The moment
After Kamehameha I died in May 1819 his widow Kaʻahumanu became kuhina nui, co-ruler with the young king Liholiho. Late that year she and the king's mother Keōpūolani led Liholiho to eat publicly with women, breaking the ʻai kapu, and the king ordered the heiau and their images destroyed. Kekuaokalani, keeper of the war god Kūkāʻilimoku, rose in defence of the old religion and died at Kuamoʻo. The first American missionaries landed months later, in 1820.
People: Kaʻahumanu, Keōpūolani, Liholiho (Kamehameha II), Kekuaokalani