Hewahewa

Hewahewa ( – February 16, 1837) was a Hawaiian religious leader who served as ''kahuna nui'' (high priest) of King Kamehameha I and his successor Kamehameha II. Hewahewa was a powerful figure in the royal court of Hawaii and played a major role in the abolition of the ''kapu'' system, the decline of the native religion of Hawaii, and the introduction of Christianity to the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Biography

Abolition of the ''kapu'' system

Hewahewa was born in the late 18th century. In 1819, French explorer Louis de Freycinet estimated Hewahewa was born around 1774. He grew up as part of the aristocracy of the pre-unified kingdom of the island of Hawaiʻi and was a descendant of Paʻao, a lineage that added to his prestige as a spiritual leader. Hewahewa's great-grandfather was Holoʻae, the ''kahuna'' of Alapaʻinui and Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the latter of whom ruled during James Cook's fatal visit to the islands. Hewahewa's grandfather was Pailili (or Pailiki) and his father was Puʻou, a ''kahuna'' of Kalaniʻōpuʻu's successor Kamehameha I. A cousin of Hewahewa was Kekūhaupiʻo, the instructor and military advisor of Kamehameha.

Hewahewa was educated as a ''kahuna'' and rose to prominence in the court of Kamehameha. Hewahewa and his family line were of the order of the war god Kū (''moʻo Kū''), which rose to prominence during the conflict that led up to the unification of the Hawaiian Islands and displaced the priestly order of the fertility god Lono. After Kamehameha united the Hawaiian islands into the Hawaiian Kingdom, he granted Hewahewa control over the Waimea Valley on Oahu, a powerful position within the kingdom. By the 1810s, Hewahewa was serving as ''kahuna-nui'' (high priest) and was responsible for maintaining the ''kapu'' code of conduct at the behest of King Kamehameha.

In 1819, King Kamehameha died and his son Kamehameha II became the new monarch. Kamehameha II was not as strong a ruler as his father; his court advisers—including Hewahewa—began to exert influence over the kingdom. As ''kahuna-nui'', Hewahewa was tasked with implementing and enforcing the ''kapu'' on the islands but by the time of Kamehameha II's ascension to the throne, Hewahewa had grown disillusioned with the system. His doubts were reinforced by the efforts of Kaʻahumanu, the late Kamehameha I's favorite wife, who had a relationship with high priest and persuaded him action was needed to break the ''kapu''. Acting on his views, Hewahewa and other court officials—including several female members of the royal family—planned to abolish the ''kapu''. The reformers' first target was a law that forbade women to eat certain foods and from eating with noblemen. At a grand feast held six months after Kamehameha I's death, his son was persuaded to eat alongside his female relatives; the women also ate forbidden foods at the feast, ushering the era of ''ʻAi Noa'' (free eating). While this display was criticized by more conservative members of Hawaiian society, it was also seen as breaking the monarchy's support of the ''kapu''.

Soon after the feast, Hewahewa embarked on a campaign to rid the kingdom of the ''kapu'' system. He was supported by a reformist faction within the kahunas and by two of Kamehameha I's queens, Kaʻahumanu—who persuaded Hewahewa to support the adoption of ''ʻAi Noa''—and Keōpūolani. Acting in his role as ''kahuna-nui'', Hewahewa ordered the burning of religious idols, the destruction of heiaus, and the end of the ''kapu''. Not all of the native Hawaiian religion was interfered with; family ''ʻaumākua'' remained untouched and the ''kahuna'' retained much of their political power as scholars and healers.

Some Hawaiian leaders opposed Hewahewa's efforts to abolish the Hawaiian religion. A reactionary faction led by Keaoua Kekuaokalani, a nephew of Kamehameha I and former student of Hewahewa, revolted against Kamehameha II and his court. Despite gathering some support, the rebels were defeated at the Battle of Kuamo'o in December 1819, marking the end of organized resistance against Hewahewa and his supporters.

Introduction of Christianity

In 1820, Christian missionaries arrived on the island. Many members of the Hawaiian nobility, including Hewahewa, eventually converted to Christianity; multiple sources note the introduction of Christianity filled the spiritual void left by the dissolution of the ''kapu'' system. According to some sources, Hewahewa had predicted the arrival of a new god from the sea in the days before the first missionaries arrived in the islands.

As the Christian faith spread throughout the Hawaiian islands, Hewahewa remained supportive of many of the new faith's systems of belief; rather than the traditional Hawaiian deities, he thanked Jehovah for food during a feast in place and composed a chant to worship the new god. Hewahewa remained supportive of free eating; he ate alongside women and later resigned his office as ''kahuna''. Hewahewa's dialogue with the missionaries also persuaded the powerful chiefess Kapiʻolani to adopt the Christian faith.

Though the decline of the Hawaiian religion had decreased Hewahewa's influence as a spiritualist, he remained important in the Hawaiian Kingdom into the 1830s. As an old man, he was called upon by Kamehameha III in an attempt to restore the native Hawaiian faith but Hewahewa persuaded the king to abandon the effort. Hewahewa was also known for exhibiting signs of alcoholism.

According to reports in the contemporaneous ''Ke Kumu Hawaii'' and the ''Sandwich Island Gazette'', Hewahewa died on February 16, 1837, at his home in Waimea, Oahu. He was ill for four months before his death and had asked his friends to pray for his salvation. There is, however, some discrepancy about his date of death; in 1893, Nathaniel Bright Emerson, who was born 1839, remembered Hewahewa "as a silent and wrinkled old man, who lived in a retired valley in Waialua, Island of Oahu, about the year 1848".

Legacy

Thousands of Hawaiians, including pioneering lifeguard Eddie Aikau, are descendants of Hewahewa In 2019, several acres of Hewahewa's lands in Waimea Valley, which were bestowed upon him by Kamehameha in the early 19th century, were granted protected status.

In 2000, Hewahewa was posthumously inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame with a group of historical Hawaiian chanters.

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{{Authority control

1770s births
1837 deaths
Hawaiian Kingdom people
People from Oahu
Converts to Protestantism from pagan religions
Hawaiian Kingdom Protestants
Hawaiian nobility
Religious leaders from Hawaii
Nobility of the Americas