[birds chirping] Man 1: I guess I’m the kind of person that doesn't take anything for granted.

I need to know the facts on both sides.

♪♪ That's part of my training in the legal profession.

I’m a former judge and a former prosecuting attorney, and so, when it comes to genealogy, people can tell me everything they wanna tell me, but I, I like to know myself whether it's, it's actually accurate.

♪♪ I was born and raised here in Hawai’i.

My life has been here, my family's been here, my roots are here.

And with Hawaiians, as with a lotta indigenous type people, our roots are in the land.

So, I’ve always been interested to see where did my ancestors on the Hawaiian side come from?

Lise: Boyd Mossman is a retired judge from Maui, Hawaii.

As a proud Hawaiian and a judge, he wants to know the truth behind his genealogy.

Specifically, about his ancestors that lived during the time of King Kamehameha the Great, the first king to unify all the warring Hawaiian islands under one kingdom.

Boyd has heard that he's related to a Welshman named Isaac Davis, a famous figure in Hawaiian history who served as King Kamehameha's royal advisor.

Boyd also suspects that Isaac Davis was given a Hawaiian princess to marry, which means Boyd could have royal Hawaiian blood and a possible link to hundreds or thousands of years of Hawaiian genealogy through royal oral histories.

However, Boyd must substantiate for himself whether there's truth to his royal lineage and what role his family members may have played in this critical period of Hawaiian history.

Boyd: I’ve heard that I am related to Isaac Davis.

Uh, I’ve not confirmed that personally.

I, I know that Isaac Davis came here during the time of King Kamehameha the Great.

Every Hawaiian history book has his name, every one.

And say, y'know, this is somebody I can look back to and say, you know, somehow, his, uh... his genes are in me.

I mean, I'd be proud of that if I could say that, yeah.

I-it's more than interesting, it's, it's a part of my, uh, being, is that my ancestors were here, I am here now, my children will come hereafter, and my grandchildren.

And, uh, and all of that relates.

The one common tie we have with the land is our ancestry.

Lise: Our search for our ancestors is sometimes motivated by a desire to find more of a connection to our cultural identity.

But we may be surprised to find that our culture is already as close to us as the blood running through our veins.

From the studios of BYU Television in Provo, Utah, this is The Generations Project.

♪♪ - Hi, everyone.

I’m Lise Sims, and each week on our program, we bring you the story of someone who wants to connect with an ancestor or an entire generation of their family tree.

We help them do just that.

We're an ongoing project dedicated to connecting people across generations.

And today, that person is Boyd Mossman.

Welcome, Boyd.

- Thank you, very happy to be here.

Lise: I’m happy to have you.

You made some really interesting statements in this first segment, and they felt very passionate to me.

One of them was, you said, this is more than an interest; this is a part of my being.

What does that mean?

- Well, like I, I said in that opening segment, you know, us indigenous people are the people of the land, the 'Aina, and the land is part of our culture, our history, and our 'ohana, or family.

And so, it means much more than just an interest to know who your ancestors were.

My problem is I’ve never really spent that much time looking for ancestors.

Although I’ve spent some time.

Lise: Why not?

Boyd: Well, time is the-- has been the-- Lise: Of course.

You were a retired judge, you were very busy.

- Yeah, well, even as a judge, yeah.

Lise: Exa-- well, that's what I mean.

- But I do know that there are people who do have the time and do spend a lot of time.

- Why now, then?

Is there something that started you down this road at this particular time in your life?

Boyd: Down the road of genealogy?

- Yeah, looking into these particular ancestors, particularly Isaac Davis, actually, is someone that we're going to look into.

Boyd: Yeah, well, i-it has to do with my own children and my grandchildren.

You know, as, as I get older, I get more posterity, and I want them to understand, to where their roots are.

And my roots are their roots, so that's, that's the primary reason.

Lise: You wanna pass it on.

- Yeah, I want them to know more than I did when they-- when I was growing up about my ancestors.

Lise: I like that very much.

What does it mean to be a native Hawaiian?

Boyd: Native Hawaiians are the aboriginal indigenous people of Hawai’i who lived there prior to Captain Cook.

Or their descendants.

- Mm-hm.

So, that's something to be very proud of.

- Yes, and whether you have just a little drop or whether you're full Hawaiian.

Lise: Is there such thing as a full Hawaiian anymore?

Boyd: There are.

- There are?

- Not many, but there are.

Lise: But I don't understand, only 20% of the people living on the islands now are just part Hawaiian.

So, it's really a dwindling culture, would you say?

- Well, you know, when Captain Cook came here, it's been estimated up to 800,000 Hawaiians lived here.

By 1893, when the overthrow transpired, uh, there were about 40,000.

So, we lost 95% of our population, Hawaiian population, due to primarily disease.

Lise: Right, in a very short period of time.

Boyd: In a short period of time.

- Devastating.

Boyd: From that point on, we've actually increased, but it's part, part Hawaiian.

- So, you're on the board of something called the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Boyd: Yes.

- What do you do there?

Boyd: I’m a trustee.

Our purpose is to provide for the betterment of native Hawaiians, just as the, just as the Indians and the Alaskans have, uh, um, their, uh, their, uh, different organizations that, uh, provide for their governments.

- A federal recognized status, those other cultures.

- Yeah, the other two-- there are only three indigenous groups in America.

Lise: American Indian, Inuit, and Hawaiian.

- Right.

- And the Hawaiians, are the only ones that are not federally recognized.

Boyd: That's correct.

Lise: So, it means a lot to you to bring focus to this issue, I would assume.

- Yeah, the more focus and attention and understanding I can get my people in the United States as well as in the world, the better.

If I can do it, fine.

Uh, if I can't, uh, that's okay, too, because we're all gonna be-- always gonna be indigenous, no matter what.

- Well, you're already doing it, Boyd, because that was something I didn't know anything about.

I was really, actually shocked to learn that, that Hawaiians are not recognized.

Boyd: It's, it's not a racial thing, it's, it's a fact that we are descendants of the original people.

That's it.

Lise: It's an honoring.

Boyd: Yeah.

- In so many ways.

Does, does... does being on the board maybe make you feel more of a responsibility to know your heritage?

I mean, here you are, fighting-- - Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Lise: --for your culture.

- That has a part to do with all of this learning of mine.

You know, I don't know my own language very well.

Uh, but through songs and through chants and through protocol and things, I learn a little bit everyday as a, as a, as a member and trustee of the board of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Lise: And you're a retired judge.

You want proof, you don't take anything for granted.

I really noticed that.

Boyd: It's good to-- - It is, for all of us, we like to have proof.

The logical place to start in all this is to learn more about Isaac Davis.

I actually wanted to get more in about who Isaac Davis was, but we get to learn it in this next segment of your journey.

Should we watch a little bit of it, if you don't mind?

Boyd: Fine.

♪♪ Lise: Boyd's first stop is Maui's Bailey House Museum that houses a large repository of Hawaiian historical records.

He's looking for any concrete information he can find about Isaac Davis.

♪♪ Isaac Davis arrived on the Hawaiian Islands in an unusual way.

His story begins with two men, Captain Metcalfe the older and Captain Metcalfe the younger.

Metcalfe the older was a seasoned captain who led expeditions to Hawai’i to trade at the highly lucrative halfway point between Asia and the Americas.

Metcalfe the younger was a new captain over the ship that Isaac Davis served on, who had just begun his journeys to the Hawaiian islands.

Unfortunately, shortly before Davis's ship arrived, Metcalfe the older had developed a reputation for massacring 100 Hawaiians for stealing and also publicly embarrassing a chief, Kame'eiamoku, on the island of Hawai’i.

The chief vowed revenge on the next foreign ship to break the horizon.

Isaac Davis's ship was overtaken, the crew killed, and only Davis survived within an inch of his life after repeated hits with large canoe paddles by several Hawaiian warriors.

Boyd: "Kameeiamoku and his followers, "after gaining admittance to the vessel "by pretense of friendly trade, "had little difficulty in throwing the captain--" that's, that's the son, right, "and the crew overboard, "killing all of them except one "and seizing the vessel.

"The sole survivor, Isaac Davis, "was taken under the protection of Kamehameha, "who by this time had become king "of the northwestern half of the island of Hawaii "and who is said to have rebuked Kameeiamoku for his barbarous deed."

Lise: After Isaac Davis's crew was killed, King Kamehameha feared Captain Metcalfe the older would retaliate after learning of the death of his son.

His ship was still docked on the opposite side of the big island.

Kamehameha placed a curse on the ship so no Hawaiians could go near it.

Confused by this, Metcalfe sent a scout from his ship named John Young.

Young was immediately kidnapped by King Kamehameha and Captain Metcalfe, thinking he was a deserter, left the islands without learning about the death of his son.

Isaac Davis and John Young were both taken under the charge of King Kamehameha and soon became friends.

Boyd: I like this last sentence here in this paragraph.

It says, "though of limited education," and they're talking about Davis and Young, "they were, fortunately, men of excellent character "and exerted a wholesome influence "upon Kamehameha, "to whom they afterwards stood in the relationship of confidential advisers."

So, I think that, uh, you know, these were not ship captains, these were not, um, rocket scientists, so to speak.

These were ordinary men, but of high character, and they exerted a wholesome influence on King Kamehameha, and I think that influenced his decisions later on in the battles that he, uh, he, he won.

♪♪ To me, this is probably the most important thing I’ve learned about Isaac Davis, uh, ever.

♪♪ Lise: Boyd now has some background on Isaac Davis, but he still doesn't know exactly how he's related to him.

To find out, Boyd is going to see Katherine Smith, who has researched the Davis family and authored a book about her findings.

- We're gonna have to take a look at this little genealogy here and see.

Some things you're gonna know, and... Boyd: Oh, yep, yep, yep.

Katherine: All right, did some of these names-- well, here, here you are over here.

Boyd: Yup, yup, I know that guy.

Both: [chuckle] Katherine: And here's Isaac Davis.

Lise: Katherine explains to Boyd that he is a direct descendant of Isaac Davis by seven generations.

Isaac Davis married a local women named Nakai, who Boyd suspects may have been a Hawaiian princess.

Isaac and Nakai Davis had a daughter named Sarah Kale Kanikaulono Davis.

It's Sarah, or Kale, as she was nicknamed, who Katherine has researched specifically.

- Sarah Kale Kanikaulono Davis is the daughter of Isaac Davis.

She stewarded this land and this is her bay.

Here, Honokahua Bay.

Boyd: Well, you know, I’ve never really been able to-- I’ve pretty well known this, but I’ve not tied up the-- especially out here by the Adamses, I kinda-- I lost track there, but, uh, I did always believe that I was related to Isaac Davis, and this confirms it, so... Lise: Now Katherine has told Boyd that he is a direct descendant of Isaac Davis through his daughter, Kale Davis.

Katherine is now taking Boyd to the land that King Kamehameha gave to Kale Davis.

Clifford Nae'ole, a Hawaiian protocol practitioner, is also meeting them there to chant for permission from Boyd's Davis ancestors for Boyd to enter onto his ancestral land.

[drum beat] Clifford: [chanting in Hawaiian] Clifford: [chanting in Hawaiian] Katherine: [speaking in Hawaiian] Boyd: Mahalo nui.

Katherine: This is a very special day for us, that, um, the, uh, mamo of the land would come to visit.

Um, Kale came to have stewardship of the land of Honokahua, and Honokahua is the whole ahupua'a we are now in front of.

And this was the ancestral land of those Davis keiki.

From Napili all the way to Honolua, from the mountain Pu'u Kukui all the way to Kahawai.

This is your ancestral land, and we are so proud to have you with us.

- As you can see, I got chicken skin.

Both: [laughing] - I nev-- I never knew that.

Both: [laughing] - And I, I, I'm-- I appreciate being a descendant of, of such special people.

Katherine: Well, actually, there's another aspect of this because, you know, Isaac Davis and John Young were initiated into the ali'i ruling class-- - Yeah.

- --and they had sacred ali'i names.

They had names of fire.

So, um, they came by this land as the spoils of war, but because they were ali'i and they had served King Kamehameha very well.

I think you have a lotta studying to do.

Both: [laugh] - I think so, I’ve learned a lot today already.

Both: [laughing] - Yeah, but I never, I never realized that this part was part of the Isaac Davis legacy, um, you know, through his wife and, and their, their genealogy.

- Yes.

We have a little surprise for you, Boyd.

Um, we, we're going to take you to, uh, what is our sacred site here at Honokahua, and it is the, the Davis family burial site-- - Mm.

- --where Kale is.

- Mm-hm.

- And, um, that's our next stop.

- Okay, great.

Clifford: [chanting in Hawaiian] ♪♪ [chanting continues] [chanting continues] [chanting continues] [chanting continues] ♪♪ Boyd: All the years, I’ve seen that name, Sarah Kanikaulono Davis, and I've...

I've just kinda saw the words and not thought much more.

But to see this right here and to see the lands which she owned right around her, still preserved, is, uh, is, um, something that I never expected in my lifetime.

Katherine: Yeah, yeah yeah.

- I never knew this existed.

Both: [chuckling] Boyd: You know, it's something that now is my kuleana, to make sure that, uh, it's protected, and, uh, her genealogy and her descendants benefit as well as all of us.

Katherine: Well, with the genealogy that you have been able to gather now, um, you will be able to apply to the burial council to become a lineal descendent for her grave, and then nothing can be done to it without your consent.

It's been my privilege to know the family and to get them involved and have them step up, you know, and, uh, and get the family back together again.

I think it's what she wants.

Boyd: [indistinct] Well, you know, I-I-- I've-- I’m sure she's here in other than just bones.

I feel her spirit.

And like you say, this place is protected, so it will continue to be, I’m sure.

♪♪ Lise: Before 1810, the eight Hawaiian Islands were not unified as we know them today.

The islands were separate warring tribal states led by chiefs.

One of the chiefs on the island of Hawai’i was Kamehameha, who thought it wise to unify the islands as a means of protecting them from the coming tide of foreign colonists.

Despite Kamehameha's good intentions, the process for unification was filled with many bloody battles.

♪♪ Now that Boyd knows for certain that he is a descendant of Isaac Davis, he wants to know more details about the role that Isaac played during this unification period.

To find out, Boyd is going to Iao Valley, the location of a critical battle in King Kamehemeha's fight for unification.

Here, Boyd is meeting with Jay Freney, who is a tour guide for Iao Valley.

Jay: Prior to the time of Kamehmeha's battle in this valley, this valley actually was both a sanctuary and a burial ground for the Hawaiians of high rank, of the ali'i, the chiefs of Maui in particular.

And right in this area, the valley gathers narrow and creates a bit of a bottleneck below a famous ridge on this side of the mountain range that's actually called Maniania.

Lise: This ridge traditionally marked the separation between Iao Valley, the royal burial site, from Maui commoners.

However, when King Kamehameha's armies attacked, this narrow area served as a strategic location for Kamehameha's forces to trap the Maui warriors.

Kamehameha also had a new secret weapon: the Western cannon, fired by Isaac Davis.

Jay: And these were people who prior had only experienced warfare hand to hand, the Hawaiian martial art of combat hand to hand was very different from these European ideas of lining up the soldiers and working on battle flanks and having modern weaponry, so Hawaiian warriors probably stepped right to it, ready to engage with nothing more but wooden spears and Hawaiian daggers, which was a bit of a paddle with a handle and shark's teeth embedded around the edges, because we're talking the time prior to things like steel arriving here.

So, in that time period, these warriors would've trained their entire lives for this moment of battle, but all of a sudden, there's this surprise aspect, which is actually largely due to your ancestor, of modern warfare being brought in by Kamehameha.

Modern meaning gun powder and musket and cannon.

Lise: With Isaac Davis' addition of Western warfare and the cannon to King Kamehameha's army, the Maui warriors were overcome and confused by what seemed to be a supernatural force, Maui warriors fell back until they were trapped between two choices, certain death by Kamehameha's army or entering into the forbidden territory of Iao Valley burial grounds.

- And so, they had their last stand right at Maninia, the dividing ridge, and then from what we're told, there was actually, um, the cannons were brought up onto the side ridge, and that was a strategic point to be able to fire down, and so, right down in that, um, park below, the nature center, and up where we were standing on the bridge was the famous last stand where there were so many bodies in the river that it dammed the waters and became the name of the battle and the location, Kepaniwai, and so, from what I’ve told, at that point, any warriors that were left had not been slain in the stream were retreating up into Kapu territory to areas they'd never been to before.

And they were also banned from going to it, but the choice was death, which a lot of warriors chose.

They stood and had a very strong, courageous battle event in that area, but there was no way to overcome fire power of muskets and the cannon.

There was a prophecy in old Hawai’i that was being passed down through the lineages on Maui, that basically, when a foreign power conquered this valley, or was able to take this valley as their own, that it would embark this, um, unfoldment of a change in Hawaiian lifestyle.

So, this sort of is in the beginning of that story of Kamehameha going through the islands, but in the punctuation of it in Iao Valley, it really did change the script.

I mean, you and I wouldn't even be sitting here on these rocks today unless something of this nature unfolded.

♪♪ ♪♪ Boyd: I had a chance to reflect upon this valley and its history and its significance, culturally and religiously, to the Hawaiian people and mostly to the people of Maui.

I’m sympathetic to the Maui warriors, that's where my family originates, but I appreciate the absolute strategy that was in, in, in use by King Kamehameha to gain a victory.

It was, uh, it was, uh, something that military historians I’m sure would appreciate, and Isaac Davis' role is, is a part of that, a major part of that.

He had a hand, he had a hand in preserving this by Kamehameha uniting all of the islands.

It protected us for 100 years from any other foreign part coming in and taking over.

And so, we preserved this for history, preserved a lot for history.

And his role again con-continues to, to impress me.

♪♪ Lise: Boyd now knows more details about Isaac Davis' role in Hawaiian history, but he's still curious about Davis' wife, Nakai, and her possible link to royalty.

To find out more, Boyd is meeting with Maui historian, Pualani Bekeart, and a longtime friend and cousin, Kalele Mahoe, who has done some genealogical research on the Nakai Davis line.

Boyd: [laughs] Kalele: Aloha!

[laughs] - I, I was gonna say, is anybody home?

And I see you're home.

Aloha.

Kalele: Aloha, Boyd.

[kisses] Boyd: Good to see you!

Kalele: Good to see you!

[kisses] - And I have, uh, some questions I wanted to ask somebody who lived in this house.

- I have a few answers.

- Wonderful, wonderful.

- But I don't live here.

- Okay, well, you've got the answers, this is great.

- [indistinct] - Aloha.

Woman 1: Aloha, my name-- - This is-- - I’m Edna Bekeart Pualani.

- Bekeart, Mrs. Bekeart?

- Yes.

Kalele: You remember?

- I remember at school in kindergarten!

- You bet.

I remember you, my dear.

[kisses] - All right, now, this is, uh, my genealogy on one side of my family, okay?

This is, this is me down here, and it goes to Isaac Davis, who married a lady by the name of Nakai.

Kalele: When you follow it back to Nakai, it carries on and here is the surprise.

- Okay, Nakai.

- Nakai... Lise: Kalele shows Boyd that through Nakai Davis, he has a direct line to Maui royal King Pi'ilani, who was one of the most significant Kings in Hawaiian history.

Boyd: Which means through Nakai-- let me see, through Nakai... - Nakai.

Kalele: Down to you-- - Nakai, okay, thank you.

- Yes.

Kalele: Nakai.

- Um, Nakai.

Um, down to me, that means I have a direct line to King Pi'ilani.

- King Pi'ilani.

- So, you know what?

All these years, I’ve told my family that if we're related to Pi'ilani, it's through my wife's side.

- Oh, and you are the bearer of the, the genes.

Boyd: [laughing] I want, I want to see her claim again; I wanna, I wanna compare my claim to her claim.

Anyway, I’m very proud to be a, a great-great-- well, how many generations, 7-8-9-10-11-12... 15 generations away from... Lise: King Pi'ilani was possibly the greatest king of the Hawaiian islands.

He paved the way for all the later kings to come.

Before King Pi'ilani, not only were the islands ruled separately, but within each island, chiefs ruled over opposing tribes.

King Pi'ilani was the first king to unite the entire island of Maui, thus preparing the way for King Kamehameha's eventual unification of all the islands.

King Pi'ilani was also a visionary ruler.

He was the first to imagine and construct a trail that would stretch around an entire island.

This trail allowed for better protection and also for unprecedented communication and travel.

- Well, what about, what about the trail itself that used to be here?

- Well, the trail, my father tells me, was right under this road that goes past this house.

Huna Wa Pi'ilani road, the lower road.

Now, Huna Wa Pi'ilani main highway is above us, right above us.

Boyd: Mm-hm.

- But this is the original, yeah, site of the old trail, underneath this road.

Boyd: Mm-hm, mm-hm.

Kalele: Yeah, now that we know that we go back this far, we spend a little bit more time thinking about it and studying it.

- Well, and also honoring Pi'ilani, this road, you know, and creating it as, as a historic road.

That's what I’m doing right now.

Trying to let people know that when they walk on this road, kings walked it, too.

Mm-hm.

♪♪ Lise: Before the written word came to Hawaii, royal genealogists would recite thousands of years of family history by memory.

To forget a name was punishable by death.

Genealogies were recited when greeting strangers and even in battle to let enemies know one's great heritage.

Boyd is meeting with a distant cousin, Aloha Kekoolani, who still maintains the tradition of oral genealogy and knows the chant for his family from the Davises to King Pi'ilani.

- [chanting in Hawaiian] - [chanting in Hawaiian] - [chanting in Hawaiian] - [chanting in Hawaiian] [silence] [chanting continues] [chanting continues] ♪♪ ♪♪ - It was very moving for me to watch that.

What was it like for you to be there?

- Be there, there are a lot of places I was when you say there.

Lise: I just mean in this last moment, hearing the chant, hearing the history of your family through this oral tradition.

What was-- had you ever been through an experience like that before?

Boyd: No, no, absolutely not.

Uh, first, meeting Aloha Kekoolani was a privilege.

She's distant relative of mine.

She knows our genealogy like the back of her hand, and I appreciate having met her there.

And then, when she did the protocol, the welcome, the history of our family through her chanting, which she, she wrote that chant-- Lise: Oh my.

- I, I was very much honored.

That's how I felt, I was very honored.

Lise: It's a special moment.

What is the significance of the forehead to forehead, nose to nose?

Boyd: Well, you know, that's the original Hawaiian greeting.

And when Hawaiian's met with each other, they didn't kiss, they went nose to nose, but as they did so, they inhaled to inhale from the spirit of the other person, you know?

And so, in a sense, that's where the word aloha comes from, ha is the breath of life and everyone has that breath, and you have it, and I don't feel it of you until-- unless we meet nose to nose, and I can inhale.

And that's what the-- that's the way the Hawaiians have always done it, and it's becoming more and more prevalent now in greetings.

Lise: How wonderful, that must be thrilling.

Boyd: Yeah.

- To get back some of the, the original, cultural context of your ancestors.

Boyd: Well, yeah, like I say, this particular scene was, uh, um, very much different from any one I’ve ever witnessed before.

Lise: That's interesting.

Boyd, in the process of this last segment, you discovered that you're related to one of the greatest kings, perhaps the greatest king in Hawaiian history, Pi'ilani, King Pi'ilani.

Did you have any inkling of this?

Boyd: Well, like I mentioned in the film, no, because my wife's side has-- Lise: You gave her all the credit.

- Well, you know, I always felt, if there's any connection, it's her side.

And I still have to go research that a bit more.

Lise: Okay, for yourself, the judge.

This wasn't enough proof yet, is what you're saying?

- Yeah.

- How do you reconcile that?

Here you are, a native Hawaiian, so proud of your history, and your history is an oral history, and yet, the modern man, the judge, is on sort of the opposing view.

Is it difficult to balance those scales within yourself?

- Well, by necessity, you must go through the oral history, but Hawaiian oral history is very detailed and very, um, comprehensive from the beginning of time.

- I had never heard that a person could lose their life from mistaking a name within the history.

That's how much they valued that it be correct.

Boyd: There were certain persons in the family of every-- and especially royal families, that were given that responsibility and they had to know it.

Uh, cross the t's and dot the i's, every single-- they couldn't miss anything.

Lise: And I can understand why, because if that is the only way to keep your culture going through the generations, it held so much value.

Boyd: So, up until the time of Captain Cook, we had that, and then, and then it kinda, kinda got lost.

And so, between Captain Cook and today, it's, it's a matter of trying to get documentation added to whatever oral history got down to Captain Cook-- Lise: And see if they match.

- Yeah, looking at the years and so forth.

Lise: Just before you came on the show with me, I know my producer gave you a little bit more information about how deep King Pi'ilani's genealogy is.

She told you that you go back much further than you thought to Kane.

Who is Kane?

- Well, Kane was one of the four main gods of Hawai’i.

Um, and I can think of three of them right at the moment.

Lise: You don't even have to tell, that's impressive enough for me, Boyd, you win hands down.

Boyd: Now that I’m a descendent of gods.

- Yes, in fact, you are the 145th grandson of the Hawaiian god of creation.

Does that even register?

Does that have meaning?

Is it fun?

Boyd: It's, it's-- again, it's-- I’m honored at that possibility, I say it's a possibility because, you know, like you say, it's not documented or anything, but as far as I’m concerned, um, all Hawaiians can trace their roots or will be able someday to trace their roots back to their beginnings.

And Kane, if he's, you know, the beginning, which I believe he is, in Hawaiian lore, uh, we will all be able to trace back there.

I might mention to you that-- you know these battles that they had, Hawaiians?

One of the things that was lost during these battles was genealogies.

Lise: How so?

- As far as I believe, anyway, the descendants of Hawaiians today are descendants of the winners, because the losers were-- - Story was no longer told.

- --their genealogies were completely wiped out.

And that means their families, men, women, and children, were killed so that their genealogies would stop and would never ever be again.

So, the genealogies we have today are those that have survived the many, many, many battles of the past.

Lise: Isn't that interesting?

- Yeah, it's intere-- I just kinda found that out recently.

Lise: I’m glad you told me that.

You did find some proof, I wanna know if you thought it was enough proof, that you are a direct descendant of Isaac Davis, who played this pivotal, extraordinary-- here's this Welshman, with very-- as you said, he was not an officer, who came to this land and under circumstances, ended up being the advisor to King Kamehameha.

Oh, my word!

What-- do you have any theories as to what type of an individual he must have been?

Boyd: Well, only what I read, but Katherine Smith told me he must have been big to have survived the great beatings that the Hawaiians, in trying to kill him, imposed upon him.

But he was an extraordinary man, he was a man of great character.

He was one of only two chiefs that Kamehameha made chiefs that were not Hawaiian.

And that was the first and last time that ever happened.

- That's extraordinary.

That tells you how extraordinary-- and here's this man that you're related to.

Um, sense of pride?

You said at the beginning, I would be very proud to think his blood is running through my veins.

Boyd: Pride, honor, and humility.

Lise: Beautifully said, I couldn't say it better.

I just wanna-- we have to move on, but I just wanna say, at Kale's burial site, Katherine mentioned applying to the burial council to become a lineal descendant.

I wanna get back to that before the end of the show to find out what you've done or if you've done anything.

So, now, we have a little proof, a lot of oral history, and, as it turns out, there's a whole other side of your story that we're about to find out.

Let's watch where this journey takes you.

♪♪ Boyd now knows that he has royal blood on his Maui side of the family, but has also heard that he may be related to other Hawaiian royalty from the island of Kauai.

If this is true, Boyd would be connected to royalty on two sides of the battle for unification.

Kauai was the island that was able to withstand Kamehameha's armies the longest during unification battles, as Kauai was one of the farthest islands from King Kamehameha on the island of Hawai’i.

Boyd already knows he has royal connections through his Davis ancestors.

However, he's now interested in his possible royal Kauaian roots through his ancestors Charles and Kanikele Titcomb.

To found out more, Boyd is meeting with his cousin and family genealogist on the Titcomb side of his family, Nani Kawa'a.

♪♪ Nani: The reason I suggested that we meet at this beautiful place is because this was once part of the Titcomb land, and the Titcombs donated this land to become the wildlife bird sanctuary and also to have the Kilauea Lighthouse, and I’ve got some stories that I’m anxious to share with you about Charles Titcomb.

First of all, I have a picture of Charles that I wanted to show you, and a picture of his wife, Kanikele.

Here he is.

[papers rustling] Boyd: Okay.

Nani: And this is Kanikele, our an-- our-- so, these two are our common ancestors.

Boyd: Yeah, that was his wife, he married her.

Nani: Right, Kanikele.

Boyd: And that's as high up as I go.

Nani: Right, and one of the reasons why we're having a hard time tracing her lineage is because Kanikele is like a nickname.

Kanikele is like to ring the bell, is what I’m told the translation of her name means.

If we knew what her full Hawaiian name, that sacred part of her name is, we would probably have an easier time making the direct link as far as genealogy goes.

One of the clues that you look for in genealogy is clues in the name.

A lot of your family members have the Kaumuali'i name, and as we know in our culture, you cannot just take the name of an ali'i unless you are directly related.

So, when I saw the names of the people in your family, it validated the story told to me by the auntie on the big island that we are related to King Kaumuali'i.

We are related through Kamakahele's sister, and that's the line through which Kanikele descends.

Boyd: Wow, wow, that's very interesting, amazing.

- But I know you're a lawyer, and I know as a judge, too, a lotta times, Western culture wants documentation, and unless it's documentation and they see it in black and white, it's not a fact.

I have learned through the years in doing research that a lot of history that have been passed on to me, I haven't discounted because it's these little clues that as I’ve gone into the records and I’ve done my search, these little clues that oral history provided helped me to make that connection to the person that-- to find our family.

And I know our family want to be found, especially our Hawaiian lineage, they want to be found.

Lise: Based on Nani's research, through their common ancestor Kanikele Titcomb, Boyd is related to King Kaumuali'i, who was the King of Kauai during the unification period.

This means that Boyd has connections to royalty on two sides of the battle for unification.

Boyd: The names of King Kaumuali'i being repeated in the family give us a significant hint that this family has connections to Hawaiian royalty.

Uh, Kanikele herself, it looks really strongly that she was a descendant of the Kaumuali'i line.

Um, other than that, it is through what Nani told me that her aunties had told her, who are either gone or close to gone right now, and that is that, um, Charles Titcomb married into Kauai ali'i lines.

And how does it feel to be related to a king like that?

Well, you know that king was, in history, never defeated, uh, by King Kamehameha.

He was the only royalty or king of any island that was not defeated by King Kamehameha.

Um, according to Nani, and I’ve read this in the history books, too, his mother, whose name escapes me at the moment, but the king's mother was a very strong, spiritual person, and there are many, many who believe, including King Kamehameha himself, that it was her chants and her prayers that prevented his fleets two times from coming here to conquer these islands.

♪♪ Lise: To learn more about King Kaumuali'i and the role he played in King Kamehameha's attempts to take over Kauai, Boyd is going to the Kauai Historical Society to meet with historian Randy Wichman.

Randy: Kamehameha, on his first attempt on Kauai, he had his entire armies arrayed right there at Waianae going out to [indistinct], and, um, halfway through in the channel, a huge storm comes up and wipes out three quarters of his fleet.

Now, these are the guys, these are the commanding, the veterans that actually helped, uh, Kalani'opu'u and Kamehameha take Maui, and then Moloka'i, it was a vicious series of fights on Moloka'i, and then the O'ahu, and, uh, so these are his front-line, battle-trained commanders and warriors.

They die in the first conquest.

It takes them ten years to rebuild his armies with the sons of these guys, and they're on the beach there at Waianae when dysentery hits and wipes out the second line of commanders.

So now, here it is, two generations of Kamehameha soldiers die in the conquest of Kauai.

Kamehameha essentially, at this particular point, is going, Okay, it's not working, I’m gonna go into a negotiation.

Because we all know the fate, that if Kamehameha ever got here to Kauai, everybody would get killed, right?

Everybody knew this.

Kaumuali'i knew this also.

He was under a great deal of pressure.

Lise: Although Kauai had been saved two times from takeover, King Kaumuali'i worried that his luck would soon run out.

King Kahmehameha sent for King Kaumuali'i saying he wished to negotiate.

However, King Kaumuali'i was worried that this invitation was really a scheme to have him killed.

The Kauai king decided to see Kamehameha anyway, rationalizing that if he was killed, he would at least spare his people from bloodshed from Kamehameha's superior warfare.

Once in Oahu, Kamehameha did not kill Kaumuali'i.

Instead, King Kaumuali'i was allowed to rule Kauai until his death and then cede the island to Kamehameha's son.

Randy: Kamehameha says, Rule as you see fit, but should my son ever come to visit you, please take good care of him.

Essentially, in one sense, you know, there is a famous chant that Kamehameha chants.

When I get to Kauai, I’m gonna eat the fish of Ha'ena, I’m gonna drink of the 'awa of Waliua, I'm gonna-- so he's looking forward to doing all of these things, of course, but he never makes it, right?

And, uh, and again, he goes into that uneasy truce.

- Did Kamehameha ever set foot here?

- No.

- Mm.

- Definitely not.

His son does, not him.

No way.

Yeah.

Lise: Kamehameha's wish to unify the islands was put on hold with the understanding that his son would take over Kauai after King Kaumuali'i's passing.

King Kaumuali'i, known as a good ruler, was free to return to Kauai and rule his people.

- And I think when you look back on it, the way he handled his people here on Kauai was absolutely magnificent.

The books are, uh-- reveal all that.

You know, they portray him in extremely respectful manner, but, of course, here on Kauai, we have a great deal of respect for Kamehameha by the end.

But really, ultimately, it is our genealogical lines that, uh, that prevail.

♪♪ Lise: Randy's given Boyd a book written by his father, Frederick Wichman, who's also a Kauaian historian.

♪♪ Boyd is going to Waikahalulu Falls in Oahu to read a passage Randy has marked for him.

♪♪ When King Kamehameha did not kill King Kaumuali'i, there were some high chiefs under Kamehameha led by chief Naihe who were very displeased by this.

They wished to unify the islands immediately and saw Kaumuali'i as a major obstacle.

Because of this, the chiefs planned an assassination.

King Kaumuali'i was invited to a feast held at Waikahalulu Falls where Naihe plotted to poison him.

However, Isaac Davis learned of this plot and paid King Kaumuali'i a visit.

- As the two men were parting after a pleasant interlude, Davis said, Do not go up to Waikahalulu lest Naihe destroy you.

Startled, Kaumuali'i prepared to go home.

Kaumuali'i, come to Oahu as a ruler, he was going home as a vassal.

Yet, he had saved his kingdom from a blood bath.

It was the best he could do.

Lise: Shortly after King Kaumuali'i's return to Kauai, Naihe and his chiefs discovered Isaac Davis had foiled their plan.

Here, the two sides of Boyd's family lines connect in a very serendipitous way.

The poison that was meant for King Kaumuali'i was given to Isaac Davis instead.

- "Soon after his return, "Kaumuali'i received word that Isaac Davis was dead.

"The conspirators under Na'ihe had poisoned him for warning Kaumuali'i."

So, Isaac Davis warned King Kaumuali'i.

The connection, the connection is kinda amazing to me.

Uh, it's, it's, um... it's something that, that, uh, is not coincidental, I don't think.

But it-- but I’m here today looking at both genealogies and seeing how they tied up together at one point in time.

I, you know, I, I'm in awe, uh, that these great men are part of my family.

♪♪ Lise: While Boyd has family who fought on both sides of unification, ultimately, all the islands were joined under one kingdom, which protected them from foreign takeover and led to an era of peace between the islands.

Now, Boyd has one last place to go, to see the royal palace, which still stands as a tribute to King Kamehameha and his legacy of Hawaiian sovereignty.

♪♪ Boyd: I’ve learned more in these last few days than I’ve learned in my life.

Every person I met, every, every place we went was something that I didn't know about before.

There were no records back then.

There were no birth certificates.

It was through oral history.

And you take the evidences that you have in the way of use of family names, in the way of oral chants and so forth like that, and you put them together.

That's satisfactory, um, as far as I’m concerned, in our family.

The identification on the one hand of Isaac Davis as yes, an ancestor, his wife, Nakai, as yes, an ancestor, and all the way back has opened up my eyes to their history.

♪♪ And then, on the other line, the Kauai people, Kaumuali'i, same thing.

Little did I know that their lines come into me, their blood is in me, their genes are in me.

And that tells me I'm something more than I thought maybe I was before.

So, who I am now is more than just Boyd Mossman, it's Boyd Mossman and all my ancestors of the past.

I have learned something through learning about them that I can use in my life, and more especially in seeking to continue on the building of the character of my children and grandchildren.

♪♪ Lise: Boyd, you speak so beautifully.

This experience clearly meant something to you.

I love when you say, I'm more than I thought I was.

And now, I have more to pass onto my family.

Have you begun?

Please, speak.

Boyd: Yeah, well, that, that's what this whole project has brought to me, anyway, is the beauty of my knowing where I come from and the privilege of telling the same thing to my children and grandchildren who will be coming after me.

Lise: Have you started that journey of sharing with the children and grandchildren?

Boyd: Yes.

Yes, we have.

Every Sunday now, I meet-- I have seven children, so I meet with-- Lise: I am one of nine, I love it.

I understand that family.

- So, I meet with four of them and their children who live on Maui.

Lise: How wonderful.

- And we're teaching them little by little to know their genealogies.

You know, one of my grandsons, who's nine years old, I said, Okay, who’s your grandparents?

"Papa and Grandma."

I said, What's their names?

"Uhh..." You know?

So, we're trying to teach them now a little bit, to know more about it.

Lise: Beautiful tradition to begin, I hope others take that and run with it as well.

I have a question about Isaac.

He saved the life-- this is just-- floors me-- Isaac Davis saves the life of royalty on the other side of your family line.

Boyd: Right.

- You are the connection between these two great Hawaiian figures.

You, Boyd, I mean, that's astounding.

But I’m thinking as I’m watching this, why would Isaac foil Naihe's plan, do you think?

- Well, firstly, he was a loyal servant of Kamehameha.

So, the trust between those two was unbreakable.

He knew that King Kamehameha did not want Kaumuali'i killed.

He knew that King Kamehameha did not want to invade Kauai because he was a man of his word, and he would not do so.

He knew also that his chiefs, Kamehameha’s chiefs, were not of the same character as the king, and he knew that if anything came up, Isaac Davis was gonna side with King Kamehameha.

Lise: Oh, my goodness.

- So, that was the first reason-- Lise: Yes.

- --is that he was a loyal servant.

Um, the second, though, was something that I didn't know until I-- after we filmed some of this stuff.

And I did a little checking on my own.

But I discovered that Isaac Davis had another daughter besides Kale, and her name was Peke, P-E-K-E. She married the son of King Kaumuali'i.

The youngest-- the older son, Humehume.

Lise: Oh my gosh.

- And Humehume was not chosen to succeed Kaumuali'i because he didn't-- he was a half-brother of his younger brother, who had the genealogical lines to succeed.

So, Humehume, frankly, although he was sent to Connecticut to learn English and so forth, never was able to establish himself as a power there.

In any event, Isaac Davis's daughter, being the wife of Humehume, made Isaac Davis and King Kaumuali'i relatives, in a sense, in-laws.

- It's so fascinating to me how your line, on both sides of your family, crosses like this.

Is this typical of an island culture or is just ironic?

- No, I-- it's, well, in this particular case, I mean, it kinda floors me that all this happened on two different sides of my family.

- Yes.

- I guess it's not that unusual in a small island community because before Captain Cook came, everybody was intermarrying on all the islands, and that's the way you got your power, is through your genealogy, because if you had the strongest genealogy, you were automatically the leader, yeah.

Lise: Well, you mentioned that, um, only the history of the victors survive, which intrigues me again that you are the history of victory of both sides of your family then, which is a powerful concept, really.

How does it feel to be so directly connected to royalty at these critically times in Hawaiian's history?

- Well, it's, you know, there are many people just like me who got-- who have stronger and more direct lines to royalty that, that-- so, I, you know, I’m no different from anybody else.

- But you're very humble.

Boyd: It's just that I’ve discovered these things through this process of this episode here, and by discovering all of this now, I know, okay, yeah, okay, fine, you know-- Lise: It's legit, I'll take it.

Well, speaking of discovering, you've done a little more research on your own.

After learning about your Hawaiian side and learning that Davis sacrificed his life for the king of Kauai, does it make you appreciate the European lineage that you come from?

He was a Welshman, have you had any interest in looking into that side of your family?

Boyd: Well, yes.

Through this, through this, again, this, this, these-- this series here, I am now committed to learn more about him.

And I talked to Katherine Smith, who wrote a book about Kale.

It's a very interesting book to me.

But she has informed me of someone who also knows much, much more about Isaac Davis, the man, than anybody else probably in the world, and I’m gonna go try and find him and talk to him.

Lise: I wanna talk about Katherine, and we're running out of time, sadly, we always run out of time, there's so much good information.

But in this context that we are speaking of now, has this made you feel, then, even more responsible to the native Hawaiians and recognizing the culture on a federal level?

Am I saying that correctly, judge?

Boyd: Yeah.

Has it made me feel any more responsible?

It has-- responsibility is there, period.

I mean, it's not gonna get more or less.

Once you have responsibility, we call it kuleana.

Lise: Kuleana.

- Kuleana.

It's mine now, as Katherine said, my kuleana, as a descendant of Isaac Davis, to make sure that all is cared for in his name.

Anything in his name, I need to make sure that I can have my input on that.

Lise: And did you join the-- is it called the burial council that... Boyd: No, I have to submit to them my genealogy first.

Lise: Okay, and what would that mean in terms of Kale's gravesite?

That it becomes... Boyd: It will be protected.

It is protected to a degree, but the more people you get involved, the better protection it has.

Lise: There's almost no time, but one thing Katherine said, and Nani, both said, that your ancestors want to be found.

Boyd: Yeah.

I am result of a lifetime of ancestors, and all those ancestors, wherever they came from, I am part of that.

One-- every little molecule in me is a part of history, and I’m hoping to use the good part of that history to pass it on to my descendants.

Lise: Boyd Mossman, you already have.

Thank you so much for this.

And thank you for watching.

Please join us next time for The Generations Project.

Now explain to me what mahalo means.

♪♪