Kepookalani was a High Chief during the founding of the
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...
.
Two of his grandchildren would marry each other, and two of his great-grandchildren would be the last two ruling monarchs of the Kingdom.
Life
Kepookalani was born around 1760. His mother was Kamakaeheikuli and father was
Kameeiamoku.
He was half-cousin of
Kamehameha I
Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiʻea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiʻikui Kamehameha o ʻIolani i Kaiwikapu kauʻi Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; to May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii ...
, and named after the only full brother of Kamehameha usually called
Keliimaikai or Keapo o Kepookalani. His notable half-brothers (with different mothers) were
Hoolulu and
Ulumāheihei Hoapili who both became close advisors to Kamehameha and were trusted to aid in his burial.
In the
Hawaiian language
Hawaiian (', ) is a critically endangered Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family, originating in and native to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the native language of the Hawaiian people. Hawaiian, along with English, is an offi ...
, ''ke po'o ka lani'' means "the royal leader".
He married his cousin
Chiefess Alapai Wahine and they had a son
Kamanawa II (c. 1785–1840) and another son Kapelakapuokakae.
Kamanawa was named after the
Kamanawa who was a twin of Kepookalani's father. Often he is called Kamanawa Ōpio or Elua because ''ōpio'' means "junior" and ''elua'' means "second" in Hawaiian.
Kamanawa was convicted of the murder of his wife in 1840 and executed.
Kepookalani also married
High Chiefess Keohohiwa and had son
Aikanaka (c. 1790–1868), a child named Kalailua, and then married a Chiefess named Nune (spelled Nenew in some sources) and had a daughter named Piianaia.
Kamanawa's son
Caesar Kapaakea (1815–1866) would marry Aikanaka's daughter
Analea Keohokālole. They were
half-cousins, since they shared only a grandfather, with different grandmothers. Their children were called the
House of Kalākaua
The House of Kalākaua, or Kalākaua Dynasty, also known as the Keawe-a-Heulu line, was the reigning family of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi under Kalākaua, King Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani, Queen Liliʻuokalani. They assumed power ...
, including the last two ruling monarchs of the Kingdom:
King David Kalākaua (1836–1891) and
Queen Liliuokalani (1839–1893). Kepookalani was their "double great-grandfather" or "great-grandfather from both sides". This kind of family background was a desirable way to enhance the royal bloodlines at the time, but was attacked by the conservative missionaries later in the 19th century as incest.
Even some of the other royals snubbed Kalākaua and did not congratulate him when he came to the throne in 1874.
The
Isaac Hale Beach Park on the
island of Hawaii was named for a descendant who lived in the area named Isaac Kepookalani Hale.
Family tree
References
{{reflist
1760s births
19th-century deaths
Royalty of the Hawaiian Kingdom