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The People of Hawaii
It is believed that people from Tahiti first settled in Hawaii about 750 AD. By about the year 1000 more people from The Society Islands were also populating the islands.
Captain Cook 'found' what were originally called ''The Sandwich Islands' in 1778 . He probably wishes he hadn't as he was killed the following year on Hawaii's Big Island. Undeterred, foreign settlers began coming soon after and by 1820 there were American, British, Scottish, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese people living in Hawaii.
Native Hawaiians were dying out by the 19th century but the large sugar plantations needed workers. First came the Chinese in 1852, followed by Japanese immigrants - nearly 200,000 of them by 1924. By 1886 the indigenous Hawaiians were outnumbered.
During the early 20th century more nationalities arrives including Puerto Ricans, Koreans Filipinos and Okinawans, all adding to Hawaii's melting pot.
The missionaries came to save as many 'savage souls' as they could and as a result there are a wide range of religions practiced on the islands. The most popular is Roman Catholic, followed by Buddhist (all sects), Mormon, United Church of Christ, Southern Baptist, Episcopalian, United Methodist, Lutheran and Jewish. In the old whaling town of Lahaina on Maui you can visit the home of one of the first missionaries, the Baldwin family.
Probably because of this diverse ethnic and religious mix Hawaiian culture is very tolerant. Islanders have a 50:50 chance of marrying someone of a race different from their own.
Today there are around 1.4 million people living in Hawaii (including some famous names you might recognise) roughly divided up amongst the islands as follows:
O'ahu 900,000
Maui 120,000
Hawaii's Big Island 170,000
Kaua'i 63,000
Moloka'i 8,000
Lana'i 3,000
Hawaii is a popular holiday spot for gays and lesbians as the State has supported the movement to legalise same-gender marriages (still pending). It is a liberal State but nevertheless the gay scene is very low key, particularly on the outer islands (Maui, Kauai, Big Island, etc) where public displays of affection and hand-holding are not common. Waikiki in Honolulu on the island of Oahu offers the best gay clubs and nightlife.
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Hawaii Island Information
There are only about 9,000 full blooded, native Hawaiians living in the islands, representing just 1% of the entire population.
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