The Legends and Myths of Hawaii: The fables and folk-lore of a strange people

by King of Hawaii David Kalakaua

In turn he visited Oahu, Maui and Molokai, where he was entertained with distinguished honors, and then set sail for Hawaii, of which Keawe was then king. Touching at Hilo, he found that the royal court had been temporarily established in Kau, and thither he proceeded, to pay his respects to Keawe and his beautiful but volatile wife and half-sister, Kalani-kauleleiaiwi. He was becomingly received and entertained by the royal couple, and spent some weeks in the enjoyment of the festivities arranged for his amusement. The result was that the queen became enamored of the handsome Kauaian king, who was duly recognized at once as one of her husbands.

From this union a son was born, who was named Keawepoepoe, when the father returned to Kauai and there remained. This son grew to manhood, and by marriage with Kumaiku, of the royal line of Maui, became the father of the three distinguished chiefs who, with Keawe-a-Heulu, were the leading captains of Kamehameha in the conquest of the group at the close of the eighteenth century. One of these sons of Keawepoepoe was Keeaumoku, the Warwick of his time, the slayer and maker of kings.

Keeaumoku’s first effort in king-making occurred in 1754. On the death, in that year, of his uncle Alapainui, and the succession of his cousin Keaweopala to the Hawaiian throne, he became dissatisfied with his allotment of lands and raised the standard of revolt in Kekaha. Defeated, he fled in his canoes to Kau, where Kalaniopuu had for some years maintained himself in independence of Alapainui. Joining their forces, they marched northward, defeated and slew Keaweopala in Kona, and Kalaniopuu, who was the grandson of Keawe and had a valid claim to the sovereignty, was proclaimed moi of Hawaii.

It is probable that Keeaumoku’s services were substantially rewarded by Kalaniopuu; but in his early years he was turbulent and hot-tempered, and in 1765 he found a pretext for hurling defiance at the king and fortifying himself in the northern part of Kohala. Kalaniopuu promptly placed himself at the head of an adequate force, took the fort by assault, and crushed the rebellion with a single blow. But Keeaumoku escaped over the pali alone, reached the beach, secured a canoe and paddled out to sea. Night coming on and the skies being clouded, he lost his way and nearly perished through thirst and hunger; but he finally reached Lanai, where he found friends, and not long after sailed for Maui in a well-equipped double canoe and a respectable retinue of attendants. He landed at Lahaina, and the reader need not be told that the distinguished stranger who so suddenly presented himself at the court of Kahekili, as already mentioned, was Keeaumoku.

The occupation of the district of Hana by the king of Hawaii was a source of irritation to Kahekili, and he welcomed Keeaumoku, not more as an enemy of Kalaniopuu than as a chief who might be useful to him in the war which he then meditated for the recovery of the captured territory.

But Keeaumoku was not content to subsist upon the favor of Kahekili. In his veins ran the blood of kings, and his pride rebelled against a life of dependence, however attractive it might be made for him. But he was without available lands or revenues, for his rebellion against Kalaniopuu had deprived him of both, notwithstanding his inalienable landed rights in South Kona, and he began to cast about for the means of raising himself again to the dignity of a landed chief.

His eyes soon fell upon the comely Namahana, widow of Kamehamehanui. To her belonged the fair and fertile lands of Waihee. But she was the inheritance of Kahekili, whose purpose it was to accept her as a wife at the end of her period of mourning. This must have been known to Keeaumoku, who was thoroughly acquainted with royal customs of his time; yet he paid such court to the sorrowing dowager, and so sweetly mingled his protestations of love with her sighs of grief, that she became his wife without consulting with the moi.

Kahekili was naturally enraged at the union, and was about to manifest his displeasure in a manner dangerous to Keeaumoku, when Namahana retired with her new husband to her estates at Waihee. Kahekili’s first impulse was to follow and slay them both; but as Namahana was popular with the nobility, and Kahekili had not been in power long enough to be quite sure of the fealty of the chiefs, he discreetly concluded to leave to the future the punishment of the offending couple.

Taking up his residence at Waihee, Keeaumoku enlarged and beautified his grounds and buildings, and established a petty court of princely etiquette and appointments. He was fond of display, and soon attracted to Waihee many of the more accomplished young chiefs of the island. The mother and two of the brothers of Namahana attached themselves to the household, and a number of Molokai chiefs, despoiled of their lands by the king of Oahu, became his retainers. He had carefully trained bands of musicians and dancers, and his entertainments were frequent and bountiful.

In the midst of this semi-royal gayety and splendor Kahekili quietly crossed the mountains and temporarily established his court at Wailuku, but a few miles from Waihee. He had heard of Keeaumoku’s royal style of living, and desired to learn from personal observation whether it was inspired by an innocent love of display or designs more ambitious. As Keeaumoku had rebelled against two successive Hawaiian sovereigns, and boldly seized the widow of a king in the very household of her royal claimant and protector, Kahekili had reason to regard him with suspicion, and a week’s stay at Wailuku, during which reserved courtesies had been exchanged between them, convinced him that Keeaumoku was a dangerous subject. But how was he to be dealt with? He had committed no act of treason, and an assault upon him would not be sustained by the chiefs.