Mailikukahi
Mailikukahi was the 8th Alii Aimoku of Oahu. He reigned as the titular chieftain or King of the island of Oahu and all its territories it may of claim at the time. He was Oahu's first true great king, and his successor, one after another were as great as the next, excepting Kuamanuia. "The most civilized kings, the paragon kings, lived here on O‘ahu. In very, very ancient times, long before King Umi lived, King Ma‘ilikukahi lived in the center of this island in a place only vaguely known; an equal to King Arthur's court at Camelot. He was the quintessential Hawaiian king, the “King Arthur” of Hawai‘i, in that he was the good king. He took care of people, he took care of the gods, the land prospered, people prospered, many babies are born; he treated the commoners well.
Early life
Mailikukahi was the son of Kukahiaililani and Kokalola. His father was fourth in descent from Maelo and her husband Lauli-a-Laa, and he thus represented both the Maweke and Paumakua families; a fact which gave him and his descendants no little importance among the Hawaiian aristocracy. Mailikukahi is said to have been born at Kukaniloko Birthstone, and thus enjoyed the prestige of the kapu attached to all who were born at that hallowed place. In his childhood he was raised in Wahiawa, Kanewai and Waialua. At the age of 20, he was chosen by a fellow chief in council to be the adaministrator of the kingdom under Haka, the reigning monarch. He succeeded Haka of Oahu after he was overthrown. Unlike his predessor he does not descend from Kumuhonua but rather his brother Moikeha. Tradition does not say whether Mailikukahi had a hand in this affair, but he was clamorously elected by the Oahu chiefs in council convened as Moi and duly installed and anointed as such at the heiau of Kapukapuakea . After his installation as Moi he made Waikiki in the Kona district his permanent residence, and with few exceptions the place remained the seat of the Oahu kings until Honolulu harbour was discovered to be accessible to large shipping.
Reign
On the Oahu legends Mailikukahi occupies a prominent place for his wise, firm, and judicious government. He caused the island to be thoroughly surveyed, and the boundaries between the different divisions and lands to be definitely and permanently marked out, thus obviating future disputes between neighbouring chiefs and landholders. He caused to be enacted a code of laws, in which theft and rapine were punishable with death. He also caused another ordinance to be enacted and proclaimed, which the legend says found great favour with both chiefs and commoners, namely, that all first-born male children should be handed over to the Moi, to be by him brought up and educated. He was a religious chief withal, built several Heiaus, held the priests in honour. The island of Oahu is said to have become very populous during his reign, and thrift and prosperity abounded.
He is said to have ended the practice of human sacrifices seven generations after Paao re-introduced it to Hawai'i: Ma'ilikukahi did not sacrifice men in the heiau and luakini. That was the practice of the Lo Aliis who were born in Kukaniloko. There were no sacrificial heiau, po'o kanaka (human heads), anywhere in the kingdom. No trace of the heiau of Kapukapuakea, where Mailikukahi was installed as Moi, remains today. In the aftermath of the abolition of the kapu system (1819), the Hawaiian gods were repudiated and the heiau and images of the gods were destroyed. (Not without some resistance from some of the ali'i and kahuna; by the end of the 19th century, most of the native Hawaiian population, the estimated five percent that survived epidemic diseases introduced by colonists and immigrants, had been converted to Christianity by American missionaries. The stones of Kapukapuakea were perhaps used for road-building or other public works. Christians and converts no doubt justified their destruction of the old religion and heiau by pointing to the human sacrifices that took place at luakini heiau. But human sacrifice was hardly the essence of Hawaiian culture. Human sacrifice was practiced to prevent the devastation of wars or famine; and Ma'ilikukahi rejected and banned the practice even for that purpose. He was able to bring peace and prosperity to his kingdom by good management of people and resources instead.
During his reign peace was not everlasting there were some conflict. An expedition by some Hawaii chiefs, Hilo-a-Lakapu, Hilo-a Hilo-Kapuhi, and Punaluu, joined by Luakoa of Maui, which invaded Oahu during the reign of Mailikukahi. It cannot be considered as a war between the two islands, but rather as a raid by some restless and turbulent Hawaii chiefs, whom the pacific temper of Mailikukahi and the wealthy condition of his island had emboldened to attempt the enterprise, as well as the éclat that would attend them if successful, a very frequent motive alone in those days. The invading force landed at first at Waikiki, but, for reasons not stated in the legend, altered their mind, and proceeded up the Ewa lagoon and marched inland. At Waikakalaua they met Mailikukahi with his forces, and a sanguinary battle insued. The fight continued from there to the Kipapa gulch. The invaders were thoroughly defeated, and the gulch is said to have been literally paved with the corpses of the slain, and received its name, "Kipapa," from this circumstance. Punaluu was slain on the plain which bears his name, the fugitives were pursued as far as Waimano, and the head of Hilo was cut off and carried in triumph to Honouliuli, and stuck up at a place still called Poo-Hilo.
Marriage
Mailikukahi's wife was Kanepukoa, but to what branch of the aristocratic families of the country she belonged has not been retained on the legends. They had two sons, Kalona-nui and Kalona-iki, the latter succeeding his father as Moi of Oahu. From Kalona-nui's son, Kalamakua, descended the ʻI Family of Hilo.
References
- Abraham Fornander, An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origin and Migrations, Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1969. Page 88-90