Kalani Kama Keʻeaumoku-nui was Prince of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi and high chief of the Kona district and part of Kohala district and grandfather of Kamehameha I. He was a Piʻo chief which was considered among royalties of the highest rank in the realm. Through his mother and father he was descended from King ʻUmi and King Liloa, connecting also to the chiefs of Maui, Oahu, Kauai. His name translates as the "Great Heavenly Island Climber". He fathered the House of Keoua through his eldest son.
He was born to Keaweikekahialiikamoku and his half-sister wife Princess Kalanikauleleaiwi, granddaughter of Iwikauikaua (whose symbol was a torch burning at midday) and daughter of high chiefess Keakealani-wahine.[1] His father was the ruler of the entire Big Island of Hawaiʻi. In addition to Kona, Keawe also gave him dominion over parts of the Kohala District, which was mostly controlled by the powerful and somewhat independent Mahi family.[2] His brother became ruler of the Kaʻū district of the island.
After his father's death in 1754, he and his older brother, Kalaninuiamamao (Ka'i'imamao), fought for the throne of the Island of Hawaiʻi. While the conflict ensued between the two brothers, Alapainui was able to take advantage of the situation and usurped the throne. Alapai was of the Mahi family of Kohala. He was Keeʻaumoku's half-brother, sharing his mother Kalanikauleleaiwi. They were also brother of Ha'ae-a-Mahi, who later married Keeaumoku's only full sister Kekelaokalani and from that marriage Chiefess Kekuiapoiwa II, the mother of Kamehameha the Great, was born. Because of the conflict between Keʻeaumoku and Kaiimamao, the Big Island remained divided into three to six separate chiefdoms until the unification by his grandson Kamehameha I.
He married a member of the noble ʻI family of the Kaʻū district, the High Chiefess Kamakaimoku, former wife of his brother, and daughter of Kuʻa Nuʻuanu, of Oʻahu, by his wife, Chiefess Umi-ula-i-Kaʻahumanu, eldest daughter of Chief Mahi-o-lole. Keoua Kalani-kupu'uapai-kalani-nui Ahilapalapa, his eldest son, would father the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalokuokamaile. His second wife was the High Chiefess Kailakanoa. His sons by Kailakanoa were Kanekoa and Kahai. Only his son Kanekoa's descendants survive from his second marriage; most notable of these are the House of Kawananakoa, through her granddaughter Poʻomaikelani, the wife of Elelule Laʻakeaelelulu of Hilo, and mother of Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole.[3]