Deborah Kapule
| Deborah Kapule Kekaihaʻakūlou | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1798 Waimea, Kauai |
| Died | August 26, 1853 (aged 55) Waimea, Kauai |
| Spouse |
Kaumualiʻi Kamaholelani Kamehameha II Kealiʻiahonui Simeon Kaʻiu |
| Issue | Josiah Kaumualiʻi |
| Father | Hāʻupu or Kaiʻawa |
| Mother | Hāwea |
Deborah Kapule Kekaihaʻakūlou (c. 1798 – 1853) was the last Queen of the Kauaʻi before the establishment of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi by King Kamehameha I.
Born Kekaihaʻakūlou around 1798, the location of her birth is not known for certain, but since she lived around Waimea and since she received property there from her father in later life, it is assumed that this was her birthplace. Her genealogy is not well documented. According to one source, her father was a High Chief Hāʻupu of Waimea, who was one the chiefs whom King Kaumualiʻi sent to Oahu in 1810. But according to Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau, her (or at least Kekaihaʻakūlou's) parents were Kaiʻawa and Hāwea. Kaiʻawa was a counselor to Kaumualiʻi's father Kāʻeokūlani and was connected to Kāneikaheilani, a chiefess from Kauai who was the grandmother of Haʻalou, the maternal grandmother of Queen Kaʻahumanu, and also to Kaweloamaihunāliʻi, an early King of Kauaʻi. Her mother Hāwea was a relative of Queen Kaʻahumanu from a Maui line of descent.
During her early live she was called Haʻakūlou, which was short for Kekaihaʻakūlou, or Kapule; she was also called Tepoora or Tapoola, early Western renditions of her name. Deborah Kapule is often identified with Kepola, a name that was given to the last queen Kauaʻi. One source claims that Kekaihaʻakūlou was another wife of Kaumualii. This would mean the woman that accompanied him to the island of Oahu in 1810 to surrender to King Kamehameha I and was later given to King Liholiho Kamehameha II as his sixth wife was not Kapule.
Her first husband was King Kaumualiʻi (married around 1817) and was proclaimed Queen of Kauaʻi. Her home was near the Russian Fort Elizabeth. Her reign was short-lived, when, in 1821 King Kamehameha II arrested Kaumualiʻi and proclaimed Kauaʻi as part of Hawaiʻi. Kaʻahumanu then married Kaumualiʻi to dissolve any claims to power. Deborah Kapule then married Abner Keliʻiahonui, who was Kaumualiʻi’s son by Kaʻapuwai Kapuaʻamohu. But Kaʻahumanu married Keliʻiahonui. In spite the monarchy taken her two husbands (metaphorically speaking, Kaʻahumanu was the Head of State at the time) Deborah remained faithful to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. When Humehume’s (Kaumualiʻi’s son) men arrived at the Russian Fort to try and reinstate the Kingdom of Kauaʻi, Deborah fought against them.
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