It is said that the demigod Maui loved to fish.
One day his line caught, and as he pulled and pulled, one by one the
Hawaiian Islands broke the surface of the sea. But he did not stop
there. Standing on the brink of Haleakala's awesome crater, Maui snared
the sun and received a promise to give the islands more daylight hours
so that he and his people could have more time to fish.
The Road to Statehood
approx. 1000 AD
Polynesians sail to the Hawaiian Islands and begin settling
there.
1778
English explorer Captain James Cook arrives.
1796
King Kamehameha I unites the island group and becomes their
leader.
1893
Hawaiian monarch Queen Liliuokalani is deposed.
1894
Hawaii becomes a republic.
1898
Hawaii becomes a U.S. possession.
1900
Hawaii becomes a U.S. territory.
1941
Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor leads to U.S. involvement
in World War II.
1959
Hawaii becomes 50th U.S. state.
Maui History
According to our kahunas, Maui started five
million years ago. It was the result of volcanic eruption on the ocean
floor creating two adjacent volcanoes. An undersea volcano, an embolic
island try to reach the surface. These volcanoes formed into one island
and became Maui. One of the volcano that was made was the West Maui
mountains that extinct million years ago. The other volcano is Haleakala
which is 10,023 above sea level. Haleakala is now considered a dormant
volcano. Fountains of molten magma soared into the sky as eruption
followed eruption. Red lava ended in huge clouds of steams as they flow
slowly into the ocean. Lava flows and the gradual erosion of the
volcano's slopes combined together to form a land bridge between the
islands. The isthmus became the rich plain of Central Maui, which today
is where most of islands agriculture, industries and population is
located.
The first people to migrate here in Maui were the Marquesas. They
sailed in 750 A.D. from the pacific in their flagged doubled-hulled
sailing canoes. The Marqueses didn't know anything about the island.
They just notice that every time their birds go to this direction and
come back after several month are much fatter. Marquesas started
traveling. They chose the best of their best to go to their new land.
Example is they brought with them their best hunters, so that they won't
starve when they reach their destination. They also brought with them
their families, animals, crops, and plants. For hundreds of years they
built grass houses and stone temples, made tapa cloth and outrigger
canoes, fished and ground the root of the taro plant into poi. The
Tahitians followed the Marquesas and brought with them their goddesses
and religion. The Tahitians introduced to the islands the kapu system, a
strict social order that affected all aspects of life and became the
core of ancient Hawaiian culture.
The Hawaiians were living on simple life style. This changed when
Captain James Cook discovered Maui on November 26, 1778. In Cook's wake
came traders, whalers, and missionaries. At the height of the whaling
era (1840-1865). Lahaina served as anchorage for more than 500 ships.
The mid 1700s began the modern Hawaiian history. King Kamehameha I
took up residence in Lahaina after conquering Maui in bloody battle in
Iao Valley. Kamehameha's descendant reigned over the islands until 1872.
They were followed by rulers from another ancient family of chiefs,
including Queen Liliukalani who ruled in 1893 when the monarchy was
overturned. One year later, the Republic of Hawaii was founded. They
island was annexed by the United States in 1898 and made territory in
1900. That made Hawaii the 50th state in U.S.
