Chiefess Kūkaniloko was born on Oʻahu as a daughter of High Chief Piliwale and his spouse, High Chiefess his sister Kawa'ala'auaka, his sister. Kūkanilokoʻs younger sister was called Kohipalaoa; they were Piliwaleʻs only children, and he had no sons.[2] After Piliwale's death, Kūkaniloko became the first female ruler of the whole island of Oʻahu; there were some female rulers on Oʻahu before Kūkaniloko — like Mualani — but they ruled only over the small portion of Oʻahu.
Kūkaniloko married a man called Luaia,[3] who was a chief from Maui. They had at least one child[4] — Kalaʻimanuʻia,[5] who became the Chiefess of Oʻahu (after her mother's death).[6][7]
^Johannes C. Andersen. Tuttle Publishing, 2012. Myths & Legends of the Polynesians. "Piliwale had two daughters, but no son."
^Kamakau, Samuel Mānaiakalani, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa (newspaper). 1865. "Ka Moolelo O Hawaii Nei".
^It is possible that Kūkaniloko and her spouse also had a son named Kauhimakapaweo.
^P. Grimshaw, K. Holmes, M. Lake (2001). Women's Rights and Human Rights: International Historical Perspectives. P. 77.
^Fornander, Abraham (circuit judge of Maui), An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origin and Migrations. Trubner & Company, Ludgate Hill, London (1880)/Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1969., p. 274.
^Kamakau, Samuel Mānaiakalani, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa (newspaper). 1865. "He Mau Olele Mua No Ka Mookuauhau o Kamehameha I".
