Native Hawaiians

Kamehameha, King of the Hawaiian Islands, pen and watercolor by Louis Choris, 1816, Honolulu Museum of Art

The history of Native Hawaiians, like the history of Hawaii, is commonly classified into four major periods:

• the pre-unification period (before c. 1800)
• the unified monarchy and republic period (c. 1800 to 1898)
• the US territorial period (1898 to 1959)
• the US statehood period (1959 to present)

At the time of Captain Cook's arrival in 1778, the population is estimated to have been between 250,000 and 800,000. This is the peak population of singularly Native Hawaiian people on the islands, with the 293,000 of today being made of both dual lineage Native Hawaiian and mixed lineage/ multi-racial Native Hawaiians. This was also the highest number of any Native Hawaiians living on the island until 2014, a period of almost 226 years. This long spread was marked by a die-off of 1-in-17 Native Hawaiians, to begin with, which would gradually increase to almost 8–10 Hawaiians having died from the first contact to the lowest demographic total in 1950. Over the span of the first century after the first contact, the native Hawaiians were nearly wiped out by diseases introduced to the islands. Native Hawaiians had no resistance to influenza, smallpox, measles, or whooping cough, among others. These diseases were similarly catastrophic to indigenous populations in the continental United States, and show a larger trend of violence and disease wiping out native people. The 1900 U.S. Census identified 37,656 residents of full or partial native Hawaiian ancestry.

Some Hawaiians left the islands during the period of the Kingdom of Hawaii like Harry Maitey, who became the first Hawaiian in Prussia. Over the span of the first century after the first contact, the native Hawaiians were nearly wiped out by diseases introduced to the islands. The 2000 U.S. Census identified 283,430 residents of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander ancestry, showing a dramatic growth trend since annexation by the U.S. in 1898. This rapid increase in population has also occurred outside of the island, with many of the populations in California and Washington experiencing dramatic increases in total population. This has been part of the larger Hawaiian cultural revival and reflects an important resurgence in the presence of Native Hawaiians in the fabric of modern island life.

A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816

The Native Hawaiians initially began with a culture that was similar to their Polynesian roots, but with time and isolation began to develop their own religion and cultural practices. This new worship centered on the ideas of land (aina) and family (ohana) with land being held as a sacred part of life and family going beyond blood. These concepts are very different from Western views of familial structure and ownership.[4] Much of this changed during the imperialist allotment system, and familial relations were also changed by US settler policies. The Hawaiian religion is polytheistic but mostly focuses on two gods. These are Wākea and Papahānaumoku, the mother and father of the Hawaiian islands, whose stillborn child formed the deep roots of Hawaii, and whose second child, Hāloa, is the god from which all Hawaiians originate.[4]

Hawaiian culture is deeply caste oriented, with definitive roles for people based on their pre-ascribed social standing. This is also reflected in their land system, with moku, tracts of land given to people of high standing and is kept within the family, being split into smaller ahupua'a, which extend from the sea to the mountains, ensuring that each tract of land includes all necessary resources for survival, including hardwoods and food sources.[5] The ahupua'a is managed by managers, who are charged by the chief to collect tributes from each tract. Specialized splits of the ahupua'a are based on the level of tribute, with the major split being 'Ili. 'Ili give a small tribute to the chief of the ahupua'a and another to the chief of the island. This is a form of tax, as well as a condition of the caste oriented land system. This is often compared to the European system of feudalism,[5] which is incorrect, as native Hawaiian peasants were never bound to the land as in the European system and were in fact free to move between ahupua’a as they saw fit.

Native Hawaiians refer to themselves as kama'aina, a word meaning "people of the land", not just because of the connection to the land and their stewardship of it, but as part of the spiritual belief system that holds Native Hawaiian origin to the island itself.[6] This is reinforced by the taro plant, a crop that is said to be the manifestation of Hāloa, the stillborn son of Papa and Wakea. The taro plant comes to represent the deep root network that tethers Hawaiians to the island, as well as symbolizing the branching networks of the currently living Hawaiian people.[6]

The struggle to preserve Native Hawaiian culture is apparent in the schooling system that centers indigenous knowledge and language, as well as activism to preserve traditional landholdings. Much of the Hawaiian culture has been commodified, with hula dancers and symbols being mass-produced for non-Hawaiian consumption, which some scholars like Haunani-Kay Trask have considered prostitution of Hawaiian traditions.[7] This also includes things like the use of the word "Aloha", and the assimilation of Hawaiian culture into non-native lifestyles. For many Native Hawaiians, this is a difficult situation as the financial incentive offers a chance to escape joblessness, poverty, and complete erasure, while also allowing the dilution of cultural practice.

Hawaiian man with his two children, circa 1890

Several cultural preservation societies and organizations have been established over the course of the 20th century. The largest of those institutions is the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, established in 1889 and designated as the Hawaiʻi State Museum of Natural and Cultural History. The Bishop Museum houses the largest collection of native Hawaiian artifacts, documents, and other information available for educational use. Most objects are held for preservation alone. The museum has links with major colleges and universities throughout the world to facilitate research.

With the support of the Bishop Museum, the Polynesian Voyaging Society's double-hulled canoe, Hōkūleʻa, has contributed to rediscovery of native Hawaiian culture, especially in the revival of celestial navigation, by which ancient Polynesians originally settled Hawaiʻi.[8]

One of the most commonly known arts of Hawaii is hula dancing. Traditionally, hula was a religious ritualistic dance that was more about honoring the gods and goddesses than about entertainment.[9] In the 21st century, many people recognize the hula dance in two different categories, which are Hula Kahiko and Hula ʻAuana.

Hula Kahiko, which is an "old" style of the hula dancing that is an interpretive dance, famous for its grace and romantic feel, that expresses stories and feeling from almost any phase of life and culture of Hawaiians. While dancing, they also use percussion instruments and traditional chanting. Hawaiians make their own traditional instruments to use while the dancers are dancing. These include the pahu hula, kilu or puniu, ipu, hano or ʻphe hano ihu, ka, pu, oeoe, pahupahu kaʻekeʻeke, hokio, and wi. Dancers employ implements to create sounds. Some of the traditional hula implements are ʻuliʻuli, puʻili, ʻiliʻili, papahehi, and kalaʻau.[10]

Hula ʻAuana is a hula that was changed by Western influences and performed with musical instruments that do not originate from the Hawaiian Islands. It was popularized and influenced by the influx of tourists to the Hawaiian Islands. The stories are told primarily with the movements of the body and hands, music, and ukuleles and guitars to accompany the dancers. The entire performance makes it more entertaining for those who are new to the culture.

The Hawaiian people have various traditions and holidays they celebrate annually. One of the most important holidays is Prince Kuhio Day. Celebrated every year since 1949 on his birthday (March 26), Prince Kuhio Day honors Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, a Congressman who succeeded in helping Native Hawaiian families become public landowners. It is celebrated with canoe races and luaus across the islands of Hawaii.[11] The most popular and well-known form of celebration in Hawaii are luaus. A luau is a traditional Hawaiian banquet, commonly featuring food such as poi, poke, lomi-lomi salmon, kalua pig, haupia, and classic Hawaiian entertainment like ukulele music and hula.[12] Every June 11 Native Hawaiians celebrate King Kamehameha day. Kamehameha was the king who unified Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi under one flag and established the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. He was also known as a fearless warrior, wise diplomat, and the most respected leader in the history of the Hawaiian monarchy. The holiday is celebrated with parades and lei draping ceremonies, where Native Hawaiians bring lei to the multiple King Kamehameha statues located across the islands and drape them from his cast bronze arms and neck to honor his contributions to the people of Hawaiʻi.[13]

Native Hawaiian culture has seen a revival in recent years as an outgrowth of decisions made at the 1978 Hawaiʻi State Constitutional Convention, held 200 years after the arrival of Captain Cook. At the convention, the Hawaiʻi state government committed itself to a progressive study and preservation of native Hawaiian culture, history, and language.

A comprehensive Hawaiian culture curriculum was introduced into the State of Hawaiʻi's public elementary schools teaching: ancient Hawaiian art, lifestyle, geography, hula, and Hawaiian language vocabulary. Intermediate and high schools were mandated to impose two sets of Hawaiian history curricula on every candidate for graduation.

Statutes and charter amendments were passed acknowledging a policy of preference for Hawaiian place and street names. For example, with the closure of Barbers Point Naval Air Station in the 1990s, the region formerly occupied by the base was renamed Kalaeloa.

Hawaiian children are publicly educated under the same terms as any other children in the United States. In Hawaii, children are publicly educated by the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education. Under the administration of Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano from 1994 to 2002, the state's educational system established Hawaiian language immersion schools. In these schools, all subject courses are taught in the Hawaiian language and use native Hawaiian subject matter in curricula. These schools were created in the spirit of cultural preservation and are not exclusive to native Hawaiian children.[15]

Native Hawaiians are eligible for an education from the Kamehameha Schools, established through the last will and testament of Bernice Pauahi Bishop of the Kamehameha Dynasty. The largest and wealthiest private school in the United States, Kamehameha Schools was intended to benefit orphans and the needy, with preference given to native Hawaiians. The Kamehameha Schools educates thousands of children of entire and part native Hawaiian ancestry at its campuses during the regular school year, and also has summer and off-campus programs that are not restricted by ancestry. Kamehameha Schools' practice of accepting primarily gifted students, in lieu of intellectually challenged children, has been a controversial topic amongst the native Hawaiian community. Many families feel that the gifted students could excel at any learning institution, public or private, and that the Hawaiian community may be better served by educating children from high-risk, high-crime districts so that a greater proportion of disadvantaged youths may grow up to be responsible community contributors.[22]

As with other children in Hawaiʻi, some native Hawaiians are educated by other prominent private academies in the Aloha State. They include: Punahou School, Saint Louis School, Mid-Pacific Institute, and ʻIolani School.

Native Hawaiians exemplify patterns of observational learning, a model that captures seven interrelated descriptions, or facets, of learning found in Indigenous communities in the Americas.[23] Native Hawaiian views on learning flow from three basic tenets that correspond directly to the observational learning model: "I ka nānā no a ʻike: by observing, one learns. I ka hoʻolohe no a hoʻomaopopo: by listening, one commits to memory. I ka hana no a ʻike: by practice one masters the skill."[24]

Learner collaboration and contribution

Similar to the indigenous communities of the Americas, Native Hawaiian children contribute alongside the adults, and the adults' presence is there to offer support. In most Native Hawaiian communities, household work tasks, such as ironing and cooking, etc., play a major role in contributing to the home life and children's participation enhances their importance within the family.[25] Native Hawaiian children have shared aspirations to accomplish collaborative tasks, and they individually take initiative to work together.[26] Children absorb very early the community-wide belief that hana (work) is respected and laziness is shameful. The phrase "E hoʻohuli ka lima i lalo" (The palms of the hands should be turned down) was used to communicate the idea that idleness (associated with upturned palms) was to be avoided.[24]

Collaborative and flexible ensembles

Native Hawaiian children cooperate with flexible leadership to combine their skills, ideas, and abilities, like that found in observational learning in the indigenous communities of the Americas. Family organization is a "shared-function" system that includes flexible roles and fluid responsibility within the group. Basic family values include interdependence, responsibility for others, sharing of work and resources, obedience, and respect. Children assume important family responsibilities early and act as members of a sibling workforce that is held collectively responsible for completing tasks.[27]

Children also take initiative to help others in the classroom.[26] It has been observed that when children are working in a group with their peers and face difficulty, they will scan the room for an adult to assist or turn to their close fellows to either ask for help. Children also scan to provide help to others when necessary. In this way, children shift between the roles of assisted and assistant. Adults were present and available, but the children were more often found to take the initiative to learn from, and teach, one another how to perform tasks such as sweeping, homework, and caring for younger siblings.[26]

Learning to transform participation

Among Native Hawaiians, the goal of learning is to transform participation to encompass conscientious accountability as active contributing members of the community,[23] like that found in Learning by Observing and Pitching In (LOPI). For example, in some Native Hawaiian communities, parent(s) teach the older siblings the necessary skills of care taking. Sibling care-taking skills can relate to indigenous American ways of learning by the children becoming considerate of their parents and taking on the responsibility when needed in case of a tragic incident with the parents.[28] Within the classroom and home settings, adults are present but are not always directly monitoring the children. Children ask for help when necessary, but adults appear to rarely interject. Children appeared to adapt to tasks and situations by observations and go off on their own to collectively work out how and what to do to complete the task.

Assuming and initiating care has been found across Polynesian cultures, and Native Hawaiian practices are in keeping with this trend. One study observed, interviewed, and evaluated families on the Polynesian Island Sikaiana and found that fostering children from other families within the community is a common shared endeavor that serves to construct relationships, support the community, and nurture compassion and sympathy (aloha).[29] As children mature within the family, they go through a process of having their needs attended and learn to provide and care for the younger children alongside the adults. Adolescent girls who are active caretakers are referred to as parents, even if there is no biological connection.[29]

Wide and keen attention for contribution

The Hawaiians' ways of learning include wide keen attention from the children while adults are available for guidance, also found in the model of Learning by Observing and Pitching In. Children were found to learn from adults by participating in group activities where they had the chance to observe the performance of more experienced participants as well as having errors in their own performance corrected by more seasoned group members.[27] Because the children learn through observation, and then are encouraged to practice among their peers, we can speculate the children have keen attention to events around them, which is an expectation of adults and community members who are there to assist when needed.[26] It has been observed that Hawaiian children were successful at completing tasks which greatly depend on visual and memory process skills, which coincides with Hawaiian mother's frequent use of non-verbal communication.[30]

Coordination through shared reference

In some Native Hawaiian communities, there is a constant use of "talk story" which plays an essential role in promoting solidarity in the community by not overpowering or making the members of the community feel inadequate for not understanding something. Talk story can consist of recalled events, folktales, and joking. Joking can be used to tease and guide the children about how to do a chore better or to avoid serious trouble.[31] Talk story relates to an Indigenous way of learning by providing conversations such as narratives and dramatizations with verbal and nonverbal communication between the elder and children.

Another example of verbal communication in the Native Hawaiian culture is through the use of chanting, which can allow a child to understand the relationship of their present experiences to those of their ancestors, both alive and deceased. Chanting also allows children to understand the connections of their chants to mother earth. For instance, chanting can voice the need for rain to produce plants and induce ponds to grow fish for harvest.[32]

A study comparing Midwestern and Hawaiian mother – Kindergartener pairs presented with a novel task,[27] found Hawaiian mothers to be much lower than their Midwestern counterparts in the use of verbal-control techniques and much higher in non-verbal communication, a finding which implies coordination through non-verbal and verbal means.[23][27] Aspects of togetherness, continuity, purpose, and significance are a part of learning and coincide with the Native Hawaiian's spiritual connection to earth and environment.[32]

Feedback that appraises mastery and support for learning

There is verbal and nonverbal guidance from parents to children with chores and other activities. For example, a pat on the shoulder can communicate to the child that he/she is doing the activity at hand the correct way.[25] This example relates to the LOPI model by there being an appraisal from the parent(s) in order to support their progress in learning and contributing better in the community. As the child gradually advances towards more complex tasks, the goal of mastery and feedback on the adequacy of their contributions become more pronounced.

In the context of producing objects e.g. baskets, mats, or quilts, there was a belief that a child must produce a perfect end-product before moving on to learn the skills of producing something else. Perfection in these products was judged by more experienced craftspeople and was attained by repeated attempts interspersed with feedback. The perfected final products were kept as a special reminder and never used. Their production was seen as a necessary first step in "clearing the way" for other products to come; an indication of mastery for that skill set.[24] Throughout several research articles, it becomes clear that many of the Native Hawaiian ways of learning resemble the defining characteristics of LOPI, which is common in many Indigenous communities of the Americas.[23]

Another important outgrowth of the 1978 Hawaiʻi State Constitutional Convention was the establishment of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, more popularly known as OHA. Delegates that included future Hawaiʻi political stars Benjamin J. Cayetano, John D. Waihee III, and Jeremy Harris created measures intended to address injustices toward native Hawaiians since the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1893. OHA was established as a trust, administered with a mandate to better the conditions of both native Hawaiians and the Hawaiian community in general. OHA was given control over certain public lands, and continues to expand its land-holdings to this day (most recently with Waimea Valley, previously Waimea Falls Park).[33]

Besides purchases since its inception, the lands initially given to OHA were originally crown lands of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi used to pay the expenses of the monarchy (later held by the Provisional Government following the fall of the monarchy in 1893). Upon the declaration of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, they were officially designated as public lands. They were ceded to federal control with the establishment of the Territory of Hawaiʻi in 1898, and finally returned to the State of Hawaiʻi as public lands in 1959.

OHA is a semi-autonomous government body administered by a nine-member board of trustees, elected by the people of the State of Hawaiʻi through popular suffrage. Originally, trustees and the people eligible to vote for trustees were restricted to native Hawaiians. Rice v. Cayetano—suing the state to allow non-Hawaiians to sit on the board of trustees, and for non-Hawaiians to be allowed to vote in trustee elections—reached the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Rice on February 23, 2000, forcing OHA to open its elections to all residents of the State of Hawaiʻi, regardless of ethnicity.

In 1873, the first native Hawaiians were given permission from King Lunalilo (prior emigration of native Hawaiians was not allowed) to permanently emigrate to the United States (Salt Lake City, Utah) whose names were Kiha Kaʻawa, and Kahana Pukahi. Kiha was adopted by Mormon Missionary President George Nebeker immediately upon arrival making Kiha Kaʻawa (Nebeker) the first native Hawaiian to become a U.S. citizen in 1873.

• Culture of Hawaii
• Hawaiian home land
• Hawaiian kinship
• Hawaiian sovereignty movement
• History of Hawaii
• Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas

• Maenette K. Nee-Benham and Ronald H. Heck, Culture and Educational Policy in Hawaiʻi: The Silencing of Native Voices, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1998
• Scott Cunningham, Hawaiian Magic and Spirituality, Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd., 2000
• Rona Tamiko Tamiko Halualani, In the Name of Hawaiians: Native Identities and Cultural Politics, University of Minnesota Press, 2002
• Marshall D. Sahlins, How Natives Think: About Captain Cook, for Example, University of Chicago Press, 1995
• Thomas G. Thrum, Hawaiian Folk Tales: A Collection of Native Legends, International Law & Taxation Publishers, 2001
• Thomas G. Thrum, More Hawaiian Folk Tales: A Collection of Native Legends and Traditions, International Law & Taxation Publishers, 2001
• Houston Wood, Displacing Natives: The Rhetorical Production of Hawaiʻi, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1999
• Kanalu G. Terry Young Rethinking the Native Hawaiian Past, Taylor & Francis, Inc., 1998
• Hanifin, Patrick (2002). "To Dwell on the Earth in Unity: Rice, Arakaki, and the Growth of Citizenship and Voting Rights in Hawaii" (PDF). Hawaii Bar Journal. Honolulu, HI, USA: Hawaii State Bar Association. 5 (13): 15–44. ISSN 0440-5048. OCLC 1775767, 474805275. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2012. Alt URL
• Hanifin, Patrick W. (1982). "Hawaiian Reparations: Nothing Lost, Nothing Owed" (PDF). Hawaii Bar Journal. Honolulu, HI, USA: Hawaii State Bar Association. XVII (2). ISSN 0440-5048. OCLC 1775767, 474805275. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2012. Alt URL
• Kauanoe, Derek; Breann Swann Nuuhiwa (May 11, 2012). "We are Who We Thought We Were: Congress' Authority to Recognize a Native Hawaiian Polity United by Common Descent". Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal. 13 (2): 117. SSRN 2126441.
• Garcia, Ryan William Nohea (April 14, 2010). "Who Is Hawaiian, What Begets Federal Recognition, and How Much Blood Matters" (PDF). Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal. Honolulu, HI, USA: William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii. 11 (2): 85. SSRN 1758956.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Native Hawaiian people.

• Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)
• Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
• Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law official website
• Ka Huli Ao Blog
• U.S. Census Bureau. "Newsroom: Facts on the the [sic] Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population". Washington, DC, USA: U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.