Dictionary:
Ha·wai·i or Ha·wai'i (hə-wä'ē, -wī'ē, -vä'ē) 
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
Hawaii |
For more information on Hawaii, visit Britannica.com.
US History Encyclopedia:
Hawaii |
When Captain James Cook arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in the 1770s, he found a people living in the most isolated location on earth who had developed a highly sophisticated agriculture based mainly on the cultivation of kalo (taro), some of which was grown in impressive irrigation systems. The subsistence economy was based on agriculture and the harvest of products from the sea. Items moved between farmers and fishermen through reciprocal gift exchanges that were not driven by values or timetables. Absent any metals, pottery clay, or textile fibers, the people developed a highly advanced culture based on the materials provided by the islands.
Politically, the people were ruled by regional moÛi (kings) of whom there might be several on one island. Religiously and legally the society was regulated by a religion based on a kapu (tabu) system that consisted of prohibitions, restrictions, and directions, all of which depended for their enforcement on the authority and punitive powers of the kahuna (priests). Under this system, women were prohibited from eating certain foods or dining with men and were restricted in other ways. The daily life of Hawaiians was also regulated by the konohiki (landlords), under whom they lived in a semifeudal status.
The makaÛainana (commoners) were subject to arbitrary exactions from the aliÛi (chiefs) in whose presence they were required to prostrate themselves, and were also subject to a formal tax annually during the makahiki season, which occurred late in every year and brought concentrations of people from the surrounding area. The burden of taxation was lightened through its accompaniment by a festival that included sports and games. It was during the makahiki festival that Captain Cook sailed into Kealakekua Bay, where he later met his unfortunate end, and the presence of the unusually large number of people may have caused him to exaggerate the population of the islands.
Early Merchant Trade
Despite their "discovery" by Cook, the islands at first seemed to offer nothing of economic benefit to the West, and their location away from established trade routes discouraged follow-up voyages. John Ledyard, an American who accompanied Cook, was struck, however, by the potential profits to be gained by trading the furs of the Pacific Northwest for the products of China at Canton. Ledyard's efforts to interest American businessmen in such a venture were met with skepticism until his stories were confirmed by the publication of the journals of the expedition, whereupon both English and American merchant ships set out to exploit the trade.
It was the fur trade between the Pacific Northwest and Canton that made the Hawaiian Islands a desirable way station and a convenient stopover between trading seasons. Thus began the rapid transformation of the islands and their people. Reciprocal gift exchanges quickly gave way to barter, then to trade and the beginnings of a commercial agriculture that focused on growing the products sought by the Westerners, many of them newly introduced to the islands. The reliance on stone and other indigenous products for tools and weapons was now supplemented by the use of metals. Western firearms were also introduced. These were used, with the help of Western advisers, by Kamehameha, a moÛi of the island of Hawaii, to unify all of the islands under his control as king of Hawaii.
The discovery of sandalwood in the islands, and its marketability in Canton, gave Hawaii an economic value it had not previously possessed and brought Western (mainly American) merchants to Honolulu to deal in this precious commodity, especially after Kamehameha's death in 1819 ended his monopoly over the trade. The aliÛi scrambled to exploit the sandalwood forests for access to the goods of the West that the fragrant wood provided, incurring debts with foreign merchants to be paid later in deliveries of sandalwood. The beginnings of a monetary economy began to intrude into the traditional subsistence way of life even in the most remote areas.
Forced Westernization and the Rise of the Sugar Industry
After Kamehameha's death, the traditional kapu system was thrown out by his successor, Liholiho, under the influence of Kamehameha's widow, Kaahumanu, whom he had appointed as kuhina nui (regent, prime minister) to advise the new king. The overthrow set the Hawaiian people adrift in a particularly chaotic time. In 1820, two events occurred that would further contribute to the transformation of the islands and to the stresses on the Hawaiian people: the arrival of the first Puritan missionaries from New England and the introduction of the first whaling ships to Hawaii's harbors. Their arrival accelerated the revolution in Hawaiian life that had been inaugurated by Cook's arrival, the main features of which would be: (1) the transition from a society in which wealth, power, and status were based on land to one in which they were increasingly measured in money; (2) the increasing control of that monetary economy—and the wealth and power and status associated with it—by Westerners rather than by the Hawaiian aliÛi; (3) the transition from a rural, largely subsistence lifestyle to an urban, consumerist one, with the accompanying rise of individualism at the expense of the traditional communalism; (4) the replacement of the traditional religion and its related social controls by a religion ill-suited to the Hawaiians in the form of Calvinist Christianity; (5) the destructive effects of the Calvinist missionaries in their efforts to replace all traditional culture with the Calvinists' own version of acceptable diversions, laws, and institutions; (6) the introduction of Western laws, practices, and institutions that were easily understood by the Westerners, but which increasingly placed the Hawaiians at a disadvantage in coping with these alien devices; (7) the blurring of class distinctions between commoners and chiefs that resulted in the loss of power and influence by the traditional leadership of the Hawaiian people, creating a vacuum increasingly filled by the missionaries and other Westerners; and (8) the integration of Hawaii into the global economy, with the accompanying globalization of Hawaiian culture and daily life.
By the 1890s, commercialism, urbanization, and individualism had replaced subsistence agriculture and rural communalism as the key features of life in the islands, while large sugar plantations marketing their products in foreign lands had largely supplanted the kuleana (small fields) of Hawaiian farmers. The Hawaiian religion had been replaced by Christianity, and the kapu system by Puritan law codes, while the traditional prerogatives of the aliÛi and of the moÛi had been usurped by a new white "aliÛi" ruling in the name of a Republic of Hawaii within which the franchise of Hawaiians had been so sharply restricted that they were a minority of voters.
While there were many milestones in the march toward this fate, a major one certainly was passage by the kingdom's legislature of the alien land law in 1850, which made it possible for foreigners for the first time to own land in fee simple. Before this act, the economic penetration by foreign interests had been limited largely to commerce. Once the security of land ownership was provided, however, foreign interests, mainly American, were willing to undertake the investment in productive ventures like sugar plantations and mills. As declining demand for whale oil and whalebone caused whaling to die out in the 1860s and 1870s, the growing, processing, and exportation of sugar rose in importance. The ratification by the United States in 1875 of a reciprocity treaty with the Kingdom of Hawaii enormously accelerated the growth of the sugar industry. The effect, however, was to make the kingdom almost totally dependent on sugar for its prosperity, and the sugar industry, in turn, almost totally dependent on the American market. Like the tentacles of an octopus, the sugar plantations reached out everywhere for lands on which to grow the valuable crop.
Another effect of the reciprocity act was to accelerate the importation of laborers (mainly Chinese and Japanese) to work on the plantations, since there were not enough Hawaiians to do the work. The Hawaiian population, estimated at between 300,000 and 500,000 at the time of Cook's arrival, had shrunk by the end of the 1870s to fewer than 60,000, while between 1876 and 1890 the sugar planters imported 55,000 Chinese and Japanese laborers. In 1876, the Hawaiians, despite their reduced numbers, still accounted for 90 percent of the population of the islands. By 1890, they were not even a majority in their own land.
Annexation
The combination of the reciprocity act and the "bayonet constitution" forced by the white oligarchy on King Kalakaua in 1887 solidified the position and prosperity of that oligarchy in Hawaii. The reciprocity act permitted the shipment of sugar to the American market duty-free, thus putting it on the same basis as domestically produced sugar and at an advantage in competition with other foreign sugar. The 1887 constitution assured these planters and businessmen of control over the government of the kingdom, thus making them secure in their extensive investments in the islands. In the early 1890s, however, both profits and power were undermined by two events, one in Washington and one in Honolulu.
The first was the passage into law of the McKinley Tariff in 1890, which deprived Hawaiian sugar of all the advantages it had received by granting duty-free status to all foreign sugar while providing a bounty to domestic sugar producers. The second was the death of King Kalakaua and the succession of Liliuokalani as queen, who came to the throne determined to recover for the crown the powers it had lost in the 1887 constitution.
In January 1893, a combination of circumstances centering on the queen's proposal to promulgate a new constitution on her own initiative touched off a virtually bloodless coup. At a critical moment, U.S. forces were moved ashore from the USS Boston, then in Honolulu harbor, at the instigation of the U.S. minister to Hawaii, John L. Stevens. A provisional government was established under Sanford B. Dole and a mission was dispatched to Washington, D.C., to negotiate a treaty for annexation of the islands by the United States.
The timing was unfortunate, for a Republican sympathetic to annexation, Benjamin Harrison, was about to turn over the White House to an unsympathetic Democrat, Grover Cleveland. The treaty negotiated with the Harrison administration was stalled in the Senate until Cleveland's inauguration, whereupon Cleveland launched an investigation that seemed to reveal the culpability of the preceding administration in the overthrow. Denied the support of the White House, the annexation treaty drew dust in the Senate until the election of Republican William McKinley in 1896 and the Spanish-American War brought the renewed enthusiasm for expansion that made possible Hawaii's annexation by joint resolution of Congress. On 12 August 1898 the flag of the United States was raised over Iolani Palace in Honolulu.
Once under the U.S. Constitution, the sugar planters might have been more secure in their profits, but their political power was eroded by the guarantee of franchise to all Hawaiian adult males, which made up the majority of eligible voters. In the first territorial election, the Hawaiians' own Home Rule Party elected a majority of the legislature and also the territory's delegate to Congress. Placed on the defensive, the planters negotiated an agreement with Prince Jonah Kalanianaole Kuhio, an heir to the throne of the defunct monarchy, to run on the Republican ticket for delegate to Congress, thereby attracting enough Hawaiian voters to the Republican side to give the planter-controlled Republicans effective political domination until World War II.
During the next forty years, however, conditions were created for the political transformation of Hawaii by the arrival of tens of thousands of new immigrants, mainly now from the Philippines; by the coming to voting age of the sons and daughters of these and earlier immigrants; and by the rise of a labor movement in Hawaii. The Great Depression and New Deal of the 1930s did not impact Hawaii as much as they did the mainland United States, but they did exert an influence. Hawaii received a share of the public-works and work-relief spending that improved its infrastructure just in time for the needs of World War II. These programs were administered by federal officials from the mainland that breathed new life into the Hawaii Democratic Party. Legislation like the National Industrial Recovery Act and the National Labor Relations Act gave enormous stimulus to the unionization of Hawaii's workers. At the same time, the tendency on the part of some in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration to deal with Hawaii as an "insular possession" like the Philippines and Puerto Rico, rather than as a territory of the United States, as in the case of the Jones-Costigan Sugar Act, convinced many that only statehood could provide the security that Hawaii's economy required.
World War II and Postwar Political Change
Within twenty-four hours of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, life in the islands changed, as the territory came under a rigorous martial law that worked closely with the white oligarchy (generally referred to as the Big Five, which consisted of Alexander and Baldwin, American Factors, C. Brewer and Company, Castle and Cooke, and Theo H. Davies and Company). On the surface it appeared to be only a brief interruption of normal conditions and that the 1930s status quo would return after the war. But numerous new factors were introduced during the war years that accelerated the changes already under way in the 1930s. For one, the war brought many new workers from the mainland who brought their union loyalties and an antipathy to the big businesses that ruled Hawaii and the political party that represented them. Many of these workers stayed after the war ended, as did many servicemen who had been exposed to the islands for the first time. Another factor was that many of Hawaii's minorities went off to fight in the war, most notably the Americans of Japanese ancestry (AJAs) who made up the famed 100th Infantry Battalion, and 442d Regimental Combat Team. Taking advantage of their veterans' benefits after the war, many would go on to receive college degrees and even postgraduate and professional degrees and would commit themselves to bringing reforms to Hawaii.
By 1954, a Democratic Party that had been reinvigorated by the leadership of former policeman John A. Burns, working with AJAs like Daniel K. Inouye and others, was able to capture control of both houses of the territorial legislature. (By 2002, the Democrats were still in control of both houses.) The loss of the Big Five's political control was soon followed by the weakening of their economic control as well. As Hawaii's delegate to Congress, Burns worked tirelessly in behalf of statehood for the islands. He was finally successful in 1959, when Congress approved a statehood bill. On 17 June of that year the voters of Hawaii ratified statehood by a margin of 17–1, and on 21 August, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill admitting Hawaii as the fiftieth state in the Union.
Hawaii Since Statehood
In a special 1959 election, the last appointed governor of the territory, Republican William Quinn, became the first elected governor of the state, when he staged a surprising victory over John Burns. But in 1962, Burns defeated Quinn, ushering in an unbroken succession of Democratic governors for the remainder of the twentieth century. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party's strategy changed from that of a working-class party to one racially oriented, based on appeals to the descendants of Hawaii's immigrant plantation laborers of whatever class.
Statehood did not save Hawaii's sugar industry. The combination of rising costs and foreign competition brought the demise of the industry by the end of the twentieth century. Left at least temporarily without a viable industry, the state of Hawaii was forced to rely almost entirely on tourism for its prosperity, with tourists sought from all over the world, particularly Asia. Tourism, however, was dependent on economic conditions in the source countries. Frequent economic crises on the U.S. mainland and in Asia during these decades revealed how fragile Hawaii's economic base had become when they triggered severe recessions in the islands that continued into the twenty-first century.
Meanwhile, traditional Hawaiian culture, so long dormant that its very survival was being questioned, staged a renaissance in the 1970s, inspired in large part by developments on the U.S. mainland including the civil rights and ethnic studies movements of the 1960s. The Hawaiian renaissance encompassed both cultural and political elements, with a resurgence of interest in both traditional and more recent Hawaiian culture and language, together with the beginnings of Hawaiian political activism in opposition to development on Oahu and the U.S. Navy bombing of the island of Kahoolawe. Two laws passed during the Lyndon Johnson presidency contributed to both aspects of the renaissance. The creation of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities in 1965 provided money to encourage the growth and under-standing of arts and humanities. With government patronage available, Hawaiians and others interested in traditional Hawaiian culture were stimulated to undertake creative activities, pursue traditional arts and crafts, and learn and disseminate information about the culture. The Model Cities program inaugurated by the federal government in 1966 encouraged grassroots political activism and provided broader opportunities for the participation and leadership of Hawaiians.
The influence of the Hawaiian renaissance profoundly affected the state's constitutional convention in 1978, particularly the "Hawaiian package" of amendments that the new constitution included. The new constitution recognized the Hawaiian language as one of the official languages of the state (just eleven years after its use was still prohibited), confirmed the Hawaiians in various traditional rights, and established the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to represent the interests of native Hawaiians. Four years later, the leader of the Hawaiian forces within the convention, John Waihee, was elected lieutenant governor of the state, and in 1986, he was elected to the first of two terms as governor.
The twentieth century ended with many Hawaiians seeking the culmination of the renaissance in some degree of sovereignty, and many others continuing the resurgent interest in Hawaiian culture and language amid new opportunities available in the state's schools and colleges. It also ended with signs of a possible resurgence of the Republican Party as an apparent result of decades that Hawaii had spent in the economic doldrums.
Bibliography
Daws, Gavan. A Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands. New York: Macmillan, 1968.
Fuchs, Lawrence H. Hawaii Pono: A Social History. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1961. Reprint, San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich, 1983.
Kuykendall, Ralph S. The Hawaiian Kingdom. 3 vols. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1938–1967.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
Hawaii |
Facts and Figures
Area, 6,450 sq mi (16,706 sq km). Pop. (2000) 1,211,537, a 9.3% increase since the 1990 census. Capital and largest city, Honolulu. Statehood, Aug. 21, 1959 (50th state). Highest pt., Mauna Kea, 13,796 ft (4,208 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Aloha State. Motto, Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono [The Life of the Land Is Perpetuated in Righteousness]. State bird, Hawaiian goose. State flower, hibiscus. State tree, candlenut. Abbr., HI
Land and People
The Hawaiian Islands are of volcanic origin and are edged with coral reefs. Hawaii is the largest and geologically the youngest island of the group, and Oahu, where the capital, Honolulu, is located, is the most populous and economically important. The other principal islands are Kahoolawe, Kauai, Lanai, Maui, Molokai, and Niihau. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, consisting of uninhabited islets and excluding Midway, stretch more than 1,100 mi (1,800 km) from Nihoa to Kure. Most of islets are encompassed in the Hawaiian Island National Wildlife Refuge; the surrounding waters and coral reefs are in the vast 84-million-acre (34-million-hectare) Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Reserve. Palmyra atoll and Kingman Reef, which were within the boundaries of Hawaii when it was a U.S. territory, were excluded when statehood was achieved.
The only U.S. state in the tropics, Hawaii is sometimes called "the paradise of the Pacific" because of its spectacular beauty: abundant sunshine; expanses of lush green plants and gaily colored flowers; palm-fringed, coral beaches with rolling white surf; and cloud-covered volcanic peaks rising to majestic heights. Some of the world's largest active and inactive volcanoes are found on Hawaii and Maui; eruptions of the active volcanoes have provided spectacular displays, but their lava flows have occasionally caused great property damage. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are volcanic mountains on Hawaii island; Haleakala volcano is on Maui in Haleakala National Park.
Vegetation is generally luxuriant throughout the islands, with giant fern forests in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Kahoolawe, however, is arid, and Niihau and Molokai have very dry seasons. Although many species of birds and domestic animals have been introduced on the islands, there are few wild animals other than boars and goats, and there are no snakes. The coastal waters abound with fish.
More ethnic and cultural groups are represented in Hawaii than in any other state. Chinese laborers, who came to work in the sugar industry, were the first of the large groups of immigrants to arrive (starting in 1852), and Filipinos and Koreans were the last (after 1900). Other immigrant groups-including Portuguese, Germans, Japanese, and Puerto Ricans-came in the latter part of the 19th cent. Intermarriage with other races has brought a further decrease in the number of pure-blooded Hawaiians, who comprise a very small percentage of the population.
Economy
Pineapples, agricultural seeds, and sugarcane are the major agricultural products. Macadamia nuts, papayas, greenhouse vegetables, and coffee are also important. Other products include cattle and dairy products. Commercial fishing, especially tuna, is also significant. Tourism is, however, the leading source of income, and defense installations, including Pearl Harbor, follow.
Government, Politics, and Higher Education
Hawaii's constitution was drafted in 1950 and became effective with statehood in 1959. The governor is elected every four years. The legislature has a senate with 25 members and a house of representatives with 51 members. The state elects two representatives and two senators to the U.S. Congress and has four electoral votes. Multicultural Hawaii has long been a Democratic state, but Republicans have made recent gains. In 1994, Democrat Benjamin J. Cayetano became the first Filipino American to be elected governor of a U.S. state; he was reelected in 1998. Linda Lingle, elected governor in 2002, became the second Republican to win the office since statehood, and she was reelected four years later.
Hawaii's institutions of higher learning include the Univ. of Hawaii, with campuses at Honolulu, Hilo, and Pearl City; Chaminade Univ. and Hawaii Pacific Univ., at Honolulu; and the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young Univ., at Laie, Oahu.
History
Early Settlers and Explorers
The first known settlers of the Hawaiian Islands were Polynesian voyagers (the date of final migration is believed to be c.750). The islands were first visited by Europeans in 1778 by the English explorer Captain James Cook, who named them the Sandwich Islands for the English Earl of Sandwich. At that time the islands were under the rule of warring native kings.
The Rule of Kamehameha I
In 1810 Kamehameha I (see under Kamehameha became the sole sovereign of all the islands, and, in the peace that followed, agriculture and commerce were promoted. As a result of Kamehameha's hospitality, American traders were able to exploit the islands' sandalwood, which was much valued in China at the time. Trade with China reached its height during this period. However, the period of Kamehameha's rule was also one of decline. Europeans and Americans brought with them devastating infectious diseases, and over the years the native population was greatly reduced. The adoption of Western ways-trading for profit, using firearms, and drinking liquor-contributed to the decline of native cultural tradition. This period also marked the breakdown of the traditional Hawaiian religion, with its belief in idols and human sacrifice; years of religious unrest followed.
Influence of the Missionaries
When missionaries arrived in 1820 they found a less idyllic Hawaii than the one Captain Cook had discovered. Kamehameha III, who ruled from 1825 until his death in 1854, relied on the missionaries for advice and allowed them to preach Christianity. The missionaries established schools, developed the Hawaiian alphabet, and used it for translating the Bible into Hawaiian. In 1839, Kamehameha III issued a guarantee of religious freedom, and the following year a constitutional monarchy was established. From 1842 to 1854 an American, G. P. Judd, held the post of prime minister, and under his influence many reforms were carried out. In the following decades commercial ties between Hawaii and the United States increased.
Development of the Sugar Industry
In 1848 the islands' feudal land system was abolished, making private ownership possible and thereby encouraging capital investment in the land. By this time the sugar industry, which had been introduced in the 1830s, was well established. Hawaiian sugar gained a favored position in U.S. markets under a reciprocity treaty made with the United States in 1875. The treaty was renewed in 1884 but not ratified. Ratification came in 1887 when an amendment was added giving the United States exclusive right to establish a naval base at Pearl Harbor. The amount of sugar exported to the United States increased greatly, and American businessmen began to invest in the Hawaiian sugar industry. Along with the Hawaiians in the industry, they came to exert powerful influence over the islands' economy and government, a dominance that was to last until World War II.
The Overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani and Annexation
Toward the end of the 19th cent., agitation for constitutional reform in Hawaii led to the overthrow (1893) of Queen Liliuokalani, who had ruled since 1891. A provisional government was established and John L. Stevens, the U.S. minister to Hawaii, proclaimed the country a U.S. protectorate. President Grover Cleveland, however, refused to annex Hawaii since most Hawaiians did not support a revolution; the Hawaiians and Americans in the sugar industry had encouraged the overthrow of the monarchy to serve their business needs.
The United States tried to bring about the restoration of Queen Liliuokalani, but the provisional government on the islands refused to give up power and instead established (1894) a republic with Sanford B. Dole as president. Cleveland's successor, President William McKinley, favored annexation, which was finally accomplished in 1898. In 1900 the islands were made a territory, with Dole as governor. In this period, Hawaii's pineapple industry expanded as pineapples were first grown for canning purposes. In 1937 statehood for Hawaii was proposed and refused by the U.S. Congress-the territory's mixed population and distance from the U.S. mainland were among the obstacles.
World War II and Statehood
On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft made a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, plunging the United States into World War II. During the war the Hawaiian Islands were the chief Pacific base for U.S. forces and were under martial law (Dec. 7, 1941-Mar., 1943).
The postwar years ushered in important economic and social developments. There was a dramatic expansion of labor unionism, marked by major strikes in 1946, 1949, and 1958. The International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union organized the waterfront, sugar, and pineapple workers. The tourist trade, which had grown to major proportions in the 1930s, expanded further with postwar advances in air travel and with further investment and development. The building boom brought about new construction of luxury hotels and housing developments; Hawaii is home to one of the world's most expensively built resort, the Hyatt Regency Waikola, which cost $360 million to construct.
After having sought statehood for many decades, Hawaii was finally admitted to the union on Aug. 21, 1959; although it was thought at first to be solidly Republican, the state has long been a Democratic stronghold. Movements for a return of some sort of native sovereignty have been periodically active.
In Sept., 1992, the island of Kauai was devastated by Hurricane Iniki, the strongest hurricane to hit the islands in the century. Hawaii, which had enjoyed sustained economic and population growth since the end of World War II, saw both slow in the 1990s, as tourism, the sugar industry, military spending, and Japanese investment in the islands (particularly important in the 1980s) declined.
Bibliography
See J. Michener, Hawaii (1959); L. H. Fuchs, Hawaii Pono: A Social History (1961); R. S. Kuykendall, The Hawaiian Kingdom (3 vol., 1938, 1953, 1957); G. Daws, Shoal of Time (1968); S. Carlquist, Hawaii: A Natural History (1970); A. W. Lind, Hawaii's People (1980); J. Moon, Living with Nature in Hawaii (1987).
Food & Culture Encyclopedia:
Hawaii |
This entry is a subtopic of United States.
Located almost dead center in the North Pacific Ocean—2,500 miles west of California—Hawaii consists of a string of 132 coral and volcanic islands extending some one thousand miles from the Big Island to Wake Island. Centuries of volcanic activity have deposited layers of ash that have enriched the soil. Strong sun combined with moderate temperatures and plenty of rain have produced a long growing season in the midst of a tropical paradise—a paradise that lured nineteenth-century European and American merchants and adventurers interested in exploiting Hawaii's natural resources. One result was an economy dominated by King Sugar, which employed waves of immigrants to do the backbreaking work refused by native Hawaiians.
This successive importation of workers left Hawaii with a thriving mélange of cultures, each of which made its own contribution to the twentieth-century phenomenon known as Local Food. A Creole mixture of different cuisines (including Polynesian, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, and American), Local Food is centered on carbohydrates—an ancient Hawaiian quest.
The First Polynesian Immigration
When human beings originally landed on Hawaiian shores between 300 and 500 C.E., having probably sailed roughly two thousand miles from Samoa, they encountered over a hundred species of birds, including large fowl, abundant fish and shellfish in shoreline reefs and lagoons, a few fruit trees at high altitude, ferns, several kinds of limu (seaweed), and nearly a thousand flowering plants. These species had arrived gradually on trade winds or sea currents and had evolved in isolation over hundreds of thousands of years.
But the same geologic conditions—deep canyons, high cliffs, forests, bogs, and a wide variation in barometric pressure, rainfall, temperature, and wind—that produced Hawaii's unique flora and fauna had also limited its native foods. Hawaii's astonishing diversity included almost no edible vegetation and no source of edible carbohydrates. Luckily, the early Hawaiians brought at least twenty-seven kinds of foodstuffs, including the coconut, breadfruit, sweet potato, banana, sugarcane, arrowroot, wild ginger, mountain apple, and taro—much revered by the ancient Hawaiians, who pounded the roots into a paste, poi, that remains a starchy staple today. In addition, they imported pigs, chickens, and dogs. By mistake, they brought along rats.
They lived well on their isolated islands. They ate many foods raw, including some fish. Other food was cooked in imus, earthen pits lined with kiawe wood and lava rock. They prepared for bad weather by drying and salting fish. While they had no distilled liquors, they used the roots of awa (kava) and ti (a lily relative) to brew narcotic drinks.
The Second Polynesian Immigration
The early Hawaiians were legendary seafarers who had sailed thousands of miles using the stars, sun, winds and currents, shifting cloud masses, and bird flights. There is some evidence that they continued to sail their hundred-foot-long outrigger canoes to distant islands in the Pacific, bringing back food, plants, and spouses.
Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, aggressive, roaming Polynesians from Samoa and Tahiti settled in Hawaii and established a feudal regime overseen by their nobles and priests. The new feudal lords protected the ancient stonewalled fishponds, which yielded five thousand pounds of fish daily, and they enhanced traditional irrigation systems by building elaborate rock terraces.
They allocated property rights fairly widely, enabling most Hawaiians to eat well. The new rulers also enforced many complex kapus, or taboos, some of which helped manage scarce resources. Their system of land division is cited by biologists for its habitat protection. The huge freshwater and seawater fishponds were integrated with agriculture, and river valleys were managed as unified systems. The upland forest, left uncut by taboo, helped supply rivers with nutrients for downstream fields and fishponds. Seasons for gathering or catching scarce food or game were strictly enforced. Some taboos were exclusionary, particularly toward women, who were barred from preparing food for or eating with men. They were not allowed to eat the best foods, such as coconuts, shark meat, and pork. Breaking the taboos was punishable by death.
The Arrival of Westerners
By the time Captain James Cook landed on Kauai in 1778, Hawaiians had developed a comfortable economic system overseen by a feudal government. The Westerners would soon change all that.
Cook was the first of many seamen to use Hawaii as a way station to refuel and resupply ships in the middle of the ocean. He was renowned for having solved the immense problem of scurvy among sailors, which he concluded was due to a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. At every port he sought out fruit (particularly citrus), vegetables (including onions and new potatoes), fish, and meat.
The lush islands had much to offer Cook, who ruthlessly took immense amounts of food on his first trip, exploiting Hawaiian generosity. While Hawaiians had welcomed him with a lavish feast on his first visit, they knifed him to death when he returned in 1779.
Cook gave Hawaiians the first specimens of Western flora and fauna—goats, English pigs, and melon, pumpkin, and onion seeds. Close behind him came whalers and traders at the end of the eighteenth century, then the American missionaries, mainly Congregationalists, in 1820.
The missionaries introduced the church, school, printed word, woolen clothes, wood houses, and many foods. They sought to clean, clothe, and feed Hawaiians according to Christian standards to make them more responsive to the gospel. Beef was already available because cattle had been imported in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver, who had convinced King Kamehameha to permit women as well as men to eat it, as long as they ate from different cows.
The Congregationalists brought their prized New England foods—potatoes, apples, salted cod, corned beef, butter, and cheese. Food became a vital tool in Christianizing Hawaiians and turning them away from their traditional practices. When Queen Regent Kaahumanu converted to Christianity in 1824, she held a service at the edge of the Halemaumau fire pit sacred to the goddess Pele. Declaring her allegiance to Jehovah, she ate ohelo berries, which were both sacred to Pele and taboo to women. Not a murmur was heard from the volcano goddess.
Dominance By Plantations
Meanwhile, Westerners had also introduced their diseases, which reduced the native Hawaiian population from an estimated 300,000 at Cook's arrival to 60,000 by the mid-1800s and 40,000 by the end of the century. The rapidly expanding sugar industry—many plantations were owned by missionaries and their descendants—imported thousands of Chinese and then Japanese laborers to replace the Hawaiians. Just as the arrival of Westerners nearly wiped out native Hawaiians, the domination of agriculture first by sugar and later by pineapples wiped out the Hawaiian system of small farming overseen by religious laws, which regulated both hunting and farming.
Although wealthy whites received important administrative posts in the Hawaiian government, thereby governing indirectly, they became increasingly unhappy with the monarchy, which they deemed corrupt and inefficient. They wanted secure property rights to build their plantations and they wanted no restrictions on their importation of labor. They overthrew the monarchy in 1893. (Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1900 and the fiftieth state in 1959.)
Between 1852 and 1930, Chinese, then Japanese, Okinawans, Norwegians, Germans, Koreans, Puerto Ricans, Portuguese, and Filipinos were imported by the immensely powerful factors that supplied plantations with all their needs, including workers. The workers wanted their own food, and the plantation stores procured it from abroad if it could not be grown locally. What could be grown was. Thus rice became Hawaii's third most important crop, after sugar and pineapples. Most immigrants brought seeds with them, though they could not always get them to grow. Manufacturers sprang up to produce tofu, noodles, kimchi, and sake.
Into this diversity came yet another set of missionaries—home economists, most trained by Columbia University's Teachers College. Convinced of the legitimacy of their field, the home economists taught at the newly established University of Hawaii, a land-grant university. Working with the electric and gas companies in the 1920s, they developed recipes that required the new appliances—stoves, ovens, and refrigerators. They promulgated the nutritional messages and agricultural advice of the Extension Services. They catalogued locally grown tropical foodstuffs and analyzed the nutritive values of the Hawaiian diet. They encouraged the consumption of American food, including milk, which many adult Hawaiians were unable to digest properly. They trained school cafeteria managers to produce Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and creamed corn. And they wrote the first cookbooks on Local Food.
The Development of Local Food
Hawaii's sad story of colonial exploitation is tempered by its exuberant ethnic diversity, nowhere to be found more clearly than in food. Calling themselves "locals," Hawaiians call the food they eat "Local Food," a term that most food writers now capitalize. Identified in the 1920s as a distinct phenomenon, Local Food mixes dishes from each of Hawaii's ethnic groups into unique forms, most famously the plate lunch served at diners and lunch wagons. This includes two scoops of sticky rice, meat cooked Asian style, and macaroni or potato salad—all eaten with chopsticks. Local Food includes shaved ice, SPAM wonton, malasadas (Portuguese donuts), saimin (noodle soup), crack seed (Chinese preserved plum), and butter mochi (a rice confection).
Except for indigenous coconut and banana trees, most foods associated with Hawaii are imported. The first immigrants, the Canoe People, brought with them twenty-four different plants. Since about 1800, a large number of additional plants, including pineapples, papaya, avocado, guava, sugar cane, coffee, and macadamia nuts, were introduced. Even the Kiawe tree—a variety of the family that includes mesquite, and is now rampant throughout the islands—was introduced.
Hawaii's premier agricultural product in modern times, the pineapple, is a native of Paraguay. Although introduced in the early 1800s, it was not commercially successful until the early twentieth century, when it was canned and sold to U.S. markets. By the early 1950s, almost 75 percent of pineapple on the world market was Hawaiian, thanks to inspired advertising. Hawaii has no canneries left today. Its entire crop is distributed fresh, accounting for about one million tons of fruit, or one-third of the world's consumption.
The highly prized Kona coffee, imported by Don Francisco de Paulay Marin in 1828, thrived in Hawaii's volcanic soil, enhanced by local altitude and climate. Simultaneously mellow and robust, Kona beans became renowned worldwide after the market crash of 1899, when the large plantations began leasing their lands to families of workers, who greatly improved the methods and quality of production. Many of those families are now in their fifth generation, producing some two million pounds a year. In the 1990s, coffee began to supplant the sugar cane plantings on several other islands, including Kaua'i, Maui, Moloka'i, and O'ahu—which now surpass Kona in total production. Most Hawaiian beans are sold for blends. Coffee marketed as a Kona blend must be at least 10 percent Kona.
Theobroma cacao, a variety of criollo, was able to take advantage of the same volcanic soil and climate and thrive. Though originally equatorial, Hawaiian cross-breed cacao, which has a nutty flavor and low acidity, grows quickly in open sun. (Its equatorial competitors need shade.) Its pods are harvested early—in two years rather than five—and its trees are more productive than elsewhere, averaging a hundred pods each, or five times the world's average. The chocolate is premium grade.
While macadamia nuts were brought to Hawaii as ornamentals in the nineteenth century, they did not become a commercial crop until the 1920s. Because the nut is very hard to crack, it is normally sold shelled. And because its production is labor intensive—one hundred pounds of harvested nuts yield only ten to fifteen lbs of edible meats—macadamias garner a premium price. Hawaii has some twenty thousand acres planted with macadamia trees today. The trees have a fifty-year lifespan.
Sugar cane, now displaced as a commercial crop, was introduced by the Polynesians. In the nineteenth century it became the islands' most significant commercial crop; it was for sugar cane that the Western economic interests eventually overthrew the monarchy.
Bananas were both indigenous and imported. With seventy varieties now grown on the island—and prestige accorded to some—Jean-Marie Jossellin likens the Hawaiians' distinctions among bananas to the Eskimos' distinctions of the varieties of snow.
Making Sense of Tourism
Since Hawaii's resident population of 1 million serves some 6 million tourists annually, the influence of outsiders on Hawaiian food can hardly be overstated. Until the late twentieth century that influence was baleful, with Honolulu having perhaps the worst restaurants of any major Western city. Even once elegant hotels like the Royal Hawaiian serve wretchedly bad meals in the name of traditional luaus—originally religious feasts of genuine importance degraded to farce by commercial exploitation.
But it is also true that many foods thought to be Hawaiian are not. Much of the so-called Hawaiian food served at Polynesian restaurants on the American mainland was invented in California and promulgated by Trader Vic's and other restaurateurs. Fried rice, satays, curries with coconut milk, rum-based drinks garnished with flowers and paper parasols, and dishes named after the goddess Pele or King Kamehameha have no real connection with Hawaii.
Since the early 1990s, however, a genuine Pacific Rim cuisine emphasizing cross-cultural influences but using local ingredients has developed. This has benefited small farmers, giving them outlets for superb fruits and vegetables—Maui onions (comparable to Vidalias), Manoa lettuce, Kahuku watermelon, Waimanalo corn, Kona oranges (a Valencia competitor) and avocados, Puna papayas, and an amazing range of seaweeds and ferns.
Meanwhile, native Hawaiians have reversed their population decline—about one-fourth of Hawaii's resident population of one million at the start of the twenty-first century claims some Hawaiian ancestry. Who is a native? One definition is that a native Hawaiian is someone who eats palu, a condiment made of chopped bits of fish head and stomach mixed with tiny amounts of kukui (candlenut) relish, chili peppers, and garlic. Not many fraudulent Hawaiians are likely to come forward to win this credential.
Bibliography
Corum, Ann Kondo. Ethnic Foods of Hawai'i. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1983.
Costa-Pierce, Barry A. "Aquaculture in Ancient Hawaii." Bioscience 320 (1987): 320–331.
Daws, Gavan. Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1974.
Eyre, David L. By Wind, by Wave: An Introduction to Hawai'i's Natural History. Honolulu: Bess Press, 2000.
Grimshaw, Patricia. Paths of Duty: American Missionary Wives in Nineteenth-Century Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989.
Juvik, Sonia P., and James O. Juvik, eds. Atlas of Hawai'i. 3d ed. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1998.
Laudan, Rachel. The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996.
—Julia Vitullo-Martin
Geography:
Hawaii |
State located in the Pacific Ocean southwest of the mainland United States; consists mainly of a chain of eight islands, including Hawaii, the largest, and Oahu, location of Honolulu, the state's capital and largest city.
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Stats:
Hawaii |
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Wikipedia:
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Coordinates: 21°18′41″N 157°47′47″W / 21.31139°N 157.79639°W For geographic details or island details see the end of this page or Hawaiian Islands.
| State of Hawaii Mokuʻāina o Hawaiʻi |
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| Official language(s) | English, Hawaiian | ||||||||||||
| Demonym | Hawaiian (see notes)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Honolulu | ||||||||||||
| Largest city | Honolulu | ||||||||||||
| Area | Ranked 43rd in the US | ||||||||||||
| - Total | 10,931 sq mi (28,311 km2) |
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| - Width | n/a miles (n/a km) | ||||||||||||
| - Length | 1,522 miles (2,450 km) | ||||||||||||
| - % water | 41.2 | ||||||||||||
| - Latitude | 18° 55′ N to 28° 27′ N | ||||||||||||
| - Longitude | 154° 48′ W to 178° 22′ W | ||||||||||||
| Population | Ranked 42nd in the US | ||||||||||||
| - Total | 1,288,198 (2008 est.)[2] 1,211,537 (2000) |
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| - Density | 188.6/sq mi (72.83/km2) Ranked 13th in the US |
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| - Median income | $63,746 (5th) | ||||||||||||
| Elevation | |||||||||||||
| - Highest point | Mauna Kea[3] 13,796 ft (4,205 m) |
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| - Mean | 3,035 ft (925 m) | ||||||||||||
| - Lowest point | Pacific Ocean[3] 0 ft (0 m) |
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| Admission to Union | August 21, 1959 (50th) | ||||||||||||
| Governor | Linda Lingle (R) | ||||||||||||
| Lieutenant Governor | James Aiona (R) | ||||||||||||
| U.S. Senators | Daniel Inouye (D) Daniel Akaka (D) |
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| U.S. House delegation | 1: Neil Abercrombie (D) 2: Mazie Hirono (D) (list) |
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| Time zone | Hawaii: UTC-10 (no daylight saving time) |
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| Abbreviations | HI US-HI | ||||||||||||
| Website | http://www.hawaii.gov | ||||||||||||
Hawaii (
/həˈwaɪ.iː/ (help·info) or /həˈwaɪʔiː/ in English; Hawaiian: Mokuʻāina o Hawaiʻi) is the newest of the 50 U.S. states (August 21, 1959), and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It occupies most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. Hawaii's natural beauty, warm tropical climate, inviting waters and waves, and active volcanoes make it a popular destination for tourists, surfers, biologists, and volcanologists alike. Due to its mid-Pacific location, Hawaii has many North American and Asian influences along with a vibrant native culture. Hawaii has over a million permanent residents along with many visitors and U.S. military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu.
The state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400 km). At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight "main islands" are (from the northwest to southeast) Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi. The last is by far the largest and is often called "The Big Island" to avoid confusion with the state as a whole. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania.
In standard American English, Hawaii is generally pronounced /həˈwaɪ.iː/. In the Hawaiian language, it is generally pronounced [həˈwɐiʔi] or [həˈvɐiʔi]. Hawaii has produced one U.S. President, Barack Obama.
The Hawaiian language word Hawaiʻi derives from Proto-Polynesian *Sawaiki, with the reconstructed meaning "homeland";[4] cognate words are found in other Polynesian languages, including Māori (Hawaiki), Rarotongan (ʻAvaiki), and Samoan (Savaiʻi). (See also Hawaiki).
According to Pukui and Elbert,[5] "Elsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaiʻi or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the ancestral home, but in Hawaiʻi the name has no meaning."[6]
The main Hawaiian Islands are:
| Island | Nickname | Location | Area | Area Rank |
Highest Point | Elevation | Population (as of 2000) |
Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaiʻi[7] | The Big Island | 19°34′N 155°30′W / 19.567°N 155.5°W | 4,028.0 sq mi (10,432.5 km2) | 1st | Mauna Kea | 13,796 ft (4,205 m) | 148,677 | 37/sq mi (14/km²) |
| Maui[8] | The Valley Isle | 20°48′N 156°20′W / 20.8°N 156.333°W | 727.2 sq mi (1,883.4 km2) | 2nd | Haleakalā | 10,023 ft (3,055 m) | 117,644 | 162/sq mi (62/km²) |
| Kahoʻolawe[9] | The Target Isle | 20°33′N 156°36′W / 20.55°N 156.6°W | 44.6 sq mi (115.5 km2) | 8th | Puʻu Moaulanui | 1,483 ft (452 m) | 0 | 0 |
| Lānaʻi[10] | The Pineapple Isle | 20°50′N 156°56′W / 20.833°N 156.933°W | 140.5 sq mi (363.9 km2) | 6th | Lānaʻihale | 3,366 ft (1,026 m) | 3,193 | 23/sq. mi. (9/km²) |
| Molokaʻi[11] | The Friendly Isle | 21°08′N 157°02′W / 21.133°N 157.033°W | 260.0 sq mi (673.4 km2) | 5th | Kamakou | 4,961 ft (1,512 m) | 7,404 | 28/sq mi (11/km²) |
| Oʻahu[12] | The Gathering Place | 21°28′N 157°59′W / 21.467°N 157.983°W | 596.7 sq mi (1,545.4 km2) | 3rd | Mount Kaʻala | 4,003 ft (1,220 m) | 876,151 | 1,468/sq mi (567/km²) |
| Kauaʻi[13] | The Garden Isle | 22°05′N 159°30′W / 22.083°N 159.5°W | 552.3 sq mi (1,430.5 km2) | 4th | Kawaikini | 5,243 ft (1,598 m) | 58,303 | 106/sq mi (41/km²) |
| Niʻihau[14] | The Forbidden Isle | 21°54′N 160°10′W / 21.9°N 160.167°W | 69.5 sq mi (180.0 km2) | 7th | Mount Pānīʻau | 1,250 ft (381 m) | 160 | 2/sq mi (1/km²) |
An archipelago situated some 2,000 mi (3,200 km) southwest of the North American mainland,[15] Hawaii is the southernmost state of the United States and the second westernmost state after Alaska. Only Hawaii and Alaska do not share a border with another U.S. state.
Hawaii is the only state of the United States that:
Hawaii's tallest mountain, Mauna Kea stands at 13,796 ft (4,205 m)[16] but is taller than Mount Everest if followed to the base of the mountain—from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, rising about 33,500 ft (10,200 m).[17]
The eight main islands, Hawaiʻi, Maui, Oʻahu, Kahoʻolawe, Lanaʻi, Molokaʻi, Kauaʻi and Niʻihau) are accompanied by many others. Kaʻala is a small island near Niʻihau that is often overlooked. The Northwest Hawaiian Islands are a series of 9 small, older masses northwest of Kauaʻi that extend from Nihoa to Kure that are remnants of once much larger volcanic mountains. There are also something more than 100 small rocks and islets such as Molokini that are either volcanic, marine sedimentary or erosional in origin, totaling 130 or so across the archipelago.[18]
All Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanoes erupting from a sea floor magma source called a hotspot. As the tectonic plate beneath much of the Pacific Ocean moves northwesterly, the hot spot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. This explains why only volcanoes on the southern half of the Big Island, and Hawaii's newest volcano, Lōʻihi Seamount deep below the waters off its southern coast, are presently active.
The last volcanic eruption outside the Big Island occurred at Haleakalā on Maui before the late 18th century, though it could have been hundreds of years earlier.[19] In 1790, Kīlauea exploded with the deadliest eruption (of the modern era) known to have occurred in what is now the United States.[20] As many as 5,405 warriors and their families marching on Kīlauea were killed that eruption.[21]
Volcanic activity and subsequent erosion have created impressive geological features. The Big Island has the second highest point among the world's islands.[citation needed]
Slope instability of the volcanoes has generated damaging earthquakes with related tsunamis, particularly in 1868 and 1975.[22]
Because the islands' are so far from other land habitats, life before human activity is said to have arrived by the "3 W's": wind (carried through the air), waves (brought by ocean currents), and wings (birds, insects, and whatever they brought with them). This isolation, and the wide range of environments (extreme altitude, tropical climate) produced a vast array of endemic flora and fauna (see Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands). Hawaii has more endangered species and has lost a higher percentage of its endemic species than any other US state.[23]
Several areas in Hawaii are under the protection of the National Park Service.[24] Hawaii has two national parks: Haleakala National Park near Kula, on Maui, includes Haleakalā, the dormant volcano that formed east Maui; and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in the southeast region of the island of Hawaii, which includes the active volcano Kīlauea and its various rift zones.
There are three national historical parks: Kalaupapa National Historical Park in Kalaupapa, Molokaʻi, the site of a former Hansen's disease colony; Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park in Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawaiʻi; and Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, an ancient place of refuge. Other areas under the control of the National Park Service include Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail on the island of ʻand the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor on Oʻahu.
The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was proclaimed by President George W. Bush on June 15, 2006. The monument covers roughly 140,000 square miles (360,000 km2) of reefs, atolls and shallow and deep sea out to 50 miles (80 km) offshore in the Pacific Ocean, larger than all of America's National Parks combined.[25]
Hawaii's climate is typical for the tropics, although temperatures and humidity tend to be a bit less extreme due to near-constant trade winds from the east. Summer highs are usually in the upper 80s °F, (around 31°C) during the day and mid 70s, (around 24 °C) at night. Winter day temperatures are usually in the low to mid 80s, (around 28 °C) and (at low elevation) seldom dipping below the mid 60s (18 °C) at night. Snow, not usually associated with tropics, falls at 4,205 metres (13,800 ft) on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island in some winter months. Snow rarely falls on Haleakala. Mount Waiʻaleʻale, on Kauaʻi, has the second highest average annual rainfall on Earth, about 460 inches (11.7 m). Most of Hawaii has only two seasons: the dry season from May to October, and the wet season from October to April.[26]
Local climates vary considerably on each island, grossly divisible into windward (Koʻolau) and leeward (Kona) areas based upon location relative to the higher mountains. Windward sides face cloud cover. Hawaii therefore concentrates resorts on sunny leeward coasts.
| City | Jan. | Feb. | Mar. | Apr. | May | Jun. | Jul. | Aug. | Sep. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilo | 64°F 17.8°C | 64°F 17.8°C | 65°F 18.3°C | 66°F 18.9°C | 67°F 19.4°C | 68°F 20.0°C | 69°F 20.6°C | 69°F 20.6°C | 69°F 20.6°C | 68°F 20.0°C | 67°F 19.4°C | 65°F 18.3°C |
| 79°F 26.1°C | 79°F 26.1°C | 79°F 26.1°C | 79°F 26.1°C | 81°F 27.2°C | 82°F 27.8°C | 82°F 27.8°C | 83°F 28.3°C | 83°F 28.3°C | 83°F 28.3°C | 81°F 27.2°C | 80°F 26.7°C | |
| Honolulu | 66°F 18.9°C | 65°F 18.3°C | 67°F 19.4°C | 68°F 20.0°C | 70°F 21.1°C | 72°F 22.2°C | 74°F 23.3°C | 75°F 23.9°C | 74°F 23.3°C | 73°F 22.8°C | 71°F 21.7°C | 68°F 20.0°C |
| 80°F 26.7°C | 81°F 27.2°C | 82°F 27.8°C | 83°F 28.3°C | 85°F 29.4°C | 87°F 30.6°C | 88°F 31.1°C | 89°F 31.7°C | 89°F 31.7°C | 87°F 30.6°C | 84°F 28.9°C | 82°F 27.8°C | |
| Kahului | 63°F 17.2°C | 63°F 17.2°C | 65°F 18.3°C | 66°F 18.9°C | 67°F 19.4°C | 69°F 20.6°C | 71°F 21.7°C | 71°F 21.7°C | 70°F 21.1°C | 69°F 20.6°C | 68°F 20.0°C | 65°F 18.3°C |
| 80°F 26.7°C | 81°F 27.2°C | 82°F 27.8°C | 82°F 27.8°C | 84°F 28.9°C | 86°F 30.0°C | 87°F 30.6°C | 88°F 31.1°C | 88°F 31.1°C | 87°F 30.6°C | 84°F 28.9°C | 82°F 27.8°C | |
| Lihuʻe | 65°F 18.3°C | 66°F 18.9°C | 67°F 19.4°C | 69°F 20.6°C | 70°F 21.1°C | 73°F 22.8°C | 74°F 23.3°C | 74°F 23.3°C | 74°F 23.3°C | 73°F 22.8°C | 71°F 21.7°C | 68°F 20.0°C |
| 78°F 25.6°C | 78°F 26.6°C | 78°F 26.6°C | 79°F 26.1°C | 81°F 27.2°C | 83°F 28.3°C | 84°F 28.9°C | 85°F 29.4°C | 85°F 29.4°C | 84°F 28.9°C | 81°F 27.2°C | 79°F 26.1°C |
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| History of Hawaii |
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Hawaii is one of four states that were independent prior to becoming part of the United States, along with the Vermont Republic (1791), the Republic of Texas (1845), and the California Republic (1846), and one of two (Texas was the other) with formal diplomatic recognition internationally.[28] The Kingdom of Hawaii was sovereign from 1810 until 1893 when the monarchy was overthrown by resident American (and some European) businessmen. It was an independent republic from 1894 until 1898, when it was annexed by the United States as a territory, becoming a state in 1959.[29]
Hawaii was the target of a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Imperial Japan on December 7, 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor and other military and naval installations on Oʻahu, carried out by aircraft and by midget submarines brought the United States into World War II.
The earliest habitation supported by archaeological evidence dates to as early as 300 BCE, probably by Polynesian settlers from the Marquesas, followed by a second wave of migration from Raiatea and Bora Bora in the 11th century. The first recorded European contact with the islands was in 1778 by British explorer James Cook.
Polynesians from the Marquesas and possibly the Society Islands may have first populated the Hawaiian Islands between 300 and 500 CE. There is a great deal of debate regarding these dates.[30]
Some archaeologists and historians believe that an early settlement from the Marquesas and a later wave of immigrants from Tahiti, circa 1000 introduced a new line of high chiefs, the Kapu system, the practice of human sacrifice and the building of heiaus. This later immigration is detailed in folk tales about Paʻao. Other authors argue that there is no archaeological or linguistic evidence for a later influx of Tahitian settlers, and that Paʻao must be regarded as a myth. However, this seems very unlikely due to the fact that the Kapu system and the practice of human sacrifice were only common in Tahitian culture.
Regardless of the question of Paʻao and the history of the Royal Hawaiian lineage, historians agree that the history of the islands was marked by a slow but steady growth in population and the size of the Kapu chiefdoms, which grew to encompass whole islands. Local chiefs, called aliʻi, ruled their settlements and launched wars to extend their sway and defend their communities from predatory rivals. This was conducted in a system of alliances of various ranks similar to the tribal systems before Feudalism.
The 1778 arrival of British explorer James Cook is usually taken to be Hawaii's first contact with European explorers. Cook named the islands the Sandwich Islands in honor of one of his sponsors, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. He published the islands' geographical coordinates and reported the native name as Owyhee. This spelling lives on in Owyhee County, Idaho, after three Hawaiian members of a trapping party killed in that area.
Cook visited the islands twice. During his second visit in 1779, he attempted to abduct the King of the Big Island of Hawaii, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, and hold him as ransom for the return of a ship's boat that was taken by a minor chief and his men, a tactic that had worked for Cook in Tahiti and other islands.[31] Kalaniʻōpuʻu and his supporters fought back and Cook and four Marines were killed as Cook's party retreated to the beach and launched their boats.
After Cook's visit and the publication of several books relating his voyages, the Hawaiian islands received many European visitors: explorers, traders, and eventually whalers who found the islands a convenient harbor and source of supplies. Early British influence can be seen in the design of the local Flag of Hawaii which has the British Union Jack in the corner.
These visitors introduced diseases to the once-isolated islands and the Hawaiian population plunged precipitously[32] because native Hawaiians had no resistance to influenza, smallpox, and measles, among others. During the 1850s, measles killed a fifth of Hawaii's people.[33]
During the 1780s and 1790s chiefs were often fighting for power. After a series of battles that ended in 1795 and forced cession of the island of Kauaʻi in 1810, all inhabited islands were subjugated under a single ruler who became known as King Kamehameha the Great. He established the House of Kamehameha, a dynasty that ruled the kingdom until 1872.
Missionaries to Hawaii in the 1800s converted many Hawaiians to Christianity. Their influence led Kamehameha II to end many ancient practices, and Kamehameha III was the first Christian king. A famous and beloved missionary was Father Damien, a Catholic priest who helped bring order and hope to the isolated leper colony on the island of Molokaʻi. Other well-remembered missionaries included Protestant Hiram Bingham I and Joseph F. Smith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Other missionaries are not remembered as fondly. A number who came to Hawaii during this period took a more earthly view of the islands and their people, and over the years began to influence politics and society. Some abandoned their calling to seek commercial fortune. To this day, when a person who was born in Hawaii calls someone a "missionary," it is considered an insult. A famous phrase has it that "The Protestants came to the islands to do good, and they did right well" (a colloquialism meaning that they had prospered).[citation needed]
The death of the bachelor King Kamehameha V—who did not name an heir—resulted in the popular election of Lunalilo over Kalākaua. Lunalilo died after only one year and 25 days in office, also without naming an heir. Perhaps "the People's King" (Lunalilo) wanted the people to choose his successor as they had chosen him. 1874 featured a contested election by the legislature in 1874 between Kalākaua and Emma. This led to riots and the landing of U.S. and British troops to keep the peace, and governance passed to the House of Kalākaua.
In 1887, under the influence of Walter M. Gibson, a group of kingdom subjects, members of the Hawaiian government, American and European businessmen forced Kalākaua under threat of arms to sign the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii which stripped the king of administrative authority, eliminated voting rights for Asians and set minimum income and property requirements for American, European and native Hawaiian voters, essentially limiting the electorate to elite Americans, Europeans and those few native Hawaiians who had amassed wealth. Because the 1887 Constitution was signed under threat of violence, it is known as the "Bayonet Constitution". King Kalākaua, though nearly powerless, reigned until his death in 1891. His sister, Liliʻuokalani, succeeded him to the throne and ruled until her overthrow in 1893. Today Kalākaua is remembered as "the Merrie Monarch," inspiration for the annual Merrie Monarch Festival.
In 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani announced plans for a new constitution. On January 14, 1893, a group of mostly Euro-American business leaders and residents who opposed the Queen's plans formed a Committee of Safety to overthrow the Queen and seek annexation by the United States. United States Government Minister John L. Stevens, responding to a request from the Committee of Safety, summoned a company of uniformed U.S. Marines. As one historian noted, the presence of these troops effectively made it impossible for the monarchy to protect itself.[35]
In January 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani was replaced by a Provisional Government composed of members of the Committee of Safety. Controversy filled the following years as the queen tried to re-establish her throne. The administration of President Grover Cleveland commissioned the Blount Report, which concluded that the removal of Liliʻuokalani was illegal. The U.S. Government first demanded that Queen Liliʻuokalani be reinstated, but the Provisional Government refused. Congress responded to Cleveland's referral with another investigation, and submitted the Morgan Report by the U.S. Senate on February 26, 1894, which found all parties (including Minister Stevens) with the exception of the queen "not guilty" from any responsibility for the overthrow.[36] The accuracy and impartiality of both the Blount and Morgan reports has been questioned by partisans on both sides of the historical debate over the events of 1893.[35][37][38][39]
In 1993, a joint Apology Resolution regarding the overthrow was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton, apologizing for the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.[39] It is the first time in American history that the United States government has apologized for overthrowing the legitimate government of a sovereign nation.
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The Provisional Government of Hawaii ended on July 4, 1894, replaced by the Republic of Hawaii.
After William McKinley won the presidential election in 1896, Hawaii's annexation to the U.S. was again discussed. The previous president, Grover Cleveland, was a friend of Queen Liliʻuokalani. McKinley was open to persuasion by U.S. expansionists and by annexationists from Hawaii. He met with a committee of annexationists from Hawaii, Lorrin Thurston, Francis Hatch and William Kinney. After negotiations, in June 1897, McKinley agreed to a treaty of annexation with these representatives of the Republic of Hawaii.[40] The president then submitted the treaty to the U.S. Senate for approval.
The Newlands Resolution in Congress annexed the Republic to the United States and it became the Territory of Hawaii. Despite some opposition in the islands, the Newlands Resolution was passed by the House June 15, 1898, by a vote of 209 to 91, and by the Senate on July 6, 1898, by a vote of 42 to 21. Its legality continues to be questioned because it was a United States Government resolution, not a treaty of cession or conquest as is required by international law.[citation needed] Both houses of the American Congress carried the measure with two-thirds majorities.
In 1900, Hawaii was granted self-governance and retained ʻIolani Palace as the territorial capitol building. Despite several attempts to become a state, Hawaii remained a territory for sixty years. Plantation owners and key capitalists, who maintained control through financial institutions, or "factors," known as the Big Five, found territorial status convenient, enabling them to continue importing cheap foreign labor; such immigration was prohibited in various states.
In the 1950s the power of the plantation owners was finally broken in a non-violent revolution by descendants of immigrant laborers. Because they were born in a U.S. territory, they were legal U.S. citizens. The Hawaii Republican Party, strongly supported by plantation owners, was voted out of office. The Democratic Party of Hawaii dominated politics for 40 years. Expecting to gain full voting rights, Hawaii's residents actively campaigned for statehood.
In March 1959, Congress passed the Hawaii Admission Act and U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into law. (The act excluded Palmyra Atoll, part of the Kingdom and Territory of Hawaii, from the new state.) On June 27 of that year, a referendum asked residents of Hawaii to vote on the statehood bill. Hawaii voted 17 to 1 to accept. There has been criticism, however, of the Statehood plebiscite because the only choices were to accept the Act or to remain a territory, without the option of independence or addressing the legality of the overthrow.[41][42][43] Despite the criticism, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization later removed Hawaii from the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
After statehood, Hawaii quickly modernized via construction and rapidly growing tourism economy. Later, state programs promoted Hawaiian culture. The Hawaii State Constitutional Convention of 1978 incorporated programs such as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to promote indigenous language and culture.
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1900 | 154,001 |
|
|
| 1910 | 191,874 | 24.6% | |
| 1920 | 255,881 | 33.4% | |
| 1930 | 368,300 | 43.9% | |
| 1940 | 422,770 | 14.8% | |
| 1950 | 499,794 | 18.2% | |
| 1960 | 632,772 | 26.6% | |
| 1970 | 769,913 | 21.7% | |
| 1980 | 964,691 | 25.3% | |
| 1990 | 1,108,229 | 14.9% | |
| 2000 | 1,211,537 | 9.3% | |
| Est. 2008[2] | 1,288,198 | 6.3% | |
The movement of the Hawaiian royal family from the Big Island to Maui, and subsequently to Oʻahu, explains why population centers exist where they do today. Kamehameha III chose the largest city, Honolulu, as his capital because of its natural harbor, the present-day Honolulu Harbor.
Now the state capital, Honolulu is located along the southeast coast of Oʻahu. The previous capital was Lahaina, Maui. Some major towns are Hilo, Kāneʻohe, Kailua, Pearl City, Waipahu, Kahului, Kailua-Kona, Kīhei, and Līhuʻe.
As of 2005, Hawaii has an estimated population of 1,275,194, an increase of 13,070, or 1.0%, from the prior year and an increase of 63,657, or 5.3%, since 2000. This includes a natural increase of 48,111 people (that is 96,028 births minus 47,917 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 16,956 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 30,068 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 13,112 people. The center of population of Hawaii is located between the two islands of Oʻahu and Molokaʻi.[44]
Hawaii has a de facto population of over 1.3 million due to large military and tourist populations. Oʻahu, nicknamed "The Gathering Place", is the most populous island (and has the highest population density), with a resident population of just under one million in 597 square miles (1,546 km2), about 1,650 people per square mile (for comparison, New Jersey, which has 8,717,925 people in 7,417 square miles (19,210 km2) is the most-densely populated state with 1,134 people per square mile.)[45] Hawaii's 1,275,194 people, spread over 6,423 square miles (16,640 km2) (including many unpopulated islands) results in an average population density of 188.6 persons per square mile,[46] which makes Hawaii less densely populated than states like Ohio and Illinois.[47]
The average projected lifespan of those born in Hawaii in 2000 was 79.8 years (77.1 years if male, 82.5 if female), longer than any other state.[48]
U.S. military personnel make up approximately 1.3% of the population in the islands.
According to the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, White Americans made up 27.1% of Hawaii's population; 24.8% were non-Hispanic whites. Blacks or African Americans made up 2.4% (2.3% non-Hispanic). American Indians made up 0.2% ( 0.1% non-Hispanic). Asian Americans made up 38.5% (37.6% non-Hispanic). Pacific Islander Americans made up 9.0% (8.6% non-Hispanic). Individuals from some other race made up 1.4% (0.1% non-Hispanic). Multiracial Americans made up 21.4% (17.8% non-Hispanic). Hispanics and Latinos made up 8.7%.[49]
Hawaii has the highest percentage of Asian Americans, mainly 175,000 Filipino Americans and 161,000 Japanese Americans. In addition, there are roughly 53,000 Chinese Americans and 40,000 Korean Americans. Indigenous Hawaiians number 70,000 (or 5.5%). Over 110,000 Hispanic and Latino Americans make Hawaii their home. Mexicans number 37,000; Puerto Ricans number 35,000. Also, Hawaii has the multiracial highest percentage, roughly 21%. Eurasian Americans are a prominent mixed-race group; there are roughly 61,000 Eurasian Americans in Hawaii.[49]
The five largest European ancestries in Hawaii are German (7.4%), Irish (5.2%), English (4.6%), Portuguese (4.3%), and Italian (2.7%).
82.2% of Hawaii's residents were born in the United States. Roughly 75.0% of the foreign-born residents hail from Asia.[49]
Hawaii is a majority-minority state. Non-Hispanic whites do not form a majority. Hawaii was the second majority-minority state. Both Hawaii and New Mexico have been majority-minority since the early 20th century.
| Ancestry | Percentage | Main article: |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | (12.6%) | See Japanese American |
| Polynesian | (9.0%) | See Native Hawaiians |
| Filipino | (13.6%) | See Filipino American |
| German | (7.4%) | See German American |
| Chinese | (4.1%) | See Chinese American |
| Irish | (5.2%) | See Irish American |
| English | (4.6%) | See English American |
| Portuguese | (4.3%) | See Portuguese American |
| Puerto Rican | (2.8%) | See Puerto Rican |
| Korean | (3.1%) | See Korean American |
| African | (2.4%) | See African American |
| Italian | (2.7%) | See Italian American |
| Mexican | (2.9%) | See Mexican American |
| French | (1.7%) | See French American |
| Scottish | (1.2%) | See Scottish American |
The largest ancestry groups in Hawaii as of 2008 are in the table at right. The third group of foreigners to arrive upon Hawaii's shores, after those from Polynesia and Europe, was from Han China. Chinese workers on Western trading ships settled in Hawaii starting in 1789. In 1820 the first American missionaries came to preach Christianity and teach the Hawaiians Western ways. They were instrumental in convincing the Hawaiian Chiefs to end human sacrifice.
A large proportion of Hawaii's population is now of Asian ancestry (especially Chinese, Japanese and Filipino.) Many are descendants of those immigrants brought to work on the sugar plantations in the 1850s and after. The first 153 Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii on June 19, 1868. They were not "legally" approved by the Japanese government because the contract was between a broker and the Tokugawa shogunate, by then replaced by the Meiji Restoration. The first Japanese government-approved immigrants arrived on February 9, 1885 after Kalākaua's petition to Emperor Meiji when Kalākaua visited Japan in 1881.
Almost 13,000 Portuguese had come by 1899. They too worked on the sugar plantations. By October 17, 1901, 5,000 Puerto Ricans had made new homes on the four islands. Currently, there are over 30,000 Puerto Rican or Hawaiian-Puerto Rican and roughly 55,000 Hawaiian-Portuguese residents.
The State of Hawaii has two official languages recognized in its 1978 constitution: English and Hawaiian. Article XV, Section 4, specifies that "Hawaiian shall be required for public acts and transactions only as provided by law" [italic added]. Hawaii Creole English (locally referred to as 'Pidgin') is the native dialect of many born-and-raised residents and is a second dialect for many other residents.
As of the 2000 Census, 73.44% of Hawaii residents age 5 and older speak only English at home.[50]
According to the 2008 American Community Survey, 74.6% of Hawaii's residents over the age of five speak only English at home.[49]
In addition, 2.6% of the state's residents speak Spanish; 1.6% speak other Indo-European languages; 21.0% speak an Asian language; and 0.2% speak a different language at home.[49]
After English, other popular languages are Tagalog (most are bilingual in Filipino language), Japanese, and Ilokano. Significant European immigrants and descendants also speak their native languages; the most numerous are Spanish, German, Portuguese and French.
Tagalog speakers make up 5.37% (which includes non-native speakers of Filipino language, the national co-official Tagalog-based language), followed by Japanese at 4.96%, Ilokano at 4.05%, Chinese at 1.92%, Hawaiian at 1.68%, Spanish at 1.66%, Korean at 1.61%, and Samoan at 1.01%.[50]
The Hawaiian language is a member of the Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family. It began to develop around 1000 A.D., when Marquesans or Tahitians colonized Hawaii. Those Polynesians remained in the islands, thereby becoming the Hawaiian people. Their language developed into the Hawaiian language. Before the arrival of Captain James Cook, the Hawaiian language had no written form. That form was developed mainly by American Protestant missionaries during 1820–1826. They assigned letters from the Latin alphabet that corresponded to the Hawaiian sounds.
Interest in Hawaiian increased significantly in the late 20th century. With the help of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, specially designated immersion schools were established where all subjects would be taught in Hawaiian. Also, the University of Hawaii developed a Hawaiian language graduate studies program. Municipal codes were altered to favor Hawaiian place and street names for new civic developments.
Hawaiian distinguishes between long and short vowels. In modern practice, vowel length is indicated with a macron (kahakō). Also, Hawaiian uses the glottal stop as a consonant (ʻokina). It is written as a symbol similar to the apostrophe or opening single quote.
Hawaiian-language newspapers published from 1834–1948 and traditional native speakers of Hawaiian generally omit the marks in their own writing. The ʻokina and kahakō are intended to help non-native speakers.
Some locals speak Hawaii Creole English (HCE), often called "pidgin". The lexicon of HCE derives mainly from English but also has words from Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Ilocano and Tagalog from the Philippines and Portuguese. During the 19th century, the increase in immigration (mainly from China, Japan, Portugal—and especially from the Azores archipelago—and Spain), caused a variant of English to develop. By the early 20th century pidgin speakers had children who acquired the pidgin as their first language. HCE speakers use some Hawaiian words without those words being considered archaic. Most place names are retained from Hawaiian, as are some names for plants or animals. For example, tuna fish are often called ahi.
HCE speakers have modified the meanings of certain English words. For example, "aunty" and "uncle" refer to any adult who is a friend, or to show respect for an elder. Simplified grammar is used. For example, instead of "It is hot today, isn't it?", an HCE speaker would say simply "stay hot, eh?" When a word does not come to mind quickly, the term "da kine" refers to any word you can't think of. Through the surfing boom in Hawaii, HCE has influenced surfer slang. Some HCE expressions, such as brah and da kine, have found their way to other places.
A somewhat divisive political issue arose when the constitution of the State of Hawaii added Hawaiian as a second official state language: the exact spelling of the state's name. In the Hawaii Admission Act that granted Hawaiian statehood, the federal government recognized Hawaii to be the official state name. Official government publications,[citation needed] as well as department and office titles,[citation needed] use the traditional Hawaiian spelling, with no symbols for glottal stops or vowel length. In contrast, some private entities, including a local newspaper, do use such symbols.
The title of the state constitution is "The Constitution of the State of Hawaii". In Article XV, Section 1 uses "The State of Hawaii", Section 2 "the island of Oahu", Section 3 "The Hawaiian flag", and Section 5 specifies the state motto as "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono". Since these documents predate the modern use of the ʻokina and the kahakō in Hawaiian orthography, the diacritcs were not used.
The nuances in the Hawaiian language debate are often not obvious or well-appreciated among English speakers outside Hawaii[citation needed]. The issue has often been a source of friction in situations where correct naming conventions are mandated[citation needed], as people[who?] frequently disagree over which spelling is correct or incorrect, and where it is correctly or incorrectly applied.
Religion in Hawaii as of 2000 was distributed as follows:[51][52][53]
"Other" includes Bahá'í Faith, Confucianism, Daoism, the Hawaiian religion, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Shintoism, Scientology, Wicca, Zoroastrianism, and other religions.
This data was provided by religious establishments, so “Unaffiliated” includes agnostics, atheists, humanists, the Irreligious, and Secularists (non-practicing).
A 2009 Gallup poll found religion was distributed this way, excluding those of other non-Christian religions and those who had "no opinion":[54]
A special case is Hoʻoponopono, an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness, combined with prayer. It is both philosophy and way of life. Traditionally hoʻoponopono is practiced by healing priests or kahuna lapaʻau among family members of a person who is physically ill.
The history of Hawaii can be traced through a succession of dominant industries: sandalwood,[55] whaling,[56] sugarcane (see Sugar plantations in Hawaii), pineapple, military, tourism, and education. Since statehood in 1959, tourism has been the largest industry, contributing 24.3% of the Gross State Product (GSP) in 1997, despite efforts to diversify. The gross output for the state in 2003 was US$47 billion; per capita income for Hawaii residents was US$30,441.
Hawaiian exports include food and apparel. These industries play a small role in the Hawaiian economy, however, due to the considerable shipping distance to viable markets, such as the West Coast of the United States. Food exports include coffee (see coffee production in Hawaii), macadamia nuts, pineapple, livestock, and sugarcane. Agricultural sales for 2002, according to the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service, were US$370.9 million from diversified agriculture, US$100.6 million from pineapple, and US$64.3 million from sugarcane.
Hawaii has a relatively high state tax burden. In 2003, Hawaii residents had the highest state tax per capita at US$2,838. This is partly because education, health care and social services are all provided directly by the state, as opposed to local government in all other states.
Millions of tourists contribute to the tax take by paying the general excise tax and hotel room tax; thus not all taxes come directly from residents. Business leaders, however, consider the state's tax burden too high, contributing to both higher prices and the perception of an unfriendly business climate.[57] See the list of businesses in Hawaii for more on commerce.
Hawaii was one of the few states to control gasoline prices through a Gas Cap Law. Since oil company profits in Hawaii compared to the mainland U.S. were under scrutiny, the law tied local gasoline prices to those of the mainland. It took effect in September 2005 amid price fluctuations caused by Hurricane Katrina, but was suspended in April 2006.
The aboriginal culture of Hawaii is Polynesian. Hawaii represents the northernmost extension of the vast Polynesian triangle of the south and central Pacific Ocean. While traditional Hawaiian culture remains only as vestiges in modern Hawaiian society, there are reenactments of the ceremonies and traditions throughout the islands. Some of these cultural influences are strong enough to affect the United States at large, including the popularity (in greatly modified form) of luaus and hula.
Hawaii is home to numerous cultural events. The annual Merrie Monarch Festival is an international Hula competition.[58] The state is also home to the Hawaii International Film Festival, the premier film festival for pacific rim cinema.[59] Honolulu is also home to the state's long running GLBT film festival, the Rainbow Film Festival.[60][61]
Hawaii's health care system insures over 95% of residents. Under the state's plan, businesses are required to provide insurance to employees who work more than twenty hours per week. Heavy regulation of insurance companies helps keep the cost to employers down. Due in part to heavy emphasis on preventive care, Hawaiians require hospital treatment less frequently than the rest of the United States, while total health care expenses (measured as a percentage of state GDP) are substantially lower. Given these achievements, proponents of universal health care elsewhere in the U.S. sometimes use Hawaii as a model for proposed federal and state health care plans. Critics, however, claim that Hawaii's success is due at least in part to its mild climate and to its isolated status and an economy based on tourism: businesses unhappy with paying the plan's premiums find it difficult to relocate elsewhere.[62]
Hawaii has the U.S.' only school system that is unified statewide. Policy decisions are made by the fourteen-member state Board of Education. The Board sets policy and hires the superintendent of schools, who oversees the state Department of Education. The Department of Education is divided into seven districts, four on Oʻahu and one for each of the three other counties.
The main rationale for centralization is to combat inequalities between highly populated Oʻahu and the more rural Neighbor Islands, and between lower-income and more affluent areas. In most of the United States, schools are funded from local property taxes. Republican Governor Linda Lingle proposed replacing the statewide board with seven elected district boards. The Democratic-controlled state legislature rejected her proposal, favoring expansion of decision-making power to the schools and giving them discretion over budgeting.
Educators struggle with children of non-native-English-speaking immigrants, whose cultures are different from those of the mainland (where most course materials and testing standards originate).
Public elementary, middle, and high school test scores in Hawaii are below national averages on tests mandated under the No Child Left Behind Act. Some of the gap has been attributed to the Hawaii Board of Education's requirement that all eligible students take these tests and report all student test scores. Other states, for example, Texas and Michigan do not. Results reported in August, 2005, indicate that of 282 schools across the state, 185 (2/3) failed to reach federal minimum performance standards in math and reading.[63]
On the other hand, the ACT college placement tests show that in 2005, seniors scored slightly above the national average (21.9 compared with 20.9).[64] In the widely accepted SAT examinations, Hawaii's college-bound seniors tend to score below the national average in all categories except mathematics.
Hawaii educates more students in independent institutions of secondary education than any other state in the United States. It has four of the largest independent schools: ʻIolani School, Kamehameha Schools, Mid-Pacific Institute, and Punahou School. The second Buddhist high school in the United States, and first Buddhist high school in Hawaii, Pacific Buddhist Academy, was founded in 2003. The first native controlled public charter school was the Kanu O Ka Aina New Century Charter School.
Independent and charter schools can select their students, while the regular public schools must take all students in their district. The Kamehameha Schools are the only schools in the United States that openly grant admission to students based on ancestry, and the wealthiest schools in the United States, if not the world, having over nine billion US dollars in estate assets. In 2005, Kamehameha enrolled 5,398 students, 8.4% of the Native Hawaiian children in the state.[65]
Graduates of secondary schools in Hawaii often enter directly into the work force. Some attend colleges and universities on the mainland or other countries, and the rest attend an institution of higher learning in Hawaii.
The largest is the University of Hawaii System. It consists of: the research university at Mānoa; two comprehensive campuses Hilo and West Oʻahu; and seven Community Colleges. Private universities include Brigham Young University–Hawaii, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Hawaii Pacific University, or University of the Nations. The Saint Stephen Diocesan Center is a seminary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
The state government of Hawaii is modeled after the federal government with adaptations originating from the kingdom era of Hawaiian history. As codified in the Constitution of Hawaii, there are three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial.
The executive branch is led by the Governor of Hawaii assisted by the Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, both elected on the same ticket. The governor, in residence at the grounds of Washington Place, is the only public official elected for the state government in a statewide race; all others are appointed by the governor. The lieutenant governor acts as the Secretary of State. The governor and lieutenant governor oversee twenty agencies and departments from offices in the State Capitol.
The legislative branch consists of the Hawaii State Legislature—twenty-five members of the Hawaii Senate led by the President of the Senate and fifty-one members of the Hawaii House of Representatives led by the Speaker of the House. They also govern from the State Capitol. The judicial branch is led by the highest state court, the Hawaii State Supreme Court, which uses Aliʻiōlani Hale as its chambers. Lower courts are organized as the Hawaii State Judiciary.
Unique to Hawaii is the lack of municipal governments. There are no incorporated cities in the state. All local governments are administered at the county level. Honolulu County governs the entire island of Oahu. County executives are the Mayor of Hawaii, Mayor of Honolulu, Mayor of Kauaʻi and Mayor of Maui, all elected in nonpartisan races.
The state is represented in the United States Congress by a delegation of four members. They are the senior and junior United States Senators, and the representative of the 1st and 2nd congressional districts.
All federal officers in Hawaii administer their duties from the Prince Kūhiō Federal Building near the Aloha Tower and Honolulu Harbor, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service and the United States Secret Service. The building is the site of the federal courts and the offices of the United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, principal police officer of the Department of Justice in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
Hawaii residents have been appointed to administer other agencies and departments of the federal government by the President of the United States.
| Year | Republican | Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 26.58% 120,446 | 71.85% 325,588 |
| 2004 | 45.26% 194,191 | 54.01% 231,708 |
| 2000 | 37.46% 137,845 | 55.79% 205,286 |
| 1996 | 31.64% 113,943 | 56.93% 205,012 |
| 1992 | 36.70% 136,822 | 48.09% 179,310 |
| 1988 | 44.75% 158,625 | 54.27% 192,364 |
| 1984 | 55.10% 185,050 | 43.82% 147,154 |
| 1980 | 42.90% 130,112 | 44.80% 135,879 |
| 1976 | 48.06% 140,003 | 50.59% 147,375 |
| 1972 | 62.48% 168,865 | 37.52% 101,409 |
| 1968 | 38.70% 91,425 | 59.83% 141,324 |
| 1964 | 21.24% 44,022 | 78.76% 163,249 |
| 1960 | 49.97% 92,295 | 50.03% 92,410 |
Hawaii supported Democrats in 10 of the last 12 presidential elections. The exceptions were 1972 and 1984. In 2004, John Kerry won the state's 4 electoral votes by a margin of 9 percentage points with 54% of the vote. Every county supported the Democratic candidate. In 1964, favorite son candidate, Senator Hiram Fong of Hawaii sought the Republican presidential nomination while Patsy Mink ran in the Oregon primary in 1972.
Honolulu native Barack Obama, serving as United States Senator from Illinois, was elected President of the United States on November 4, 2008. Obama had won the Hawaiian Democratic Caucus on February 19, 2008 with 76% of the vote. He was the third Hawaii-born candidate to seek the nomination of a major party and the first presidential nominee from Hawaii.
A system of state highways encircles each main island. Only Oʻahu has federal highways, and is the only area outside the contiguous 48 states to have signed Interstate freeways. Travel can be slow due to narrow winding roads, and congested in cities. Each major island has a public bus system.
Commercial airlines provide most mainland and inter-island travel. Hawaiian Airlines, Mokulele Airlines, and go! use jets between the larger airports in Honolulu, Līhuʻe, Kahului, Kona, and Hilo, while Island Air and Pacific Wings serve smaller airports. These airlines also provide air freight service between the islands.
Norwegian Cruise Lines provides passenger cruise service between the islands. The Hawaii Superferry planned to operate between Oʻahu and other major islands. Legal issues over environmental impact statements and protests temporarily delayed it. Service to Maui started in December 2007, but shut down in March 2009.[66]
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Translations:
Hawaii |
Português (Portuguese)
n. - Hawaii
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
夏威夷州
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 夏威夷州
한국어 (Korean)
하와이 (제도) (1959년 미국 50번째의 주로 승격; 주도는 Honolulu), 하와이 섬 (하와이 제도 중 최대의 섬)
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Hawaii is not a state of mind, but a state of grace.
- Paul Theroux
