Ancient Hawaii
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Ancient Hawai‘i refers to the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i by Kamehameha the Great in 1810.
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Polynesian Triangle
To understand Hawaiian native history and culture, one must understand the greater Polynesian phenomenon. Hawai‘i is the apex of the Polynesian Triangle, a region of the Pacific Ocean anchored by three island groups: Hawai‘i, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Aotearoa (New Zealand). The many island cultures within the Polynesian Triangle share a similar proto-Malayo-Polynesian language used in Southeast Asia 5000 years ago. Polynesians also share identical cultural traditions, arts, religion, sciences. Anthropologists believe that all Polynesians are related to a single proto-culture established in the South Pacific by migrant Malayo people.
The eight main Polynesian cultures are from:
Voyage to Hawai‘i nei
Polynesian seafarers were skilled ocean navigators and astronomers. At a time when Western boats rarely went out of sight of land, they often traveled long distances on fleets of carefully crafted canoes that could withstand the harsh Pacific weather.
It is believed that the first Polynesians arrived in Hawai‘i in the 7th century from Tahiti and the Marquesas. They brought along with them clothing, plants and livestock and established settlements along the coasts and larger valleys. They grew kalo (taro), mai‘a (banana), niu (coconut), ulu (breadfruit) as soon as they arrived, and built hale (homes) and heiau (temples).
Village
A traditional village of ancient Hawai‘i included several structures. Listed in order of importance:
- Heiau, temple to the gods. They were built on high-rising stone terraces and adorned with wood and stone carved idols. A source of great mana or divine power, the heiau was restricted to ali‘i, the king and kahuna, or priests.
- Hale Ali‘i, the house of the chief. It was used as a residence for the high chief and meeting house of the lesser chiefs. It was always built on a raised stone foundation to represent high social standing. Kahili, or feather standards, were placed outside to signify royalty. Women and children were banned from entering.
- Hale Pahu, the house of the sacred hula instruments. It held the pahu drums. It was treated as a religious space as hula was a religious activity in honor of the goddess Laka.
- Hale Papa‘a, the house of royal storage. It was built to store royal implements including fabrics, prized nets and lines, clubs, spears and other weapons.
- Hale Ulana, the house of the weaver. It was the house where craftswomen would gather each day to manufacture the village baskets, fans, mats and other implements from dried pandanus leaves called lauhala.
- Hale Mua, the men's eating house. It was considered a sacred place because it was used to carve stone idols of aumakua or ancestral gods. Men and women could not eat with each other for fear that men were vulnerable while eating to have their mana, or divine spirit, stolen by women. Women ate at their own separate eating house called the hale aina.
- Hale Wa‘a, the house of the canoe. It was built along the beaches as a shelter for their fishing vessels. Hawaiians also stored koa or mahogany logs used to craft the canoes.
- Hale Lawai‘a, the house of fishing. It was built along the beaches as a shelter for their fishing nets and lines. Nets and lines were made by a tough rope fashioned from woven coconut husks. Fish hooks were made of human, pig or dog bone. Implements found in the hale lawai‘a were some of the most prized posessions of the entire village.
- Hale Noho, the living house. It was built as sleeping and living quarters for the Hawaiian family unit.
- Imu, the communal stone pit. Dug in the ground, it was used to cook the entire village's food including pua‘a or pork. Only men cooked using the imu.
Caste System
Ancient Hawai‘i was a caste society. People were born into specific social classes and did not have the ability to move into another, except in the case of falling into outcast status. Each class had assigned duties and responsibilities to the greater society. The classes in order of social status were:
- Ali‘i, the royal class. This class consisted of the high and lesser chiefs of the realms. They governed with divine power, power from mana.
- Kahuna, the priestly class. This class consisted of the priesthood that tended the temples and conducted religious activities in the villages. Scientists and exceptional navigators also were deemed to have kahuna status.
- Maka‘ainana, the commoner class. This class consisted of the farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and their families. In a feudal society, they were charged with laboring for the overall economy.
- Outcast, the slave class. These were prisoners captured in times of feudal war and forced to serve the ali‘i.
The caste fueled a feudal system relative to feudal systems found in Europe circa A.D. 1000. Ali‘i gave lesser ali‘i parcels of land who would in turn govern over them. The lesser ali‘i divided the land into plots to be farmed and cultivated by maka‘ainana families. Harvests were returned to the lesser ali‘i, each taking a portion before being sent to the supreme ali‘i.
Kapu System
Religion held ancient Hawaiian society together, affecting habits, lifestyles, work methods, social policy and law. The legal system was based on religious kapu, or taboos. There was a correct way to live, to worship, to eat, even to have sex. Examples of kapu included the provision that men and women could not eat together. Fishing was limited to specified seasons of the year. The shadow of the ali‘i must not be touched as it was stealing his mana. Violating kapu even by accident was punishable by death.
Kapu was derived from traditions and beliefs from Hawaiian worship of gods, demigods and ancestral mana. The forces of nature were personified as the main gods of Ku (God of War), Kane (God of Light and Life), Lono (God of Harvest and Rebirth). Famous lesser gods include Pele (Goddess of Fire) and her sister Hi‘iaka (Goddess of Water). In a famous creation story, the demigod Maui fished the islands of Hawai‘i from the sea after a little mistake he made on a fishing trip. From Haleakalā, Maui ensnared the sun in another story, forcing him to slow down so there was equal periods of darkness and light each day.
Subsistence Economy
Ancient Hawaiian economy became complex over time. People began to specialize in specific skills. Generations of families became committed to certain careers: roof thatchers, house builders, stone grinders, bird catchers who would make the feather cloaks of the ali‘i, canoe builders. Soon, entire islands began to specialize in certain skilled trades. Oahu became the chief kapa (tapa bark cloth) manufacturer. Maui became the chief canoe manufacturer. The island of Hawai‘i exchanged bales of dried fish.
European Discovery
Discovery of the Hawaiian islands marked the official end of the ancient Hawai'i period and beginning of Hawai‘i's modern era. In 1778, British Captain James Cook landed on Kaua‘i and explored the other islands in time. When he first arrived, the natives believed Cook was their god Lono. Cook's mast and sails coincidentally formed the cross that symbolized Lono in their religious rituals. Lono was God of Light which explained Cook's white skin. Captain Cook was eventually killed during a violent confrontation between natives and Cook's sailors. The sailors accused the natives of stealing a boat. Cook's body was ceremonially cremated and his bones buried in a sacred place. The natives still believed Cook was a deity and his bones had great mana.