Aliʻi

For the plant known as ʻaʻaliʻi or aalii, see Dodonaea viscosa.

The aliʻi were the traditional nobility of the Hawaiian islands. They were part of a hereditary line of rulers, the noho aliʻi. There were many classes of aliʻi (or chief) and the position could be held by a man or a woman.

Cognates of the word aliʻi have a similar meaning in other Polynesian languages; in Māori it is ariki and in Tahitian ari'i.

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