Aaron Kealiʻiahonui was member of the nobility of the Kingdom of Kauai and the Kingdom of Hawaii. He is often called Keliʻiahonui, a contraction of Kealiʻiahonui.
Family life
Kealiʻiahonui was born August 17, 1800. His father was Kaumualii, the last ruling King of Kauai. His mother was Kaapuwai Kapuaamohu. His father agreed to become a vassal to Kamehameha I in 1810, so he would never become a ruling monarch. In 1821 his father was forced into exile, and to emphasize the submission, marry Queen Regent Kaahumanu. After his father died in 1824, and his half-brother Humehume led a failed rebellion, Queen Kaahumanu forced Kealiʻiahonui into a similar relationship. Kealiʻiahonui gave up his first wife, Deborah Kapule, symbolically married Kaahumanu, and there were no more rebellions from Kauai. The missionaries disliked these forced marriages, and hoped education would convert them. Kealiʻiahonui was described as "...handsome, and naturally and usually more interesting at that period than most of the nobility". Physically he was tall "...considered to be the handsomest chief in the Islands, and was proficient in all athletic exercises". On December 5, 1825, he was part of a royal baptism ceremony where he took the Christian name "Aaron". His name is sometimes also spelled without the first "a" as Keliʻiahonui, which is what was used for his namesake grandnephew, Edward Abnel Keliʻiahonui. After Kaahumanu died in 1832, he married for a third time, to Kekauōnohi, a granddaughter of Kamehameha I and former Queen Consort. He had no children that lived to adulthood.
Politics
In 1840 he was finally allowed to participate in leadership positions. It was his wife Kekauōnohi, however, who was officially made Royal Governor of Kauai at this time. He was named in the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii as one of the founding members of the upper house of the legislature, the House of Nobles. He served in the 1842 through 1848 sessions of the legislature. In 1845 he served as royal chamberlain, and from 1845 to 1847 he was included in the Privy Council of King Kamehameha III. Kealiʻiahonui died June 23, 1849 in Honolulu. A niece named Kapule after his first wife looked after him before his death. He had a public funeral on June 30. It was a combination of Christian and ancient Hawaiian practices. His coffin was taken to a cave in an area known as Puuloa. Kekauōnohi had wanted a burial at sea, but Kapule and her husband hid the coffin until they were convinced to offer it to the spirits that were thought to inhabit this area.
