MAY 26, 1824

KING KAUMUALI’I DIED—LAST INDEPENDENT RULER OF KAUA’I & NI’IHAU

Born in 1778 on Wailua, he was the son of Queen Kamakahelei, aliʻI nui (supreme ruler) of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, and her husband Aliʻi Kāʻeokūlani, regent of Maui and Molokaʻi, who became the co-king and ruler of Kauaʻi by marriage.  Kaumualiʻi inherited both titles when Kamakahelei died in 1794.  Kauaʻi and Niʻihau had eluded Kamehameha I’s control since 1796.  When the governor of Island of Hawai’i led a rebellion against Kamehameha, Kaumualiʻi negotiated a peaceful resolution and, in 1810, became governor of Kauaʻi and Kamehameha’s vassal.  When Kamehameha I died in 1819, Hawaiians feared that Kaumualiʻi would sever Kauaʻi’s relationship with the united Hawaiʻi.  On September 16, 1821, King Kamehameha II lured Kaumualiʻi to Honolulu and placed him under house arrest.  Kamehameha I’s widow, Kaʻahumanu, the main political power, forced him to marry her to maintain control.  After he died in Honolulu, his body was taken to Maui and buried next to Queen Keōpūolani.    

Source:  Peter von Buol, “The Kidnapped King,” Maui Magazine, May-June 2012.  Retrieved 7/1/2019, https://mauimagazine.net/kidnapped-king/ Lee Croft, “Kaumuali’i, Kaua’i’s Last King,” Honoring the Legacy of Kauai’s Last King.  Retrieved 7/1/2019, https://www.kauaikingkaumualii.org/king-kaumualii-kauais-last-king/
Print:  William T. Brigham, 1899.  Bishop Museum.  Copyright, if one existed, was not renewed.  Additionally, Public Domain in U.S.:  Pre 1/1/1925.  Public Domain elsewhere where copyright term is author’s life plus 70 years or less.