House of Kamehameha
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This article may contain Hawaiian words and proper names that omit or make improper use of ʻokina and kahakō in spelling, and may be unreliable for lexical reference as per standard Hawaiian English. |
| Kamehameha |
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| Country: | Hawaii | ||
| Parent house: | House of Keawe | ||
| Titles: | King, Queen, Prince, Princess, Aliʻi | ||
| Founder: | Kamehameha I | ||
| Final ruler: | Kamehameha V | ||
| Current head: | extinct | ||
| Founding year: | 1795 | ||
| Dissolution: | 1903 | ||
| Ethnicity: | Native Hawaiian | ||
The House of Kamehameha, or the Kamehameha Dynasty, was the reigning family of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi between the unification of the islands by Kamehameha the Great in 1810 and the death of Kamehameha V in 1872. Their most important contributions were the institution of a constitutional form of government, abolition of ancient Hawaiian kapu systems in favor of westernized laws, proclamation of the Edict of Toleration giving all Hawaiians freedom of religion and the promulgation of the Great Mahele, appropriating lands to native Hawaiians who could for the first time in history own private property. Today, the Kamehameha dynasty itself does not survive — all descent from Kamehameha I seems to have gone extinct. There are surviving members of a collateral branch — descent from Kalokuokamaile, the eldest brother of King Kamehameha I, is extant in the descendants of Kalokuokamaile's great-great-granddaughter, Theresa Laanui, who had 14 grandchildren.
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[edit] Origins
The dynasty developed from chiefs of Kona (seat at Kailua), as their chief Kamehameha (I) succeeded in subjugating gradually all other chiefdoms on the island of Hawaiʻi and then also other islands of the archipelago. Chiefs of Kona were rulers of only a part of their island, the earlier island-wide monarchy having some decades earlier (presumably as result of death of Kamehameha's great-grandfather the King Keaweikekahialiiokamoku) dissolved into smaller independent chieftainships.
His father was Keoua Kalanikupuapa'ikalaninui the Chief of Kona and his Keku'i'apowa II the Chiefess of Kona and niece of the reigning Hawaiian King Alapa'i. Relations were wide: e.g Kamehameha's mother had secondly married a king of Kauaʻi island, after his father, and his mother had many children from other chiefs.
Kamehameha himself descended also from Aliʻi Aimoku of Oʻahu, Maui and Kauaʻi, since the princely or chief class (aliʻi) of the islands was rather intermarried, and legendarily all descended, chief Wākea the original star-born chief.
[edit] Expansion of realm
Kamehameha I started a series of wars of conquest and strategic alliances. Succeeding his brother as Aliʻi of Kohala and Kona in 1782, he set out to unify Hawaiʻi proper, and later to subdue the neighboring islands. He ultimately unified the whole of the Hawaiian, or Sandwich, islands into a single kingdom by 1810. His descendants ruled the united kingdom, until the extinction of his male line in 1874.
At the extinction of the male line of Kamehameha, the nobles and chiefs chose David Kalākaua, a great noble of high standing and a descendant of Kamehameha the Great's grandfather. He died without issue having nominated his sister, Liliʻuokalani, as is successor. She was deposed by an armed coup d'etat primarily driven by local American and European businessmen in 1893.
[edit] Preserving Independence
The House of Kamehameha also is responsible for maintaining and preserving the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi from the encroachment of European colonial powers in the Pacific Ocean. It secured treaties with Austria, Belgium, Bremen (present-day Germany), Denmark, France, Germany, Hamburg (present-day Germany), Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, New South Wales (present-day Australia), Portugal, Russia, Samoa, Swiss Confederation, Sweden, Norway, Tahiti (present-day France), United Kingdom and United States.
[edit] Kamehameha Monarchs
- Kamehameha I, (1795-1819)
- Kamehameha II, Liholiho, (1819-1824)
- Kamehameha III, Kauikeaouli, (1825-1854)
- Kamehameha IV, Alexander Liholiho, (1854-1863)
- Kamehameha V, Lot Kapuʻiwa, (1863-1872)
The influence of the foreigners took a toll on the Kamehamehas. Alcoholism and foreign diseases which the Native Hawaiians had no immunity to were the main reason the demise of the Kamehamehas. No monarch except Kamehameha I lived past the age of 42. Kamehameha III ruled for 30 years only because he came to the throne as a child. He died in 1854 at the age of 41. Every monarch except Kamehameha I had a child that lived into adulthood. Out of all of Kamehameha children only Kinau and Pauli had children that would grow to adulthood.
[edit] Last survivors of Kamehameha Dynasty
The name Kamehameha originally was the personal name of King Kamehameha I. Thus, the dynasty is understood as his descendants, but not his siblings nor collateral relatives, since none of them descended from anyone called Kamehameha. After King Kamehameha V's death, there survived only two descendants of Kamehameha I, Kamehameha V's female cousins and Kamehameha III's illegitmate son:
- Ruth Keelikolani (d. 1883), who was the daughter (born, problematically, after divorce and mother's remarriage) (1) of Prince Kahalaia Luanuu, himself grandson of king Kamehameha I, being the only son of the king's third son prince Alii Kahoanuku Kinau and his wife lady Alii Kahakuhaakoi Wahine-pio from Maui; and (2) of princess Kalani Pauahi, herself elder daughter of lord Aliʻi Pauli Kaoleioku (eldest but just legimated natural son of Kamehameha I) by his official wife Aliʻi Keoua-wahine.[1]
- Bernice Pauahi Bishop (d. 1884), who was the daughter of Laura Konia, daughter of Kamehameha I's eldest but just legitimated natural son, Lord Pauli Kaoleioku, aforementioned. She was Keelikolani's first cousin and heiress.
- Albert Kuka'ilimoku Kunuiakea (d. 1903), who was the illegitmate son of Kamehameha III by Jane Lahilahi Young (youngest daughter of John Young and Ka'oana'eha).
These three died without surviving issue.
[edit] Descendant of Keoua Kalanikupuapaikalaninui
- Prince Kealiimaikai, whose last surviving descendants were Peter Young Kaeo and Emma Kaleleonalani, wife of Kamehameha IV
- Princess Keku'iapoiwa Liliha, whose last surviving descendant was Queen Keopuolani the mother of Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III.
- Prince Kalaimamahu, whose last surviving descendant was King William Charles Lunalilo, successor of Kamehameha V and predecessor of King Kalākaua.
- Prince Kalokuokamaile, whose great-great granddaughter Theresa Owana Kaʻohelelani Laʻanui has surviving descendants currently. The current head of this line is Owana Salazar.
