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Ancient Hawaii

The first people to settle in the Hawaiian Islands were highly skilled sea navigators from the South Pacific. There were two periods of Polynesian migration from different parts of the Pacific. The first Polynesians migrated around 600-750 A.D. from Marquesas, and the second migration occurred around 1100 A.D. from the Society Islands. These ancient sea-faring people brought with them food provisions, plants, and domestic animals, as well as knowledge of ocean navigation based on the stars. They traveled with the intent to settle, which they did, but they also made many return voyages to their homelands.

Polynesians adapted to their new island home, developing their own culture while maintaining the social and political structure of their homeland. Small kingdoms divided the islands, and each kingdom was ruled by its own high chief. While the high chief was the highest political entity, he received guidance from a council of chiefs and a high priest. Under the king’s protection were the chiefs of the smaller districts of land. The chiefs, also known as alii, were ranked in society based on their ancestral lineage. The next group with social power was the kauna, priests and craftsmen. While kahuna were skilled with a profession, such as canoe building or medicine, they were attributed with knowledge of the supernatural and were to be revered and feared as well.The distinction between those with power and the makaainana (commoners) was maintained and reinforced with a system of restriction called “kapu.” The kapu system permeated everyday life and imposed punishments, which were often severe, upon offenders. An example of kapu is the rule that men and women could not eat together nor partake of the same foods. Women ate separately from men and were forbidden to eat coconut, pork or most varieties of banana.

Up until the late 1700s, the people of Hawaii only knew of people from other neighboring Pacific kingdoms. With the arrival of England’s Captain James Cook in 1778, the lives of the Hawaiian people were altered forever. Captain James Cook happened upon the Hawaiian Islands during an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Captain Cook was familiar with the Pacific and had made contact with other peoples and Polynesian islands. His ships returned the following year and arrived in Kealakekua Bay, which means The Pathway of the God, and were mistaken by the people of Hawaii as the returning god, Lono.

The Hawaiians welcomed Captain Cook and his crew into their village, showing them great hospitality. As time passed, tensions between the Hawaiians and Captain Cook and his crew grew, erupting into a violent confrontation at Kealakekua Bay in 1779. Upon his return, Captain Cook was one of the many mortally wounded as a result of the battle. Cook was concerned over articles taken from one of his ships, and he decided to take the high chief Kalaniopuu as a hostage. A skirmish ensued in which Cook was killed.

While Captain Cook’s remaining crew left the Hawaiian Islands, contact with Europeans irrevocably touched the lives of the Hawaiians. New diseases were introduced to the Hawaiian people, who had no immunity against the often-deadly diseases. Such diseases as small pox, measles and whopping cough killed many Hawaiians. In addition, the Hawaiians were introduced to and shown the power of firearms and metal.