Kualii

{{Short description|18th-century ali'i of O'ahu, Hawaii}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}

Chief Kūali{{okina}}i was a Hawaiian aliʻi of Oʻahu, who reigned in the 1700s.{{Cite journal |last=Lyons |first=Curtis J. |last2=Alexander |first2=W. D. |date=1893 |title=The Song of Kualii, of Hawaii, Sandwich Islands |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20701296 |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=160–178 |issn=0032-4000}} He was from Kailua,{{Cite news |last=Whitten |first=Harry A. |date=February 22, 1968 |title=Something for everyone on Sunday hikes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-pohaku-a-umeume/138224006/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |via=Newspapers.com}} and led wars against the chiefs of Waialua, Ewa, and Waianae. Kualii was the subject of a famous mele or chant of 600 lines, originally composed by two brothers, Kapaahulani and Kamaaulani, to gain favor with the chief. The chant was handed down orally over a 150-year period, and was collected by Judge Abraham Fornander.{{Cite book |last=Fornander |first=Abraham |title=Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Antiquities and Folk-Lore, 1849-1917 |publisher=Thomas G. Thrum |year=1917 |edition=4th |location=Honolulu, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, USA |publication-date=1917 |pages=364–434 |language=en, haw}} The chant was translated by Judge Lorrin Andrews and Curtis J. Lyons and recorded by historian Samuel M. Kamakau.

Some ancient historians claimed that he lived for 175 years.{{Cite news |last=Arcayna |first=Nancy |date=September 12, 2008 |title=Cloaked in native culture |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/honolulu-star-bulletin-cloaked-in-native/138223364/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |via=Newspapers.com}}