Momoa is one of the creators of the Apple TV+ period series that shines a light on a violent era in Hawaiian history.

His contemporary was Kamehameha I (played in Chief of War by Kaina Makua), who would eventually become known as Kamehameha the Great. Like Kaʻiana, he was probably born in the 1750s, and came from the Big Island. And his aristocratic lineage, though questioned, cemented his future as a strong leader too, according to National Geographic.

Chief of War season 1 begins with a deliberate focus on language: the characters primarily speak ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, the native language of Hawaiʻi.