Jonah Piikoi

Who was Jonah Piikoi?

Ionah Piʻikoi was a Hawaiian high chief, distantly descended from the King of Kauaʻi. He was patriarch of a family of future nobles of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Born on the island of Kauai around January 1804, he was of lowly chiefly descent, who began public service as a tobacco lighter of King Kaumualiʻi of Kauaʻi and later King Kamehameha II. He accompanied Kamehameha II to Oahu in 1822, serving as his personal attendant. He returned to Kauai after Kamehameha II's departure to Great Britain and assisted the newly appointed Governor Kahalaia Luanuu in suppressing Humehume's rebellion on the island. After Kamehameha II's death in London, he returned to Oahu during the reign of Kamehameha III and served in the House of Nobles 1845–1859 and on the Privy Council 1852–1855.

The duty of separating the King's land from that of the chiefs' during the Great Mahele was assumed by Piʻikoi. Piʻikoi Street in Honolulu is named after either him or his son. He probably adopted the name Jonah when he converted to Christianity, using the Hawaiian spelling Ionah. His grandson Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole took his Christian name.