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Hawaii in Focus
The Hawaiian islands were formed over 25 million years by the eruptions of underwater volcanoes in the approximate area of the Big Island of Hawaii. Lava from these eruptions hardened into rock as it was cooled by the ocean. As the earth's tectonic plates shift, the islands move gradually northwest an average of two inches per year across a vent in the earth's crust which incessantly spews lava into the ocean. The major inhabited islands are situated in the most southerly portion of the chain and include Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and Hawaii. Two small islands, Kahoolawe, off the southwest coast of Maui, and Niihau, just wet of Kauai, are also part of the archipelago. Each of the islands is surrounded by a relatively shallow underwater shelf less than 600 feet deep. Most of this shelf extends only two or three miles offshore, dropping precipitously to depths of more than 12,000 feet. However, in the area known as the four-island group, comprising Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and Kahoolawe, a portion of the shelf called Penguin Bank is 27 miles long and 10 miles wide, with depths ranging from 25 to 50 fathoms. Oahu, located northwest of Molokai, is the commercial and government center of the islands. The capital, Honolulu, is also the largest city, with about 1.1 million residents. The easternmost island is Hawaii Island, known both as the Orchid Island and the Big Island. Two active volcanoes periodically erupt on the island, covering much of the terrain with lava flows. Northwest of Oahu is the Garden Isle, Kauai, which is blanketed by tropical rain forest. The summit of Mount Waialeale receives more than 400 inches of rainfall annually. The island that lies west of Kauai, Niihau, is privately owned and is not open to tourism. A tiny chain of islets and atolls, called the Leeward Islands, stretches out further west. Maui, situated northwest of the Big Island, is famous for sun-drenched beaches, luxury resorts, and a historical whaling port. Most of the land on Lanai, west of Maui, is privately owned by the Dole Pineapple Company. Molokai, north of Lanai, is a tranquil island that consists mostly of ranchland. The summer months from April through October average 80 degrees F, whereas winter months from November through March average 83 degrees. The west side of each island tends to be warmer, sunnier, and drier than the east coast, which is subject to gusts and rain caused by trade winds. More than 2,500 different species of plants are found in the Hawaiian islands. Of these, 95 percent do not exist anywhere else in the world. More than 500 species of tropical fish are found in the waters surrounding the islands. In winter, the islands are visited by large herds of humpback whales that migrate to the four-island group to breed after feeding in cool History and Culture Based on carbon dating of archaeological findings, the Hawaiian islands were probably first settled around A.D. 650 by Polynesians who migrated from the Marquesas Islands, east of Tahiti. The travelers made the 2,000 mile journey across the Pacific Ocean in outrigger canoes, navigating by the stars and the flight patterns of birds. The first Hawaiian king, Pili the Voyager, arrived from Tahiti around 1320 and instituted the traditions and social customs of his homeland. An ancient Hawaiian chant tells this story: Behold Hawai'i, an island, a people The people of Hawai'i are the offspring of Tahiti The largest island in the chain was named after the Tahitian island of Raiatea, which was once known as Havai'i by the Tahitians and Savai'i by the Samoans. Before the ascendency of Pili, the inhabitants lived in loosely associated communities ruled by petty chiefs, with no strongly developed social customs or traditions. These immigrants from the southern Marquesas Islands were regarded by other Polynesian societies as a warlike people, who practiced, or at least, condoned cannibalism, a custom which was not outlawed until the reign of Kamehameha I, in an effort to gain favor with the British government. The Marquesan chiefs, though not numerous, exercised ruthless and pitiless power. The early inhabitants survived on a basic diet of fish and agricultural products, principally taro (kalo), sweet potato ('uala) and banana (mai'a). Dogs and pigs were raised for meat, reserved mainly for feasts or important religious events, as well as sacrificial offerings, sometimes in extremely high numbers. Long before "cane" was "king" or Kona coffee was planted, kalo (taro) was king. Taro was planted virtually everywhere in Hawaii. On the Kona coast, it was cultivated in walled field systems running perpendicular to the shore, one to two miles inland. Sugarcane and bananas were often grown on kalo walls, remnants of which can be found scattered along the Kona coast today. Clothing was made from the thin bark of the paper mulberry (wauke) and mamaki trees, soaked and pounded into fabric-like sheets on a wood anvil. Ohia, koa, and other native hardwoods were used for habitats, canoes, firewood, and tools. Feathers, prized by chiefs as adornments on decorative capes and helmets-- so prized, in fact, their subjects were required to gather them as a tax-- also came from the forests. Until the late 1700s, the Hawaiian islands were ruled by different kings, queens, and chiefs. In about 1350, Mailikukahi became king of Oahu and established the seat of government at Waikiki. The kingdom of Oahu was at the height of its prosperity during the reigns of Mailikukahi and his son and granddaughter. In the mid 1500s, Kauhiakama, a high chief from Maui, attempted unsuccessfully to conquer the island. Finally, in 1782, a war party led by Kahekili, the king of Maui and a descendant of Kauhiakama, defeated the people of Oahu in a violent battle. In 1795, the king of Hawaii, Kamehameha I, who, using British cannons, had previously conquered Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, led an invasion of Oahu. Kamehameha, a ruthless conqueror himself, was enamored with European and American culture and never hesitated to exterminate other Hawaiians, including members of his own family and clan . At the steep pali (cliff) of Nuuanu, hundreds of defeated Oahu warriors leaped to their deaths. In 1804, Kamehameha prepared to invade Kauai, but the king's army was wiped out, either by an epidemic or by fierce resistance of the inhabitants. Kauai was brought under Kamehameha's rule by treaty in 1810. The Hawaiian islands were ruled as a unified kingdom by King Kamehameha and his descendants from 1810 until 1872. Islanders say that ancient Hawaii perished when Kamehameha I died in 1819. As if to confirm this idea, a modern high-rise hotel and shopping-mall complex now stands over the place where he died. In 1848, during the reign of Kamehameha III, private ownership of land by a small number of favored patrons was permitted under a policy known as mahele (land division). One third of the land was distributed among 250 chiefs, one third was held by the government, and the remainder retained by the royal family. The chiefs, who valued other things more than land, quickly sold their holdings, some for as little as a single bottle of rum. The first Europeans to visit the island were probably Spanish merchants, who operated shipping routes from Mexico to the Philippines beginning in 1556. Tools and cloth made in Europe were discovered in the casket of a Hawaiian chief who lived in the 1600s. The English explorer Captain James Cook sailed into Hawaiian waters in 1778 and named the isles the Sandwich Islands, in honor of the Earl of Sandwich. The following year, Captain Cook was killed in a violent scuffle with islanders over a stolen cutter. On October 1, 1819, the first American whaling ship, the Balena, arrived at the village of Lahaina on Maui after sailing around Cape Horn from Bedford, Massachusetts. From the 1820s until the 1860s, Lahaina was the principal anchorage of the Pacific whaling fleet. Often, the island was inundated with as many as 1,500 sailors at one time, provoking public disturbances. In 1820, the first New England Protestant missionaries arrived in Hawaii, intent on imposing their own beliefs on the native people. By earning the friendship of the royalty, the missionaries were able to influence virtually every aspect of Hawaiian life while accumulating huge landholdings and personal wealth. As native Hawaiians are fond of saying, The missionaries said they came to do well... and they did very, very well! Sugar production began in the islands in 1835, and Filipino and Chinese laborers were recuited to work on the sugarcane plantations. Immigrants also arrived from North America and Japan, attracted by the scenic beauty, pleasant climate, and hospitable people of the islands. The first hotel in Waikiki, the Sans Souci, opened in 1884, marking the birth of the Hawaiian tourism industry. On January 16, 1893, aided by a show of strength by a contingency of U.S. Marines, a band of revolutionaries headed by Sanford B. Dole convinced Queen Liliuokalani to abdicate the government. Though Dole had planned for the islands to be an independent republic under his personal dictatorship, Hawaii was annexed by the United States on August 12, 1898, becoming the fiftieth state in 1959. In the words of novelist Somerset Maugham, Hawaii is . . . the meeting place of east and west, where the very new rubs shoulders with the immeasurably old. Before the arrival of the first Europeans, Hawaiian music, song, and dance were an extension of Polynesian religious beliefs, as well as a form of artistic expression. Chanting was a highly developed art form, with musical accompaniment usually limited to the hula. Musicians played string instruments, stone castenets (iliili), and hard-shelled gourds (ipu). Much of native Hawaiian tradition is embodied in the hula, a traditional dance taught by kumu (masters) in halau (schools), with a variety of techniques, styles, and forms. Through gestures and movements, the hula recites fiery tales of love and violent battles. Through the remembrance of gods, people, and places, the dance celebrates life while imparting an experience of healing and beauty.
Copyright (c) 2002, Dennis L Foster. All rights reserved. |
