Mulielealii

Mulielealii was a northern Hawaiian chief and King of Western Oahu. The eldest son of Maweke and brother of Kalehenui and Keaunui. He was of the Nanaulu line being lineal descendant of Nanaulu, the brother of Ulu, from whom the southern chiefs claim their descent. Every monarchs of Oahu after his death are his descendants.

Mulielealii was the eldest son of Maweke and his wife Naiolaukea. On the deeds and exploits Mulielealii personally the legends are silent. The Mulielealii branch of the Maweke family, which occupies so great a portion of the ancient legends of this period. Mulielealii is said to have had three sons and one daughter. The former were Kumuhonua, Olopana, and Moikeha; the daughter was named Hainakolo. Kumuhonua seems to have remained in possession of the patrimonial estates on Oahu, and possibly of the nominal sovereignty of the island of Oahu. The two other sons of Mulielealii, viz., Olopana and Moikeha, appear to have established themselves on Hawaii, where Olopana ruled the valley of Waipio and adjacent country, and Moikeha, if not coordinate with his brother in power, was at least his highest subject and most trusted friend. From his two sons Moikeha and Kumuhonua descents the first dynasty of the Alii Aimoku of Kauai and Oahu. Moikeha's son was replaced soon after death but his descendant's would later remarry into the Kauai family. Kumuhonua's descendants ruled Oahu for seven generations until Haka of Oahu, who was violently overthrown and replaced be a descendant of Moikeha.

Of Mulielealii's daughter Hainakolo a legend still exists. She is said to have married a southern chief named Keanini whom she accompanied to his home in Kuaihelani. The marriage was not a happy one and Hainakolo returned to Hawaii while her brother Olopana still resided there at Waipio. She met with a tragical end, and that her spirit still haunts the mountains and precipices around the valley of Waipio. This legend is very much overlaid with the fabulous and fanciful but the historical kernel of it still confirms the prevalence of the long voyages and social intercourse of the Polynesian tribes during this period. Hainakolo’s son is called Leimakani, from whom some Hawaiian families claimed descent.

References

• Abraham Fornander, An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origin and Migrations, Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1969.