HISTORY8 - The Big Island of Hawaii

Pat and I will be visiting the Big Island of Hawaii in April so as usual I wanted to learn a little about its history.

The island is often called the Island of Hawaii, the Big Island, or Hawaii Island to distinguish it from the state of Hawaii.  I will refer to it as the Big Island.

The Big Island is the largest island in the Hawaiian Islands, a group of eight major islands, several atolls (coral islands circling a lagoon), numerous smaller islets, and coral reefs in the North Pacific Ocean.  As the figure below shows, the Island chain extends 1,500 miles in a southeasterly direction from the Kure Atoll to the Big Island.  There are a grand total of 136 islands, seven inhabited.  The state of Hawaii includes the entire chain of islands with the sole exception of Midway Island, which is an unincorporated U.S. territory.

The Big Island of Hawaii is located at the southeastern end of the 1,500-mile long chain of Hawaiian Islands.

Geology

The Hawaiian Islands are actually the exposed peaks of a submerged mountain range that began emerging from a hot spot in the seafloor due to tectonic plate movement about 70 million years ago. The undersea mountains grew from active volcanic action, some becoming visible above the level of the ocean.  The first of these islands have long since returned to their beginnings below the sea, due to constant erosion from ocean waves and driving rains, while new volcanic islands have replaced them. 

Because of the direction of the plate movement, the northwestern islands were formed first; succeeding islands formed in a southeasterly direction, with the Big Island being the last island to break the surface - thus the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands, rising to the surface about one million years ago.  A new volcanic mountain is growing 20 miles to the southeast of the Big Island, currently 3,200 feet below the ocean surface, and may emerge in a few tens of thousands of years.

The Big Island was built from five different volcanoes, one currently extinct, one dormant, and three active. The Big Island is still growing from the volcanic activity of Hualalai (last erupted in 1700s), Mauna Loa (last erupted in 1984) and Kilauea which has been continuously erupting since 1983.

The Big Island is the largest of the Hawaiian Islands - about the size of the state of Connecticut, and could easily hold all of the other Hawaiian Islands combined.  The highest point on the Big Island is the dormant volcano Mauna Kea at 13,800 feet - also the tallest mountain on Earth (33,500 feet) when measured from the bottom of the sea floor, two-thirds of a mile taller than Mount Everest. 

Polynesian Arrival

The first humans to settle in the Hawaiian Islands were Polynesians migrating from the Marquesas Islands, about 2,300 miles to the south, who reached the Big Island sometime in 300-500 AD.  They travelled in a group of double-hulled canoes propelled with sails, guided by the stars, ocean currents, wind patterns, or perhaps migrating birds.  They brought with them food staples, including taro, breadfruit, bananas and coconut trees, and animals, including dogs, hogs, rats, and chickens.  At the time, the Big Island contained no edible plants, with no land mammals other than the Hawaiian bat.  The new Hawaiians subsisted on fish until their crops matured.  Little is known about this initial culture.

Archaeologists believe that in 900-1100 AD, a second wave of Polynesian colonists, probably from Tahiti, about 350 miles south of the Marquesas Islands, arrived at the Big Island.  The new colonists may have subdued the initial inhabitants; the second culture was far more aggressive and developed into a highly class-conscious society.  The culture was governed by chiefs who established a long list of taboos called kapu, designed to keep order.  These taboos included your shadow falling across the shadow of the chief, interrupting a chief, preparing men’s food in the same container used for women’s food, women eating bananas or pork, men and woman eating together, not observing holy days, and fishing in restricted waters.   The penalty for breaking a taboo was death by strangulation, club, or fire.  Human sacrifices were common and war among rival chiefs the norm.

The early Hawaiians were stewards of both the land and sea, guardians of all that existed in their new land.  Their knowledge of the sea provided ample seafood.  Weaving, and wood and stone-carving allowed them to grow crops and farm.  They skillfully diverted water into irrigation channels to water their taro fields.  The early Hawaiian religious system was very deeply tied to nature with many gods in the system. 

The Hawaiian population flourished in isolation from the rest of the world.  By the time Europeans arrived, the Hawaiians had populated the six largest Hawaiian Islands and attained a total population variously estimated at five hundred thousand to one million people.

European Arrival

On January 20, 1778, British explorer Captain James Cook set foot on the beach at Waimea Bay on the island of Kauai.  Cook was on his third voyage to the uncharted Pacific Ocean, having previously achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the first circumnavigation of New Zealand, when he stumbled on Hawaii on his way to Alaska to search the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  Cook left Kauai and briefly explored Niihau before resuming his northward journey to Alaska on February 2, 1778.  He returned to Hawaii in early 1779 after failing to find the Northwest Passage, landing in Kealakekua Bay at the Big Island.  Cook named the islands the Sandwich Islands after his benefactor, the Earl of Sandwich.

The native Hawaiians treated Cook as a god and during his two week stay on the Big Island, Cook was honored in ceremony upon ceremony.  After exhausting the Hawaiians’ hospitality and supplies, Cook sailed away only to break a mast, making it necessary to return to Kealakekua Bay for repairs. On February 14, 1779, Cook went ashore to try to resolve a dispute about a stolen rowboat. While ashore, Cook was killed by an angry mob.  One of the greatest explorers the world had ever known was dead at age 50 over a petty skirmish over a stolen rowboat.

Cook’s arrival changed the islands forever.  Like it or not, Hawaii was now set on a path to join the modern world.  Captain Cook and his men also introduced flu, tuberculosis, and syphilis to Hawaii. Subsequent European visitors brought typhoid, and smallpox.  Seventy five years after Cook’s first visit, only 70,000 survivors remained in Hawaii.

Captain James Cook's arrival in Hawaii in 1778 changed the islands forever.

The Kingdom of Hawaii

One of the Hawaiians who greeted Captain Cook on his arrival in 1778 was a 20-year old young man named Kamehameha, a local chief on the Big Island, who over the next 17 years would unify the then independent Islands and become the first and most influential king in Hawaiian history.  By 1791 Kamehameha had defeated his cousin and arch rival on the Big Island, and by 1795, he had conquered Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Oahu, unifying the islands and becoming king.  In 1810 he added Kauai to the kingdom and ruled until his death in 1819.

King Kamehameha united the Hawaiian Islands in 1810 and served as the first monarch.

With the death of Kamehameha, the precontact Hawaiian culture began to change rapidly. Kamehameha was succeeded by his son who immediately ended the kapu taboo system that had ruled the islands for generations.  In 1820 missionaries arrived and quickly replaced ancient altars and temples with churches, and converted much of the native population to Christianity.  The missionaries also built schools and developed a Hawaiian alphabet and taught it to the people, enabling them to read and write for the first time. 

In 1840 a constitutional monarchy was established, along with a supreme court and a parliament.  In the constitution, the islands were referred to as the “Hawaiian Islands” for the first time in an official document, and that name gradually thereafter took precedence over the “Sandwich Islands.”  The state of Hawaii derives its name from the name of its largest island, Hawaii.   A common Hawaiian explanation of the name of Hawaii is that it was named for Hawaiʻiloa, a legendary figure from Hawaiian myth, said to have discovered the islands when they were first settled.

After brief periods on the Big Island, Oahu, and Maui, the royal court and capital were permanently located in Honolulu on the island of Oahu in 1845.  And in 1848, Hawaii’s feudal land system was abolished, making private ownership of land legal.  Large tracts of land were sold by the Hawaiian government to royalty, government officials, commoners, and foreigners, effectively stripping many Hawaiians of land they had lived on for generations.  Each succeeding successor to the Hawaiian throne gave up more control over the island kingdom.

Hawaii was about to be discovered by the rest of the world.  The sugar industry was introduced in Hawaii in the 1830s.  Foreign business people were attracted to sugar investments and to exploit Hawaii’s sandal wood and whales.  In the 1890s, pineapples and sugar cane became huge crops.  Plantation workers were brought to Hawaii from Japan, China, and the Philippines.  Great Britain, France, and the United States all had their eyes on the islands.  In 1897, to enhance trade with the U.S., Hawaii signed a treaty giving the U.S. exclusive use of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu as a naval base.

In 1891 Hawaii’s only queen and the last sovereign monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Queen Liliuokalani, came to power.  Threatened by European nations wanting to add Hawaii to their empire, American businessmen in Hawaii began to seek annexation by the United States.  Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the monarchy on January 17, 1893, beginning a transition to U.S. control.  The Republic of Hawaii was established in 1894.  Hawaii was annexed by the U.S. in 1898 and became an official territory of the U.S. in 1900.

Queen Liliuokalani was the last monarch of the Hawaiian Islands, reigning from 1891-1893.

American Hawaii

Agriculture on the Big Island slowly began to diversify under American influence.  Sugar cane was the backbone of the Big Island’s economy for more than a century.  In the mid-20^th century, sugar cane plantations began to downsize, and in the mid 1990s the last plantation closed. Today’s major crops include macadamia nuts, papaya, flowers, tropical and temperate vegetables, and coffee beans. Only coffee grown in the Kona District may be branded Kona coffee.  Orchid agriculture on the Big Island is the largest in the state and has earned it the nickname “The Orchid Isle.”  The Big Island is also home to one of the largest U.S. cattle ranches, Parker Ranch, on 175,000 acres in Waimea.

Tourism emerged as the Big Islands dominant industry, starting in the early 1900s, with passenger ships delivering American tourists from the West Coast to Hawaii and the building of resort hotels.  After a slowdown from 1941-1944 during World War II, tourism exploded on the Big Island, along with real estate activity, centered in resort areas on the western coast in the North Kona and South Kohala districts.  Trans-Pacific airplane flights from San Francisco to Hawaii began in 1955.

After the Japanese attack of the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl on the island of Oahu and America’s entry into World War II, all of the Hawaiian Islands were placed under martial law, with a military governor controlling every facet of Hawaiian life.    The Islands served as an important base for U.S. operations in the Pacific. 

In 1958, the citizens of the Hawaiian Islands voted in favor of becoming a U.S. state.  In March 1959, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the bill which led to statehood.  Hawaii became our 50^th state on August 21, 1959.

Between annexation and statehood, the Big Island’s population grew from about 47,000 to about 60,000.  And from statehood, the population expanded to about 200,000 by the end of 2018, with recent growth rates the highest among the Hawaiian Islands.  As of the 2010 census, the largest racial sectors of the Big Island multicultural residents were white: 34.5%, Asian: 22.6%, native Hawaiian or other Pacific islander: 12.4%, and Hispanic or Latino: 11.8%.

The Big Island is a growing center of both education and research.  Home to one of the University of Hawaii’s campuses in Hilo, the Big Island is renowned for its study of astronomy, alternative energy, and ocean research.  Numerous telescopes operate on the summit of Mauna Kea, where atmospheric clarity is excellent and there is little light pollution.

The Big Island harbors a diverse number of plants and animals in its 13 climate zones.  Much of the native flora and fauna were carried to Hawaii on water, wind, and wing from lands to the south and west across thousands of miles of open ocean to their remote tropical island homes.  The Big Island’s most abundant native trees, ohia lehua, shimmer with silvery-green leaves and burst into colorful pompon flowers, thriving in fresh lava flows.  Ancient Hawaiians carved temple idols, canoes, bowls, and spears from the ohia lehua.  One of Hawaii’s largest trees is the Koa tree, which grows to 100 feet tall with a trunk more than 10 feet in diameter, and has flowers that are pale yellow puff-balls.  The wavy Koa wood was used by ancient Hawaiians for dugout canoes, paddles, spears, and surfboards.  There are 168 native fern species, the two most common are the tree fern and false staghorn fern that thrive in high-altitude rain forests. Native flowers include the state flower, the yellow hibiscus, and three relatively rare orchids. Native birds include endangered Hawaiian geese (the state bird), hawks, crows, and palila honeycreepers.  A more common native bird is the asapane, a chubby, bright red honeycreeper.  The only native land mammal is the hoary bat.

Hawaiians on the Big Island have preserved the island’s incredible natural beauty and a rich cultural history.  Four out of five of the National Parks in the state of Hawaii are located on the Big Island:

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  Located on the southern flanks of the Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes. It is one of the few places on this planet where you can safely watch an active volcano (Kilauea) up, close and personal. 

Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park.  Site where Hawaiians that broke a kapu taboo fled to avoid punishment. Warriors that were defeated during battle also sought refuge here.  The park contains numerous archaeological sites: from temple platforms and royal fishponds to the “Hale o Keawe”, a reconstructed Hawaiian temple.

Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park.  Protects an ancient Hawaiian settlement. Contains ancient petroglyphs, housing platforms, and a place of worship.

Pu’ukohala Heiau National Historic Park.  Kamehameha built this place of worship around 1790 and dedicated it to the war god Kūka’ilimoku. Then he set out to conquer the neighboring islands.

The Big Island contains four of the five National Parks in the Hawaiian Islands.

There are also 14 state parks on the Big Island - preserving a variety of scenic and historic sites and providing recreation areas - and a 175-mile national historic trail designated in 2000 for the preservation, protection and interpretation of traditional native Hawaiian culture and natural resources.

Over the years the Big Island has suffered its share of natural disasters.  In 1946 a great tsunami, caused by an undersea earthquake in the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska, struck Hilo killing 159 people and causing $25 million damage.  Two powerful hurricanes, Hurricane Iwa in 1982 and Hurricane Iniki in 1992, devastated multiple Hawaiian Islands but did little damage to the Big Island.  Six weeks of rain in 2006 caused major damage from flooding on the Big Island.  A major 6.7 magnitude earthquake on the Big Island also in 2006 caused property damage, tsunamis, power outages, and airport delays.  And in 2018 the Kilauea Volcano erupted severely for several months, destroying hundreds of homes and buildings, and causing thousands of people to evacuate.

Hawaiian Traditions

Finally, I wanted to find out a little about some of the Hawaiian traditions that are familiar to us non-natives.  These traditions are not specific to the Big Island, but have become iconic symbols of the Hawaiian Islands:

Leis.  The custom of welcoming visitors to Hawaii with a warm “aloha” and adorning them with beautiful fresh flower leis has its origins with the native Polynesian people.  In Hawaiian tradition, these garlands were worn by ancient Hawaiians to beautify themselves and distinguish themselves from others.  Leis were also used to symbolize a peace agreement between opposing chiefs.  Leis were constructed of flowers, leaves, shells, seeds, nuts, feathers, and even bones and teeth of various animals.

Ukulele.  The ukulele is a four-stringed instrument from the lute family developed in the 1880s based on several small guitar-like instruments of Portuguese origin.  The ukulele was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants and popularized in Hawaii by King David Kalakaua, known as the “Merrie Monarch.”  He incorporated it into performances at royal gatherings.

Hula.  The familiar modern hula dance got its start as an ancient dance of the Polynesian Hawaiians. The hula was danced as a religious homage to their gods, telling stories, danced exclusively by men, and accompanied by chants, drums, bamboo rattles, rock castanets, and striking sticks.  The hula was denounced by Protestant missionaries who arrived in 1820 and public performances were banned. But in 1874 King David Kalakaua renewed pubic performance of the dance, which evolved to a less formal, modern style, accompanied by guitars, bass, steel guitars, ukuleles, and a singer and performed by both men and women.  The dance still tells stories of Hawaii, but has lost most of its religious significance and has become pure entertainment.

Luau.   The Luau is a traditional Hawaiian party or feast that is usually accompanied by entertainment. Today, it often features pig cooked in an earth oven and poi, made from the roots of taro.  The luau began when the Islands’ second monarch, King Kamehameha II, abolished the kapu taboo against women eating with men.  A feast, where the king ate with women, was the symbolic act which ended the taboo, and the luau was born.  The favorite dish at these royal feasts is what gave the luau its name.  Young and tender leaves of the taro plant were combined with chicken, baked in coconut milk, and called luau.  The traditional luau feast was eaten while sitting on the floor.  The luau tradition spread to the population and really gained in popularity with growth of tourism to Hawaii in the first half of the 1900s.

Clothing.  Several items of clothing are identified with Hawaii.  The loose fitting, unbelted Muumuu dress that hangs from the shoulder, was introduced to Hawaii by Protestant missionaries who found the women in the 1820s wearing nothing more than a skirt cloth wrapped around the hips, with bare breasts.  The missionaries designed the muumuu garment and taught women to cover their bodies in the tradition of other lands.  Today, the popular dress features Hawaiian designs such as ginger blossoms, hibiscus, orchids, and birds of paradise in bright colors.  Grass skirts were brought to Hawaii by immigrants from the Gilbert Islands in the 1870s and 1880s.  By the turn of the century Hawaiian dancers were wearing grass skirts.  Even today, some hula dancers still wear them.  The modern men’s Aloha shirt was devised in the early 1930s by a Chinese merchant.  Within years, major designer labels sprung up all over Hawaii and began manufacturing and selling Aloha shirts en masse.  Aloha shirts are often brilliantly colored with floral patterns or generic Polynesian motifs.  They are worn as casual, informal wear.

Surfing.  Surfing was a central part of ancient Polynesian culture - even before European contact.  It was a popular pastime that was often used as part of warrior training.  In Hawaii surfing became more of a spiritual pastime and became ingrained into the very fabric of Hawaiian religion and culture as an art.  Protestant missionaries regarded surfing as frivolous as they attempted to turn the population from their traditional beliefs into Christians.  With the influx of tourists in the early 1900s, surfing began a resurgence in popularity.  Local Hawaiians started surf clubs and gained wide-spread recognition for their skills and the pastime, and helped spread it from the beaches of Hawaii around the world.