History of Hawaii, pt. 1

source material:  DK Eyewitness Travel

The Hawaiian islands were first discovered by the Polynesians of the Marquesas.  Excavations by archaeologists have dated their first existence to AD 300.
The early Hawaiians established an advanced, spiritual culture and altered the isolated landscape using their farming and stone-building techniques.
The land was divided equally and large irrigation systems were built to keep the land pliable.
Life centered on the 'ohana (extended family) of 250 to 300 people, in which everyone frrom keiki (child) to kupuna (grandparent) was vital to the whole.  Cultural values included aloha 'aina (love of land), laulima (cooperation), and pa'ahana (hard work).

During the 12th and 13th centuries, new waves of Polynesian settlers came from the Society Islands (Tahiti).  According to oral tradition, the invasions were bloody and cruel.  Casting themselves as reformers of a weakened Polynesian race, they established a rigid class system with themselves as ali'i (chiefs) who regulated the lives of the maka'ainana (commoners) through the harshly enforced kapu system.  Derived from the Tahitian term "taboo," kapu designated any activity that was forbidden because it interfered with the apportionment of mana (supernatural power).  Women, for example, were forbidden to eat with men.  Commoners could not touch the clothes or shadows of the nobility, or lift their heads higher than the chiefs'.  Punishment for infractions was quick and fatal, and the ali'i rededicated temples as luakini heaiu, for human sacrifice.

British sea captain and explorer James Cook is credited with the "discovery" of Hawai'i in 1778, although convincing evidence suggests that Spanish ships preceded him by more than 200 years.
Spaniards, led by Portuguese navigator Joao Gaetano, stumbled onto islands they named the Isla de Mesa group.  The seamen were ordered not to mention the group so the British wouldn't find out about them.  However, in 1742 the British seized a Spanish galleon in the Pacific, and among the treasures was a chart showing the Isla de Mesa group.
Cook must have had a copy of that chart because the timing of his arrival at Hawai'i Island's Kealakekua Bay constitutes one of history's oddest ironies.  His ships the Resolution and Discovery appeared at the height of the annual makahiki festival honoring the Hawaiian god of agriculture, Lono.  The British ships bore a startling resemblance to Hawaiian prophecies that said one day Lono would return on a floating island.  Much to Cook's surprise, the Hawaiians greeted him with reverence beyond anything he had experienced in the Pacific.
All went well until his departure in February 1779, when a storm snapped a mast, forcing Cook back to Kealakekua Bay.  By now the Hawaiians surmised that the haole (Westerners) were less than divine, and a series of squabbles, including the killing of a chief, escalated into violent confrontation over a stolen boat.  Cook was knifed to death in the fray.

Coming soon:  Part II, Kamehameha the Great