Moolelo o Kalola: Maui’s Sacred Chiefess

In this historical fiction, an actual chiefess on the island of Maui in the middle 1700's tells her story. Being the daughter of Chief Keaulike and bound by family obligations, her first duty was to mate with her brother. When her brother became ruler, he offered her to two chiefly brothers on the neighboring island of Hawaii, hoping that her mana would settle a long-standing political disagreement and broker peace. Of course, it didn't... and each island ruler attempted to gain control, pitting Kalola's elder and younger brothers against her two husbands. Incest? Polyandry? Yes. It was part of the culture of Hawaiian royalty. Human sacrifice was offered before brutal wars of hand-to-hand combat, their deadly weapons fashioned from shark's teeth. Priests prayed the ruler's enemies to death. When that didn't work, they resorted to peppering the food with shavings from the poison god. Kalola was in the thick of it all. After the death of her two husbands and son, Kalola retreated to Maui, but Kamehameha followed with his warriors. He used a white man's cannon to massacre the Maui army in sacred Iao valley. Kalola, her daughters and granddaughter escaped to the neighboring island of Molokai. Kamehameha gave chase. On her deathbed, Kalola was forced to relinquish her daughter and granddaughter to Kamehameha, the conqueror, in order to restore peace to the islands.