Early Polynesians settled in Hawaiʻi circa A.D. 7th century, having traveled from Tahiti and Marquesas on double-hulled voyaging canoes

Ancient Hawaiʻi refers to the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi by Kamehameha the Great in 1810. Art from the Bishop Museum depicting early Hawaiian canoes, provided for public, educational use. ... Art from the Bishop Museum depicting early Hawaiian canoes, provided for public, educational use. ... Princess Victoria Ka‘iulani, a member of the Kalākaua Dynasty, was in line to become Queen of Hawai‘i when her kingdom was overthrown by a small group of Hawaiian citizens primarily of European descent and United States citizens with the aid of the United States Marine Corps. ... This article is about the Hawaiian ruler. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Polynesian Triangle

To understand Hawaiian native history and culture, one must understand the greater Polynesian phenomenon. Hawaiʻi is the apex of the Polynesian Triangle, a region of the Pacific Ocean anchored by three island groups: Hawaiʻi, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Aotearoa (New Zealand). The many island cultures within the Polynesian Triangle share a similar proto-Malayo-Polynesian language used in Southeast Asia 5000 years ago. Polynesians also share identical cultural traditions, arts, religion, sciences. Anthropologists believe that all Polynesians are related to a single proto-culture established in the South Pacific by migrant Malayo people. The Polynesian Triangle is a geographical region of the Pacific Ocean anchored by Hawaii, Rapa Nui and New Zealand. ... Easter Island and its location Orthographic projection centred over Easter Island Easter Island (Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui (Great Island); Polynesian: Te Pito o te Henúa (Navel of the World) or Mata-ki-te-Rangi (Eyes [Speaking] from the Heavens); Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is an island in the south... The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ...

The eight main Polynesian cultures are from:

• Aotearoa
• Fiji
• Hawaiʻi
• Rapa Nui
• Marquesas
• Sāmoa
• Tahiti
• Tonga

... State nickname: The Aloha State Other U.S. States Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Monarch Akahi Nui Governor Linda Lingle (R) Senators Daniel Inouye (D) Daniel Akaka (D) Official language(s) Hawaiian and English Area 28,337 km² (43rd)  - Land 16,649 km²  - Water 11,672 km² (41. ... Easter Island and its location Orthographic projection centred over Easter Island Easter Island (Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui (Great Island); Polynesian: Te Pito o te Henúa (Navel of the World) or Mata-ki-te-Rangi (Eyes [Speaking] from the Heavens); Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is an island in the south... The Marquesas Islands is a group of islands in French Polynesia. ... The Independent State of Samoa (conventional long form) or Samoa (conventional short form) is a country comprising a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. ... Tahiti is the largest island in French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean, at 17°40′ S 149°30′ W. The island had a population of 169,674 inhabitants at the 2002 census. ...

Voyage to Hawaiʻi nei

Polynesian seafarers were skilled ocean navigators and astronomers. At a time when Western boats rarely went out of sight of land, they often traveled long distances on fleets of carefully crafted canoes that could withstand the harsh Pacific weather. Astrometry: the study of the position of objects in the sky and their changes of position. ...

It is believed that the first Polynesians arrived in Hawaiʻi in the 7th century from Tahiti and the Marquesas. (Some experts, such as Dennis Kawaharada at the University of Hawaii, place their arrival as early as 500 or even 400 AD.) They brought along with them clothing, plants and livestock and established settlements along the coasts and larger valleys. They grew kalo (taro), maiʻa (banana), niu (coconut), ulu (breadfruit) as soon as they arrived, and built hale (homes) and heiau (temples). Historians once believed a second wave of Polynesians migrated to Hawaii years later, based on the legend of navigator-priest Pa'ao, who is said to have made a later voyage from the island of "Kahiki" and introduced many customs that became commonplace on the islands. Archaeology has not born this out, however, and most modern historians conclude there was little outside influence on the islands' development at all. Jean Charlots mural called Commencement is featured at Bachman Hall, the administrative center of the University of Hawai`i System. ... Paao is either a figure from a Hawaiian legend or a historical character. ...

Village

A traditional village of ancient Hawaiʻi included several structures. Listed in order of importance:

• Heiau, temple to the gods. They were built on high-rising stone terraces and adorned with wood and stone carved idols. A source of great mana or divine power, the heiau was restricted to aliʻi, the king and kahuna, or priests.

• Hale Aliʻi, the house of the chief. It was used as a residence for the high chief and meeting house of the lesser chiefs. It was always built on a raised stone foundation to represent high social standing. Kahili, or feather standards, were placed outside to signify royalty. Women and children were banned from entering.

• Hale Pahu, the house of the sacred hula instruments. It held the pahu drums. It was treated as a religious space as hula was a religious activity in honor of the goddess Laka.

• Hale Papaʻa, the house of royal storage. It was built to store royal implements including fabrics, prized nets and lines, clubs, spears and other weapons.

• Hale Ulana, the house of the weaver. It was the house where craftswomen would gather each day to manufacture the village baskets, fans, mats and other implements from dried pandanus leaves called lauhala.

• Hale Mua, the men's eating house. It was considered a sacred place because it was used to carve stone idols of aumakua or ancestral gods. Men and women could not eat with each other for fear that men were vulnerable while eating to have their mana, or divine spirit, stolen by women. Women ate at their own separate eating house called the hale aina.

• Hale Waʻa, the house of the canoe. It was built along the beaches as a shelter for their fishing vessels. Hawaiians also stored koa or mahogany logs used to craft the canoes.

• Hale Lawaiʻa, the house of fishing. It was built along the beaches as a shelter for their fishing nets and lines. Nets and lines were made by a tough rope fashioned from woven coconut husks. Fish hooks were made of human, pig or dog bone. Implements found in the hale lawaiʻa were some of the most prized possessions of the entire village.

• Hale Noho, the living house. It was built as sleeping and living quarters for the Hawaiian family unit.

• Imu, the communal stone pit. Dug in the ground, it was used to cook the entire village's food including puaʻa or pork. Only men cooked using the imu.

Caste system

Ancient Hawaiʻi was a caste society. People were born into specific social classes and did not have the ability to move into another, except in the case of falling into outcast status. Each class had assigned duties and responsibilities to the greater society. The classes in order of social status were: Caste systems have existed throughout history and throughout the world, but the most well-known caste system today is the Indian Varna system. ...

• Aliʻi, the royal class. This class consisted of the high and lesser chiefs of the realms. They governed with divine power called mana.

• Kahuna, the priestly class. This class consisted of the priesthood that tended the temples and conducted religious activities in the villages. Scientists and exceptional navigators also were deemed to have kahuna status.

• Makaʻainana, the commoner class. This class consisted of the farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and their families. In a feudal society, they were charged with laboring for the overall economy.

• Kauwa, the outcast or slave class. This class consisted primarily of people who were considered to be of low birth and thus born without mana. They were not allowed to move up in the caste system or improve their conditions. The mingling of members from other caste groups with the Kauwa was strictly prohibited by kapu. This caste also included prisoners captured in times of war. These prisoners forced to serve the aliʻi or were more often used for sacrifice at the luakini heiau.

The caste fueled a feudal system relative to feudal systems found in Europe circa A.D. 1000. Aliʻi gave lesser aliʻi parcels of land who would in turn govern over them. The lesser aliʻi divided the land into plots to be farmed and cultivated by makaʻainana families. Harvests were returned to the lesser aliʻi, each taking a portion before being sent to the supreme aliʻi. Defining feudalism is difficult because there is no generally accepted agreement on what it means. ...

Kapu system

Religion held ancient Hawaiian society together, affecting habits, lifestyles, work methods, social policy and law. The legal system was based on religious kapu, or taboos. There was a correct way to live, to worship, to eat, even to have sex. Examples of kapu included the provision that men and women could not eat together. Fishing was limited to specified seasons of the year. The shadow of the aliʻi must not be touched as it was stealing his mana. Violating kapu even by accident was punishable by death. A taboo is a strong social prohibition (or ban) relating to any area of human activity or social custom declared as sacred and forbidden; breaking of the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. ...

Kapu was derived from traditions and beliefs from Hawaiian worship of gods, demigods and ancestral mana. The forces of nature were personified as the main gods of Ku (God of War), Kane (God of Light and Life), Lono (God of Harvest and Rebirth). Famous lesser gods include Pele (Goddess of Fire) and her sister Hiiaka (Goddess of Water). In a famous creation story, the demigod Maui fished the islands of Hawaiʻi from the sea after a little mistake he made on a fishing trip. From Haleakalā, Maui ensnared the sun in another story, forcing him to slow down so there was equal periods of darkness and light each day. KU or Ku may stand for: Kansai University (Japan) [1] Kasetsart University University of Kansas University of Copenhagen (Københavns Universitet in Danish) the IATA code for Kuwait Airways This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... In Polynesian mythology, Kāne could refer to Kane Milohai, father of Pele, or Tane, the god of forests and light. ... In Polynesian mythology (specifically: Hawaii), Lono (or Lono-i-ka-makahiki) is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. ... In Polynesian mythology (specifically: Hawaii), Pele is a goddess of fire, lightning, dance, volcanoes and violence, a daughter of Haumea and Kane Milohai. ... In Polynesian mythology, Hiiaka is a daughter of Haumea and Kane. ... In Polynesian mythology, and especially in New Zealand and HawaiÊ»i, Maui is an extremely powerful god, for whom the island of Maui was named. ... Haleakalā or East Maui Volcano is a massive shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui. ...

Subsistence economy

Ancient Hawaiian economy became complex over time. People began to specialize in specific skills. Generations of families became committed to certain careers: roof thatchers, house builders, stone grinders, bird catchers who would make the feather cloaks of the ali'i, canoe builders. Soon, entire islands began to specialize in certain skilled trades. Oahu became the chief kapa (tapa bark cloth) manufacturer. Maui became the chief canoe manufacturer. The island of Hawaii exchanged bales of dried fish. Oahu (Hawaiian: O‘ahu), the Gathering Place, is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous island in the State of Hawai‘i. ... Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727 square miles (1883 km²). Native Hawaiian tradition gives the origin of the islands name in the legend of HawaiÊ»iloa, the Polynesian navigator attributed with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. ... Image of Hawai‘i (island) taken by NASA. The Island of Hawai‘i is the largest of the Hawaiian Islands. ...

European discovery

Discovery of the Hawaiian islands marked the official end of the ancient Hawai'i period and beginning of Hawaiʻi's modern era. In 1778, British Captain James Cook landed on Kauaʻi and explored the other islands in time. When he first arrived, the natives believed Cook was their god Lono. Cook's mast and sails coincidentally formed the cross that symbolized Lono in their religious rituals. Lono was God of Light which explained Cook's white skin. Captain Cook was eventually killed during a violent confrontation between natives and Cook's sailors. The sailors accused the natives of stealing a boat. Cook's body was ceremonially cremated and his bones buried in a sacred place. The natives still believed Cook was a deity and his bones had great mana. 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ... Kauai from space (NASA image) Kaua‘i (usually called Kauai outside the Hawaiian Islands) is the oldest and fourth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands, having an area of 1,446 km² . Known also as the Garden Isle, Kaua‘i lies 105 miles (170 kilometers) across the Kaua‘i Channel... The crematorium at Haycombe Cemetery, Bath, England. ...