Warring Hawaiian chiefdoms

It was during the time of the warfare among the chiefs of [the island of] Hawaii which followed the death of Keawe, chief over the whole island (Ke-awe-i-kekahi-ali’i-o-ka-moku) that Kamehameha I was born.* Moku was the ruling chief of Hilo, Hamakua, and a part of Puna; Ke’e-au-moku of Kona and Kohala. Alapa’i-nui, son of Ka-uaua, was living at the time on Maui with the ruling chief Ka-lani-ku’i-hono-i-ka-moku, [half] brother of the chiefess Ke-ku’i-apo-iwa-nui. When Alapa’i heard that the chiefs were stirring up trouble, he went to war on Hawaii against these chiefs, was victorious in battle against them, slew them, and united the island under his own rule. Ka-lani-’opu’u and Keoua (the sons of the two sons of Keawe), who were then children, he brought up to be commanders of his host... You have perhaps heard of Alapa’i’s war upon Maui and at Kawela. A disastrous war it was for Hawaii, this carrying of the war to Maui.

Samuel Kamakau, Ruling Chiefs, 66,67

1700’s

Kamehameha conquers O’ahu after victories on Hawai’i and Maui.  He creates the first centralized Hawaiian government that will later resemble a European monarchy. 

1795

1819

1791

January 18, 1778

1792-1818

1790’s

March 3, 1792

1820

Liholiho, becomes Kamehameha II upon the death of Kamehameha Nui. 

Ka’ahumanu is kuhina nui or co-leader and with the help of Liholiho and his mother, Keopuolani, destroy the power of the priesthood and the kapu.

Captain James Cook and his crew on the Discovery are the first recorded Europeans to arrive in Hawai’i.

Captain George Vancouver and crew arrive at Kealakekua.

Sailors John Young and Issac Davis are detained by Kamehameha and equip him with European arms and ships.

Don Francisco de Paula Marin helps Kamehameha with his conquest of O’ahu. He is awarded land at Pu’uloa Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. He becomes a successful entreprenuer.

Henry Opukaha’ia inspires the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to send missionaries to Hawai’i.

Brig Thaddeus arrives at Kailua-Kona with the first company of ABCFM missionaries and others. The Congregational (Kalawina) churches are founded.

December 19, 1831

January 25, 1822

June 4, 1850

Benice Pauahi is born to Pākī and Konia and is keiki hanai of  Kuhina Nui, Kina’u.  At age 8, she lives with the Cookes at their boarding school and home, the  Chiefs’ Children’s School,  until she marries in 1850.                                                            

Charles Reed Bishop is born in Glens Falls, New  York, U.S.A. He arrives in Honolulu in 1846 on his way to the Oregon Territory with his friend, Charles Little Lee. They immediately find employment and become citizens of the Kingdom of Hawai’i.

Bernice Pauahi marries Charles Reed Bishop at the Chiefs’ Children’s School. They are married for 34 years until her death in 1884.

Revolutionary changes

...[Hawaiians]...evolved a reasonable equilibrium between technological and social change.

   In contrast, after 1778 Hawaiians were confronted with changes that were no longer evolutionary but revolutionary.  First, the new technologies were introduced from the great world outside Hawai’i, along with their new and peculiar sets of assumptions and values.  Second, the flood of chnages began instantly...at an unprecedented magnitude and with unheard of speed...Third, the new skills and techniques were completely controlled by foreigners, because they monopolized both the sources of supply and the technical knowledge.  And fourth, none of the traditional sanctions of Hawaiian religion or of normal public pressures applied to the outsiders and their tools...Ku Kanaka by George Kanahele, 307-308

1778

Depopulation

While population figures are debated by scholars, many historians use 1778 to mark the beginning of the Hawaiian encounter with Europeans.  Diseases from which Hawaiians had no immunity raged relentlessly through densely populated areas and were carried home to rural areas. By the end of the 19th century,  around 30-40,000 were left. The peoples of Hawai’i by Romanzo Adams

1848

Mahele. The traditional system where all land is held by the Mo’i as steward for the common benefit of all is changed.  To address the concerns of foreigners, a new concept of land ownership is devised.  

1850

Civil war begins in the United States of America and ends in 1865.

1853

1861

1875

1824

High Chiefess Kapi’olani learns Christian teachings and supports the abolition of the Kapu system. She demonstrates her beliefs by defying Pele at Kilauea. 

1855

... Pākī left Pauahi what he had always intended to give her: Hale’ākala...following Pākī’s demise, Pauahi and Charles moved and lived with Konia until her death, two years later.  With this, the circle of ho’oponopono was completed, and, in a sense, so was the marriage of Charles and Pauahi--all things had been set aright. Pauahi by George Hu’eu Sanford Kanahele, 77.

Polynesians                     Preparatory and Girls        1925-1939          1960ʻs             1990ʻs            2005-06         2010-11

Kingdom of Hawaiʻi         A U.S. territory                    1940ʻs                1970ʻs              2000-02         2007-08        2012-13

Founding and Boys          1910-1924                          1950ʻs                1980ʻs              2003-04        2008-09         2013-14