Hewahewa

Hewahewa was a Hawaiian religious leader who served as kahuna nui (high priest) to King Kamehameha I and his successor Kamehameha II. A descendant of Paʻao and of the priestly order of the war god Kū, he was granted the Waimea Valley on Oahu and by the 1810s enforced the kapu code for Kamehameha. After Kamehameha I died in 1819 he joined Kaʻahumanu and other reformers in abolishing the kapu, ordering the burning of idols and the destruction of heiaus; a revolt against the change led by Keaoua Kekuaokalani was defeated at the Battle of Kuamo'o that December. He later converted to Christianity, brought by missionaries from 1820, and by contemporary reports died at Waimea in 1837.