Kauai: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Most archaeologists now believe that the first settlers of the Hawaiian Islands came from Marquesas Islands via Southeast Asia around 2000 years ago. Over time, all of the eight major islands were settled and a new 'Hawaiian' culture emerged that was similar to other Polynesian cultures, yet unique in many ways.

However, because the island of Kaua'i was located relatively far from the islands of O'ahu, Maui, Moloka'i and the Big Island of Hawai'i, which are clustered close together, Kaua'i evolved more slowly culturally, socially and politically. It's isolation also staved off invasions from chiefs on other islands. British naval captain James Cook 'discovered' what are now the Hawaiian islands in 1778. He made landfall at Waimea Bay on Kaua'i. Cook was killed on Hawai'i the following year. When news of Cook's landing on the Hawaiian islands got to Europe, explorers, traders, farmers, merchants and whalers all came to see things for themselves. A Hawaiian warrior named Paiea (who became Kamehameha the Great) became mo'i (king) of the islands of Hawai'i, Maui, Moloka'i and O'ahu; however, he could not conquer Kaua'i, due to the stout defence of the island's chief, Kaumuali'i.

The first group of foreign missionaries arrived on the islands in 1820 at a time when the rulers were trying to abolish the ancient kapu religious system. As a consequence of the influx of westerners, diseases began to take hold; it is believed these were responsible for a massive reduction in the indigenous population.

(sugarcane) arrived in Hawaii with the early Polynesian settlers. In 1835 a young Bostonian named William Hooper founded Hawaii's first large-scale sugar farm, Koloa Plantation. By 1850 the number of plantations on the islands had grown to seven. Fewer than four decades later, there were 80 plantations and 'King Sugar' was the backbone of the Hawaiian economy.

Because the Hawaiian population was declining at an alarming rate, the planters had to import cheap labor from outside Hawaii. The Chinese were the first group of contract laborers to be imported in 1851, followed by the Japanese in 1868 and the Portuguese in 1878. This added greatly to the diverse ethnic population that has made Hawaii such a cosmopolitan state.

In 1893 a small group of visiting American marines overthrew the ruling monarch, Queen Lili'uokalani, in a bloodless coup. President Grover Cleveland ordered an investigation into the coup; the report condemned the overthrow and recommended the restoration of the crown, but the US Congress refused to restore the kingdom.

Modern History

A republic was declared 18 months after the overthrow of the kingdom. On July 7, 1898, Hawaii was annexed to the US; on April 30, 1900, it was declared a territory through the Organic Act, much to the disgust of most Hawaiians. In the early part of the 20th century, some members of Congress, did not like the fact that the majority of the population on the islands was made up of non-whites: primarily Hawaiians, Japanese, and Chinese. As the early years of the 20th century went by and Hawaii sugar and dock workers began to form powerful unions, 'Red Scare' and 'Yellow Peril' sentiments swept the country, resulting in a harsh and misinformed conclusion that these unions were in control of the islands and that most of their members were communists. It was not until WWII (1941-45), when so many Hawaii residents of Japanese descent served loyally and valiantly in the all-Japanese 442nd Infantry Battalion and the 100th Combat Regiments, did the tide turn in Hawaii's favor with regard to statehood.

In August 1959, both houses of Congress voted to approve statehood, President Dwight D Eisenhower signed the statehood bill, and Hawaii residents approved statehood in a plebiscite. After WWII tourism began to grow rapidly. Over the next 30 years tourism would continue to grow while the sugar industry waned.

The 'Hawaiian Renaissance' movement emerged in the early 1970s when Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, a small group of native Hawaiians on the island of Moloka'i, began to protest at the use of the tiny island of Kaho'olawe as a practice bombing site by the US Navy. (In 2003 the Navy released the island from practice bombings.) In 1975 the Polynesian Voyaging Society was formed to build a long-distance voyaging canoe, in the manner of the ancients, to prove that the first settlers to the islands were capable of navigating the Pacific without the use of Western technology such as sextants and compasses. When the Hokule'a made its maiden voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1975, it instantly became a symbol of rebirth for Hawaiians, prompting a cultural revival unparalleled in Hawaiian history.

Recent History

Kaua'i featured in the 2002 Disney animated feature Lilo & Stitch . The annual PGA Grand Slam of Golf is played at Po'ipu Bay Golf Course between the winners of the four major grand slam events. Each battles out out over 36 holes for prize money of US$1250000 . But here's a question: what would Tiger Woods do if he won all four grand slam events? Play against himself? Mind you, he did win the Grand Slam of Golf five years in a row, so...

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