Hawaii History  |
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 The First Hawaiians
No one knows for sure exactly when, but the islands of Hawaii were first settled by Polynesian migrants several hundred years before Columbus discovered America and before European navigators explored and circled the globe during the age of discovery. The first settlers of Hawaii probably came from the Marquesas Islands, near today's French Polynesia, far to the south of Hawaii. They are said to have arrived in Hawaii around 500 AD. Some of Hawaii's oldest archaeological sites date back to about that time. Later settlers probably came from the Society Islands, also part of today's French Polynesia.
The early Polynesians were master navigators and sailors and their world was dominated by the Pacific Ocean. They are believed to have originated in Southeast Asia and Indonesia. They migrated across the Pacific by island-hopping in their simple double-hulled sailing canoes, settling the islands along the way. They crossed vast stretches of open unknown ocean in simple craft using only their knowledge of ocean currents, winds and stars to navigate. That fact is undisputed. What anthropologists and historians do dispute are the routes, times and other details as to when this all happened.
It is thought, at least by some, that the first Polynesians landed along the southern shores of the Big Island of Hawaii. Some feel the Big Island would have been the first visible landmark when coming from the south because of the high peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The southern shore of the Big Island would have made for a natural landing site after a long sail across the ocean. Ka Lae, or South Point, is traditionally believed to be where those first migrants stepped ashore. From there, over succeeding generations, they spread among all the islands of Hawaii.
The first settlers, and those that came in later migratory waves, arrived in a Hawai`i that was, up until then, uninhabited, an undisturbed tropical ecosystem. The islands had evolved through undersea volcanic action over tens of thousands of years. As the islands grew and evolved above water, they developed a unique indigenous ecosystem. Thousands of species had arrived by wind and ocean current to become established and adapt to the island environment. Everything from the tiniest insects and plants to the tallest rain forest trees had evolved in complete isolation.
Into this environment came the first settlers, who lived here, equally undisturbed and unaware of the outside world for generations. These original Hawaiians lived a communal lifestyle, following a rigid pagan religion in which they believed their lives were controlled by supernatural gods of the earth, sea and sky. Their daily lives were also regimented by a social and political system, known as the kapu system, of ruling alii (royalty), kahuna (priests and sorcerers) and a warrior-class that controlled the commoners through fear and intimidation. Their world revolved around daily events of fishing, hunting, farming and gathering, tight-knit village and clan life, and adherence to strict ceremonial protocol. Violations of the system brought severe penalties and dire consequences, often death, at the hands of the ruling alii and kahuna.
Each island had its hereditary alii or ruling chiefs, who ruled their respective chiefdoms. But these rival alii and their clans continuously fought among themselves for control and power. Civil war was widespread among ruling alii and their warrior clans. Kamehameha the Great, from Kohala on the Big Island of Hawaii, was known as a fierce warrior and became a prominent ruling chief. Around 1790, Kamehameha consolidated his power on the island of Hawaii by defeating rival chiefs in battle. He then went on to raise a large army and conquered the islands of Maui, Molokai and Oahu over the next few years. While he failed to conquer Kauai in battle (his army was turned back by a storm at sea), in 1810 Kauai recognized Kamehameha as king of all the islands. Thus was founded the Hawaiian monarchy, which ruled over a united kingdom of the islands until it was deposed in 1893.
Annexation
Hawaii's strategic military importance in the Pacific area continued to grow as the 19th century drew to a close. The United States was keenly aware of the importance of maintaining close ties with Hawaii or even controlling the islands outright. President William McKinley was more favorable toward annexation than his predecessor. Thus, by a joint resolution of Congress on August 12, 1898, the islands of Hawaii were formally annexed by the United States. The new possession was then reorganized as the Territory of Hawaii and Dole was appointed its first Governor on June 14, 1900. The first Territorial Legislature convened in 1901.
The 20th Century
With annexation, Hawaii's growth and development seemed assured. The sugar industry and the new pineapple industry, developed by James Dole, a young cousin of Governor S.B. Dole, took off and prospered. Foreign laborers continued to flow into Hawaii from Asia and elsewhere as old laborers served out their contracts and elected to say on doing other work.
World War I only marginally affected Hawaii. The '20s saw the first attempts at promoting Hawaii as a tourist destination with the advent of ocean liners. The first non-stop flight from the mainland to Hawaii was in 1927, marking the arrival of the trans-Pacific air age and giving Hawaii a closer link to the outside world. Commercial inter-island air service began in 1929. Pan American World Airways linked Hawaii directly with the mainland in 1936 when it began regular commercial passenger service with its huge flying boats. During the '30s, communication services expanded rapidly and linked the islands closer to the mainland and the world.
The Great Depression years of the '30s were not as serious in Hawaii's agriculture-based economy as in more industrialized areas. With growing international tensions around the world and especially with Japan in the Far East, the US began to build its military power in Hawaii.
| President Clinton signs Public Law 103-150, the "Apology Resolution" to Native Hawaiians, on November 23, 1993, as Vice-President Gore and Hawaii's Congressional delegation look on: Sen. Daniel Inouye, Rep. Patsy Mink, Rep. Neil Abercrombie, and Sen. Daniel Akaka (L to R)
- excerpts -
To acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the January 17, 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and to offer an apology to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Whereas, prior to the arrival of the first Europeans in 1778, the Native Hawaiian people lived in a highly organized, self-sufficient, subsistent social system based on communal land tenure with a sophisticated language, culture, and religion;
Whereas, from 1826 until 1893, the United States recognized the independence of the Kingdom of Hawaii, extended full and complete diplomatic recognition to the Hawaiian Government, and entered into treaties and conventions with the Hawaiian monarchs to govern commerce and navigation...
Whereas, on January 14, 1893... the United States Minister assigned to the sovereign and independent Kingdom of Hawaii conspired with a small group of non-Hawaiian residents of the Kingdom of Hawaii, including citizens of the United States, to overthrow the indigenous and lawful Government of Hawaii;
Whereas, soon thereafter, when informed of the risk of bloodshed with resistance, Queen Liliuokalani issued the following statement yielding her authority to the United States Government rather than to the Provisional Government:
"I Liliuokalani, by the Grace of God and under the Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the Constitutional Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain persons claiming to have established a Provisional Government of and for this Kingdom.
"That I yield to the superior force of the United States of America whose Minister Plenipotentiary, His Excellency John L. Stevens, has caused United States troops to be landed a Honolulu and declared that he would support the Provisional Government.
"Now to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do this under protest and impelled by said force yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the Constitutional Sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands."
- Queen Liliuokalani, Jan 17, 1893
Whereas, without the active support and intervention by the United States diplomatic and military representatives, the insurrection against the Government of Queen Liliuokalani would have failed for lack of popular support and insufficient arms.
Whereas, in a message to Congress on December 18, 1893, President Grover Cleveland reported fully and accurately on the illegal acts of the conspirators, described such acts as an "act of war, committed with the participation of a diplomatic representative of the United States and without authority of Congress", and acknowledged that by such acts the government of a peaceful and friendly people was overthrown... President Cleveland further concluded that a "substantial wrong has thus been done which a due regard for our national character as well as the rights of the injured people requires we should endeavor to repair" and called for the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Whereas, the indigenous Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States, either through their monarchy or through a plebiscite or referendum.
Whereas, the health and well-being of the Native Hawaiian people is intrinsically tied to their deep feelings and attachment to the land;
Whereas, the long-range economic and social changes in Hawaii over the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have been devastating to the population and to the health and well-being of the Hawaiian people;
Whereas, the Native Hawaiian people are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territory, and their cultural identity in accordance with their own spiritual and traditional beliefs, customs, practices, language, and social institutions;
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
The Congress
- apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893... and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination;
- expresses its commitment to acknowledge the ramifications of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, in order to provide a proper foundation for reconciliation between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people; and
- urges the President of the United States to also acknowledge the ramifications of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and to support reconciliation efforts between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people.
"...the logical consequences of this resolution would be independence."
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