Kaomi

Kaomi Moe was the mōʻi kuʻi, aupuni kuʻi (joint king and joint ruler) of the Kingdom of Hawaii with his aikāne King Kamehameha III from 1832 to 1834. He is noted for his resistance to missionary influences in favor of a nation that retained its Hawaiian character, and for his roles in promoting literacy and in perpetuating hula and indigenous medical practices.

Early life Kaomi was born in Maui on an unknown date early in the 19th century. His father was "Jack" Moe, a native of Bora Bora in Tahiti. His mother was a Hawaiian woman named Kahuamoa who was in the household of Kaʻahumanu, the Kuhina Nui (regent) of the Hawaiian Kingdom following the death of her husband Kamehameha I in 1819.

Kaomi was among the first people in Hawai'i to become literate. He learned to read and write from his uncle Auna, a Tahitian missionary who arrived in Hawai'i in 1822 carrying two small hymnals in the Tahitian language, and appointed Kaomi to be the head of his school when he returned to Tahiti two years later Kaomi had previously been aikāne to Kuakini, royal governor of Hawaiʻi Island, who had himself been aikāne to Kamehameha I.

Although there was gossip that Kaomi had seduced the young king, Kamakou reports that "this was not true for he had shown a fondness for such tempting delights even before Kaomi became his favorite." Ka‘ahumanu, who had become an ardent supporter of the missionaries, tried to stop the relationship by offering Kamehameha III a young chiefess to marry, but he refused, and instead accepted the punishment of building a cattle enclosure for Reverend Bingham. The missionaries also refused to acknowledge Kaomi's new title, instead using the derogatory description of "kelii kui" or engrafted king. The revival of hula was important not just for its value as entertainment, but as a means to preserve histories and honor gods and ancestors.

Removal and later years The "Time of Kaomi", as the period from 1832 to 1834 later became known, came to an end on the night of March 15, 1834, one year following the repeal of Kaʻahumanuʻs Christian laws. An elderly Christian chief named Kaikioʻewa, together with a servant named Kaihuhanuna, entered Kaomi's house and tied his hands behind his back. Kaomi did not protest, despite his protection by Kamehameha III, and allowed himself to be dragged to Honolulu Fort, where the servant was ordered to club him to death. According to this theory, Kaomiʻs departure “was not an act of cowardice but of bravery, loyalty, and love.”

Little is known of Kaomi’s life after 1834. Some missionaries and Christianized Hawaiian historians, including Hiram Bingham, claimed that he died in poverty and disgrace soon after the abduction. In fact this was not the case, as missionary Sheldon Dibble wrote of meeting Kaomi in Maui three years later and witnessing his death in 1837. Yet other accounts suggest he was briefly exiled in Kauaʻi, then rejoined Kamehameha III at Mokuʻula, the royal compound in Lahaina, Maui.

Legacy The time of Kaomi represented a revival of Native traditions and resistance against Westernization that became a recurring theme in Hawaiian history, from the Hawaiian Renaissance of King Kalākaua in the 1880s to the second Renaissance of Hawaiian language and culture that began in the 1970s and continues to the present. For over a century, however, most historians presented this period as a warning against the perils of resisting Christian commandments, describing Kaomi as "evil", and the Hawaiian practices he helped revive as "things of darkness." This interest has been reflected in academic papers, art works, and an exhibition at the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center.