Certification One: An Introduction to Hawaii
Chapter Two: A Cultural Introduction
Welcome to Chapter Two of the Hawai‘i Destination Specialist Training Program.
In Chapter Two, a Historical Overview of the Hawaiian Islands, we will help you
to better understand the history of Hawai‘i, the Spirit of Aloha and why it’s
relevant today. As you progress through this chapter, you will learn that many of
our most famous festivals, events and attractions have deep, meaningful historical
significance.
The unique opportunity to share the cultural significance, the true natural beauty
and the historical presence of our islands with your customers is something special.
The Native Hawaiian practice of ho‘okipa (greeting and welcoming strangers) is
deeply embedded in the Native Hawaiian behavioral system.
After reviewing Hawai‘i’s history, we are certain you will then want to explore the
Hawaiian language that’s so much a part of Hawai‘i. As a bonus for you, you’ll
want to be sure to check out the Audio Language Dictionary in the Sales Tool
section of the HVCB’s Travel Agent Portal.
It will give you the opportunity to test and enhance your skills by helping you to
confidently pronounce commonly used and mispronounced Hawaiian words and
place names. This tool will not only enhance your knowledge, but will also
position you as a destination expert and add to your credibility with your clients.
There are many colorful creation myths and legends passed down from generation
to generation by the Native Hawaiian people. They tell tales of our legendary
goddess Pele and the passionate fights that led to the creation of these islands.
These epic tales of lore express the relationship the native people had with the land
and nature; a relationship that continues to this day.
Science explains that the Hawaiian Islands were created millions of years ago
through tectonic plate movement and volcanic activity. The most isolated chain of
islands in the world were inhabited long before mankind arrived. On the wind and
the waves, birds and seeds came to these welcoming shores and evolved over
centuries, creating one of the most diverse collections of flora and fauna on the
planet.
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Whichever theory you subscribe to is up to you, but know that these islands of
Hawai‘i are full of beauty, life and a guiding spirit that we call aloha. “Aloha
Spirit” is the coordination of mind and heart within each person. It brings each
person to the self. Each person must think and emote good feelings to others.
When you sell a Hawaiian Island experience to your customers, encourage them to
feel it too… it will be impossible for them not to embrace aloha.
The original people to settle in Hawai‘i came from the South Pacific. The first are
believed to have arrived during a wave of immigration from the Marquesas Islands
somewhere between the 3rd and 7th centuries A.D. The settlers who would have the
greatest impact came from Tahiti around 1200 to 1300 A.D., arriving in doublehulled canoes, and using the stars, winds and birds to navigate their way. These
resourceful explorers brought their gods, chants, religious practices and oral
traditions with them, establishing a social structure, including the laws of kapu that
would endure into the 19th century. Today, visitors can still see the remains of
heiau, stone temples built for purposes of worship and sacrifice, at sites such as
Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park and the Pu’ukoholā Heiau
National Historic Site on the west coast of Hawai‘i Island.
Hawaiians lived in splendid isolation until the arrival of the British explorer
Captain James Cook, who made landfall at Waimea, Kaua‘i in 1778 during his
voyage to find the mythical Northwest Passage between Europe and Asia. In honor
of his patron financer, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, he dubbed the island chain the
Sandwich Islands. After venturing north, Cook returned to Hawai‘i for ship repairs,
this time to Kealakekua Bay, where he was killed during a skirmish in 1779. Cook
is credited with introducing muskets and cannons, tools that would later aid the
first Hawaiian monarch, Kamehameha I, in unifying the islands.
Kamehameha’s first major achievement was the unification of Hawai‘i Island,
solidified after his successful battle at Moku‘ōhai, south of Kealakekua Bay in
1782. His next move was to conquer and unify Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i, which
he did in 1790. By 1795, he had O‘ahu under his control. Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau were
brought into the fold in 1810, the first time in recorded history that all of the
islands had come under one ruler. It was a time of peace and prosperity.
Since 1872, Hawai‘i has celebrated June 11 as Kamehameha Day with festivals,
floral parades and lei draping ceremonies of the king’s statues. It’s a time for local
residents to remember their king, and a great opportunity for visitors to enjoy and
partake in the festivities. Sites of interest related to King Kamehameha I’s battles
for unification include ‘Īao Valley State Park on Maui, Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout on
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O‘ahu and Pu‘ukoholā Heiau National Monument on Hawai‘i Island. There are
also statues of the king in Kohala and Hilo on Hawai‘i Island and in Honolulu.
Kamehameha established a dynasty that would rule Hawai‘i as a sovereign
kingdom until 1893. At the same time, Captain Cook’s arrival awakened great
interest in Hawai‘i among Americans and Europeans, leading to a society that
would increasingly be ruled by foreign interests. Shortly after Kamehameha died in
1819, the first whalers arrived in Lahaina, Maui, transforming the area with their
raucous ways.
The first Christian missionaries from New England arrived in 1820. Visitors today
can see historic sites from the missionary period all over the islands, including
charming painted churches and places like the Lyman House in Hilo, Kaua‘i
Museum in Līhuʻe, the Bailey House Museum in Wailuku and the Hawaiian
Mission Houses Museum in Honolulu.
In 1845, Kamehameha III established Honolulu as the new capital and, three years
later, issued the momentous Mahele, which allowed private land ownership in
Hawai‘i for the first time. Caucasian investors, some of them descendants of
whalers and missionaries, seized the opportunity to acquire large tracts of land for
raising cattle, pineapple, sugar, coffee and other products. Chinese laborers first
arrived in Hawai‘i to work in the plantation fields around 1850. They were quickly
followed by other immigrant workers, among them Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos
and Portuguese, who would help form the multicultural mix that characterizes
Hawai‘i today.
After Kamehameha III, four more kings and a queen would rule Hawai‘i until the
monarchy was overthrown in 1893. They include Kamehameha IV, who, with his
wife Queen Emma, addressed the medical needs of the indigenous population.
Today, visitors can tour the Queen Emma Summer Palace, an O‘ahu landmark in
Nu‘uanu Valley, their summer retreat in the mid-1800s.
In 1863, Lot Kapuāiwa, or Kamehameha V, became the last king descended
directly from Kamehameha the Great to rule over the Hawaiian Islands. Lot
instituted a new constitution in 1864 that restored greater power to the throne. The
Prince Lot Hula Festival, named in memory of King Kamehameha V, attracts up to
10,000 residents and visitors each year to Moanalua Gardens in Honolulu.
We will cover a full list of cultural festivals and other island-specific events in the
later certifications. You can also find a complete list in the Resource Library.
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A cousin of the Kamehameha Dynasty, William Charles Lunalilo became king in
1873, dying just 13 months after assuming the throne. The Legislature of Hawai‘i
selected David Kalākaua as the next monarch who ruled in a time of change and
unrest. Energetic and attracted to the good life, he was referred to as the “Merrie
Monarch.” It was during his reign that the beautiful and majestic ‘Iolani Palace on
O‘ahu was constructed. The annual Merrie Monarch festival held each April on
Hawai‘i Island is considered the world's premier display of the art of ancient and
modern hula.
In 1875, King Kalākaua signed the Reciprocity Treaty with the U.S. This ushered
in the age of sugar production in the Hawaiian Islands, giving the U.S. free access
to import and export the sweet crop. In exchange, King Kalākaua gave America an
area referred to as Pu‘uloa. Today, we know it as Pearl Harbor, the site of the
Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, that led to America’s entry into World War
II, and one of the most popular attractions for visitors.
Queen Lili‘uokalani, the younger sister of King Kalākaua, was the last monarch to
sit on the Hawaiian throne. The Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown on January
17, 1893, by a self-proclaimed provisional government called the Republic of
Hawai‘i, comprised largely of American businessmen under the leadership of
Sanford Dole. The annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom to the United States was
finalized in 1898 with the full support of President William McKinley. On April
30, 1900, the Territory of Hawai‘i was formed, and on August 21, 1959, Hawai‘i
joined the union as the 50th state.
For much of the 20th century, sugar and pineapple production continued to be
dominant forces in the Hawaiian economy. Then international tourism began to
take hold, eventually surpassing all other industries as the major economic engine
of the state.
Waikīkī, long a favorite playground for the Hawaiian ali‘i, became the first resort
area for international visitors with the opening of the Moana Hotel in 1901, now
the Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa, and The Royal Hawaiian Hotel, a
Luxury Collection Resort – the famous “Pink Palace of the Pacific” – in 1927.
Early visitors to Waikīkī would arrive in grand style on the steamships of the
Matson Navigation Company, settling in for months at a time. “Boat Day”
festivities in Waikīkī, which surrounded the weekly arrival of the SS Lurline at
Aloha Tower, were beloved local occasions.
Interest in the Hawaiian Islands quickly took hold in the public imagination. Duke
Kahanamoku, the 1912 Olympic swimming champion and surfing icon, created
worldwide interest in learning to surf and canoe with the beach boys of Waikīkī. A
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statue of the famous athlete at Kūhiō Beach now welcomes visitors to Waikīkī.
Launched in the 1930s, the radio show Hawai‘i Calls broadcast from the Banyan
Court of the Moana Hotel brought the intriguing sounds of the Hawaiian Islands
into living rooms on the mainland.
While tourism was interrupted by World War II when troops were housed in the
Royal Hawaiian, it soon took off again, especially with the advent of jet service
from the mainland in the late1950s. Hotels were developed throughout Waikīkī,
reaching an estimated 15,000 rooms in 1969 and more than double that today. A
milestone was achieved in 1998 with the opening of the Hawai‘i Convention
Center, a world-class venue for international meetings at the entrance to Waikīkī.
Starting in mid-century, developers began to eye coastal areas on the neighboring
islands as likely areas for resort development. Among the earliest and most
visionary was Laurance Rockefeller, who built the iconic Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
on the then-remote Kohala Coast of Hawai‘i Island in 1965. Prime beachfront
acreage on Maui, like Kapalua, Kā‘anapali, Wailea and Mākena, became masterplanned resorts, as did Po‘ipū Beach on Kaua‘i and Ko Olina on O‘ahu. The island
of Lāna‘i, once owned by Dole Foods and now by tech magnate Larry Ellison,
made a transition from pineapple agriculture to tourism during the 1990s with the
development of two upscale resorts.
Today, resort development has greatly slowed in Hawai‘i with a recognition of the
need to preserve pristine areas and strike a balance between infrastructure and
nature. At the same time, the tourism industry has made increasing efforts to honor
the traditions of the islands and infuse the visitor experience with aloha and a
sense of place. Remember, your customers will encounter a unique and dominant
spirit in the lives of the Hawaiian people – still so pure and genuinely a part of the
visitor experience. In fact, you should ask your customers to share what they found
aloha to mean when they return and share those sentiments with your prospective
customers.
With all of the history we’ve shared with you in this chapter, let’s take a few
moments to review some Key Takeaways before moving on to the quiz.
Key Takeaway #1 – The Native Hawaiian practice of ho‘okipa (greeting and
welcoming strangers) is deeply embedded in the Native Hawaiian behavioral
system.
Key Takeaway #2 – Throughout our islands, your clients can still see the remains
of Hawai‘i’s rich history and diverse cultural influences.
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Key Takeaway #3 – For much of the 20th century, agriculture – sugar and
pineapple production – was a dominant force in the Hawaiian economy.
Key Takeaway #4 – The tourism industry has made increasing efforts to honor the
traditions of the islands and infuse the visitor experience with aloha and a sense of
place. Remember, your customers will encounter a unique and dominant spirit in
the lives of the Hawaiian.
Congratulations! You have now completed Chapter Two: A History Overview. Be
sure to complete the chapter quiz before moving on to Chapter Three.
Quizzes are available on the website, under the video player after viewing the
chapter material. As you have already read through the material, you can fast
forward the video to go straight to the quiz: http://screencast.com/t/eEAu8RsX.
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