#217 in the Moʻolelo series
The genealogy site geni.com recounts Kalaniopuʻu’s background:
Kalaniʻōpuʻu-a-Kaiamamao was a Hawaiian monarch, the 6th Aliʻi (tribal chief) of Kohala, 4th Aliʻi of the Kona district and 2nd Aliʻi of the Kaʻū district on the island of Hawaiʻi. He was called Tereeboo, King of Owhyhee by James Cook and other Europeans. His name has also been written as Kaleiopuu. He was born about 1729.
geni.com
Kalaniōpuʻu was the son of the famous chief Kalaninuiʻiamamao and chiefess Kamakaʻimoku, and brother of Kamehameha’s father Keouakalanikupuakapāikalaninui.
Major events during Kalani‘ōpu‘u’s reign included multiple wars with Maui while it was under Kahekili ( who was the younger brother of former Maui King Kamehameha Nui, and a father of Kamehameha). It was during these wars that Kamehameha “cut his teeth” as a warrior, gained notoriety and the name Pai‘ea (hard-shelled crab). Kalaniōpuʻu launched campaigns to conquer – or reconquer – the Hana district of Maui. Kamehameha was in his teenaged years during these battles, but was already drawing attention for his fierceness, though Hawaiʻi Island lost many of these battles.
Kamakau portrays Kalaniōpuʻu as very warlike and as actually savoring the violence of warfare. He was old when Captain Cook arrived, and Cook tried to kidnap him and take him as a hostage as a bargaining chip to regain a lost long boat.
Kalaniōpuʻu died at Waioahukini, Kaʻū, in April 1782. The ceremonies around his funeral were the site of political machinations between his son and heir Kīwalaʻō, Kamehameha and other chiefs, which mainly centered around the kālaiʻāina, or ensuing land division.
the umiverse 