Native Hawaiians
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| Native Hawaiians | |
|---|---|
 Dbenbenn · Public domain · source | |
| Group | Native Hawaiians |
| Native name | Kanaka Maoli |
| Population | ~600,000 (including part-Hawaiian)* |
| Regions | Hawaii Islands, United States |
| Languages | Hawaiian, English |
| Religions | Hawaiian religion, Christianity in Hawaii |
| Related | Polynesians, Maori people, Samoans, Tahitian language |
Native Hawaiians are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands, with origins tracing to eastern Polynesia and migrations across the Central Pacific and South Pacific. Their culture produced complex social institutions, navigational sciences, and material arts that interacted with European and American explorers, missionaries, and governments from the late 18th century onward. Today Native Hawaiians live across the Hawaiian Islands and the continental United States, maintaining cultural revival movements, legal advocacy, and community institutions.
Origins and Pre-contact History
Archaeological, linguistic, and genetic evidence links Native Hawaiian origins to voyaging populations from Society Islands, Marquesas Islands, Tahiti, and broader Polynesian navigation routes, with settlement estimates ranging from the 8th to 13th centuries. Significant sites include heiau complexes and fishponds like those documented on Molokai, Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii (island), reflecting intensive agroforestry of taro and sweet potato and aquaculture techniques comparable to those in Rapa Nui and New Zealand. Oral genealogies and chants preserved in archives such as collections associated with Jonathan Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio and institutions like the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum inform reconstructions of pre-contact social hierarchies, kapu systems, and inter-island voyaging exemplified by double-hulled canoes similar to reconstructions by Nainoa Thompson and voyaging crews of Hōkūleʻa.
Language and Culture
The Hawaiian language (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi) belongs to the Eastern Polynesian languages and shares features with Māori language and Rapanui language. Written forms were standardized in the 19th century by missionaries connected to American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and figures such as Samuel Kamakau, David Malo, and John Papa ʻĪʻī documented songs, genealogies, and mele. Traditional arts include hula practiced historically by kumu hula lineages and revived by practitioners like Donn Battle, chant lineages linked to aliʻi, kapa barkcloth manufacture, lauhala weaving, and carving traditions that parallel practices in Hawaiian wood carving collections held by museums such as the Smithsonian Institution. Contemporary Hawaiian language revitalization occurs through immersion programs associated with institutions like Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Society, Governance, and Religion
Pre-contact social structure featured aliʻi chiefly lines, kahuna specialists, makaʻāinana commoners, and the kapu religious-legal code, with major political centers on islands ruled by high chiefs whose conflicts are recorded in genealogies referenced by scholars like Forrest Wilder. Religious practice centered on gods such as Kū, Lono, and Kāne, with ritual sites (heiau) and seasonal festivals exemplified by Makahiki observances paralleling agricultural cycles. Post-contact transformations involved conversion movements associated with missionaries like Hiram Bingham (missionary) and governance changes culminating in the constitutional monarchy established under rulers including Kamehameha I, Kamehameha III, Queen Liliʻuokalani, and advisors like John Young (Hawaii) and Isaʻakoa Carter.
Contact, Colonization, and Annexation
European contact began with explorers including James Cook whose 1778 voyages initiated sustained interaction with traders and whalers from nations such as Britain and the United States. The 19th century brought Christian missions, plantation capitalism driven by figures like Sanford B. Dole and corporations including Alexander & Baldwin and C. Brewer & Co., and political pressures that culminated in the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom involving the Committee of Safety and the Provisional Government of Hawaii. Annexation to the United States occurred in 1898 via the Newlands Resolution amid debates including those engaged by Native Hawaiian political activists and legal arguments later considered in cases like Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
Demographics and Contemporary Communities
Population shifts followed epidemics after contact, labor importation for plantations from Japan, China, Philippines, and Portugal, and internal migration to urban centers such as Honolulu. Contemporary communities include neighborhoods on Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai, with diaspora populations concentrated in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, and Las Vegas. Cultural institutions and community organizations such as Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaiian Homes Commission, Aloha ʻĀina groups, and nonprofit entities support language immersion, cultural education, and social services. Prominent Native Hawaiian figures in arts and activism include musicians like Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, scholars like Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa, and voyaging leaders like Kahoʻokahi Kanuha.
Legal Status, Land Rights, and Self-Determination
Legal frameworks affecting Native Hawaiian land and sovereignty include the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921, the Apology Resolution (1993), and litigation such as Rice v. Cayetano and United States v. ʻAha Pūnana Leo-era precedents. Federal and state instruments like the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and proposed statutes including the Akaka Bill have generated debate over recognition, trust responsibility, and pathways toward federal recognition analogous to other Native American entities. Land titles, ceded lands held by the State of Hawaii, and kuleana claims remain central to self-determination efforts pursued through administrative, legislative, and grassroots channels represented by organizations such as Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi and Hawaiian sovereignty movement actors.
Economy, Education, and Health Issues
Economic consequences of tourism concentrated in resorts on Waikiki and development pressures intersect with traditional practices like ʻāina-based agriculture and fisheries overseen in part by community trusts and organizations including Kamehameha Schools. Educational outcomes are addressed through immersion schools, charter schools affiliated with Hawaiian cultural curricula, and university programs at University of Hawaiʻi campuses. Health disparities involve chronic disease prevalence and access to culturally competent care, with providers and programs coordinated by entities such as Hawaii State Department of Health and community health centers partnering with Native Hawaiian health advocates and organizations like Na Puʻuwai.