Keeaumoku Pāpaiahiahi

Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiahiahi 1736-1804 was a Hawaiian high chief and the noble father of Kaʻahumanu. He served Kamehameha I as his chief counselor or Prime Minister and was a principal agent in elevating Kamehameha to the throne of Hawaiʻi.

Life

He was born to Hawaiʻi island chief Keawepoepoe and his wife Kūmaʻaikū. He was called Keʻeaumoku by the people which literally means the Island-climbing Swimmer. Keʻeaumoku was a warlike and ambitious chief of Kona. He was among the first of five Kona chiefs to back Kamehameha I against his cousin Kiwalaʻo. The four other Kona chiefs were High Chief Kalua‘apana Keaweāheulu, Kamehameha’s uncle, Kekūhaupi‘o, Kamehameha's warrior teacher, Kame'eiamoku and Kamanawa, half brother of Keʻeaumoku on his father's side.

In 1782, at the Battle of Moku‘ōhai near Keʻei, Kona, the young warrior Kamehameha led his warriors to victory, and Kīwalaʻō was killed. When he died Kīwalaʻō was wearing an ʻahu ʻula (red feathered cloak), which then became the property of Kamehameha (this feathered cloak is now in the collection of the Bishop Museum). One account states that the injured Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiaheahe crawled to Kīwalaʻō, who also had been injured, and then Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiaheahe slit the neck of Kīwalaʻō with a leiomano (shark-tooth weapon). He was commander-in-chief of Kamehameha's forces in most of his war compaigns. He served as Counsellor of State and was Kamehameha's Prime Minister.

On his first visit of his Expedition of 1791 - 1795, Keʻeaumoku convinced George Vancouver to trust Kamehameha, leading to two return visits and an important alliance with the British.

While preparing for an invasion of Kaumualii the king of Kauai, an epidemic of maʻi ʻōkuʻu (likely cholera) killed thousands, and also infected King Kamehameha and many of his troops. Many of Kamehameha’s warriors died from the disease. Among them was Keʻeaumoku on March 21, 1804.

Family

He married Namahanaʻi Kaleleokalani, the widow queen of Kamehamehanui Ailuau, the late king of Maui. Namahana's brother, King Kahekili II, who was King of Maui, was displeased that Namahana had taken Keeaumoku for her husband, and he became Keeaumoku's enemy. The people, including Namahana, stood in great fear of him, so she hid their first born child in a cave at Hāna, on Maui, at the very foot of the old battle hill, Kauiki. This child was Kaʻahumanu who would one day be the most powerful woman in the Hawaiian Kingdom. He married his daughter to Kamehameha when she was only 13 year of age and she soon became Kamehameha's favourite wife. He and Namahana gave birth to two other daughters Kaheiheimaile and Namahana Piia who also married Kamehameha. His eldest son George Cox Keeaumoku II served as Governor of Maui and his youngest son John Adams Kuakini served as Governor of Hawaiʻi Island and Oahu. He and his children were the most influential family of Hawaii in the beginning days of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Keʻeaumoku's great-grandsons Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V and Lunalilo ruled Hawaii from 1855 to 1874.