House of Keoua

The House of Keōua Nui (Hale O Keōua Nui) or simply "House of Keōua", was a non-ruling noble family of Ancient Hawaii from which the reigning family of Kamehameha I and Kalaimamahu werre descended. Today, the only surviving line of Keōua's is from his first son, Kalokuokamaile.

Origins

A younger branch of the reigning family of Keaweikekahialiiokamoku (from the Big Island of Hawaiʻi), the dynastic line was established by Keōua Kalanikupuapaʻikalaninui Ahilapalapa, who was the father of Kamehameha I. He was the only son of Keeaumoku the Great and High Chieftess Kamakaʻimoku.

Keōua's paternal lineage derives from a branch of the Hawaiʻi Island Aliʻi aimoku family. His father, the High Chief Keeaumoku-nui of Kohala and Kona, was the second son of Keaweikekahialiiokamoku, King of Hawaiʻi Island and his half-sister bride, Kalanikauleleiaiwi. He was a pio chief and of the highest rank. Even outranking his elder brother Kalaninuiamamao, from which descends the Houses of Kalakaua and Kawananakoa. It was because of these two brother, who contested for the succession to the kingship of the island of Hawaii after Keaweikekahialiiokamoku death, that the island was dissolved into a handful independent warring fractions.

The ancestry of Kalokuokamaile’s mother, the High Chiefess Kamaka'imoku, daughter of Aliʻ Kuʻa Nuʻuanu, Oahu district chief descended from the Aliʻi of Hilo who were the descendant of King ʻUmi-a-Liloa's youngest son Kumalae, first Aliʻi of Hilo. His mother was also mother of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, by Kalaninuiamamao, making him half-brother of Kalaniʻōpuʻu and uncle of Kiwalao. Kamakaʻimoku was also the half-sister of Heulu (through their mother Umiula-a-kaʻahumanu), the father of Keawe-a-Heulu, another ancestor of the House of Kalakaua.

Kamehameha I of the House of Keōua Nui conquered the separate islands in 1795, uniting them under a single Kingdom of Hawaii. He established his own royal house, the House of Kamehameha. His siblings' houses were then also considered a part of the royal family.

Branches of the House of Keōua Nui

Male Line

• House of Laʻanui-Kalokuokamaile
  • Through Prince Kalokuokamaile, eldest son by Kahikikala
    • Survives today
• House of Kamehameha (reigned 1795-1872)
  • Through Kamehameha I, second son and first son by Kekuiapoiwa II
    • Last surviving descendants were Ruth Keelikolani, Bernice Pauahi, and Albert Kunuiakea (illegitimate)
• House of Kealiimaikai
  • Through Prince Kealiimaikai, his third son, second son by Kekuiapoiwa II
    • Last surviving descendants were Peter Young Kaeo, Emma Kaleleonalani, wife of Kamehameha IV; and Albert Kunuiakea, also of the House of Kamehameha.
      • (Possible descendants through Emma's alleged illegitimate daughter, Emma Keliikekukahilikaleleokalahikiolaokalani Smith)
• House of Kalaimamahu (reigned 1873-1874)
  • Through Prince Kalaimamahu, his fourth son, by Kamakaeheikuli
    • Last surviving descendant was King William Charles Lunalilo.

Female Line

• Kekuiapoiwa Liliha, daughter by Kalola,
  • Last surviving descendant, Keōpūolani, married Kamehameha I and mother of Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III
• Kiʻilaweau, daughter by Manona
  • Last surviving descendant, Kekuaokalani, also of the House of Kealiimaikai