Kalanipehu (
Hawaiian language
Hawaiian (', ) is a critically endangered Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family, originating in and native to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the native language of the Hawaiian people. Hawaiian, along with English, is an offi ...
: ''kalani'' = "heavenly") was a
High Chief
A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribal societies
There is no definition for "tribe".
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afr ...
on the
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
an
island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
of
Molokai
Molokai or Molokai ( or ; Molokaʻi dialect: Morotaʻi ) is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its g ...
in the 17th century. His name is known from
ancient chants.
Biography
Kalanipehu was the most powerful
chief of Molokaʻi in the beginning of the
17th century. His parents are not known.
Before his reign, this island had been ruled by his ancestors, who were descendants of
Chief Keʻoloʻewa-a-Kamauaua and
Chiefess Nuakea.
The scholar
Abraham Fornander
Abraham Fornander (November 4, 1812 – November 1, 1887) was a Swedish-born emigrant who became an important journalist, judge, and ethnologist in Hawaii.
Early life and education
Fornander was born in Öland, Sweden on November 4, 1812, to An ...
implied that he was a descendant of
Kamauaua
High Chief Kamauaua was a member of Rulers of the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian aristocracy and a ruler of Molokai. Although Kamauaua’s name appears as the first one on the list of Aliʻi nui of Molokai, Molokai’s rulers, it’s likely Kamauaua ...
, but it is not clear through whom.
Kalanipehu's daughter Kumakakaha married Kuikai, the chief of
Puna who had moved to Molokaʻi. He was closely related to the ruling chiefs or ''Aliʻi''
of Hawaiʻi.
Kumakakaha and Kuikai became the ancestors of the Kaiakea family.
[''Nā Kua'āina: Living Hawaiian Culture'' by Davianna McGregor]
At the end of the 17th and in the early 18th century, the independence and autonomy of the island of Molokaʻi were destroyed.
References
{{Reflist
17th-century deaths
Royalty of Molokai
17th-century monarchs in Oceania
Year of birth unknown