Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 6, 1 Iune 2023 — Ka Mo'olelo o Kamehameha I [ARTICLE]

Ka Mo'olelo o Kamehameha I

V HA'I MANA'O V ^ OPINION *

By Anakala Wayne Hinano Brumaghim Looking back at Hawaiian politics over six centuries, unrest existed within the ruling families such that there was a need to unify, to conquer, to acquire power, and to divide/make strong. Hawai'i Island Chief Kalaunuiohua attempted, but failed, to unite the archipelago in 1270 A.D. Liloa, a Hawai'i Island chief during the 15th century, divided his legacy between his two sons: his eldest son, Hakau, received his kingdom; his youngest son, 'Umi, received his war god, Kūkā'ilimoku. 'Umi later killed Hakau becoming sole heir following the first division of power in Hawaiian history. In 1782, Chief Kalaniopu'u, in a second division of power, divided his legacy between his son and nephew. He left his kingdom to his son, Kalanikauikeaouli-Kīwala'ō, and his war god to his nephew, Kamehameha. Later that same year, Kamehameha killed Kīwala'ō at the Battle of Moku'ōhai and became sole heir. Kapoukahi, a kahuna ffom Kaua'i, advised Kamehameha to build Pu'ukoholā Heiau at Kawaihae to confirm his mana to unite the archipelago. In 1792, after inviting his adversary Keōua Kū'ahu'ula to Kawaihae under false pretenses, Kamehameha killed him as he entered the harbor at Kawaihae and offered him as a sacrifice to sanctify the newly built heiau. Kamehameha subsequently defeated O'ahu Chief Kalanikupule at the Battle of Nu'uanu (1795) and

Hawai'i Island Chief Namakeha at the Battle of Kaipalaoa (1797). Maui Chief Kahekiliahumanu had died of old age in 1794. And in 1810, Chief Kaumuali'i became the vassal king of Kaua'i and Ni'ihau within the unified Kingdom of Hawai'i without a fight. Kamehameha I was born in 1736 and died on May 8, 1819, at Kai-lua-Kona, Hawai'i Island. In life, he had 21 wives and in death he left four widows: Keōpūolani, Ka'ahumanu, Kalakua and Nāmāhāna. He was buried in secrecy in North Kohala, Hawai'i Island, by the high chiefs Ho'olulu (1794-1865) and Hoapili (1776-1840). In 1832, at the passing of Queen Ka'ahumanu, Ho'olulu and Hoapili buried the queen as a Hawaiian chiefess beside her mōī (king), following Christian services at her first burial site at in Honolulu. Before his demise in 1819, Kamehameha I designated Queen Ka'ahumanu to rule beside his son Liholiho as Kuhina Nui (Prime Minister), and thus Hawai'i allowed women a "voice" in government a century before the U.S. passed the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, whieh gave women the same "voice." In her book, Hawai'i's Story by Hawai'i's Queen, Queen Lili'uokalani noted that "my great-grandfa-ther Keawe-a-Heulu, the founder of the Kamehamehas, and Keoua, father of Kamehameha I, were own cousins." In retrospect, then, Queen Lili'uokalani was the last Hawaiian monarch to eome from the Kamehameha dynasty, Ka Hale o Kamehameha. ■