794.  He named the harbor “Fair Haven.”  The name Honolulu (meaning “sheltered bay” – with numerous variations in spelling) soon came into use.

Kamehameha I, who had been living at Waikīkī since 1804, moved his court here in 1809.  His immediate court consisted of high-ranking chiefs and their retainers.

In 1815, Kamehameha I granted Russian representatives permission to build a storehouse near Honolulu Harbor.  Instead, directed by the German adventurer Georg Schaffer (1779-1836,) they began building a fort and raised the Russian flag.  When Kamehameha learned of this, he sent several chiefs to remove the Russians.

The partially built blockhouse was finished by Hawaiians; they mounted guns protected the fort.  Its original purpose was to protect Honolulu by keeping enemy or otherwise undesirable ships out.

By 1830, the fort had 40 guns mounted on the parapets; it was called Fort Kekuanohu (literally, ‘the back of the scorpion fish,’ as in ‘thorny back,’) because of the rising guns on the walls.  (Fort Street is so named, because of the fort on the waterfront.)

One of the areas nearby was called Pūlaholaho (it is down near the old waterfront, ʻEwa side of where the fort was.  (In today’s perspective, it runs from Merchant, Nuʻuanu, Queen Streets and up through the breezeway of the Harbor Court project (this used to be the location of Kaʻahumanu Street.)

April 25, 1825, Richard Charlton arrived in the Islands to serve as the first British consul. A former sea captain and trader, he was already familiar with the islands of the Pacific and had promoted them in England for their commercial potential (he worked for the East India Company in the Pacific as early as 1821.)

Charlton had been in London during Kamehameha II’s visit in 1824 and secured an introduction to the king and his entourage.  By the time he arrived in Hawai‘i in 1825, instructions had already arrived from Kamehameha II that Charlton was to be allowed to build a house, or houses, any place he wished and should be made comfortable.  This apparently was due to favors Charlton had done for the royal party.  (Hawaiʻi State Archives)

Charlton didn’t play well with others.  A report by Thrum noted, “July 13th (1827) – Last evening the English consul, in conversation with Boki told him he would cut Kaahumanu’s head off and all the residents were ready to join in it. Guards were ordered out in all parts of the village. Mr. Charlton may be ready to take up arms against the chief but few, if any, I believe would follow or join with him.” (Thrum)

In spite of that, Charlton did receive land for his home and for Consular offices.  The records suggest that the land under the present Washington Place premises were part of a grant from the chiefs to Charlton in 1825-26 to provide a permanent location for a British Consulate.  (HABS)

(Charlton later sold that property to Captain John Dominis (December 26, 1840,) who later built Washington Place. … By the way, Beretania Street was so named because of the British Consulate there.)

Charlton claimed this and other lands as his personal property.  He also claimed land down by the waterfront.  There was no disagreement over a small parcel, Wailele, but the larger adjoining parcel he claimed (Pūlaholaho) had been occupied since 1826 by retainers and heirs of Kaʻahumanu.

In making his claim for Pūlaholaho, Charlton showed a 299-lease dated October 5, 1826 issued to him by Kalanimōku.  That claim, made in 1840, however, was made after Kalanimōku and Kaʻahumanu had died.

Following Charlton’s presentation of his claim to rights of the entire land section of Pūlaholaho, Kamehameha III sought a means of providing security for the native residents on the land, and claimed that Pūlaholaho belonged to the crown.  (Maly)

In rejecting Charlton’s claim, Kamehameha III cited the fact that Kalanimōku did not have the authority to grant the lease.  At the time the lease was made, Kaʻahumanu was Kuhina Nui, and only she and the king could make such grants.  The land was Kaʻahumanu’s in the first place, and Kalanimōku certainly could not give it away.  (Hawaiʻi State Archives)  The dispute dragged on for years.

This, and other grievances purported by Charlton and the British community in Hawai‘i, led to the landing of George Paulet on February 11, 1843 “for the purpose of affording protection to British subjects, as likewise to support the position of Her Britannic Majesty’s representative here”.

Following this, King Kamehameha III ceded the Islands and Paulet took control.  After five months of British rule, Queen Victoria, on learning the injustice done, immediately sent Rear Admiral Richard Darton Thomas to the islands to restore sovereignty to its rightful rulers.

On July 31, 1843 the Hawaiian flag was raised.  The ceremony was held in area known as Kulaokahuʻa; the site of the ceremony was turned into a park, Thomas Square.

On November 26, 1845, legal title to Charlton’s land claim was secured and was sold to British businessman, Robert C Janion (of Starkey, Janion and Co – that company later became Theo H. Davies & Co and one of Hawaiʻi’s ‘Big 5.’)   (Liber 3:221; Maly)  Charlton stayed in Honolulu until February 19, 1846, when he left Hawai’i for the last time.

Pūlaholaho was subdivided and Janion auctioned off the properties in 1846.  Captain Heinrich (Henry) Hackfeld opened a store on one of them in October 1849.  His company, H Hackfeld & Co, later became American Factors, Amfac, another Hawaiʻi ‘Big 5’ company.

A lasting legacy is the Melchers Building, the oldest commercial building in Honolulu, erected in 1854, at 51 Merchant Street, built for the retail firm of Melchers and Reiner. Its original coral stone walls are no longer visible on most sides, under its layers of stucco and paint (check the makai side of the building to see the coral blocks.)

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Keōpūolani Baptism

On the arrival of the American missionaries in April 1820, all the chiefs were consulted respecting the expediency of their establishment in the islands. Some of the chiefs seemed to doubt; but Keōpūolani without hesitation approved their proposals. (Memoir)

Keōpūolani welcomed them. As the highest ranking ali‘i of her time, her embracing of Christianity set a crucial seal of approval on the missionaries and their god. (Langlas & Lyon)

Keōpūolani was the daughter of Kīwalaʻo. Kīwalaʻo was the son of Kalaniʻōpuʻu by Kalola (sister of Kahekili.) Her mother was Kekuiapoiwa Liliha, Kīwalaʻo sister. She was aliʻi kapu of nī‘aupi‘o (high-born – offspring of the marriage of a high-born brother and sister or half-brother and half-sister.)

Her ancestors on her mother’s side were ruling chiefs of Maui; her ancestors on her father’s side were the ruling chiefs of the island of Hawai‘i. Keōpūolani’s genealogy traced back to Ulu, who descended from Hulihonua and Keakahulilani, the first man and woman created by the gods.

In the year 1822, while at Honolulu, she was very ill, and her attention seems to have been then first drawn to the instructions of the missionaries. (Anderson)

In May 1823, Keōpūolani and her husband Hoapili expressed a desire to have an instructor connected with them. They selected Taua, a native teacher sent by the church at Huaheine, in company with the Rev. Mr. Ellis, to instruct them and their people in the first principles of the Gospel, and teach them to read and write.

The mission approved, and Taua resided until the death of Keōpūolani. He proved a faithful teacher, and by the blessing of God, we believe, he did much to establish her in the Christian faith. (Memoir)

Keōpūolani requested, as did the king and chiefs, that missionaries might accompany her. As Lahaina had been previously selected for a missionary station, the missionaries were happy to commence their labors there under such auspices. William Richards and Charles Samuel Stewart therefore accompanied her. (Memoir)

On the May 31, 1823, Keōpūolani arrived in Lahaina with Messrs. Richards and Stewart and their families. On their passage, she told them she would be their mother; and indeed she acted the part of a mother ever afterwards.

Immediately on their arrival, she requested them to commence teaching, and said, also, “It is very proper that my sons (meaning the missionaries) be present with me at morning and evening prayers.”

They were always present, sung a hymn in the native language, and when nothing special prevented, addressed through an interpreter the people who were present, when Taua, or the interpreter, concluded the service with prayer.

She spent a principal part of her time every day in learning how to read. and notwithstanding her age, numerous cares, constant company, and various other hindrances, made respectable proficiency.

She was indeed a diligent pupil, seldom weary with study; often spent hours over her little spelling book; and when her teachers rose to leave her, rarely laid it aside, but usually continued studying after they had retired.

She was apparently as diligent in searching for divine truth, as in learning to read, and evidently gave attention to her book, that she might know more of her duty to her Maker. (Memoir)

On the last week in August, Keōpūolani began to be seriously affected by a local indisposition, which soon seemed to relax her whole system, and in her view was a premonition of her approaching death.

On the first day of September, the chiefs began to collect in consequence of her illness. This was agreeable to their universal custom. Whenever a high chief is taken ill, although there may be nothing threatening in his illness, all the chiefs assemble from every part of the islands, and wait the result.

Thus, it was in Keōpūolani’s sickness. Vessels were dispatched to the different islands before there was any occasion for alarm. It was not many days, however, before it was seriously apprehended that the disease would prove fatal. (Memoir)

“They regarded her as a fit subject for baptism, but were unwilling to administer the ordinance without some means of communicating with her and with the people, so that there might be no danger of misunderstanding on so interesting an occasion.”

“They feared lest there should be erroneous impressions as to the place the ordinance held in the Christian system. Happily, Mr. Ellis arrived just in season, and the dying woman was thus publicly acknowledged as a member of the visible church.”

“The king and ail the heads of the nation listened with profound attention to Mr. Ellis’s statement of the grounds on which baptism was administered to the queen …”

“… and when they saw that water was sprinkled on her in the name of God, they said, ‘Surely she is no longer ours. She has given herself to Jesus Christ. We believe she is his, and death will go to dwell with him.’ An hour afterwards, near the close of September 16, 1823, she died.” (Anderson)

Keōpūolani is said to have been the first convert of the missionaries in the islands and the first to receive a Protestant baptism. (Kalanimōku and Boki had previously (1819) been baptized by the French Catholics. Kalanimōku later (1825) joined the Protestant Church, at the same time as Ka‘ahumanu.)

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Manono

Manono was born on Maui in the 1780s; her father was Kekuamanoha, and her mother was Kalola-a-Kumukoʻa, a wife of Kamehameha. Through her father, she was a granddaughter of Kekaulike, the Mōʻi (King) of Maui.

From her mother’s side, she was the great-granddaughter of King Keawe of Hawaiʻi.  Her half-siblings from her father’s first marriage were Kalanimōkū, Boki and Wahinepio. She was cousin of Kaʻahumanu, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie, Keʻeaumoku II and Kuakini (Governor of Hawaiʻi.)

At the time of Cook’s arrival (1778-1779) (while the Colonists were battling the British on the continent,) 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 at (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Separate Kingdoms ruled separate parts of the Islands.  However, conquest was in the air and battles and negotiations for power and control were going on.

When Keōua, the father of Kamehameha, died, he commended his son to the care of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who received him, and treated him as his own child.  (Dibble)  Following Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s death in 1782, the kingship was inherited by his son Kīwalaʻō; Kamehameha (Kīwalaʻō’s cousin) was given guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, Kūkaʻilimoku.

Dissatisfied with subsequent redistricting of the lands by district chiefs, civil war ensued between Kīwalaʻō’s forces and the various chiefs under the leadership of his cousin Kamehameha.

In the first major skirmish, 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.  With the death of his cousin Kiwalaʻo, the victory made Kamehameha chief of the districts of Kona, Kohala and Hāmākua, while Keōua, the brother of Kiwalaʻo, held Kaʻū and Puna, and Keawemauhili declared himself independent of both in Hilo.  (Kalākaua)

Kamehameha, through the assistance of the Kona “Uncles” (Keʻeaumoku, Keaweaheulu, Kameʻeiamoku & Kamanawa (the latter two ended up on the Islands’ coat of arms;)) succeeded, after a struggle of more than ten years, in securing the supreme authority over that island (and later, the entire Hawaiian Islands chain.)

Prior to his death on May 8, 1819, Kamehameha decreed that that his son, Liholiho, would succeed him in power; he also decreed that his nephew, Kekuaokalani, have control of the war god Kūkaʻilimoku (a similar scenario to Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Kiwalaʻo/Kamehameha.)

At a young age Manono fell in love with and married Kekuaokalani, the young kahu (priest) of Kūkaʻilimoku from the island of Hawai’i. The couple lived in the mountains on the island of Maui tending to their taro patches and raised their four children.  (Cupchoy)

Following the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.   “An extraordinary event marked the period of Liholiho’s rule, in the breaking down of the ancient tabus, the doing away with the power of the kahunas to declare tabus and to offer sacrifices, and the abolition of the tabu which forbade eating with women (ʻAi Noa, or free eating.)”  (Kamakau)

The people were divided about keeping the traditional social structure or abandoning it. Kekuaokalani, Liholiho’s cousin, opposed the abolition of the kapu system and assumed the responsibility of leading those who opposed its abolition. These included priests, members of his court and the traditional territorial chiefs of the middle rank.

Kekuaokalani demanded that Liholiho withdraw his edict on abolition of the kapu system.  (If the kapu fell, the war god would lose its potency.)  (Daws)  Kamehameha II refused.

After attempts to settle peacefully, “Friendly means have failed; it is for you to act now,” and Keōpūolani then ordered Kalanimōkū to prepare for war on Kekuaokalani. Arms and ammunition were given out that evening to everyone who was trained in warfare, and feather capes and helmets distributed.  (Kamakau)

The two powerful cousins engaged at the final Hawaiian battle of Kuamoʻo – a battle for tradition versus the modern.

In December 1819, just seven months after the death of Kamehameha I, opposing heirs met in battle on the lava fields south of Keauhou Bay.  Liholiho had more men, more weapons and more wealth to ensure his victory. He sent his prime minister, Kalanimōku, to defeat his cousin.

Kekuaokalani marched up the Kona Coast from Kaʻawaloa and met his enemies at Lekeleke, just south of Keauhou.  The first encounter went in favor of Kekuaokalani. At Lekeleke, the king’s army suffered a temporary defeat.

Regrouping his warriors, Kalanimōkū fought back and trapped the rebels farther south along the shore in the ahupuaʻa of Kuamoʻo.    (Kona Historical Society)

“No characters in Hawaiian history stand forth with a sadder prominence, or add a richer tint to the vanishing chivalry of the race, than Kekuaokalani and his courageous and devoted wife, Manono, the last defenders in arms of the Hawaiian gods.”  (Kalākaua)

“Kekuaokalani is referred to by tradition as one of the most imposing chiefs of his day. He was more than six and a half feet in height, perfect in form, handsome in feature and noble in bearing. Brave, sagacious and magnetic, he possessed the requirements of a successful military leader”.  (Kalākaua)

Kekuaokalani, having earlier received a wound, fainted and fell and, unable to stand, “sat on a fragment of lava, and twice loaded and fired a musket on the advancing party. He now received a ball in his left breast, and, immediately covering his face with his feathered cloak”.  (Ellis)

“In the midst of these scenes of blood the eye rests with relief upon numerous episodes of love, friendship and self-sacrifice touching with a softening color the ruddy canvas of the past.”   (Kalākaua)

“Manono, during the day, fought by his side, with steady and dauntless courage.”  (Ellis)

“He finally fell with a musket-ball through his heart. With a wild scream of despair Manono sprang to his assistance”.   (Kalākaua)

“But the words had scarcely escaped from her lips, when she received a ball in the left temple – fell upon the lifeless body of her husband, and expired.”  (Ellis)

“Thus died the last great defenders of the Hawaiian gods.  They died as nobly as they had lived, and were buried together where they fell on the field of Kuamoʻo.”  (Kalākaua)

“It is painful to contemplate the death of Kekuaokalani, of Manono a wife who seems to have been unusually affectionate, and of the many friends and adherents who fought with acknowledged steadfastness and courage and fell on the field of battle.”  (Dibble)

“Manono is said to have been an interesting woman, and she certainly gave evidence of attachment and affection. … Not even the horrors of savage fight could prevent her from following the fortune and sharing the dangers of her husband.”  (Dibble)

It is said that Kalanimōkū left the body of Kekuaokalani on the lava rocks after this battle instead of having it buried according to his rank of a chief because Kekuaokalani’s ancestor, Alapaʻi-Nui-a–Kaʻu-au-a had drowned Kalanimōkū’s ancestor, Kauhi-ai-moku-a-kama, at Puhele, Kaupo district, Maui.  (Kamakau)

After Kalanimōkū’s departure, Kekuaokalani’s loved ones retrieved his body; later the iwi of Kekuaokalani were brought from Koaiku Cave in Kaʻawaloa to Pohukaina on the grounds of ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu.  (Parker, Alu Like)

Kekuaokalani’s feathered cloak was taken as a battle prize of Kamehameha II.  The cloak became one of the three feathered cloaks that legitimized Liholiho’s claim to power.

After the death of Kamehameha II, the cloak did not have the same symbolic power to his brother, Kamehameha III, and it was given to Captain John H Aulick of the American Navy in 1841. His descendants gave it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1869.  (Smithsonian)

The image ‘Kekuaokalani and Manono Battle at Kuamoʻo Dec. 1819’ by Brook Kapukuniahi Parker was the inspiration for this summary. 

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