Kamehameha I arttoday.com |
Captain James Cook, the British sea captain who first reported the discovery of Hawaii in Europe, was surprised to find a highly organized Hawaiian culture ruled by a system of Hawaiian princes and kings that reminded him of England's royal family.
Hawaii's royal leaders ruled Hawaii's hearts and minds, bodies and souls through Hawaii's temples and chiefs. But in just over a hundred years, Hawaii's royal families were replaced with a American-style government by a coup.
The legacy of Hawaii's royalty is everywhere in Hawaii, and every visitor should be respectful of old Hawaii's rich cultural heritage. The reminders are in the place names of just about every road, bay, beach or mountain, and Hawaii's past still thrives in the hearts and minds of the people of Hawaii, in both kama`aina (native born) and malihini (newcomers).
Read the stories of Hawaii before you arrive in Honolulu. Come and enjoy Hawaii's sun and fun, but don't get left out of the stories and treasures of the ali`i, Pele, Maui, and Kamehameha.
King Kamehameha I
King Kamehameha I ruled Hawaii when Europeans first came to Hawaii in 1778. Captain Cook arrived during the peaceful makahiki season and dubbed them "the Sandwich Islands," which thankfully didn't stick. The islanders thought the white men in their tall rigged sailing vessels were gods and welcomed them.
Cook returned the next year, but this time there was trouble. A chief took a boat from one of Cook's ships, and Cook went ashore with a party of sailors to seize the chief until the boat was returned. There was a fight, and Cook fell, cutting his head and bleeding.
The islanders were enraged that Cook had deceived them into thinking he was a god and they killed him, but surprisingly, Cook's deception did not end Hawaii's friendship with the British.
By 1790 Kamehameha had united all of Hawaii under his rule and he lived with his favorite wife Kaahumanu. During this time Hawaii was opened up to more and more western influence. Kamehameha sold sea otter fur and sandlewood to the Europeans, and the first pineapples arrived from Spain. Foreigners traded in Hawaii, but Kamehameha didn't allow them to influence life or politics in Hawaii. Then Kamehameha died in 1819.
