Battle of Mokuʻōhai
Part of Unification of Hawaii
King Kamehameha I, statue standing in front of Ali'iolani Hale in Honolulu
Date July 1782 Location Kona, Hawaiʻi Island Result Kamehameha I victory
Belligerents
Kamehameha I's army	Kiwalaʻo
Commanders and leaders
Kamehameha I Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiaheahe Kameʻeiamoku Kamanawa	Kiwalaʻo Keōua Kuahuʻula Keawemauhili
Strength
≈1,000 – 3,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
~4,000 – 8,000 for both combatants[1]

The Battle of Mokuʻōhai, fought in 1782 on the island of Hawaiʻi, was a key battle in the early days of Kamehameha I's wars to conquer the Hawaiian Islands. It was his first major victory, solidifying his leadership over much of the island.

After King Kalaniʻōpuʻu died in the spring of 1782, his family took his remains to the royal mausoleum known as Hale o Keawe at the important religious temple Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau. While Kalaniʻōpuʻu's son Kīwalaʻō had inherited the kingdom, his nephew Kamehameha was given a religious position, as well as the district of Waipiʻo valley. When a group of chiefs from the Kona district, including his brothers and uncles, Keaweaheulu, twins Kamanawa and Kameʻeiamoku, and Keʻeaumoku Pāpaʻiaheahe, offered to back Kamehameha instead of Kiwalaʻo, he accepted eagerly, traveling back from his residence in Kohala.^[2]

Kīwalaʻō's half-brother Keōua Kūʻahuʻula had been left with no territory from his late father. He went into a rage, cutting down sacred coconut trees belonging to Kamehameha (considered a great insult) and killing some of Kamehameha's men. Their bodies were offered as a sacrifice to Kīwalaʻō, who accepted them, and Kamehameha felt he had to respond to the challenge to his honor.^[3]

The battleground was just to the south of Kealakekua Bay, near the present-day community called Keʻei.,^[4] on the bay now called Mokuʻakae (which could be a misspelling of Mokuʻōhai), South of Palemano point. The name means "grove of ʻōhai trees".^[5] The tree, Sesbania tomentosa, is now endangered, and no longer grows in the area, so the site is only known from oral history.

As tensions were building, women and children from both sides flooded into the "place of refuge", Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau. Kameʻeiamoku was the first leader injured, but when Kīwalaʻō approached, Kamanawa came to his aid. Then Kīwalaʻō was knocked down by a sling stone, and the injured Kameʻeiamoku was able to slit his throat with a shark-tooth dagger.^[3] It was during this battle that the renowned red feather cloak of Kīwalaʻō (now in the Bishop Museum) was captured by Kamehameha the Great.

Keawemaʻuhili (uncle of Kīwalaʻō) was captured but escaped to Hilo, and Keōua Kūʻahuʻula fled to Kaʻū where he had relatives. After the battle, Kamehameha controlled the Northern and Western parts of the Big Island, including Kona, Kohala, and Hāmākua while Keawemaʻuhili controlled Hilo and Kīwalaʻō's half-brother Keōua Kūʻahuʻula controlled Kaʻū.^[6] Kamehameha fought several more battles over many years to consolidate his control. In 1790, Keōua's party was to have their footprints frozen into volcanic ash,^[7] and in 1791 Kamehameha's forces finally killed Keōua at Puʻukoholā Heiau.

Part of a series on the
History of Hawaii
Early history (pre–1795) Discovery and settlement c. 1219–1266 Battle of Kealakekua Bay 1779
Hawaiian Kingdom (1795–1893) Kamehameha dynasty 1795–1874 Unification of Hawaii 1810 Laplace affair 1839 Paulet affair 1943 French invasion of Honolulu 1849 American Civil War 1861–1865 Kalākaua dynasty 1874–1893 Reciprocity Treaty 1875 Bayonet Constitution 1887 Rebellions and revolutions 1887–1895 Overthrow 1893
Provisional (1893–1894) Leper War on Kauaʻi 1893 Black Week 1893–1894
Republic of Hawaii (1894–1898) Counter-Revolution 1895 Annexation 1898
Territory of Hawaii (1898–1959) Hawaiian Organic Act 1900 Oahu sugar strike 1920 Hanapēpē Massacre 1924 Massie Trial 1932 World War II 1939–1945 Attack on Pearl Harbor 1941 Niihau incident 1941 Honouliuli Internment Camp 1943–1946 Democratic Revolution 1954
State of Hawaii (1959–present) Hawaii Admission Act 1959 Kalama Valley protests 1971 State Constitutional Convention 1978 Xerox murders 1999 Occupation of Iolani Palace 2008 Honolulu molasses spill 2013 TMT protests 2014–now False missile alert 2018 Hurricane Lane 2018 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–present George Floyd protests 2020 Red Hill water crisis 2021–now Hawaii wildfires 2023
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