The Aliʻi Aimoku was the sovereign king or queen of one of the four main Hawaiian Islands. The monarchs of island Molokai, like those of the other Hawaiian islands, claim descent from Wakea. Tradition has not preserved the pedigree of this family passed that of the progneitor, but its connection with the ancient Nanaulu line is frequently affirmed making it relatives of the first dynasty on Oahu and Kauai. The father of this family was Kamauaua, who seems to have been the first mentioned superior chief of Molokai.[1]
Nanaulu, from which Kamauaua claimed descendant, was a fourteenth generation descendant of Wakea and Pāpā. Keoloewa-a-Kamauaua, 2nd King of Molokai, intermarried with another line of Nanaulu, elevating their status, by marrying Nuakea of the Nanaulu-Maweke. From this the Molokai family proudly trace their lineage back to the first migration in the sixth century.
The traditional history of Molokai is fragmentary. The island was not of major political importance. Its importance lay in the connections its royal family made by marriage, and, in later years, the reputation of its sorcery and kahunas.[2] Molokai was the fifth largest of the eight main Hawaiian isles, and it sizes hindered it in its struggle for power and survival among the other islands of Maui, Oahu, Kauai and Hawaii. Its main enemies were the chiefs of Oahu and Maui, Molokai's nearest neighbors. By the end of the 17th century, as interisland conflict grew worse and worse, Molokai was suffered many blows from the powerful monarchs of these two isles; notabaly Kapiohookalani, Peleioholani, and Kahekili II. Molokai finally, and completely, succumbed to the might of Maui prior to the end of the Ancient Hawaiian era.