Kānekapōlei

Kānekapōlei
Spouse	Kalaniʻōpuʻu Kamehameha I (unmarried)
Issue	Keōua Kūʻahuʻula Keōua Peʻeʻale Pauli Kaʻōleiokū
House	Keawe
Father	Kauakahiakua
Mother	ʻUmiaemoku

Kānekapōlei was a Hawaiian High Chiefess, wife of Kalaniʻōpuʻu and the aunt of Kamehameha I. She was present at the time of Captain Cook's death, calling attention to the kidnapping of her husband by Cook and his sailors. A group of men from among those attracted to the beach to answer her calls for help grabbed Cook and stabbed him to death.

Born sometime in the 18th century, Kānekapōlei was a daughter of the High Chief Kauakahiakua of Maui and High Chiefess ʻUmiaemoku of Kaʻū. According to Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau, her father Kauakahiakua owned the sea cucumber (loli) ovens of the district of Kaupo on the island of Maui. Her paternal grandparents were High Chief Lonomakahonua, the second son of King Lonohonuakini and brother of Kaʻulahea II, and Kahāpoʻohiwi. Her mother ʻUmiaemoku, who was also married for a period of time to her nephew King Alapaʻinui, was an offshoot of the powerful ʻI family of Hilo district on her mother Kānekūkaʻailani's side, and a scion of the Mahi family of Kohala on her father Mahiolole's side; both families were formidable rivals to the main royal line on the island of Hawaii, the descendants of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku.

Around 1762 Kānekapōlei became one of the wives of King Kalaniʻōpuʻu of Hawaii. She was not his highest ranking wife, that position was held by Kalola Pupuka-o-Honokawailani, the mother of his heir Kīwalaʻō, but was considered his favorite. With Kalaniʻōpuʻu, she had two known sons, Keōua Kūʻahuʻula and Keōua Peʻeʻale. Their first son would contend with Kamehameha I over the supremacy of the island of Hawaii until his death in 1790 at Kawaihae. Nothing is known about the fate of Keōua Peʻeʻale, although historian John F. G. Stokes argued Keōua Peʻeʻale was merely another name for Pauli Kaʻōleiokū, her son with Kamehameha I.

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