Kawaokaohele ( Hawaiian for "our days of poverty") was a High Chief who ruled the island of

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

ancient Hawaii Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification in 1810 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporadicall ...

Biography

Kawaokaohele was a son of

Kahekili I Kahekili I was a king of Maui. He was a noted warrior chief who nearly destroyed his country. He was styled Kahekilinui or "Kahekili the Great" even though his greatness was small in comparison to his descendant Kahekili II. His name was short for ...

and Haukanuimakamaka, who was a High Chiefess and is also known as Hauanuihonialawahine. She was born on

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

, but married Kahekili on Maui. Kawaokaohele succeeded his father. His reign was prosperous. No war occurred during Kawaokaohele was ruler of the island. Kawaokaohele’s sister, beautiful Keleanohoanaapiapi, was abducted and married into the noble family of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

Marriage

Kawaokaohele had married Kepalaoa, whose

pedigree Pedigree may refer to: Breeding * Pedigree chart, a document to record ancestry, used by genealogists in study of human family lines, and in selective breeding of other animals ** Pedigree, a human genealogy (ancestry chart) ** Pedigree (animal ...

is not remembered, but who was probably a Maui chiefess or an Oahu princess. She bore a famous son,

Piʻilani Piʻilani ("ascent to heaven") (born ca. 1460) ruled as Mōʻī of the island of Maui in the later part of the 15th century. At the time Maui was an independent kingdom within the islands of Hawaii. He was the first ''Aliʻi'' to unite the isl ...

, and Kawaokaohele was succeeded by him.The Stories of the Genealogies of Maui
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Legend

In one ancient legend, Kawaokaohele is represented as the foster father of Piʻilani. According to this old story, god Kū was the biological father of Piʻilani.

Family tree

Notes

{{Reflist Royalty of Maui