Keahikuni Kekauʻōnohi (c. 1805–1851) was a Hawaiian high chiefess who was a member of the
House of Kamehameha
The House of Kamehameha ''(Hale O Kamehameha)'', or the Kamehameha dynasty, was the reigning Royal Family of the Kingdom of Hawaii, beginning with its founding by Kamehameha I in 1795 and ending with the death of Kamehameha V in 1872 and Lunalilo ...
. She was granddaughter to King
Kamehameha I and one of the wives of
Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II (November 1797 – July 14, 1824) was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani. It was lengthened to Kalani Kaleiʻaimoku o Kaiwikapu o Laʻa ...
. Her Christian name is disputed; it is given as Mikahela in the 1848 Mahele Book and as Miriam in later sources.
Biography
She was born circa 1805 at
Lahaina,
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 ...
. Her father was
Kahōʻanokū Kīnaʻu. Her mother was
Kahakuhaʻakoi Wahinepio, sister of
Boki and
Kalanimoku and granddaughter of Alii Nui,
Kekaulike of Maui. Her father was a son of
Kamehameha I and his wife
Peleuli, daughter of
Kamanawa, one of the royal twins.
She married her uncle
Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II (November 1797 – July 14, 1824) was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani. It was lengthened to Kalani Kaleiʻaimoku o Kaiwikapu o Laʻa ...
. She was one of his five wives. Others were
Kamāmalu
Kamāmalu Kalani-Kuaʻana-o-Kamehamalu-Kekūāiwa-o-kalani-Kealiʻi-Hoʻopili-a-Walu (–1824) was Queen consort of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi as the wife of King Kamehameha II. Kamāmalu was short for Kamehamalu or Kamehamehamalu meaning "the Shade ...
,
Pauahi,
Kīnaʻu, and
Kekāuluohi. She was the youngest, but Kamāmalu was Liholiho's favorite.
She was at the famous meal when the ''
kapu Kapu may refer to:
* Kapu (Hawaiian culture), a Hawaiian code of conduct
* Kapu (caste), a social group of India
* Kapu, Karnataka, a town in Karnataka, India
** Kapu Assembly constituency
* Kapu, Arunachal Pradesh, a settlement in Tirap district, A ...
'' system was overturned in 1819, known as the
ʻAi Noa.
After Liholiho's death in London, she went to
Kauaʻi
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 List of islands of th ...
to live with her half-brother
Kahalaiʻa Luanuʻu, who served as governor of
Kauaʻi
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 List of islands of th ...
from 1824 to 1825.
Kekauʻōnohi served as a governor of the island of
Kauaʻi
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 List of islands of th ...
some time around 1840–1845
and was a stanch Protestant.
Kamehameha III created the
House of Nobles in the
Hawaiian Constitution of 1840.
She was among the first members along with the King,
Hoapiliwahine,
Pākī
Abner Kuhoʻoheiheipahu Pākī (c. 1808–1855) was a Hawaiian high chief during the reign of King Kamehameha III, the father of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, founder of Kamehameha Schools.
Early life and family
According to Hawaiian tradition, he ...
,
Kōnia,
Keohokalole,
Kuakini,
Kahekili,
Leleiohoku I,
Kekuanaoa,
Kealiʻiahonui,
Kanaʻina,
Keoni ʻĪʻī,
Keoni Ana, and
Haʻalilio.
After the death of
Kuhina Nui
Kuhina Nui was a powerful office in the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1819 to 1864. It was usually held by a relative of the king and was the rough equivalent of the 19th-century European office of Prime Minister or sometimes Regent.
Origin of the offic ...
,
Kaʻahumanu in 1832, she remarried
Kealiʻiahonui, former alii of Kauaʻi and the son of Al'iI Nui,
Kaumualiʻi of Kauaʻi. They had no children. After his death in 1849 she remarried
Levi Haʻalelea
Levi (; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron, Moses and ...
, a relative of
Queen Kalama
Kalama Hakaleleponi Kapakuhaili (1817 – September 20, 1870) was a Queen consort of the Kingdom of Hawaii alongside her husband, Kauikeaouli, who reigned as King Kamehameha III. Her second name Hakaleleponi is Hazzelelponi in Hawaiian.
Ear ...
(wife of
Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula K ...
) and had a son named William Pitt Kīnaʻu, who died young.
After the
Great Mahele
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
in 1848, Kekauʻōnohi was given the second-largest land allotments, seventy-seven ''ʻāina'' (land parcels), making her the largest landholder after the King. She inherited most of the land of her uncle
William Pitt Kalanimoku along with land given to her by her other relatives:
Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula K ...
,
Kaukuna Kahekili, Kaiko,
Koahou, her aunt Maheha, her mother Kahakuhaʻakoi Wahinepio and Hao.
She died in Honolulu June 2, 1851 age 46. Stephen Reynolds in his Journal noted at her death that she was "the last of the old stock of chiefs – one of the best of them – good-natured, benevolent, liberal and generous."
She left her land to her husband Haʻalelea.
She was foster mother of her nieces
Abigail Maheha
Abigail Maheha (July 10, 1832 – February 13, 1861) was a Hawaiian chiefess (aliʻi) of the Kingdom of Hawaii. At a young age, she was chosen to attend the Chiefs' Children's School (later renamed the Royal School) taught by the American mission ...
,
Mary Ann Kiliwehi
Mary Ann Kiliwehi Kaʻauwai ( – November 4, 1873) was a Hawaiian high chiefess and lady-in-waiting of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Alongside her husband William Hoapili Kaʻauwai, she traveled with Queen Emma of Hawaii to Europe between 1865 and 18 ...
and
Anna Kaiʻulani.
When the Admiral
Henry Byam Martin, aboard
HMS ''Grampus'', visited the islands in 1846, he described the Princess Kikuanoki:
The arrival of Kikuanoki — granddaughter of Kamehameha 1st and 1st cousin of the present King — was a treat. She sailed into the room with all the pomp and majesty of Q. Elizabeth. Her dress — evidently got up for the occasion — was a very transparent muslin shirt — through which those parts of her person which in most countries are covered were very visible. A green crape shawl — and a band of red & yellow (the royal colours) round her head completed her costume.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kekauonohi
1805 births
1851 deaths
Royalty of the Hawaiian Kingdom
Hawaiian princesses
Hawaiian Kingdom politicians
Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Nobles
Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Privy Council
Governors of Kauai
Hawaiian queens consort
Native Hawaiian women in politics
House of Kamehameha
Hawaiian royal consorts
Burials at Waiola Church
Remarried royal consorts