What is Kamehameha I?
[[File:Kamehameha I.png|thumb|300px|Kamehameha I]] '''Kamehameha I''' (about 1736–1819) was the first [[king]] of [[Kingdom of Hawaii|Hawaii]]. {{anchor|History|Biography}} ==Life== ===Early life=== Kamehameha was born about 1736, probably during the winter. His parents were [[Keoua]] and [[Keku'iapoiwa II|Keku‘iapoiwa II]]. They were [[cousin]]s. Their grandfather was [[Keawe'ikekahiali'iokamoku|Keawe‘ikekahiali‘iokamoku]], who had been the boss (''ali‘i nui'') of the [[Hawaii Island|big island of Hawaii]]. When Keawe‘ikekahiali‘iokamoku died, there was a [[civil war]]. Keoua and his brother [[Kalani'opu'u|Kalani‘opu‘u]] lost, and [[Alapa'inui|Alapa‘inui]] won. Keoua lived with Alapa‘inui for a while, but he died when Kamehameha was still a little boy. Kamehameha left and lived with his uncle Kalani‘opu‘u. ===Leader on Hawaii Island=== When Kamehameha's uncle died in 1782, his cousin [[Kiwala'o|Kiwala‘o]] became the new boss of the [[Hawaii Island|big island of Hawaii]]. Kamehameha became the head [[priest]] for the [[Hawaiian mythology|Hawaiian god]] of [[war]] [[Kuka'ilimoku|Kuka‘ilimoku]] and the leader of the [[Waipi'o|Waipi‘o Valley]]. He and his cousin started to fight because Kamehameha showed more respect to the gods than to his cousin. Some leaders in [[Kona]] joined him. They beat Kiwala‘o at the [[Battle of Moku'ohai|Battle of Moku‘ohai]], and Kamehameha became the leader of Kona, [[Kohala]], and [[Hamakua]] on Hawaii Island. At that time, there were people who said that they could [[prognostication|see the future]]. They told a [[prophecy]] that Kamehameha would bring Hawaii together and even unite the people of [[Polynesia]] as far away as the [[Māori people|Maori]]s in [[New Zealand]]. Kamehameha began to plan to unite all the [[kingdom]]s of the different islands. He started buying [[firearms|guns]] and [[ammunition|bullets]] from [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[United States of America|American]] [[sailor]]s who came to Hawaii while they [[whaling|hunted whales]]. Captain Brown began to bri