[3][4] ʻĪʻī was raised under the traditional kapu system and trained from childhood for a life of service to the high chiefs.

ʻĪʻī was close to Liholiho during the young heir's instruction in the conduct of government and ancient religious rites.

[5] After Liholiho's death, ʻĪʻī continued to serve the rulers of Hawai‘i and including being kahu for Victoria Kamāmalu and hānai father of Mary Polly Paʻaʻāina.

[7] ʻĪʻī was among the first Hawaiians to study reading and writing with the missionaries, yet although he adopted Christian teachings, he retained a profound love and respect for the culture of his ancestors.

[5] ʻĪʻī served as a general superintendent of Oʻahu schools and was an influential member in the court of Kamehameha III.

[9] He left a first-hand account chronicle from 1866 until his death in a series of articles in the Hawaiian language newspaper Ka Nupepa Ku'oko'a.

He remarried for a third time to nineteen-year-old Maleka (Martha) Kaʻapā at Hilo, on July 30[13] or August 1, 1861; she died of consumption a month afterward.