Manokalanipo

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Manokalanipo was the 8th Alii Aimoku of Kauai. He ruled as titular King or chief of Kauai. He was also known as Mano-ka-lani-po and was probably born around the year 1430.

He was the son of Kukona 7th Alii Aimoku of Kauai and his wife Laupuapuama'a. In the war of Kawelewele Kauai fought agaisnt the combined forced of the other 6 island. His father, Kukona, had no intention to surrender nor to deliver his sovereignty to alien hands. When the armada of Kalaunui-Ohua, touched the shores of Kaua`i, they were met by an army of only 500 men who were the defenders of Kaua`i. The king, Kukona, had not even bothered to attend; he sent Mano-Kalanipo, to represent him. In one brief battle, the armies of invasion suffered a complete and absolute defeat. A small and greatly outnumbered force of Kaua`i warriors had decisively beaten the combined armies of all of the other islands.

Manokalanipo has the characteristic honour among the Hawaiians of having had his name affixed as a sobriquet to the island over which he ruled, and in epical and diplomatic language it was ever after known as Kauai-a-Manokalanipo. He was noted for the energy and wisdom with which he encouraged agriculture and industry, executed long and difficult works of irrigation, and thus brought fields of wilderness under cultivation. No foreign wars disturbed his reign, and it is remembered in the legends as the golden age the island of Kauai.

His son Kaumakamano by his wife Na'ekapulani succeeded him as king of Kaua'i.

When describing that Kamehameha I and Kaheiheimalie were of one blood, it was said that he was a Mano-ka-lani-po and she was a Mano-ka-lani-po, both born under the same feather cloak and both descended from many lines of chiefs.

[edit] Reference

Abraham Fornander, An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origin and Migrations, Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1969.
"The Stories & Genealogies of Maui," http://www.mauiculture.net/mookuauhau/index.html, Accessed 9 Oct 2004.