Keliimaikai

Kalanimālokuloku-i-Kepoʻokalani Keliʻimaikaʻi (c. 1765–1809) was a High Chief and the most popular brother of Kamehameha the Great, who founded the Kingdom of Hawaii.

He was generally credited as an ancestor of Queen Emma of Hawaii, the consort of Kamehameha IV, a candidate for the Royal Election of 1872. His name Keliʻimaikaʻi in the Hawaiian language means "The Good Chief". Sometimes his name is spelled Kealiʻimaikaʻi. or by visiting Europeans as Tidi Miti or Tereameteʻe. He is sometimes called a Prince due his relation to Kamehameha. He was also the Chief Priest of ʻIo and Kāne.

Life Keliʻimaikaʻi was born in around the year 1765. His mother was the High Chiefess Kekuiapoiwa II of the Kona district and father was High Chief Keōua of the Kohala district. His only full brother was Kamehameha I, although he had many half-siblings through his parents' other marriages. His father Keōua was the grandson of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku, who had once ruled a large portion of the island of Hawaiʻi. After his death the island erupted into civil war and Alapainui, a chief of Kohala, gained the upper hand and dispossessed his father of his lands. Kekuʻiapoiwa II was daughter of Haʻae-a-Mahi, the brother of Alapainui. His kahu (guardian) is said to have been Koʻoluaaliʻiolaʻi.e. and her husband, Kaha Kūʻaikea (the brother of Kahaʻōhulani, guardian to Kamehameha I).

When he grew up and king Alapainui was long dead, he assisted his brother in unifying the Big Island of Hawaii. Keliʻimaikaʻi was known for his kindness, compassion, and mercy to his enemies. For this reason he was Kamehameha's most popular brother. The story of how he came to be known as Keliʻimaikaʻi ("the Good Chief") shows the mercy he showed to his foes. Around 1775, he was sent on an expedition to conquer the lands and confiscate properties in the Kipahulu and Hana districts of the Island of Maui, under the rule of the Maui king Kahekili II. The two districts had been formerly owned by their deceased half-brother, Kalokuokamaile. Kamehameha requested that their widow sister-in-law, Kaloiokalani, give the guardianship of the land and her daughter Kaohelelani to Keliʻimaikaʻi. Although there may have been some resistance, Keliʻimaikaʻi was victorious. Instead of punishing the people who had opposed him, he respected their rights and property. As stated by Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau: "There was no sugar cane broken off, no potatoes dug up, no pigs roasted." The makaʻāinana (common people) loved him and called him "the Good Chief" by which he was ever after known." This and other claims may have intended to belittle Queen Emma because the House of Kalākaua lacked the lineage and support of the Hawaiian people that she possessed.

Ancestry