The House of Keōua Nui (Hale O Keōua Nui), or simply House of Keōua, is a non-ruling noble family of Ancient Hawaii from which the reigning family of Kamehameha I and Lunalilo were descended.
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Origins
A younger branch of the reigning family of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku (from the Big Island of Hawaiʻi), the dynastic line was established by Keōua Kalanikupuapaʻikalaninui Ahilapalapa, who was the father of Kamehameha I. He was the only son of Keʻeaumoku the Great and High Chiefess Kamakaʻimoku.
Keōua's paternal lineage derives from a branch of the royal family of Hawaiʻi Island. His father, High Chief Keʻeaumoku-nui of Kohala and Kona, was the second son of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku, King of Hawaiʻi Island and his half-sister bride, Kalanikauleleiaiwi. He was known as a pio chief of the highest rank since both his mother and father were pure royal blood. He even outranked his elder brother Kalaninuiamamao, from whom descends the House of Kalākaua and House of Kawānanakoa. It was because of these two brothers, who contested for the succession to the kingship of the island of Hawaiʻi after Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku death, that the island was dissolved into a handful independent warring factions.
The ancestry of Keōua's mother, High Chiefess Kamaka'imoku, daughter of Kuʻa Nuʻuanu, Oʻahu district chief descended from the nobility of Hilo who were descendants of King ʻUmi-a-Liloa's youngest son Kumalae, ruler of Hilo. His mother was also mother of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, by Kalaninuiamamao, making him half-brother of Kalaniʻōpuʻu and uncle of Kiwalao. Kamakaʻimoku was also the half-sister of Heulu (through their mother Umiula-a-kaʻahumanu), the father of Keawe-a-Heulu, another ancestor of the House of Kalākaua.
Kamehameha I of the House of Keōua Nui conquered the separate islands in 1795, uniting them under a single Kingdom of Hawaii. His direct descendants area called the House of Kamehameha. His siblings' houses were then also considered a part of the royal family.