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Ancient Hawaii 1 Ancient Hawaii Part of a series on the History of Hawaii Timeline • Ancient • Provisional Cession • Kingdom of Hawaii • Provisional Government • Republic of Hawaii American Hawaii • Territory • State of Hawaii Hawaii portal • v • t [1] • e Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian human history preceding the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi by Kamehameha the Great in 1810. After being first settled by Polynesian long-distance navigators sometime between 300 and 800 CE, a unique culture developed. Diversified agroforestry and aquaculture provided sustenance for Native Hawaiian cuisine. Tropical materials were adopted for housing, and elaborate temples (called heiau) were constructed from the lava rocks available. A social system with religious leaders and a ruling class organized a Petroglyphs at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park substantial population. Captain James Cook made the first known European contact with ancient Hawaiians in 1778. Many people traveled with him to the Hawaiian Islands. Polynesian Triangle Hawaiian history is inextricably tied into a larger Polynesian culture. Hawaiʻi is the Northern apex of the Polynesian Triangle, a region of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: the Hawaiʻi islands, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and New Zealand. The many island cultures within the Polynesian Triangle share similar languages derived from a proto-Malayo-Polynesian language used in Southeast Asia 5,000 years ago. Polynesians also share cultural traditions, such as religion, social organization, myths, and material culture. Anthropologists believe that all Polynesians have descended from a South Pacific proto-culture created by an Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) people that had migrated from Southeast Asia. Ancient Hawaii 2 The seven other main Polynesian cultures are: • Māori (Aotearoa / New Zealand) • Rapa Nui (now known as Easter Island) (Territory of Chile) • Marquesas (French Polynesia) • Sāmoa (Independent Protectorate Of The United States) • American Samoa (Territory of The United States) • Tahiti (French Polynesia) • Tonga (Independent / Partially supported by defense cooperation agreements with Australia, United States, China, United Kingdom, India and New Zealand.) • Cook Islands (Self Government In Free Association With New Zealand) The Polynesian Triangle is a geographical region of the Pacific Ocean with Hawaiʻi, Rapa Nui and New Zealand at its corners. Voyage to the Hawaiian islands Main article: Polynesian navigation Polynesian seafarers were skilled ocean navigators and astronomers. At a time when Western boats rarely went out of sight of land, Polynesians often traveled long distances. The early settlement history of Hawaiʻi is still not completely resolved. Some believe that the first Polynesians arrived in Hawaiʻi in the 3rd century from the Marquesas and were followed by Tahitian settlers in 1300 CE who conquered the original inhabitants. Others believe that there was only a single, Priests traveling across Kealakekua bay for first contact rituals. Each helmet is a extended period of settlement. Patrick gourd, with foliage and tapa strip decoration. A feather surrounded akua is in the Kirch, in his 2001 Hawaiki, argues for an arms of the priest at the center of the engraving. extended period of contact but not necessarily for a Tahitian invasion: There is substantial archaeological as well as paleoecological evidence confirming Hawaiian settlement no later than 800 CE, and quite possibly as early as 300–500 CE (Kirch 1985; Athens 1997). The immediate source of the colonizing population in Hawaiʻi is likely to have been the Southern Marquesas, but continued contact between Hawaiʻi and islands in the core region is indicated by linguistic evidence (lexical borrowings from the Tahitic subgroup), abundant oral traditions (Cachola-Abad 1993), botanical indications, uniquely shared mtDNA sequences in populations of the Pacific Rat (Matisoo-Smith et al. 1998), and possibly some archaeological style changes as well. However, long-distance voyaging between Hawaiʻi and the central Eastern Polynesian core became less frequent after about 1200 CE, and was little more than a memory encoded in Hawaiian oral traditions by the time of European contact.[2] The only evidence for a Tahitian conquest of the islands are the legends of Hawaiʻiloa and the navigator-priest Paʻao, who is said to have made a voyage between Hawaiʻi and the island of "Kahiki" (Tahiti) and introduced many new customs. Some Hawaiians believe that there was a real historical Paʻao. Early historians, such as Fornander and Beckwith, also subscribed to this Tahitian invasion theory, but later historians, such as Kirch, simply propose that Ancient Hawaii 3 initial settlement came from the Marquesas, with later influence on Hawaiian language and architecture coming from Tahiti, ending before the 1300s.[3] King Kalakaua, in his book, The Legends and Myths of Hawaii, claims that Paʻao was from Samoa. The religion he brought, the Kahuna religion was from Samoa. Paʻao was instrumental in bringing the High Chief Pili from Samoa to rule the island of Hawaii. Pili is a well-known entity in Samoan mythology. His descendents were one of the highest ranked families in Samoa even to this day. According to the genealogy laid out by King Kalakaua, King Kamehameha was also a descendant of Pili. Some writers believe that there were other settlers in Hawaiʻi, peoples who were forced back into remote valleys by newer arrivals. They claim that stories about menehune, little people who built heiau and fishponds, prove the existence of ancient peoples who settled the islands before the Hawaiians.[4] Luomala, in her 1951 essay on the menehune, argues that these stories, like stories of "dog people" with tails living in deep forests, are folklore and not to be construed as evidence of an earlier race. Archaeologists have found no evidence suggesting earlier settlements and menehune legends are simply not mentioned or discussed in current archaeological literature. Settlement The colonists brought along with them clothing, plants and livestock and established settlements along the coasts and larger valleys. Upon their arrival, the settlers grew kalo (taro), maiʻa (banana), niu (coconut), ulu (breadfruit), and raised pua'a (pork), moa (chicken), and ʻīlio (poi dog), although these meats were eaten less often than fruits, vegetables, and seafood. Popular condiments included pa'akai (salt), ground kukui nut, limu (seaweed), and ko (sugarcane) which was used as both a sweet and a medicine.[5] In addition to the foods they brought, the settlers also acquired ʻuala (sweet potato), which has yet to be adequately explained, as the plant originates in South America. A few researchers have argued that the presence of the sweet potato in the ancient Hawaiian diet is evidence of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact with the Americas. The Pacific rat accompanied humans on their journey to Hawaii. David Burney argues that humans, along with the vertebrate animals they brought with them (pigs, dogs, chickens and rats), caused many native species of birds, plants and large land snails to become extinct in the process of colonization.[6] Estuaries and streams were adapted into fishponds by early Polynesian settlers. Packed earth and cut stone were used to create habitat, making Hawaiians some of, if not the first aquaculturists.[7] Over the course of the last millennium, Hawaiians undertook "large-scale canal-fed pond field irrigation" projects for kalo (taro) cultivation.[8] As soon as they arrived, the new settlers built hale (homes) and heiau (temples). Archaeologists currently believe that the first settlements were on the southern end of the Big Island of Hawai'i and that they quickly extended northwards, along the seacoasts and the easily accessible river valleys. As the population increased, settlements were made further inland. At this time, with the islands being so small, the population was very dense. Before European contact, the population had reached somewhere in the range of 200,000 to 1,000,000 people. After contact with the Europeans, however, the population steeply dropped due to various diseases including smallpox.[9] Village A traditional town 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. Ancient Hawaii 4 • 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 ʻaumakua 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 ʻaina. The design was meant for the men to be able to enter and exit quickly. • Hale waʻa, the house of the canoe. It was built along the beaches as a shelter for their fishing vessels. Hawaiians also stored koa 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.
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