Piʻikea (Hawaiian: ''piʻi'' = "to ascend", ''ke'' = "the", ''ea'' = "life"; "the life ascends") was a High Chiefess. She was a daughter of

Piʻilani Piʻilani ("ascent to heaven") (born ca. 1460) ruled as Alii nui of Maui, Chief of the island of Maui in the later part of the 15th century. At the time Maui was an independent Monarchy, kingdom within the List of islands of Hawaii, islands of Haw ...

and Chiefess La’ieloheloheikawai and sister of

Lono-a-Piʻilani Lono-a-Piʻilani was ''Aliʻi'' of Maui. He was a chief of that Hawaiian islandDavid Malo, ''Hawaiian Antiquities'', Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1951 and was named after god Lono. Biography Lono was a son of the King Piʻilani and grandson of K ...

and

Kiha-a-Piʻilani Kiha-a-Piilani was an Aliʻi nui of Maui (tribal chief of Maui). He was born ca. 1510. Kiha was a son of Piʻilani, who built great ''heiau'' (temple). Kihaʻs mother was named La’ieloheloheikawai. Shortly after Piʻilani died, Kihaʻs brother ...

. Piʻilani built a great

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

; according to the

myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

, Piʻilani was a son of

Kū In Hawaiian religion, Kū is one of the four great gods. The other three are Kanaloa, Kāne, and Lono. Some feathered god images or ''akua hulu manu'' are considered to represent Kū. Kū is worshiped under many names, including Kūkāilimoku ...

. Piʻikea went to Hawaiʻi and married ʻ

Umi-a-Liloa ʻUmi-a-Līloa (fifteenth century) was the supreme ruler Aliʻi nui of Hawaii, Aliʻi-ʻAimoku (High chief of Hawaiʻi Island) who inherited Hawaiian religion, religious authority of the Hawaiian Islands from his father, High Chief Līloa, whose li ...

. Their son was

Kumalae Kumalae was a Hawaiian High Chief, ''Aliʻi Nui'' (ruler) of Hilo, Hawaii, Hilo. He is also known as Kumalae-nui-a-ʻUmi ("Kumalae the Great, son of ʻUmi"). He was born about 1648. His father was Umi-a-Liloa, ʻUmi-a-Liloa, ''Aliʻi'' of Hawaii ...

. They also had a daughter, Aihākōkō. When Kiha had to flee from Maui, he sought refuge with Piʻikea, at the court of ʻUmi. Here his sister advocated his cause so warmly, and insisted with ʻUmi so urgently, that the latter was induced to espouse the cause of the younger brother against the older, and prepared an expedition to invade Maui, depose Lono, and raise Kiha-a-Piʻilani to the throne of his father. ʻUmi summoned the chiefs of the various districts of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

to prepare for the invasion of Maui. When all the preparations were ready, ʻUmi headed the expedition in person, accompanied by his wife and her brother and by his bravest warriors. Crossing the waters of ʻAlenuihāhā Channel between Maui and Hawaiʻi, the fleet of ʻUmi effected a landing at Kapueokahi, the harbour of Hāna, Maui, where Lono had continued to reside after Piilani's death. Having failed to prevent the landing of ʻUmi's forces, Lono retired to the fortress on the top of the neighbouring hill called Kauwiki. ʻUmi laid siege to the fort of Kauwiki, and, after some delay and several unsuccessful attempts, finally captured the fort, and Lono having fallen in the battle, Kiha-a-Piʻilani was proclaimed and acknowledged as a king. Having accomplished this, ʻUmi and his forces returned to Hawaiʻi.

Abraham Fornander Abraham Fornander (November 4, 1812 – November 1, 1887) was a Swedish-born emigrant who became an important journalist, judge, and ethnologist in Hawaii. Early life and education Fornander was born in Öland, Sweden on November 4, 1812, to An ...

, ''An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origin and Migrations'', Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1969

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pi'ikea Hawaiian chiefesses