1. Wahinepio was considered Kamehameha I's third favorite wife and served as female Governor of Maui, an act unheard of at the time in the western world, but common in Hawaiian history.
12 Facts About Wahinepio
1. 2.
Wahinepio's father was Kekuamanoha, and her mother was Kamakahukilani, the niece of her father.
3.
Wahinepio grew up in the court of her uncle King Kahekili II of Maui.
4.
Wahinepio was related to everyone of Kamehameha's wives; her cousins mentioned above were all married to the king, and her younger sister Manono was later to be one of two young women taken by Kamehameha "to warm his old age".
5.
Wahinepio was noted as a stern warrior with great strength and many battle scars.
6.
Wahinepio served as governor of Maui at one point as one of the few female governors in the kingdom's history.
7.
Wahinepio became part of the first generation of Hawaiian women to be bothered by their appearance and inability to fit the mold of Western femininity.
8.
Wahinepio was said to have been the principal agent in leading the princess to return to worshipping the old Hawaiian gods in 1824, a year after the death of her mother.
9.
The angry Wahinepio likewise forbade any to enter her house who was not skilful in dancing, referring to the pagan hula forbidden by the missionaries.
10.
Wahinepio had attracted the eyes of Captain William Buckle of the British whaleship Daniel IV, who resolved to have her board his vessel.
11.
Wahinepio pleaded to be spared, but Wahinepio allow her to be taken for the payment of sixteen doubloons, valued at ten dollars each, and Leoiki was taken on board for seven months, according to Richard's as a slave.
12.
Wahinepio's grief weakened her constitution even further, and added with the rapid cultural change Hawaii due to the arrival of the missionaries, she succumbed to the epidemic.