Alii

Alii

Aliʻi is a word in some Polynesian languages denoting chiefly status in ancient Hawaii and the Samoa Islands.

A similar word with the same concept is found in other Polynesian societies. In the Cook Islands, an ariki is a high chief and the House of Ariki is a parliamentary house (with very limited power). In New Zealand a Māori ariki held a rank of nobility and the Maori monarch held the title Te Arikinui (Great Chief) similar to Ke Aliʻi Nui in Hawaiian. In Tokelau, the term aliki denotes a chief, on Easter Island a noble was ariki, in Gambier Islands akariki, and in Tahiti the term is ari'i.

In Samoa, ali'i is a chiefly rank in the fa'amatai system which lies at the heart of the culture's socio-political organisation and similar to the traditional system in Hawaii.