Keōua Kūʻahuʻula was an Aliʻi (member of the royal class) during the time of the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

[1][2]: 129 His father was Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the king at the time of the arrival of Captain James Cook.

This meant his older half-brother Kīwalaʻō was in line to inherit the kingdom.

In 1790, after escaping another attack, his party was caught in an eruption of Kilauea, and lost two thirds of his army to lava.

He was captured in what is sometimes called the Battle of Kawaihae, and Keōua's body offered as a sacrifice to sanctify the new temple.