93. Hawai'i: A History Everyone Should Know

Imagine getting into a canoe and setting out across the open ocean without a compass or a mast. You see the stars overhead, you feel the current beneath you, and somewhere out there, thousands of miles of open water in every direction, is an island chain you have never seen. That is how the Hawaiian Islands were found.

Polynesian navigators, sometime around 2000 to 1,500 years ago, crossed some of the most remote stretches of ocean on Earth and landed on a chain of volcanic islands that sits roughly 2,400 miles from the nearest continent. And they built a civilization on it. By the time a British explorer named James Cook showed up in 1778, Hawaiians had been there for over a millennium.

Hawaiians have developed a language, a religion, a sophisticated social order, a system of agriculture, a tradition of art and navigation that still astonishes people today. This is just the beginning of the story of one of the most beloved and misunderstood places on earth. This is a brief history of Hawaii. Welcome to Wiser World, a podcast for busy people who need a refresher on all things world. Here we explore different regions of the globe.

I truly believe that the more we learn about the world, the more we embrace our shared humanity. I'm your host, Ali Robert. Thanks for being here. So I live on the west coast of the United States and many people around here travel to Hawaii for vacation. But I think Hawaii is worth knowing about regardless of whether you ever go, because its history is genuinely remarkable. And because a lot of the conversations happening about and in Hawaii right now

you know, land, water, tourism, sovereignty, many of those issues really matter far beyond its shores. Before we get into this brief history of Hawaii, which I originally recorded in twenty twenty three. Please know that this is by no means comprehensive. There is so much to Hawaii, and there's just no way we could ever cover it all in one episode. Please let this be a jumping off point for your learning. If you'd like to learn more, head to patreon.com slash wiserworld podcast.

And I share extra resources with you there. You can also follow me on Instagram and YouTube at Wiserworld Podcast or sign up for my free weekly email newsletter at wiserworld.com. I do my best with pronunciation in this episode, but I am not a native Hawaiian and therefore I likely do not pronounce everything perfectly. I really did try my best, but I have a few things that I correct in the show notes if you want to see that.

All right, let's get into it and let's talk about Hawaii. Let's start off with where Hawaii is. So it's located in the central Pacific Ocean. It's about 2,400 miles southwest. of the continental United States. So roughly halfway between North America and Asia. And the formation of the Hawaiian Islands is a fascinating process that's still happening today. The Hawaiian Islands are essentially volcanoes.

There is a hot spot there and over millions of years repeated volcanic eruptions broke through the surface of the ocean, formed islands. And some of the islands are old and some are newer and new islands will continue to form. There are eight main islands of Hawaii, and they are Hawaii, which is often referred to as the big island. There's Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Nihihau, and Kahulawe.

But there are over a hundred and thirty-seven islands and atolls that are part of the state of Hawaii. Most of them are tiny and uninhabited. Because the islands of Hawaii are volcanic. Many of the islands are or parts of the islands are very green with lush forests, lots of rain, mild, warm climates as you'd imagine of islands. But some parts of the islands can be dry. It all depends on the rain.

And if there's a mountain on the island or a h volcan a volcano, sometimes one side of the mountain will be dry, the other will be wet because of something called a rain shadow. So it the climate does vary. The island of Hawaii, or the big island, is the largest island and is still growing because it has one of the world's most active volcanoes. It also has a lot of coffee farms.

Maui is famous for its beaches, its scenic road to Hana. I've actually driven it, it's beautiful, and lots and lots of resorts on Maui. People love to watch the humpback whales pass through there in the winter as well. Oahu is the most developed island and it has the most people living on it. It also has Honolulu, the state capital. Pearl Harbor is also on Oahu, and its north shore is famous for huge waves for surfing.

Kauai is known as the Garden Island because it's very green and it's less developed than the other islands, and so it's preferred for those who want to do more adventures. Molokai is known for preserving its native Hawaiian traditions and cultures, has much less tourism. And I could go on and on, but just know that every Hawaiian island is a little bit different from the others and has a little bit of different culture as well.

Hawaii is famous for its agriculture. We'll talk more about that in a minute. They grow a lot of crops like macadamia nuts, coffee, like kona coffee is really famous, and tropical fruits like pineapples and papayas. Fish and seafood are big. It also ships out flowers and nursery items. It's a leader in developing renewable energy technologies. Tourism is a crucial part of Hawaii's economy. If a controversial one, we'll talk more about that at the end of the episode.

Since Hawaii is quite isolated, it has to import a lot of products. And this is why when you go to the grocery store in Hawaii, it's expensive for many products you're paying for the shipping to get those products to the island. And because of its strategic location, Hawaii is also important to the military. We'll talk on that more on that in a minute, but that does contribute to the economy. And the currency of Hawaii is the US dollar.

The two official languages of the state of Hawaii are English and Hawaiian. Hawaiian is a Polynesian language that was once the primary language of the native Hawaiian people. After Hawaii became part of the United States or under US jurisdiction, the use of the Hawaiian language was really suppressed. And by the mid-20th century, it was almost extinct.

primarily spoken only by older people. However, there has been a cultural revival and now there are more efforts to preserve this language. There are other languages spoken in Hawaii, especially Asian languages, which we'll talk about why in a minute. Also, pidgin or Hawaiian Creole English. It's another language that you'll commonly hear. It's evolved from

this multi-ethnic plantation worker community that existed in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. And it's kind of a blend of words and phrases from Hawaiian, English, and other languages spoken by immigrants like Japanese, Portuguese, Filipino. And while it's n not officially a recognized language, it plays a significant role in local culture and identity.

Ethnically and racially, Hawaii is pretty diverse. Roughly thirty percent of Hawaii's residents identify as Asian, so usually that means Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Korean. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are about ten percent, and twenty-five percent uh consider themselves two or more races, and then twenty-five percent is white, and then we got Latino population is about eight percent and the black population is about two percent. So it's really a melting pot of cultures.

The most popular religion in Hawaii is Christianity with a variety of different types of Christian Christians. Evangelical Protestantism is the most popular. And because Hawaii had a lot of Japanese immigrants, Buddhism is also quite popular.

When it comes to food, Hawaii is also a melting pot, usually of native Hawaiian, Asian, and American fusion dishes. There's a handful of popular foods. Obviously, there's a lot more than this. Poke, this is a traditional Hawaiian dish. It's made of raw diced fish, often tuna, that's marinated and then it's mixed with ingredients like soy sauce and sesame oil, seaweed, chopped chili pepper. It's usually served over rice.

There's spam musubi, which is inspired by Japanese sushi. It's a popular snack. It's a slice of grilled spam on top of a block of rice and it's all wrapped together with nori or seaweed. There's also something called the plate lunch. This is a classic Hawaiian meal. It typically includes two scoops of rice, macaroni salad, and the main dish is like kalua pig, which is pulled pork that's cooked in an underground oven.

There's also chicken katsu or teriyaki beef that they'll serve on the plate lunch. There's also the Loco Moco. This is a really hearty dish. It's usually white rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy. It's like comfort food at its finest. Um, there's also shaved ice. This is not to be confused with a snow cone, people. Hawaiian shaved ice is made by shaving a block of ice and topping it with flavored syrups. It's super famous.

It's often served over a scoop of ice cream and just really super popular. Obviously there are more, but those are some of the big ones. Hawaiian culture is really unique and diverse, and I could go on forever about it, but here are a few things that make Hawaiian culture unique. And the first is the spirit of Aloha.

Aloha is a greeting in Hawaii, but it's also a way of life. It's this spirit of kindness and unity, humility, patience, and it really is infused into how people interact with each other on the islands. Hula is a traditional dance that tells story through movement and it's usually accompanied with chants and songs. And there's ancient hula and modern hula, and just this very graceful way of dancing, very popular among Hawaiians.

Also there's ohana and this means family in Hawaiian and this includes both immediate and extended family and even really close friends. So the concept of ohana is central to Hawaiian culture because these communal ties and supporting each other is really how it's done there. And if you've ever been to a graduation and seen people put garlands of flowers around each other's necks,

These are called lays, and this tradition also comes from Hawaii. It's a sign of affection or welcome and it also symbolizes the Aloha spirit and is very special. Hawaiian music is also is this unique blend of Polynesian roots with influences from Western music like the ukulele and slacky guitar. You know, there are iconic instruments in Hawaii's music. The traditional chanting, which is called mele, it's another critical aspect of Hawaiian music.

Also, we have the luau. This is a traditional Hawaiian party or feast. It usually includes cooking foods like kalua pig, again cooked in the earth, poke, and poi, which is this starch. crops grown on the islands of Hawaii. And lastly we have surfing. Uh this was invented by ancient Hawaii. And so it's deeply intertwined with Hawaiian culture and is very important there. Okay, there's many, many more things I could go on, but

I want to do an interview one day, an interview type interview on Hawaiian values, so I'm just gonna leave it at this for now. Let's dive into the history. This history is fascinating. I really was sucked into the research, so let's go.

All right, so the original first people to live on the Hawaiian Islands were Polynesians, who are believed to have sailed in canoes from the Marquesas Islands in South Pacific. This was approximately 2000 to 2500 years ago. And these Polynesians were skilled seafarers. They navigated across huge stretches of the Pacific Ocean using just their knowledge of the stars, the winds, the currents. Truly incredible. They brought plants like taro and sweet potatoes.

and animals like pigs and chickens with them, as well as their culture, and they formed distinct communities on different islands and relied on agriculture and fishing to survive and thrive. Over time, as the population grew, it's believed that another wave of migration came from Tahiti. So different groups formed, and over time there began to be kind of chiefdoms with ruling chiefs.

And these chiefdoms, you know, sometimes competed and waged wars, but they also traded and made alliances. And we know this because while early Hawaiians didn't have a written language, Their history was preserved through oral traditions, including chants, melee, genealogical recitations, and stories. And the Hawaiian culture was complex and well structured. The Hawaiian religion was polytheistic, many gods, goddesses, spirit beings. They also practiced ancestor ancestor worship.

Society was governed by this system of laws and regulations known as the kapu system. Which was kind of it kind of determined social behavior and dietary practices and gender roles and religious rituals and breaking a kapu could result in severe punishment, even death. And this is really important. The Kapu system is really important. It will come up later. So a society was hierarchically organized.

At the top were the chiefs who ruled over the land and the people, and below them were the kahuna. These were experts such as priests and skilled craft workers, and then below them were commoners, and then there were outcasts or slaves.

And Hawaiians were skilled in a variety of arts and crafts, weaving, tattooing, carving in rocks, they built canoes for voyaging and fishing, crafted weapons and tools from wood and stone and bone, And they also divided up the land to distribute resources so each community had access to all of the resources. Got PC Optimum points? Visit Shoppers Drug Mart for the bonus redemption event and get more for your points. Friday, May 29th to Wednesday, June 3rd. Valid in-store and online.

In 1778, a big, big thing happened. A man named James Cook showed up on the islands of Hawaii and changed the trajectory of Hawaii forever. Captain Cook was a British explorer. Who had made three different voyages to the Pacific Ocean and made really quite accurate maps of that part of the ocean that had largely been unexplored by Europeans. And he stumbled upon Kauai in seventeen seventy eight pretty much by accident. So to our knowledge,

Cook and his crew were the first Europeans to have contact with the Hawaiian Islands. He actually called them the Sandwich Islands in honor of his patron, John Montague, the fourth Earl of Sandwich. I think that's funny. The Hawaiians were welcoming to Cook and his crew and they stayed a while and then they left and then they came back. And on the second time they came back, they ended up having to stay longer because they had issues with their ship.

And the s anyway, the situation escalated when a group of Hawaiians stole one of Cook's small boats, and then Cook attempted to take a Hawaiian chief hostage to exchange for the boat. And anyway, the situation really spiraled out of control. and Cook was killed by the Hawaiians on February fourteenth, seventeen seventy nine. However, the introduction of Europeans to Hawaii

really was a turning point for the islands. Word spread to Europe and the United States of America about these beautiful islands. And you know, the US was just this fledgling little country at the time. I mean, this is like revolutionary era for the United States. But explorers and navigators began coming to the islands.

After Cook's death, Kamehameha I, a chief from the island of Hawaii, wanted to unify the islands because they weren't unified at the time. Over the next 30 years, through alliances and conquests, He brought all the islands under his control. And by 1810, Kamehameha I was the king of the kingdom of Hawaii. One of the reasons for this centralization was

to make Hawaii stronger and united to ward off too much foreign influence. The foreigners, you know, couldn't play off different chiefs if they were all united. He encouraged foreign trade and maintained relatively peaceful relations with European powers. When he died in eighteen nineteen, his son, Kamehameha the Second, got rid of the Kapu system, or that ancient Hawaiian code of conduct and laws.

And this was a big, big deal because it led to significant societal changes and upheaval. And this is not to mention that in eighteen twenty, so the next year, the first American Protestant missionaries arrived. With explorers and missionaries came new diseases, and the Hawaiians had no immunity. Diseases like smallpox, measles, the flu, tuberculosis, and more, they all caused widespread illness and death,

devastated the Hawaiian population. It is estimated that when Cook arrived, Hawaii's population was around three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand people. But by the mid eighteen hundreds, it's possible that more than eighty percent of them had been wiped out by diseases. So this also made Hawaii more vulnerable to outside influence.

Now let's talk a little bit more about these Christian missionaries because they played a pretty significant role in Hawaii. The first set of missionaries actually came from Boston in the United States. And as with everything, their influence is really nuanced and multifaceted.

Missionaries were fairly successful in converting native Hawaii to Christianity. And this led to some conflict and tension between the new religion and traditional Hawaiian religions and cultural practices. Many Hawaiians ended up with kind of a blend. of Christianity with, you know, some traditional influences.

Again, about the multifaceted influence of missionaries, on on the one hand, you know, they built schools and developed a written form of the Hawaiian language, which led to more and more Hawaiians learning to read and write and it preserved the language. These missionaries also brought Western law, economics, politics to the island, such as how land should be owned.

And really depending on who you're talking to, this can be seen as good or bad or somewhere in the middle. They had cultural influences as well, like they discouraged and sometimes banned hula dancing and the wearing of traditional clothing because it was seen to them as inappropriate.

And over time, these missionaries and their children and their children's children, you know, they became political and economic figures in these communities as well. And they'll play a role in the future history that we'll talk about in a second. Kamehameha III, so now we're three generations into that monarchy of Hawaii, he enacted Hawaii's first constitution in eighteen forty, establishing a constitutional monarchy. A constitutional monarchy is a democratic form of government.

with a monarch, so king or queen, who has limited powers but has a lawmaking body that is elected by the population. I explain this system more in episode twenty six if you're interested in listening. In this case, Hawaii had a king, a house of nobles, and an elected house of representatives. In many ways, this gave the kingdom of Hawaii a governmental structure that, you know, foreign powers could recognize and work with.

Shortly after this, the Great Mahele happened. This was in eighteen forty eight. And what this did was it redistributed land, allowing private ownership for the very first time. And that this hadn't been done before by Hawaiians. They didn't have private ownership of land.

The initial goal had been to protect Hawaiian land, but in the end it really didn't always have that result. Many native Hawaiians lost their lands because they were unfamiliar with the system and it actually disadvantaged them. Also during this time, Hawaii was recognized as an independent nation by European powers and the United States.

So, while some of the missionary work was beneficial, like the spread of literacy, there were some downsides in that many traditional Hawaiian practices and beliefs. began to kind of erode away and many Hawaiians lost their access to their lands because of this uh great Mahele system where land was redistributed.

At the same time, the islands became a crucial stopover point for merchant ships, especially whalers and traders in sandalwood that were traveling between North America and Asia. And the eighteen hundreds changed Hawaii's economy from this substance farming, or just making enough for themselves, into more of a market economy.

Sandalwood is a fragrant wood that Hawaii's forests used to be full of and the Chinese especially loved it. They would make furniture and incense from it and so it was in high demand. Western traders began exporting Hawaiian sandalwood from about eighteen ten to eighteen forty and ended it because there wasn't much sandalwood left to sell. As sandalwood trade declined, sugar plantations began and sugar needs a lot of water and land to work. It requires intense labor.

So people from China, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, and oddly enough, Portugal were all recruited for the work. And this is why some people who have grown up in Hawaii or have long family history there aren't necessarily considered native Hawaii or don't consider themselves that. So you can be Japanese, for example, but from the islands of Hawaii. Anyway. Sugar remained a major crop in Hawaii for a long time, with the last major plantation closing in twenty sixteen.

So let's go back to the eighteen hundreds. Also during this time, Kamehameha the Fifth passed a law in eighteen sixty-five to isolate people who had leprosy. Leprosy is a bacterial disease that mostly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes. It's known for severe skin sores and nerve damage as it progresses. And while it is contagious, it's also not highly infectious. 90% of people are naturally immune to it. So nowadays it's very treatable.

But back in the day it was a huge stigma to have leprosy, and the king of Hawaii designated an isolated peninsula on this really less populated island of Molokai to create a community of lepers. And this leprosy colony continued until nineteen sixty-nine. And now it's a National Historic Park Park, but it still has a residence. If you're a member of Patreon, I'll tell you more about a book about this leprosy colony in in my Patreon this month.

The Kamehameha dynasty, which had obviously five kings, right? It ended in 1872. And then after that, rulers were chosen by the legislature. King Kalakawa ruled Hawaii from 1874 to 1891 and is often known as the Merry Monarch. He made efforts to revive and promote traditional Hawaiian culture, such as reviving hula again, again that had been discouraged by Christian missionaries for over fifty years.

He also built a huge palace and lived a pretty lavish lifestyle. His palace had electricity and telephones long before the White House or Buckingham Palace. His palace is still in downtown Honolulu if you want to check it out. However, he received criticism for his spending and lavish lifestyle.

and there were a lot of economic and political struggles during his reign, though generally he's seen positively by the Hawaii. However, in eighteen eighty seven King Kalakaua was forced to sign something called the Bayonet Constitution. This was a big turning point in Hawaii, so let's talk about it for a second. A group of mostly white businessmen and lawyers, mostly from the US and some from Europe, made up something called the Hawaiian League.

And they wanted the king to have less power, and so they used threats of violence to essentially intimidate the king to sign a document that severely limited his executive powers. Essentially making him a figurehead. It also made rules about who could vote in Hawaii. It made income and property requirements for voting, which basically made it so the majority of native Hawaiians and Asian immigrants couldn't vote.

But the wealthy, non-citizen foreigners could vote. Obviously, this increased foreign influence over the Hawaiian government. Also in eighteen eighty seven, King Kalakoa granted the US rights to a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, which is called Pearl Harbor. This was good for US strategy to expand into the Pacific from the military perspective, and it also offered Hawaii some protection from the US military.

So I'm sure you're seeing where this is going. The US is gaining more and more ground over the governmental systems of the Kingdom of Hawaii. And in eighteen ninety one, King Kalakawa died. His sister, Lili Uakalani, became queen. She had been the crown princess for some time and had traveled with him as a king. Fun fact about her, she was a great musician and wrote songs that are still staples in Hawaii today. Now here is where the history of Hawaii gets pretty crazy, so buckle up.

Queen Lili Wakalani proposed a new constitution to take back what the bayonet constitution had taken from them, so giving more power to the monarch. And remember that group of American and European businessmen? At this time, they called themselves the Committee of Safety, and they did not like this. Two men, Lauren Thurston and Sanford B. Dole, led this committee. And Sanford Dole had been born in Hawaii to Protestant missionaries. The US minister to Hawaii, his name was John L. Stevens.

And he was also on their team working against the Queen. On January 14, 1893, they made it their goal to overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy and seek annexation to the United States. In over other words, overthrow the Queen, destabilize the government, and make Hawaii under the control of the United States. they wanted to keep their economic power, especially since recently the US had imposed tariffs or fines on any imported sugar.

And so I mean theoretically they're thinking, Okay, if we can make Hawaii part of the US, we can make more money because we won't have to pay these tariffs. And this was a time of uncertainty and upheaval in Hawaii, as I'm sure you can imagine. And on january seventeenth, eighteen ninety three, this Committee of Safety declared the Hawaiian monarchy overthrown. And they could do this because the US minister to Hawaii

called for the US military to support lives, American lives and property, even though it appears that there wasn't significant unrest to warrant this. I looked into it and I really couldn't find any evidence of that. A company of US Marines did come to shore and together they established a provisional government with Sanford Dole as president.

Because the Queen didn't want bloodshed and was faced with the Marines, she surrendered. And in her statement, she made it clear she was surrendering to the military force of the United States. not the provisional government. She expected the US to restore her power once they could work things out.

But this did not happen. When the provisional government was made, the queen was essentially deposed and she went to live in her private home in Honolulu. And there she made appeals to the US government to assist her and reinstate her as the rightful queen. The provisional government established what they called the Republic of Hawaii on July eighteen ninety four with Sanford B. Dole as president, and they did this anyway.

Grover Cleveland, the US president at the time, did request an investigation that said in the end that the overthrow was completely illegal. But nothing really changed because it was an election year and Benjamin Harrison became president and the political situation in the U.S. changed. And so by eighteen ninety five, a group of Hawaiians, led by Robert William Wilcox, he was a native Hawaiian officer and politician, they led a short lived revolt.

To get the Queen back in power. And this is called the Wilcox Rebellion. Unfortunately, it was poorly organized and it was quickly suppressed by the governmental forces. and some weapons were actually found in the Queen's home after this, and so she was arrested. She denied knowing anything about the rebellion, but was tried and convicted of conspiracy. She was placed under house arrest

specifically to an upstairs room in her palace for about eight months from January to October eighteen ninety five. She was really closely monitored and denied visitors during this time. Eventually she was pardoned by Dole. And in eighteen ninety six she was released and she lived quietly and advocated for the Hawaiian people until her death in nineteen seventeen. Today in Hawaii the queen is generally seen as a symbol of Hawaiian resistance.

Now in eighteen ninety eight the US annexed Hawaii, or in other words, Hawaii became a US territory. This was the end of Hawaii as an autonomous nation. A US territory is different from a state in that it is under the jurisdiction of the US government and the people living there are considered US citizens, but they have fewer political rights compared to states.

They have a delegate in the House of Representatives, for example, but they can't vote, and they don't have representation in the Senate. So Hawaii was a US territory for about sixty years until nineteen fifty nine. When it first became a territory, Stordford B. Dole went from being the president of the Republic of Hawaii to becoming a territorial governor.

And in the early 1900s, this brought a huge expansion of sugar and pineapple plantations in Hawaii, and these plantations led to a surge of immigrant laborers, primarily from Japan, Philippines. China, Korea. Over time the demographics of Hawaii changed because of these laborers. Also, in eighteen ninety-eight, construction on the naval base of Pearl Harbor began, since you remember that the rights were given to the US.

in eighteen eighty seven. So at that time naval ships were going from sail ships to coal power ships. and Pearl Harbor became a refueling station for coal. And this became a really big deal, not only for the US military, but also for the economy of Hawaii. In the 1920s and 1930s, tourism also exploded in Hawaii. The Madsen Navigation Company began offering luxury cruise ship services between the mainland United States and Hawaii.

And because people really weren't hopping on airplanes back then, they had to take cruise liners, right? So this made a significant change for tourism in Hawaii. Luxury hotels, especially in Waikiki, were built to house these tourists and thus began kind of a rise in luxury travel in Hawaii. Also during this time, the twenties and thirties.

the Hawaiian Pineapple Company contributed to the appeal of Hawaii for outsiders. James Dole, not to be confused with Sanford Dole, he was a cousin of Sanford Dole. He owned the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. He started an aggressive campaign to market canned pineapple to the United States. Nobody had demanded pineapple until this time. And suddenly everybody wants it.

He figured out how to peel pineapples in mass. And by 1911, the Hawaiian Pineapple Company was the largest pineapple plantation in the world. In nineteen twenty two, the he purchased the entire island of Lanai. By nineteen thirty-two it was called the Dole Food Company and was selling other fruits and snacks. For a long, long time, Dole was very popular as a tourist destination and associated with Hawaii.

Over time, though, because of labor costs and other issues, Dole stopped large-scale pineapple farming in 1992. But let's hop back to 1941. In December, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, that US naval base right near Honolulu. And this led to the United States joining World War Two. The governor of Hawaii declared martial law, which basically means that the US military assumed control of Hawaii.

And they were concerned that because of its location, Hawaii would be a target for a full scale Japanese invasion. During martial law, the military controlled almost all aspects of life, especially the judicial system. So military courts. replaced civilian courts. There were curfews and prices were controlled by the state to avoid inflation. Blackout drills were common,

Also the media was heavily censored and all radio stations were taken over by the military. Only approved media got out to civilians. Mail was opened before you got it. Travel between the islands to and from the United States was very restricted. And as we know, Hawaii had a pretty good Japanese population because of that, you know, those Asian migrations. And many Japanese residents were treated with suspicion during this time.

Martial law did end in october nineteen forty four, so before the full end of World War two, but it made a big difference in the lives of Hawaiians and also led to a lot of military buildup on the island. After World War II, the population of Hawaii grew and tourism became more and more important to the island.

because air travel became more popular and affordable, right? Remember all those people taking cruise liners? No more, right? Over time there was also a movement for Hawaii to become a US state. Many citizens wanted more representation for Hawaii in the US federal government. among other things. And in time, the people of Hawaii voted overwhelmingly for it to become a US state. This is nineteen fifty nine. Ninety four percent of those who voted

voted for statehood. So August twenty first, nineteen fifty nine, Hawaii becomes the fiftieth US state. This led to full US citizenship rights and political representation in Congress for Hawaii.

However, much of the indigenous Hawaiian population opposed statehood. They were worried about the impact it would have on the native culture. However, since becoming a state, Hawaii has changed quite a lot. For one, tourism has soared. Investment in air travel, hotels, attractions, All of that, you know, infrastructure for tourism, it just went up. People began spending a lot of money in Hawaii and with how beautiful it is and the Aloha culture, people really wanted to travel there.

Tourism now is Hawaii's biggest industry. Additionally, people began to move to Hawaii. And while this increased diversity, it also has led to tensions and issues around housing and land use. and preserving Hawaiian culture, which I'll talk about a little bit more in a second. In the nineteen seventies and eighties, Hawaii had a cultural and political movement often called the Hawaiian Renaissance.

Traditional Hawaiian culture and language and identity and politics were the focus of this. It highlighted how centuries of colonization from foreigners had kind of whittled away the native Hawaiian culture. So we saw a resurgence of art like hula, Hawaiian music, visual arts. By this time hula had kind of been commercialized for the tourist industry, and so this new revival wanted the more cultural authenticity to be center stage.

The Hawaiian language, which had been banned in school, became much more popular during the Renaissance. The traditional Polynesian voyaging techniques also made a comeback. In nineteen seventy-six a replica of an ancient Polynesian voyage voyaging canoe was made and it made it all the way to Tahiti and back using only ancient navigation techniques. Again, I think this is amazing, probably because I am directionally challenged.

There also were protests about land development and how the military used Hawaii's land. For example, the smallest of the eight main Hawaiian islands had been used as a bombing range. It was used for training at first during World War Two, bombing practice. And this continued on for a long, long time, into the nineteen nineties.

This obviously destroyed a lot of the island, its natural habitat, and the local Hawaiian community resisted this and a group protested and by nineteen ninety-four it was no longer being used in this way. It's actually still being cleaned up today.

For the last thirty plus years, the biggest issues to face Hawaii have been regarding the ecosystem, land and water use, tourism, and cultural authenticity. In twenty twenty two, more than nine million people visited the islands of Hawaii. That's a lot of people. And the reliance on tourism has been a concern for many. There are varying perspectives on this and even a quick Google search can give you a lot of different opinions.

Hawaii's tourism is a multi edged sword. It's a huge industry that supports the state. However, tourists do cause problems for the island as well, especially around land use and water. Can the island sustain this many visitors? This is a source of a lot of controversy. In everything I studied, it seems to me that from a scientific perspective, many people are concerned about the degradation of the reef.

the lack of respect many tourists have for the land, and overdevelopment that causes issues for the n nature in general. It's a fragile ecosystem and water management is also a concern for some islands. Making sure that residents and agriculture and nature itself has enough water, you know, is a substantial issue. Not to mention all this development and construction has led to its own complications like digging up archaeological treasures that people want to protect.

Another factor is that when tourists come, they often love it so much that they want to stay. And many of these mainlanders or people from other countries that have higher incomes than native Hawaiians or those who have lived on the island for a long time the islands for a long time. are causing housing prices to go up. Essentially, many Hawaiians are being priced out, and this is a significant issue that's a hot button topic if you go pretty much anywhere in Hawaii today.

There has also been a sovereignty movement. Uh some people want Hawaii to become independent from the United States and restore the Kingdom of Hawaii. Others don't want to go that far, but they do want more autonomy. There's a range, right? And again, various opinions on this complicated issue. I won't go into it since this is an overview episode, but I think it's important to know that this movement is alive and well in Hawaii.

The debate over travel and tourism in Hawaii became more publicized since the COVID nineteen pandemic. In twenty twenty, Hawaii took a hit on tourism. This impacted the economy significantly and the the lives of those who live in Hawaii, since travel to and from was restricted heavily, stay-at-home orders, other mandates, right? It showed that Hawaii l can look differently without huge number of tourists. And so when travel opened up again to Hawaii.

There was a lot more publicity of residents discouraging travel to Hawaii. I'm sure many of you saw this, especially if you have social media. Just out of curiosity, I actually Googled, should I travel to Hawaii while researching this episode just to see what came up? Lots of opinions. Some native Hawaiians were an emphatic no, like do not come.

On the other end of the spectrum were people who really wanted tourists to come back because their livelihood depended on it. And then there were others in the middle who encouraged tourists to come, but you know, to look out for Hawaii as a whole and leave it better than you found it. Ultimately, my take is that it's a very complicated issue. There's lots of nuance. I'm no expert.

But I can say that every article I read did agree that over tourism harms the island. And common themes were to do your research before heading to any island in Hawaii. Remember each island's culture is unique. Be aware and mindful of the land and resources that you use, and to just remember that you're in someone's home when you visit. So treat it with respect.

Additionally, I learned that some resorts give back to the economy more than others who just suck resources away. And so keeping this in mind when you choose your accommodations. you know, is also really appreciated by many Hawaiians. So if you're thinking about traveling to Hawaii, I think it's worth some research on these issues surrounding tourism, land management, growth and development in Hawaii.

Learn a variety of the perspectives and sides, do a little research, make an educated opinion for yourself. Ultimately I believe that if we go into the research without defensiveness and see a wide variety variety of opinions. we'll end up in a good spot and Hawaii will benefit from that.

To wrap up this episode, I'm thrilled to have two Hawaiians weigh in with their perspectives on Hawaii. Cheryl Iwami Ben was raised in Hawaii, and her daughter Malie helps me with research for the podcast. She's worked with me for about a year now. She's the best. And I asked Molier if they'd be willing to send me some audio messages and they agreed. So I asked them two questions. I said, What do you love about Hawaii and its culture and people most?

And what is something you wish people from around the world knew about Hawaii? And here are their thoughts. Hawaii's culture feels very different from the American mainland. Yes, it's part of the United States, but many Hawaiians view their identity as distinct from the mainland U.S. One thing I love about Hawaii is how much of a melting pot it is. There are large communities with roots across many Asian countries, and it's very common for people to be mixed race.

There are local terms connected to these different identities. For example, hapa, which translates to half, is used to describe someone who is multiracial. Since I am half Japanese, I'd be considered hapa. Howley is another commonly used term referring to people who are white, and when my dad lived there, people used to call him Howley Boy. I wish people understood that Hawaii is so much more than just a tourist destination.

It has a very different Rich history and culture and respecting the land and local communities is extremely important when visiting. Visiting. Hawaii has incredible seafood, shaped ice, beautiful hikes, and amazing natural scenery, but some of the best experiences come from going beyond the typical tourist areas, traveling more inland and learning. culture and supporting local businesses can give people a much more authentic understanding of Hawaii.

Most people think that the best things about Hawaii are the weather and the beaches, but what I love the most about Hawaii's people and culture is its diversity. Hawaii has historically been racially and ethnically diverse due to immigrants primarily from Asia coming to the islands to work at the sugar plantations. With this, Hawaii became a melting pot of people, food, language, and customs.

The people of Hawaii, often referred to as Kamaina, adopted bits and pieces of culture, mostly from the native Hawaiians and Asian immigrants. With that came a unique blending of people that coexisted on a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific, who together created a strong sense of community and its own unofficial language called Pigeon English.

I grew up on a former sugar cane plantation site with neighbors who were Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, part Hawaiian, and some who were multiracial. I didn't see anyone as different regardless of where they came from, what religion they practiced and what they ate. or what they look like. Hawaii is a special place that can be enjoyed by everyone as long as you're open to experiencing new things.

I wish people from around the world would know that Hawaii is a series of small islands rich with native plants. and animals and it is everyone's responsibility to respect the land and protect the local ecosystem for future generations, both locals and visitors. The people of Hawaii understand and embrace the sacredness of Malama Aina, translated as caring for the land by abiding by the strict rules in place to protect the land and the sea.

That being said, tourism and the military are the primary economic lifeline in the islands and the locals love to share the island space with everyone so long as there is a mutual respect for the people, culture, and natural resources.

Thank you, Cheryl Emily A for your thoughts. I really enjoyed learning from you. And I really appreciate you taking the time to teach us because we definitely benefit from it. I so enjoyed learning more about the history of Hawaii making this episode. What a place, what a history. I've actually only been to Hawaii once.

I went to Maui in twenty twenty, actually the week before the COVID nineteen pandemic hit, and we had a great time. I'm so grateful to the Hawaiians for being so warm and welcoming to us. If I were to sum up the history of this episode, I would say number one, we're gonna start with ancient Polynesian settlement, then the arrival of Westerners with Captain James Cook, the unification under Kamehameha the Great, Western influence leads to a lot of cultural changes.

eighteen ninety three the overthrowing of Hawaiian monarchy. Then Hawaii's annexed in a territory of the United States until nineteen fifty nine. Nineteen fifty nine it becomes a US state, the fiftieth. And now modern Hawaiian issues surround land, water, tourism, sovereignty.

Of course, I could have covered ten thousand other things, but if anything in this episode interests you, go look into it. Really, there's so much to learn. Hawaii has a rich history and has so much to offer. You can also check out more resources at patreon.com slash wiserworld podcast.

Special thanks to the McQuies for their insights and Kaylea for her help with pronunciation. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app that helps people to find the podcast. So grateful to learn about the world with you. We'll be back soon and in the meantime, let's go make the world a little wiser.