James Kaliokalani, also referred to as Kali; (May 29, 1835 – April 2/21, 1852) was a Hawaiian high chief of the Kingdom of Hawaii. At a young age, he was chosen to attend the Chiefs' Children's School (later renamed Royal School). He was taught by the American missionary Amos Starr Cooke and his wife, Juliette Montague Cooke, alongside his siblings and thirteen of their royal cousins, who were declared eligible to succeed to the Hawaiian throne. He died in 1852, shortly after leaving the school and working as a court interpreter.
Early life and family
James Kaliokalani was born on May 29, 1835. His father High Chief Caesar Kapaʻakea and mother High Chiefess Analea Keohokālole were advisors to the reigning king Kamehameha III. His mother was the daughter of ʻAikanaka and Kamaʻeokalani while his father was the son of Kamanawa II (half-brother of ʻAikanaka) and Kamokuiki. From his parents, he descended from Keaweaheulu and Kameʻeiamoku, the royal counselors of Kamehameha I during his conquest of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Kameʻeiamoku, the grandfather of both his mother and father, was one of the royal twins alongside Kamanawa depicted on the Hawaiian coat of arms. Kaliokalani's family were collateral relations of the House of Kamehameha. Another relative of the family was the High Chiefess Kapiʻolani who plucked the ʻōhelo berries and openly defied the goddess Pele as a dramatic demonstration of her new faith in Christianity.
He was the older surviving brother of David Kalākaua, Lydia Kamakaʻeha (Liliʻuokalani), Anna Kaʻiulani, Kaʻiminaʻauao, Miriam Likelike, and William Pitt Leleiohoku II. All his siblings were given away in hānai to other family members and friends. The Hawaiian custom of hānai is an informal form of adoption between extended families practiced by Hawaiian royals and commoners alike. Kaliokalani was adopted under the Hawaiian tradition of hānai by his maternal grandfather ʻAikanaka, who was in command of the Punchbowl Battery, an artillery unit on a fort situated on Punchbowl Hill in Honolulu. He died around 1837. After ʻAikanaka's death, Kaiahua hānai (adopted) Kaliokalani. She was the widow of ʻAikanaka, whom the Cookes called "Alika Kuaiohua" and referred to as Kali's "step-mother".
Education at Royal School
From the age of four, Kaliokalani attended the Chiefs' Children's School (later renamed Royal School) founded in 1839 to provide a Western-style education to the Hawaiian royal children. He entered the school around July 1839 (temporarily) and later in May 1840 (as a more steady boarding student) with Alexander Liholiho, the king's adopted son and heir-apparent who later reigned as King Kamehameha IV. His classmates included his siblings David Kalākaua and Lydia Kamakaʻeha and thirteen other royal cousins. Along with his other classmates, he was chosen by Kamehameha III to be eligible for the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The boarding school was taught by the American missionary couple Amos Starr Cooke and Juliette Montague Cooke while John Papa ʻĪʻī and his wife Sarai Hiwauli, who were only originally the kahu (caretaker) of Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, were appointed by the King as kahu to the royal children.
Referred to as Kali by his teachers, he was taught in English by the Cookes alongside his royal cousins. They were taught reading, spelling, penmanship, arithmetic, geometry, algebra, physics, geography, history, bookkeeping, singing and English composition by the missionary couple. In the classroom students were divided by their age and length of time at the school. Kaliokalani was a member of the second level class with Emma Rooke, Peter Kaʻeo and his brother David Kalākaua. Kali was less robust than his younger brother Kalākaua who defended his when the older and stronger boys bullied him at the school. During their Sunday procession to church it was customary for boys and girls to walk side by side, Kali would walk beside his cousin Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau. The Cookes enforced a strict moral code on the children especially on their sexual misconduct and punished them severely for any infractions. Around the time he was ten, Kali was found in the room of Emma Rooke and severely punished by Amos Starr Cooke for suspected indecency. Emma was not punished because Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau may possibly have been with Emma and others in the room at the time. Emma was nine years old at the time, and she would one day marry Alexander Liholiho, i. e. King Kamehameha IV.