Peleuli Explained

Peleuli
Spouse:Kamehameha I
Kaweloʻokalani
Issue:Maheha Kapulikoliko
Kahōʻanokū Kīnaʻu
Kaikoʻokalani
Kiliwehi
Kīnaʻu (hānai)
Full Name:Peleuli-i-Kekela-o-kalani
Father:Kamanawa
Mother:Kekelaokalani-a-Kauakahiakua

Peleuli (fl. 19th century), formally Peleuli-i-Kekela-o-kalani, was a Queen consort of the Kingdom of Hawaii as a wife of king Kamehameha I.

Biography

She was a daughter of High Chief Kamanawa and High Chiefess Kekelaokalani.[1] Her father, along with his brother Kameʻeiamoku, were known as one of the "royal twins" who helped Kamehameha I come to power and served as advisors.[2] Her mother was the daughter of High Chief Kauakahiakua, son of Lonomakahonua and Kahapoohiwi, and High Chiefess Kekuʻiapoiwa I, once the wife of King Kekaulike of Maui.[3] She had three brothers: Koahou, Noukana and Amamalua, and a half-sister Piʻipiʻi Kalanikaulihiwakama.

In 1920, Elizabeth Kekaaniau published a book accounting the history of the descendants of Keōua. In the book, Elizabeth Kekaaniau stated that Piʻipiʻi Kalanikaulihiwakama and Peleuli were the daughters of Keōua and Kekuʻiapoiwa II, therefore full-blood sisters of Kamehameha I.[4] Many sources also incorrectly call her an aunt of Kamehameha I because of Queen Liliuokalani's autobiography Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, which confused Peleuli's mother Kekelaokalani-a-Kauakahiakua with Kekuʻiapoiwa II's mother Kekelakekeokalani-a-Keawe.[3] [5] Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau stated that Peleuli was the aunt of Keōpūolani, whom she served as an attentant.

Peleuli was given in marriage to Kamehameha I by her father after the former's victory at the Battle of Mokuʻōhai while Kamanawa took Kamehameha's mother Kekuʻiapoiwa II as his wife, cementing an alliance between their families. She was his second wife because up to that point, Kamehameha had only one other wife Kalola-a-Kumukoʻa.[6]

According to Kamakau, she was considered his fifth favorite wife, behind Kaʻahumanu, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie, Kahakuhaʻakoi Wahinepio, and Keōpūolani, his highest ranking consort.With Kamehameha I, she was mother of four children including: Maheha Kapulikoliko, a daughter, Kahōʻanokū Kīnaʻu, a son, who married Wahinepio; Kaikoʻokalani, a son, who married Haʻaheo Kaniu; and Kiliwehi, a daughter, who married of Kamehamehakauokoa[1] [7] [8] and probably Kalanimoku.[9] Her grandchildren were Kekauʻōnohi by Kīnaʻu and Leleiohoku I by Kiliwehi.Her progenies with Kamehameha were his eldest children, with the exception of his illegitimate son Pauli Kaʻōleiokū by his aunt Kānekapōlei, but they were passed over in the line of succession in favor of his descendants by Keōpūolani and Kalākua Kaheiheimālie because of their superior rank.

She later married to Kaweloʻokalani, her husband's younger half-brother and the son of Keōua and Kamakaeheikuli. This marriage occurred while Kamehameha was still alive and the couple lived in the King's household.She and Kaweloʻokalani had no children, although one source says that Kaukuna Kahekili was the son of Kaweloʻokalani and Peleuli.[10] [11] They adopted (hānai) the youngest daughter of Kamehameha I and Kalākua Kaheiheimālie. She named the child Kīnaʻu after her own son and took her back to the island of Hawaiʻi after Kamehameha moved his capital back to Kailua-Kona.[12] Another hānai child and namesake was Elizabeth Peleuli II, who became the ancestor of the Crowningburg family.

After Kamehameha I's death, his son Liholiho succeeded him as Kamehameha II and they were both included as a part of his court.[12] The last mention of her or her husband was that they transferred to Lahaina on the island of Maui, which had become the new capital, in the 1820s.[12] [13] Her husband Kawelo died around 1824,[14] [15] and she probably died soon after if she had not already predeceased him.

Notes and References

  1. Book: An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origins and Migrations, and the Ancient History of the Hawaiian People to the Times of Kamehameha I . 1880 . Trübner & Co . 2 . Abraham Fornander . Abraham Fornander . John F. G. Stokes .
  2. Book: Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson . Ralph Simpson Kuykendall . The Hawaiian Kingdom 1778–1854, Foundation and Transformation . 1 . Honolulu . University of Hawaii Press . 1965 . 1938 . 0-87022-431-X .
  3. News: Robert William Wilcox . Robert William Wilcox . Some — R.W. Wilcox Corrects Statements in Ex-Queen's Book — Ancestry of Liliuokalani — Only Surviving Members of Royal School Destined to Be Rulers of Hawaii . Hawaiian Gazette . May 27, 1898 . 5 . April 14, 2012 .
  4. Book: History of Keoua Kalanikupuapa-i-nui: father of Hawaii kings, and his descendants . Elizabeth Kekaaniauokalani Pratt . Elizabeth Kekaaniau . 1920 . T. H., republished by Kessinger Publishing . 2009 . 978-1-104-76661-0 .
  5. Book: Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, Liliuokalani . 1898 . Queen Liliʻuokalani . Liliuokalani . Lee and Shepard, reprinted by Kessinger Publishing, LLC . 1898 . 978-0-548-22265-2 .
  6. 10524/569 . Keopuolani: Sacred Wife, Queen Mother, 1778-1823 . Hawaiian Journal of History . Hawaiian Historical Society . 32 . Esther T. Mookini . 1998 . 1–24 .
  7. Book: Hawaiian Genealogies: Extracted from Hawaiian Language Newspapers . 1983 . University of Hawaii Press . 1 . 9 . Edith Kawelohea McKinzie, Ishmael W. Stagner . 0-939154-28-5 .
  8. Hawaiian Journal of History . Was There A Lost Son of Kamehameha? . Thomas G. Thrum . Thomas G. Thrum . 10524/96 . 1916 . Hawaiian Historical Society . 44–51.
  9. Hawaiian Journal of History . Kalanimoku: Iron Cable of the Hawaiian Kingdom, 1769-1827 . Barbara Del Piano . 10524/12237 . 2009 . 43 . Hawaiian Historical Society . 1–28.
  10. Book: Sheldon Dibble . Sheldon Dibble . History of the Sandwich Islands . Press of the Mission Seminary . 1843 . Lahainaluna .
  11. Book: Ii. John Papa. John Papa ʻĪʻī. Pukui. Mary Kawena. Mary Kawena Pukui. Barrère. Dorothy B.. Fragments of Hawaiian History. 2. 1983. Bishop Museum Press. Honolulu. 978-0-910240-31-4.
  12. Book: Kamakau, Samuel. Samuel Kamakau. Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii. Revised. 1992. 1961. Kamehameha Schools Press. Honolulu. 0-87336-014-1.
  13. Book: Elspeth P. Sterling . Sites of Maui . 1998 . Bishop Museum Press . 0-930897-97-8 . 42 .
  14. Hawaiian Journal of History . Notes & Queries: Kalanimoku's Lost Letter . J. Susan Corley; Puakea M. Nogelmeier . 10524/12255 . 2010 . 44 . Hawaiian Historical Society . 91–100.
  15. Book: Gast . Don Francisco De Paula Marin: The Letters and Journals of Francisco De Paula Marin . University of Hawaii Press . 2002 . 0-945048-09-2 . Conrad . Agnes C. . Agnes C. Conrad . 272.