Keaunui (Hawaiian for "Keau the Great") was a High Chief of ʻEwa, Waiʻanae and Waialua in

ancient Hawaii Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the establishment in 1795 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporad ...

. He was a member of the Nanaulu line and is also known as Keaunui-a-Maweke. His mother was High Chiefess Naiolaukea, also known as Naiolakea. (In ancient Hawaii, it was common for nobles to have many names.) His father was a high chief and “wizard” called

Maweke According to the Hawaiian chants, Chief Maweke (also spelled Māweke in Hawaiian; Hawaiian pronunciation: ''MAH-WEH-KEH'') was a chief of the highest known rank who lived in the 11th century. He is described in the legends as a wizard (or priest, '' ...

, an ''

Aliʻi The aliʻi were the traditional nobility of the Hawaiian islands. They were part of a hereditary line of rulers, the ''noho aliʻi''. Cognates of the word ''aliʻi'' have a similar meaning in other Polynesian languages; in Māori it is pronoun ...

'' of "the blue blood". He had brothers named Mulielealiʻi and Kalehenui. Keaunui married a woman named Wehelani (Hawaiian: ''lani'' = "

sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

"), and their children were: *High Chief Laakona of ʻEwa *High Chiefess and "witch" Nuakea 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 ...

*High Chief and "wizard" Moʻi Keaunui had a granddaughter, Chiefess

Kapau-a-Nuʻakea Kapau-a-Nuakea was a Chiefess of Molokaʻi. Kapau-a-Nuʻakea was the only known child of Chief Keʻoloʻewa and Chiefess Nuʻakea. Kapau-a-Nuakea and her husband Lanileo’s daughter, Kamauliwahine Kamauliwahine (''wahine'' = “woman”) wa ...

of Molokai. Keaunui is traditionally credited with opening a navigable channel at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

.''Annual Report of the Hawaiian Historical Society''. Hawaiian Historical Society, 1932.

References

{{Reflist Hawaiian chiefs Hawaiian legends