Keopuolani Keopuolani, Sacred Kamehameha Dynasty Queen

Keopuolani (the gathering of the clouds of haven), was the highest ranking chief of the ruling family in the kingdom during her lifetime. She was alii kapu of niaupio (high-born) rank, which she inherited form her mother, Kekuiapoiwa Liliha and her father Kiwalao. Born in 1778 or 1780 at Pahoehoe, Pihana, Wailuku, Maui, her name, given at birth, was Kalanikauikaalaneo (the heavens hanging cloudless). She may have been name for her ancestor, Kakaalaneo, who, with his brother, Kakae, ruled Maui and Lanai from their court in lele, the ancient name for Lahaina. It was Kakaalaneo who planets the breadfruit trees in Lahaina for which the place became so famous as to be called Malu Ulu o Lele (breadfruit groves of Lele). Kakaalaneo's time as alii of Maui was after regular voyages between Hawaii and the Southern islands ceadsed, and he was named in chant as the stranger forefather from Kahiki. His direct ancestor was Mooinanea, a mythical mooaumakua (lizard guardian spirit). She was called by other names such as Makuahanaukama (mother of many children) as she was said to have had eleven or twelve children by Kamehameha [The Great], but only three survived. She was also called Wahinepio (captive woman), as she was "captured" on Molokai by Kamehameha [The Great], but she was most commonly known as Keopuolani, a name given to her when she was fifteen or seventeen years old.

Here ancestors on her mother's side were ruling chiefs of Maui as far back as Kakaalaneo. She was called queen of Maui. Her mother was named after her great-grandmother, Kekuiapoiwanui, wife of Kekaulike, the paramount chief of Maui. The children of Kekuiapoiwanui and Kekaulike were Kalola Pupukaohonokawailani, alii kapu of Maui and Hawaii, and her brother, Kahekili, ruling chief of Maui and Oahu. Kalola lived with two brothers, Kalaniopuu and Keoua, both Hawaii island niaupio chiefs. From Kalaniopuu, the older brother, she had a son, Kalanikauikeaouli Kiwalao, more often called Kiwalao. From Keoua, the younger brother, she had a daughter, Kekuiapiowa Liliha. The children, Kiwalao and Kekuiapoiwa, had the same mother, different fathers, offspring of naha union. these two lived together, and Keopuolani was born, the offspring also of a naha union. She was their only child who inherited her niaupio rank from both parents. A niaupio chief was of very high rank, and this rank was passed from a niaupio chief to his or her children. They could never lose that rank. Chief of niaupio and pio ranks from naha unions were considered the most sacred of all high chiefs, and these unions were carried out to assure succession to royal power and to obtain the intensified mana important to community and family life.

Her ancestors on her father's side were of the blood of chiefs who had ruled the island of Hawai'i for as many generations back as the genealogies extend. Her father was Kiwala'o, his father was Kalani'opu'u, and his father was Kalaninuiiamamao, the first-born of the ruling chiefs over all Hawai'i island. Keopuolani's and her ancestors' genealogies were called Kumuuli and Kumulipo, which are found in the song of the kapu chiefs of O'ahu—Kualii, Peleioholani, and Kahahana. The genealogy of Kumuuli, which was much praised by the ancient Hawaiian chiefs and quoted in the famous chant of Kualii, the warrior king of O'ahu, was recited in honor of Keopuolani, who was the kapu descendant of the Maui line of kings. The O'ahu chiefs have no direct descendants in this world; their genealogies trace back through the ancestors of Keopuolani, who bore Kamehameha II and

Kamehameha III.

Kiwala'o was present at the birth of Keopuolani as he and his wife were visiting her brother, Kahekili, who, at that time, was the king of Maui, Lana'i, Moloka'i, and O'ahu. Soon after the birth of his daughter, Kiwala'o returned to Hawai'i to become ruling chief over that island. The child remained on Maui as she was hdnai (brought up) in Wailuku, Olowalu, and Hamakua by her maternal grandmother, Kalola. It was not customary for the chiefs to bring up their own children.

This is the lady who told all her keiki....to follow the way of the cross through Lord Jesus Christ, on to God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth....the One and Only True God of Love, Mercy, Forgiveness and Salvation through the sacrifice of His One-And-Only Begotten Son. Lptm.