The Hawaiian Islands formed through volcanic and tectonic activity. Tectonic plates shifted down into the Earth and went to magma level. This would allow for a volcano to pop through to the surface and create islands around themselves. The islands may have started as just one island, but over time more formed more (8). There are currently six Hawaiian Islands, Hawai’i, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, and Kauai (1). The Hawaiian Islands lie in the Central Pacific Ocean, 2,390 miles from California and 3,850 miles from Japan (7). Knowing the geography of the islands sets the stage for settlement of them.
In two waves, the Polynesian people settled in Hawaii. Between 300 and 500 A. D. , they began to arrive in Hawaii via canoes. The Polynesians brought many new foods and animals with them to this “new world. ” They brought sweet potatoes, chickens, pigs, and dogs with them. The second wave settled in Hawaii between 1000 and 1300 A. D. With this new wave, new religious and societal views arrived. Human sacrifice was now accepted in society and the ‘aha councils, a council of elders and experts, was replaced with the ali’i or, a chief (5).
The arrival of new things led Hawaii into its next stage of social development. Due to the Hawaiian Islands being isolated from the rest of the world, a unique social structure formed. At the top of the food chain were the mo’i, the king, who owned the annual taxes and acted as a leader in a time of war. A step below the mo’i was the ali’i, the chiefs, which were separated into the higher and the lower. The higher ali’i based their succession on genealogy and would marry their sister or daughter of his brother, if they could not find another woman on the same level as them.
The lower ali’i were favorites of the mo’i and could not pass their position down to their children like the higher could. The ali’i were treated like mini kings, and were held to nearly the same кеn uр. respect as mo’i. The next class down was the kahunas, a class of priests and skilled craftsman, and some also practicing medicine. The most populous class was the maka ‘ainana, or the common people. This class was made up of laborers, farmers, and fishers. Most of their time was devoted to growing, producing, or making things.
While it was one of the lower classes, they still had basic rights, such as moving where they wanted and rebel if one of the ali’i were being unfair. The lowest in the social structure were the kauwa, or the outcasts, who were born into their position (5). The Hawaiians did not use the concept of private property, but land was broken down from the island itself to the house people lived in. The mo’i would determine how the land was br A whole island was called a mokupuni, which were broken up into moku, the largest units of land. These split up the island from the mountains down to the shore.
For reference, the island of O’ahu was broken into six moku. Ahupua’a were the next smallest and they were broken up from the mountains to the shore. The ahupua’a were broken up based on the resources available in the area. “Each ahupua’a contained the resources the human community needed, from fish and salt, to fertile land for farming taro or sweet potato, to koa and other trees growing in upslope areas. ” Then they were broken up into ‘ili, which is where the chief lived. The next section was the mo’o, which contained most of the agricultural aspects of the island.
Even smaller than the mo’o were the kuleana, the land tracts used for the cultivation of crops (5). Since the land was split up, Hawaiian people had to share things based on the resources they collected in their part of the ‘ili. The basic social unit in Hawaiian was the ‘ohana or extended family. The members of an ‘ohana exchanged food and goods, in more of a voluntary fashion than to demand an even trade or something of value. Living near the fields and fishing grounds, ‘ohana lived in kauhale, or clustered households. This may have not been the only place they lived, since archeological evidence hows that Hawaiians may have moved from home to home depending on the season.
The ‘ohana that lived near the coast would trade seafood, salt, and coconuts and those who lived near the mountains would trade timber, medicinal herbs, and bananas. All the necessities in Hawaiian life came from nature, especially plants. Plants were used to make many things including their homes, the ipu (gourd drum), and many of their clothes (5). The chief of a Hawaiian village, or the ali’i was an integral part of Hawaiian culture. It is important to note that the ali’i was selected based on lineage.
Many buildings are built for specific reasons because of the ali’i. The ali’i of the villages focused on improving their villages by building fishponds, terraces, irrigation systems, and heiau, or temples (5). There was an array of buildings in an ancient Hawaiian village. The structures of these buildings were formed using pili grass and fishnets, to hold the structure together. The floor was covered with mats, but there was little to no furniture. The most significant building was the Hale Ali’i, or the Chief’s House. This house was raised above the other to show the significance of the resident.
This was where the ali’i slept and met with his selected leaders; women and children were not allowed in. Kahili, or royal feathered sticks, decorated the outside of the ali’i’s house to symbolize his status. Other buildings in the village were more important to the culture of the village. The Hale Pahu, or drum house, where drums and other important hula items are held. The Halau was the house of instruction, where hula dancers were taught. The Hale Noho was the living house and everyone slept in the middle, feet facing the wall. The children slept on the outsides and they slept like this for safety reasons.
The houses in Hawaii all had some sort of significance (1). Mythology held a significant role in in Hawaiian culture. Much like the Native American myths, Hawaiian myths told of the creation and how things came to be. The most notable myth is the Kumulipo creation chant, which tells the story of the creation of the world. The myth says the world started from darkness and moved towards light, and the completion of land. It also describes how life went from the water to land, just like scientists describe evolution. Mythology is also used to describe one of the most fundamental aspects of Hawaiian culture, the art of hula.
Hula was used to document and pass Hawaiian history and mythology from generation to generation. While hula was used to pass mythology, its creation even had a myth. In one of the few hula myths, the goddess, Hi’iaka, created it in order to calm her sister, the volcano goddess, Pele (5). Pele was highly worshipped in Hawaiian society because she controlled the volcanoes and if she was upset, a volcano would erupt and wreak havoc (6). Hawaiian mythology greatly influences Hawaiian culture due to the creation of hula through one of the myths.
Another important aspect of Hawaiian culture is music, dance, and chants. Mele, or chant was used to remember myths. The two types of mele are mele oli and mele hula. Mele oli is a solo chant performed at events like birth, death, or a departure of a chief, as well as keeping track of history, myths, and stories. Unlike mele oli, dance moves and instruments, like the pahu, or wooden drum, accompany mele hula (3). The pahu is one of the main instruments used in traditional Hawaiian hula, but instruments like the guitar and ukulele have been incorporated (6). Training for hula occurred at the Halau (1).
Hula students were seen as kapu, or taboo and were not allowed any contact with others. Hula dancer trainees had to avoid sweets, sexual contact, corpses, and maintain personal cleanliness. Amongst the hula students, there were two groups, the ‘olapa and the ho’opa’a. The ‘olapa were the younger, more agile students, who danced and the ho? opa’a knelt and played instruments or chanted (5). Hula is a very integral part of Hawaiian culture because it records the past of Hawaii. Hawaiian culture was also focused on religion. Kahunas were the priests and masters of various arts and skills.
Kahunas were highly respected and their opinions were taken seriously. Kahunas also gave tattoos and determined whether or not someone was to receive a tattoo or not. Geometric patterns were commonly seen in Polynesian tattoos and each line had significance to it, and told the story of the person with the tattoo (4). Kahunas were also the medical gurus of Hawaiian society. Kahunas as well as the general population were very skilled with herbal medicines. Medical kahunas also used massages, manipulation, bone setting, and heat or hydrotherapy to give ailments to disease.
In addition to these practices, the healing process involved many prayers and chants. Religion also ties in with Hawaiian culture due to the presence of different types of temples. Heiau were built for the Hawaiians to worship major gods. There were two types of heiau, the Mapele and the luakani. The Mapele heiau was used for ceremonies that involved blessings for successful crops, where pigs were usually sacrificed. The luakani heiau was used as a war temple, where sed as a war temple, where human sacrifices occurred. The instillation of kahunas and temples furthered the something of culture in Hawaiian society (5).
