Benjamin Nāmākēhā

Benjamin Nāmākēhā
High Chief of Hawaii
Spouse	Halauwai Esther Kapiʻolani
Full name
Benjamin Nāmākēhāokalani
Father	Kamaunu[1]
Mother	Kukaeleiki[1]
Born	c. 1799 Hilo, Hawaiʻi
Died	December 27, 1860 Honolulu, Oahu
Burial	Mauna ʻAla Royal Mausoleum

Bennett, Beneli, Beniki, or Benjamin Nāmākēhā-o-kalani (c. 1799–1860) was a Hawaiian high Chief, uncle of Queen Emma of Hawaii, and first husband of Queen Kapiolani.^[2]

He and his brother George Naea were sons of High Chief Kamaunu and High Chiefess Kukaeleiki, the daughter of Kalauawa from the royal line of Kauaian chiefs. Kukaeleiki was also cousin of Queen Keōpūolani. Nāmākēhā was also said to have been descended from Kalanawaʻa of Oahu and High Chiefess Kuaenaokalani of Maui who held the exalted kapu rank of Kekapupoʻohoʻolewaikalā (a head so sacred that it could not be exposed to the sun except at dawn).^[3]:4 Some sources^[2][4][5] say his father was High Chief Keliʻimaikai, son of High Chief Keōua by his second wife the High Chiefess Kekuʻiapoiwa II, and his mother was Kalikoʻokalani. His name was the same as the high chief who rebelled against Kamehameha during the end of his military career in 1796. His brother Naea was the father of Queen Emma.

He was a member of the House of Nobles from about 1848 through 1855. By 1851 the House of Nobles consisted only of petty chiefs called Kaukaualiʻi. Nāmākēhā was inferior to the aliʻi nui (High Chiefs). Kaukaualiʻi were only descended from famous fathers while aliʻi nui claim parentage of mother of the highest rank.^[6]

Nāmākēhā's granddaughter Stella Keomailani

On March 8, 1852 he married the chiefess Esther Kapiʻolani, daughter of Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole of Hilo and Chiefess Kekaulike of Kauaʻi. His second wife was 35 years his junior. Through that marriage she became Queen Emma's aunt. He and Kapiʻolani had no children. Although he had one son Hinau by his first wife, Halauwai. For his health the young couple voyaged for months on The Morning Star, a missionary vessel, among the Gilbert Islands, but in vain, for Nāmākēhā died on December 27, 1860, at Honolulu. He was buried at the Wylie Tomb in the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii at Mauna ʻAla. His wife later married David Kalākaua and became the Queen consort of Hawaii.^[7] His line died out with his granddaugher Stella Keomailani (1866–1927), who was married to James Dawson Cockett and later to Edwin K. Kea.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Benjamin Namakehaokalani". Our Family History and Ancestry. Families of Old Hawaii. http://familiesofoldhawaii.com/getperson.php?personID=I4719&tree=Ano. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Christopher Buyers. "The Kamehameha Dynasty Genealogy (Page 3)". Royal Ark web site. http://www.royalark.net/Hawaii/hawaii3.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-07. 
3. ^ George S. Kanahele (1999). Emma: Hawaii's Remarkable Queen. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824822404. http://books.google.com/books?id=WLtlBNRt_V4C&vq=pitman&dq=joshua+kaeo&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 
4. ^ "Kealiimaikai, (k)". Our Family History and Ancestry. Families of Old Hawaii. http://familiesofoldhawaii.com/getperson.php?personID=I1087&tree=Ano. Retrieved 2010-03-08. 
5. ^ Henry Soszynski. "Ali'i nui Keli'imaika'i". web page on "Rootsweb". http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~royalty/hawaii/i32.html#I32. Retrieved 2009-12-22. 
6. ^ Jonathan Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio (2002). Dismembering lāhui: a history of the Hawaiian nation to 1887. University of Hawaii Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780824825492. http://books.google.com/books?id=Q5k6W_6QOFgC&lpg=PA80. 
7. ^ Sanford Ballard Dole and His Hawaii by Ethel Moseley Damon. Page 336
8. ^ Kekoolani Genealogy of the Descendants of the Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii. kekoolani.org

Persondata
Name	Namakeha
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1799
Place of birth	Hilo, Hawaii
Date of death	December 27, 1860
Place of death	Kalihi Valley, Oahu