The Island of Hawaii was first inhabitated
by Polynesians
over a thousand years ago, perhaps as early as 700AD.
Excavations at South Point tell the story of ancient mariners,
Tahitians and Marquesans who sailed thousands of
miles
to find a new home. These invaders became the conquerors
and rulers of Hawaii and brought the system of kapu
which
is made up of a strict form of dos and don’ts. Evidence
of early Hawaiian settlement is found throughout the islands.
The ancient Hawaiians lived off the sea and lowland
agricultural areas. For this reason, we find petroglyph
fields,
refuge caves, heiau (temples) near shorelines. It is
possible to
drive to South Point and see some of the ancient sites such
as pukas in the rocks where ropes held the ancient
double-hulled canoe.
Haoles, or foreigners, first arrived many
hundred years later.
Capt. James Cook, the famous English explorer, arrived
on the shores of the Hawaiian Islands in 1779. According
to Hawaiian legend, the god Lono was supposed to
return
to Hawaii. Some Hawaiians mistook Cook as the
long-awaited deity and he was treated well. However,
in a skirmish on shore, Cook’s mortal reaction convinced
the Hawaiians he was not Lono, whereby they promptly
killed him. There is a plaque at Kealakekua Bay
commemorating Captain J.Cook.
The most famous Hawaiian
ruler, King Kamehameha,
was from the island of Hawaii. His birthday was probably
around the year 1758. Nowadays, we celebrate his birth
on June 11th. The king was born in the northernmost
region of Hawaii
Island…in Kohala. Prior to
Kamehameha’s rule, each of the islands had their own
ruling kings. The huge Island of Hawaii had 2 kings,
Kamehameha and Keola. Kamehameha set out to unite
the Hawaiian islands under one ruler. After many
bloody battles, he achieved his goal and ruled his
kingdom from his headquarters in Kona where the King
Kamehameha Hotel stands today.
The first wave of haole missionaries arrived in 1820.
The missionaries came from New England where they
had met Henry Opukakaia, a young Hawaiian who was
educated and converted to congregationalism in the late
1700’s. Protestants and Catholics followed. The
missionaries changed the way of life of the Hawaiians
and their ancient way of life never returned.
Other haoles
came as seamen, ship captains, merchants
and ranchers. Many married Hawaiians. Honolulu and
Hilo grew rapidly, each competing for
the all-important
deep- sea harbor business. Plantations were planted
as it became obvious that pineapple and sugar would
do well in Hawaii’s climate and soil. Sandalwood and
Koa was logged. More labor was needed for the
prosperous business and soon came the Chinese,
Japanese, Portuguese, Filipino, Puerto Ricans, Koreans
and a small number of Norwegians, Sweds, Scots and
Germans. Soon Hawaii was indeed a melting pot
where the common language was Pidgin English.
