Kekūanaōʻa

Mataio Kekūanaōʻa (c. 1791 – November 24, 1868), formally referred to as His Honor or His Highness, was a Hawaiian politician who served as governor of the island of Oʻahu, father of two kings, Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V, and held the office of Kuhina Nui as did his wife, Kīnaʻu and their daughter, Victoria Kamāmalu.

Kekūanaōʻa
Kuhina Nui of the Hawaiian Islands and Governor of Oʻahu
Kuhina Nui of the Hawaiian Islands
Reign	December 21, 1863 – August 24, 1864
Predecessor	Kaʻahumanu IV
Successor	position abolished
Royal Governor of Oʻahu
Reign	1834–1868
Predecessor	John Adams Kuakini
Successor	John Owen Dominis
Born	c. January 1791 Hilo
Died	(1868-11-24)November 24, 1868 (aged 77) Pakakanene, Honolulu, Oʻahu[1]
Burial	December 22, 1868[2] Mauna ʻAla Royal Mausoleum
Spouse	Kalehua Pauahi Kīnaʻu Kaloloahilani
Issue	Paʻalua Ruth Keʻelikōlani (legally recognized) David Kamehameha Moses Kekūāiwa Lot Kapuāiwa Alexander Liholiho Victoria Kamāmalu
Names Mataio (Matthew) Keawenui Kekūanaōʻa
House	Mahi, Moana, Kamehameha
Father	Kiʻilaweau
Mother	Inaina
Signature

Parentage and early life

His first name Mataio, which he adopted later in life, is the Hawaiian form of Matthew.^[3] Kekūanaōʻa translates as "the standing projection" in the Hawaiian language and refers to the masts of Western ships seen in the harbor at his birth.^[4]

Kekūanaōʻa was born sometime around the year 1791.^[5][6] His mother is believed to be Inaina.^[7]: 223 While an obituary at his death identified his father as Nāhiʻōleʻa,^[1] on March 14, 1879 the Hawaiian Supreme court identified Kiʻilaweau as the father of Kekuanaoa in probate using the genealogy books of the royal family, proving a legal bloodline line from Keʻelikōlani back to Kiʻilaweau's grandmother, Moana.^[8]

John Papa ʻĪʻī's uncle Nāhiʻōleʻa, the aliʻi that took Kalanikapule's side against Kamehameha I and was killed by his cousins, was listed in the newspaper Ke Au Okoa as Kekūanaōʻa's father; however, in the chant for Nakanealoha, the name of Kiʻilaweau is mentioned as a makua. This makes some believe he had two fathers,^[9]: 146 a tradition called poʻolua.^[3] Kiʻilaweau was an aliʻi of the highest rank.^[10] While Kekūanaōʻa's children were not as high ranking as Kamehameha II or Kamehameha III, Kekūanaōʻa descends from Keawehanauikawalu, the son of Lonoikamakahiki, his line was considered high-ranking.^[11]

Political career

He was the Royal Governor of Oʻahu 1839–1864.^[12] On December 21, 1863 he was made the sixth Kuhina Nui, replacing his daughter who became Crown Princess and heir apparent to the throne. For most of his reign as Kuhina Nui he supported his son Kamehameha V's view of abolishing the position. He held the position until 1864 when the Constitution of 1864 abolished it. He also served as a member of the House of Nobles from 1841–1868, Privy Council 1845–1869, and as President of the Board of Education from 1860.^[13] In 1866, Mark Twain wrote of Mataio Kekūanaōʻa: "[A] man of noble presence.." and "[S]eemingly natural and fitted to the place as if he had been born to it...."^[14]

The Territorial Building in the Hawaii Capital Historic District was named for him.^[15]

Personal life

Kekūanaōʻa was the punahele, or intimate companion of King Kamehameha II in his youth,^[16] and followed him to England where the King and Queen Kamāmalu died of measles in 1824. He was able to escape the sickness and return to Hawaii. On the return journey, he was baptized by the chaplain of the British warship HMS Blonde.^[17]

Back in Hawaii, he stabilizes himself in the court by marrying two wives of his late sovereign. His first marriage to Kalehua was from 1822 to 1825, and the product of this marriage was a son named Paʻaula. He married again to Pauahi, the widow of Kamehameha II. Their marriage lasted only months, from November 1825 to her death in February 1826. He is considered the father of her daughter Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani.

He remarried Elizabeth Kīnaʻu, another Kamehameha II widow, who ruled as the Kuhina Nui at the time under the name Kaʻahumanu II. From her he fathered David Kamehameha, Moses Kekūāiwa, Lot Kapuāiwa, Alexander Liholiho, and Victoria Kamāmalu. His sons Alexander and Lot would become King Kamehameha IV and King Kamehameha V. His daughter would become the fifth Kuhina Nui as Kaʻahumanu IV. The third marriage lasted from 1827 until Kīnaʻu's death in 1839. After 6 years as a widower he remarried again in 1845, to the High Chiefess Kaloloahilani.^[18] The marriage resulted in the birth of a son on November 28, 1846.^[19]

References

1. "Death of His Highness Mataio Kekuanaoa". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. November 28, 1868. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
2. David W. Forbes, ed. (2001). Hawaiian national bibliography, 1780–1900. Vol. 3. University of Hawaii Press. p. 469. ISBN 0-8248-2503-9.
3. James L. Haley (November 4, 2014). Captive Paradise: A History of Hawaii. St. Martin's Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-4668-5550-2.
4. Pukui, Mary Kawena; Elbert, Samuel H.; Mookini, Esther T. (1974). Place Names of Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-8248-0524-1.
5. David W. Forbes (1998). Hawaiian National Bibliography, Vol 3: 1851–1880. University of Hawaii Press. p. 469. ISBN 978-0-8248-2503-4.
6. Kristin Zambucka (1977). The High Chiefess, Ruth Keelikolani. Kristin Zambucka Books. p. 13. GGKEY:2LWYXGZDYAZ.
7. Abraham Fornander; John F. G. Stokes (1880). An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origins and Migrations, and the Ancient History of the Hawaiian People to the Times of Kamehameha I. Trubner & Company.
8. Hawaii Reports: Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Hawaii. Valenti Brothers Graphics. 1893. p. 632.
9. John Papa Īī, Mary Kawena Pukui, Dorothy B. Barrère (1983). Fragments of Hawaiian History (2 ed.). Bishop Museum Press. ISBN 0-910240-31-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
10. Kawaikaumaiikamakaokaopua, Z. P. K. (May 20, 2014). "Z. P. K. Kawaikaumaiikamakaokaopua's treatise on canoe building, 1922". Nupepa. nupepa-hawaii.com. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
11. Edith Kawelohea McKinzie (January 1, 1983). Hawaiian Genealogies: Extracted from Hawaiian Language Newspapers. University of Hawaii Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-939154-28-9.
12. "Governor of Oahu" (PDF). official archives. State of Hawaii. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
13. "Kekuanaoa, Mateo office record". official archives. State of Hawaii. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
14. Mark Twain (1872). "LXVII". Roughing It. David Widger.
15. Burl Burlingame (June 27, 2004). "Territorial Office Building is district's underrated gem". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
16. Sophia Cracroft, Lady Franklin, Queen Emma of Hawaii (1958). Alfons L. Korn (ed.). The Victorian visitors: an account of the Hawaiian Kingdom, 1861–1866, including the journal letters of Sophia Cracroft: extracts from the journals of Lady Franklin, and diaries and letters of Queen Emma of Hawaii. The University Press of Hawaii. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-87022-421-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
17. Chorley, Edward Clowes; Stowe, Walter Herbert; Brown, Lawrence L. (1949). Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Church Historical Society. p. 47.
18. Mataio Kekūanaōʻa Hawaii Department of Accounting and General Services
19. Journal, Amos Starr Cooke, December 1, 1846. Vol. 8, p. 14., Honolulu: Hawaiian Mission Houses Library.

Preceded by John Adams Kuakini	Royal Governor of Oʻahu 1839–1864	Succeeded by John Owen Dominis
Preceded by Kaʻahumanu IV	Kuhina Nui of the Hawaiian Islands December 21, 1863 – August 24, 1864	Succeeded by Position Abolished