High Chiefess Kapiʻolani (c. 1781–1841) was an important member of the Hawaiian nobility at the time of the founding of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the arrival of Christian missionaries.

[1] The father of Kapiʻolani was Keawemauhili, who was high chief (Aliʻi Nui) of the district of Hilo on the island of Hawaiʻi.

Her mother was his second wife Kekikipaʻa, daughter of Kameʻeiamoku, who had fled with from her first husband Kamehameha I to Hilo in order to marry Keawemauhili.

The young Kapiʻolani was thrown in the bushes by her caretakers as the army fled, but was saved and sent to live with her aunt Akahi in the village of Kealia in the Kona District near the religious centers on Kealakekua Bay.

However, this time, powerful women such as Queen Kaʻahumanu (then Regent), Keōpūolani (mother of the new King Kamehameha II), along with Kapiʻolani, were not satisfied with the old ways.

Chief Keaoua Kekuaokalani attempted to gather followers of the old system at the temple near where she was living, but he was defeated at the battle of Kuamoʻo.

They describe meeting Kapiʻolani for the first time as she was sunbathing while applying coconut oil, "basking in the noonday tropical sun, like a seal".

She quickly learned to read and write and settled into a monogamous relationship with her husband Naihe (her stepbrother, since her father married his mother).

In the summer of 1823 William Ellis toured the island to determine locations for mission stations, and identified Kapiʻolani and Naihe as "friends and patrons of missionary efforts".

[5]: 19 Later on the tour, after a long journey to the volcano Kīlauea with little food, Ellis eagerly ate the wild berries they found growing there.

[5]: 128  The berries of the ʻŌhelo (Vaccinium reticulatum) plant were considered sacred to the goddess Pele, who lived in the volcano according to Hawaiian mythology.

The volcano crater was an active lava lake, which the natives feared was a sign that Pele was not pleased with the violation.

Although many other temples were destroyed by this time, the native Hawaiians continued to honor the goddess Pele at Kīlauea, which was still active.

There was a molten lava lake at the time, but no eruption and she survived intact, with only bruises on her feet from the long journey.

In July 1825, Admiral Lord Byron (cousin of the famous poet) brought back the bodies of Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu who had died in England.

[8] Naihe traveled to Honolulu and helped negotiate the peaceful transition in which the 11-year-old Prince Kauikeaouli would be named Kamehameha III, but power would be held again by Queen Kaʻahumanu.

Naihe led Byron back to Kealakekua Bay, where his crew looted many artifacts from the temples that remained in the area.

He found the shoreline areas too hot, so Kapiʻolani offered some land at a higher elevation and a few miles inland to build a house.

Floats, will the glory of Kapiolani be mingled with either on Hawa-i-ee.Her nephew Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole named his daughter after her, who became known as Queen Kapiʻolani (1834–1899) when her husband became King Kalākaua.