Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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It was a dark and stormy night …

“It was said that on a certain night of heavy down pouring rain – the lightning struck its wrathful flashes into the sky – the thunder pounded with all its might – the stormy wind veered every which way – the red water churned in the streams.”  (Poepoe, Ahlo)

The child born that night was of royal blood, and was destined to become not only the king of Hawaiʻi, but the conqueror and sovereign of the group.

They say the child was poʻolua, “that is, a child of two fathers, (it) was considered a great honor by chiefs of that period.” (Luomala)  Some say that his mother, Kekuʻiapoiwa (married to Keōua,) had a liaison with Kahekili (ruler of Maui.)

Though Kahekili was thought to possibly be his biological father, he was raised by his parents (and was considered the son of Kekuʻiapoiwa and Keōua.)

The exact year of his birth is not known; different historians/writers place the year of his birth from about 1736 to 1759.

He was said to be born at Kokoiki (”little blood,” referring to the first signs of childbirth – Kokoiki is one of the star names listed in the Kumulipo chant.)

Another notes, “(A) bright and beautiful star, appeared at Kokoiki on the night before the child was born and is hence called Kokoiki.”  (Kūʻokoʻa Home Rula, Ahlo)  (Scientific study places Halley’s Comet in the same relative position in the Hawaiian sky on December 1, 1758.  (Ahlo))

Keʻāulumoku predicted that he “would triumph over his enemies, and in the end be hailed as the greatest of Hawaiian conquerors.”  (Kalākaua)

Word went out to find and kill the baby, but the Kohala community conspired to save him.

“A numerous guard had been set to wait the time of birth. The chiefs kept awake with the guards (for a time,) but due to the rain and the cold, the chiefs fell asleep, and near daybreak Kekuʻiapoiwa went into the house and, turning her face to the side of the house at the gable end, braced her feet against the wall.”

“A certain stranger (Naeʻole) was outside the house listening, and when he heard the sound of the last bearing-down pain (kuakoko), he lifted the thatch at the side of the house, and made a hole above.”

“As soon as the child was born, had slipped down upon the tapa spread out to receive it, and Kekuʻiapoiwa had stood up and let the afterbirth (ewe) come away, he covered the child in the tapa and carried it away.”  (Kamakau)

The young child, Kamehameha, was carried on a perilous journey through Kohala and Pololū Valley to Awini.  (KamehamehaDayCelebration)

Hawi, meaning ”unable to breathe,” was where the child, being spirited away by a servant, required resuscitation and nursing. Kapaʻau, meaning ”wet blanket,” was where heavy rain soaked the infant’s kapa (blanket.)  Halaʻula (scattered blood) was the town where soldiers were killed in anger.  (Sproat – (Fujii, NY Times))  Some believe Kamehameha also spent much of his teen years in Pololū (long spear.)

“Kamehameha (Kalani Pai‘ea Wohi o Kaleikini Keali‘ikui Kamehameha o ‘Iolani i Kaiwikapu Kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea) was a man of tremendous physical and intellectual strength. In any land and in any age he would have been a leader.”  (Kalākaua, ROOK)

While still in his youth, Kamehameha proved his right to rule over all the islands by lifting the Naha Stone at Pinao Heiau in Pi‘ihonua, Hilo (c. 1773.) (ROOK)

By the time of Cook’s arrival (1778,) Kamehameha had become a superb warrior who already carried the scars of a number of political and physical encounters. The young warrior Kamehameha was described as a tall, strong and physically fearless man who “moved in an aura of violence.” (NPS)

The impress of his mind remains with his crude and vigorous laws, and wherever he stepped is seen an imperishable track. He was so strong of limb that ordinary men were but children in his grasp, and in council the wisest yielded to his judgment. He seems to have been born a man and to have had no boyhood.  (Kalākaua)

He was always sedate and thoughtful, and from his earliest years cared for no sport or pastime that was not manly. He had a harsh and rugged face, less given to smiles than frowns, but strongly marked with lines indicative of self-reliance and changeless purpose.  (Kalākaua)

He was barbarous, unforgiving and merciless to his enemies, but just, sagacious and considerate in dealing with his subjects. He was more feared and admired than loved and respected; but his strength of arm and force of character well fitted him for the supreme chieftaincy of the group, and he accomplished what no one else could have done in his day.  (Kalākaua)

In 1790 (at the same time that George Washington was serving as the US’s first president,) the island of Hawaiʻi was under multiple rule; Kamehameha (ruler of Kohala, Kona and Hāmākua regions) successfully invaded Maui, Lanai and Molokai.

He sent an emissary to the famous kahuna (priest, soothsayer,) Kapoukahi, to determine how he could conquer all of the island of Hawaiʻi.  According to Thrum, Kapoukahi instructed Kamehameha “to build a large heiau for his god at Puʻukoholā, adjoining the old heiau of Mailekini.”

It is estimated that the human chain from Pololū Valley to Puʻukohola had somewhere between 10,000-20,000 men carrying stones from Pololū Valley to Kawaihae. (NPS)

After completing the heiau in 1791, Kamehameha invited Keōua to come to Kawaihae to make peace.  However, as Keōua was about to step ashore, he was attacked and killed by one of Kamehameha’s chiefs.

With Keōua dead, and his supporters captured or slain, Kamehameha became King of Hawaiʻi island, an event that according to prophesy eventually led to the conquest and consolidation of the islands under the rule of Kamehameha I.

It was the koa (warriors) of Hilo who supported Kamehameha in his early quest to unite Moku O Keawe. After gaining control of Moku O Keawe, Kamehameha celebrated the Makahiki in Hilo in 1794.  (ROOK)

The village and area of Hilo was named by Kamehameha after a special braid that was used to secure his canoe. Kamehameha and Keōpūolani’s son, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) was born in Hilo (1797.)  (ROOK)

Kamehameha’s great war fleet, Peleleu, that was instrumental in Kamehameha’s conquest, was built and based at Hilo (1796-1801). After uniting all of the islands under his rule in 1810, Hilo became Kamehameha’s first seat of government.  (ROOK)

It was in Hilo that Kamehameha established his greatest law, the Kānāwai Māmalahoe (Law of the Splintered Paddle).  (ROOK)  Kamehameha’s Law of the Splintered Paddle of 1797 is enshrined in the State constitution, Article 9, Section 10:  “Let every elderly person, woman and child lie by the roadside in safety”.

It has become a model for modern human rights law regarding the treatment of civilians and other non-combatants.  Kānāwai Māmalahoe appears as a symbol of crossed paddles in the center of the badge of the Honolulu Police Department.  The image shows Kamehameha as a young warrior (HerbKane.)

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Kalola

Kalola, the highest tabu chiefess of the Maui court, was a daughter of Queen Kekuʻiapoiwa I (a daughter of Keawe of Hawaiʻi) and King Kekaulike of Maui.

She was thus a granddaughter of Kalanikauleleiaiwi, Queen of Hawaiʻi and sister of the King Kahekili II. She was an aunt of the King Kalanikūpule.

When Kekaulike died, Kalola’s brothers Kamehamehanui (an uncle of Kamehameha I) and Kauhi fought each other for rule of Maui in 1738. Battles were fought across West Maui; the war ended with the battle Koko O Nā Moku (“Bloodshed of the Islands;” Kamehamehanui won.

Kalola lived with two brothers, Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Keōua, both Hawai’i island niʻaupiʻo (very high rank) chiefs. From Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the older brother, she had a son, Kalanikauikeaouli Kiwalaʻo (Kiwalaʻo.) From Keōua, the younger brother, she had a daughter, Kekuʻiapoiwa Liliha.

The children, Kiwalaʻo and Kekuʻiapoiwa, had the same mother, different fathers, offspring of a naha union (brother-sister mating of niʻaupiʻo chiefs.) These two lived together, and Keōpūolani was born to them, also the offspring of a naha union. (Mookini)

Keōpūolani (granddaughter of Kalola,) who was raised in Wailuku, Olowalu and Hāmākua on Maui, was later queen of Kamehameha I (we’ll get more into that a little bit later.)

At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), 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,) Molokai, Lānai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

In 1782, following the death of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Kiwalaʻo was briefly ruler of the island of Hawaiʻi. That year, his cousin, Kamehameha I, challenged his authority at the battle of Mokuʻōhai. Kīwalaʻō was killed in combat by Keʻeaumoku, one of Kamehameha’s officers. The victory at the battle of Mokuʻōhai was the start of Kamehameha’s rise to power

After the deaths of Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Kiwalaʻo, Kalola left for Maui, taking with her Keōpūolani. Kahekili, brother of Kalola, provided for the family and gave them his protection. After the conquest of Oahu by Kahekili he removed his court to that island, taking with him his sister and her family.

In 1785, they returned to Maui with Kalanikūpule, the son of Kahekili, who had been appointed chief of the island, and there remained, principally at Olowalu, until 1790. (Kalākaua)

At about that time, Simon Metcalf (captaining the Eleanora) and his son Thomas Metcalf (captaining the Fair American) were traders; their plan was to meet and spend winter in the Hawaiian Islands.

The Eleanora arrived in the islands first at Kohala on the island of Hawaiʻi. After a confrontation with a local chief, Simon Metcalf then sailed to the neighboring island of Maui to trade along the coast.

Kalola ruled the puʻuhonua of Olowalu and presided over Kaʻiwaloa Heiau. Kahekili, ruler of Maui, lived at Halekiʻi Heiau in Wailuku. This indicates the important spiritual, political and economic connection between ʻIao and Olowalu. Kalola was still ruling at Olowalu in 1790 when Simon Metcalf fired cannons on Honua’ula and Olowalu during the Olowalu Massacre.

Several months after the massacre at Olowalu, Kalola watched the great Battle of Kepaniwai from a panoramic flat area in the back of ʻIao Valley. Kamehameha stormed Maui with over twenty thousand men, and after several battles Maui troops retreated to ʻIao Valley.

Maui Island was conquered and its fighting force was destroyed – Kalanikūpule (Kahekili’s eldest son and heir-apparent) and some others (including Kalola and her family) escaped over the mountain at the back of the valley and made their way to Molokai and Oʻahu.

“The fugitives fled across the sharp ridges of the mountains, the mother carrying the child on her back and the kahu carrying mother and child, until they were able to escape to Molokai.” (Kamakau)

On the island of Molokai at Kalamaʻula, Kalola became ill and they could not carry out their original intention of going to Oʻahu to join Kahekili. Kamehameha followed Kalola to Molokai and asked Kalola for Keōpūolani (Kalola’s granddaughter) to be his queen.

Kalola, who was dying, agreed to give Kamehameha Keōpūolani and her mother Kekuʻiapoiwa Liliha, if he would allow the girls to stay at her death bed until she passed. Kamehameha camped on Molokai until Kalola died, and returned to Kona with his high queen Keōpūolani.

At Kalola’s death, “They wailed and chanted dirges, and some were put to sleep with the dead, and the chiefs tattooed themselves and knocked out their teeth. Kamehameha was also tattooed and had his eyeteeth knocked out, and the chiefs and commoners acted like madmen.” (Kamakau)

Kamehameha then formally took charge of and returned to Hawaiʻi with her daughter and granddaughter, not only as a sacred legacy from Kalola, but as a token of reconciliation and alliance between himself and the elder branch of the Keawe dynasty. (Kalākaua)

Later, Liholiho (Kamehameha II,) Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) and Princess Nahiʻenaʻena were born to Kamehameha and Keōpūolani.

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Poʻolua

Poʻolua is literally broken down as Poʻo (head) and lua (two) and refers to a child who has two fathers (the child is sired by other than the husband, but he is accepted by both the husband and the sire.)

A child said to be poʻolua, “that is, a child of two fathers, was considered a great honor by chiefs of that period.” (Luomala)

Kamehameha has been referred to as poʻolua (shared, two-headed) son of Keōua and Kahekili by his mother Kekuʻiapoiwa.  (VanDyke)

Kamakau references Kamehameha was born at Kokoiki in Kohala.  His father was Keōua, younger brother of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, and his mother was Kekuʻiapoiwa, daughter of Kekela and Haʻae, both of whom belonged to families of chiefs.

Kamakau explains that it was the custom from ancient times among the chiefs of Hawaiʻi for the chief of one island to give a child to the chief of another island. This is the reason why Kahekili has often been called the father of Kamehameha, for chiefs of Hawaii and Maui were closely related.  (Kamakau)

Kamehameha, who had always thought that Chief Keōua of the island of Hawaiʻi was his natural father until a few years after he conquered all the islands but Kauaʻi.  Dibble notes that 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.

Per Kamakau’s account, in 1802, Kamehameha, on hearing that Chief Kameʻeiamoku was dying at Lāhainā, went to him.  Kameʻeiamoku had attended Kamehameha since his boyhood and was one of his four Kona Uncles who had engineered his rise to power and made him king.  Kameʻeiamoku (on his deathbed) said to Kamehameha, “I have something to tell you: Kahekili was your father, you were not Keōua’s son. Here are the tokens that you are the son of Kahekili.”  (Kamakau)

Kamehameha responded, “Strange that you should live all this time and only when dying tell me that I am Kahekili’s son! Had you told me this before, my brothers need not have died; they could have ruled Maui while I ruled Hawaii.”    (Kamakau)

Kameʻeiamoku answered, “That is not a good thought; had they lived there would have been constant warfare between you, but with you alone as ruler the country is at peace.”    (Kamakau)

Kahekili’s age is not accurately known, but as by all native accounts he was the reputed father of Kamehameha I.  (Fornander)

“Kamehameha was the reputed son of Keōua otherwise called Kalanikupuapaikalaninui, a younger half-brother of Kalaniopuʻu, king of Hawaiʻi. It is said, however, that Kamehameha was the real son of Kahekili, king of Maui and that Kahekili gave him the name of his brother which was Kamehameha.”   (Dibble)

Kalākaua notes, “To this record of the tangled relationships of the chiefly families of the group at that period may be added … that Kahekili, the mōʻi of Maui, was the real father of Kamehameha; and in proof of the latter the acts and admissions of Kahekili are cited.”

When Kamehameha prepared an invasion in east Maui, Kahekili sent his younger brother, Alapaʻi, with the following orders: “Go, and bestow our kingdom upon our son; and if he will receive it, well; but if he does not recognize me as his father and will not respect the gift, but insists upon war; then, tell him that both he and his soldiers shall die in their youth, before the going down of the sun.”  (Dibble)

“If, indeed he shall listen to my request, then, say to him, ‘Wait, till the black tapa, shall cover me and my funeral rites shall be performed, then, come and receive his kingdom, without the peril of war,’ – for indeed, he is my son, and from me he received his name Kamehameha after that of my elder brother.” (Dibble)  Receiving the message, Kamehameha delayed his invasion.

Some say that Kekuʻiapoiwa had a liaison with Kahekili (ruler of Maui) and from this union was born Kamehameha.  Though Kahekili was thought to be his biological father, he was raised by his parents (and was considered the son of Kekuʻiapoiwa and Keōua.)

After Kahekili died, Fornander had an interesting perspective related to the relationships of the parties.  Fornander notes, “Kameʻeiamoku and his twin-brother Kamanawa secretly took Kahekili’s body away and hid it in one of the caves at Kaloko in North Kona, Hawaii.”

Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa were the children of Kekaulike of Maui, and thus half-brothers of Kahekili.  The twins (Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa) were Chiefs from the Kohala and North Kona districts and were uncles of and his counselors in the wars to unite the islands.

This relationship receives further confirmation from the native legends when they relate that, on learning the birth of Kamehameha, Kahekili sent these two sons of his father Kekaulike to Hawaiʻi to be and act as “Kahus” to Kamehameha.  (Fornander)

“In no other way can the otherwise singular fact be explained that two of Kamehameha’s oldest and most prominent and trusted councilor chiefs, during a time of what may be called suspended hostilities, should have repaired from Hawaii to Oahu for the purpose of securing and safely hiding (Huna-kele) the bones of Kamehameha’s political rival; nor the otherwise equally inexplicable fact that they should have been permitted by Kalanikūpule, Kahekili’s son and successor, to carry their design into effect.”  (Fornander)

Under the social system of the old regime, and of time-hallowed custom, Kamehameha would have had no power to prevent those chiefs from executing their pious errand, and Kalanikūpule would have had no motive to mistrust their honesty when resigning to them his father’s remains; and a breach of trust on their part would have consigned them to an infamy of which Hawaiian history had no precedent, and so deep, that the Hawaiian language would not have had a word detestable enough wherewith to express it.  (Fornander)

“He was the reputed and accepted son of Keōua, the half-brother of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, although it was believed by many that his real father was Kahekili, mōʻi of Maui. But, however this may have been, he was of royal blood, and was destined to become not only the king of Hawaiʻi, but the conqueror and sovereign of the group. This chief was Kamehameha.”  (Kalākaua)

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

The image shows Kamehameha (drawn by Choris in 1816.)  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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