Show First Hawaiian Ia Island Settlers Set tIers Sailed From Tahiti l or Samoa r t a i ANCIENT cones conr like this s one Jot dot the till landscape of the thc Hawaiian islands i This Thi particular cone rOT rises ri from the t I up I lands oj of one of the te worlds world's largest larr t cattle ranches the the Tarter ranch Here Herr 2100 2 miles mih from any all mainland maiT roams the tp largest t herd of pure bred Hereford in the world U U. S. S S Possession Located 2400 Miles l From Any Mainland l Pre Ir ared by National Ge cv Society Washington D. D D C. C C. C Service SerIce Geography experts exports have long sought the solution to the why and the how of the first population of the Hawai Hawai- Hawaiian Hawaiian Ila vai- vai ian islands Located in the midst of the Pacific ocean 2400 miles from any main main- mainland mainland mainland land the islands present a puzzling problem in history of world wide wor ld colonization tion It is practically certain that the first settlers seWers came ame from Tahiti or Samoa about A A. D D. but why they came exactly how they came whether they sailed out into the Ule blue or followed the trail of some legend legend- r r. W w mo w i mos' s' s t L 1 e i H R 1 L 4 rot 9 a A I. I This stat- stat statue tic ue of oj the thc conqueror stands in front of oj the tha Judiciary building in Honolulu The great preat ling Kamehameha I died in 1820 about al the tha time tima of the arrival of the tha first white while missionaries to the islands ary hero no man knows Perhaps the most plausible explanation is that they were driven from home by an invasion of savage sava e people There are legends of several voy voy- voyages voyages ages back and forth from Samoa and Tahiti about liDO COO years later and then for some unknown reason aU aLl communication with the rest of the world seems to have ceased un until un- un until til the discovery of the islands by Captain Cook in 1778 Spoke Polynesian Language By that time the legends were vague but that they were substantially substantially substantially true is proved by the Ian lan language guage which is Polynesian Pol like that of the Tahitians the Samoans and the Maoris of New Zealand and by much of the fauna and flora fiora which resemble that of the South Pacific islands even though the pre prevailing prevailing aIling winds and currents are ere from tram the northeast Furthermore the Ha Ha- Hawaiians worshiped the same prin principal cipal gods as other ther Polynesians Captain Cook who landed first on the little Island of Kauai was treat treat- treated treated ed as a god Runners were sent throughout the group of Islands to tell the wonderful news of ot his com corn ing They even described the English language imitating it thus A Mica hika- If to us us this does not resemble English we must remember that the Hawaiian language contains only 12 sounds later translated into letters letters five five vowels and seven consonants The runners could hardly be expected to invent sounds like the letter s a 5 A few months later when Captain Cook returned this time to the is island land of Hawaii to explore and trade his crew behaved outrageously Fl Fi Finally nally a native stole one of the ships ship's oats boats fighting ensued and the fa famous navigator lost his life Captain Cook was honorably bur bur- led fed and his bones were deified Near his monument today are some sume of the oldest and most interesting h Ha Hawaiian la a- a wallan remains things which the navigator undoubtedly saw in 1778 The first fir t white while missionaries to set set- settie settie tie in the islands were the Amen Arne cans who arrived in 1820 ISO The gre it I king Kamehameha I on whom these newcomers had counted for sympathy sympathy thy and assistance had just lust died dl d but his successor welcomed them The missionaries most of them from New England were high high hl mind minded ed self sacrificing and devoted They refrained from exploiting the Hawaiians and guarded them against aga exploitation tion by others missionaries l Were Vere Valuable These missionaries were good Americans but they made no at attempt attempt tempt to bring about annexation of the Islands to the United States Stales They did however give gi the Hawai Hawal Hawaiian ian government every possible as as- assistance assistance in preventing seizure of ot the islands by any other nation Had they not been on hand Ha IIa Hawaii ha- ha wail wali would have been b clI British or French before the middle of the Nineteenth century Their Influence on the American government in in- induced induced the declaration that the Unit Unit- United United ed States would consider it an un un- unfriendly unfriendly unfriendly friendly act if the islands were tak take taken taken en over by any other power Even in those early days it was vaguely realized in Washington that for defensive ve reasons Hawaii was important to the United States Kamehameha I 1 has been called by the grandiloquent name of Napoleon Na Napoleon Napoleon of ot the Pacific He lIe certainly was a good soldier administrator and a man of ot fine character Kamehameha II a weakling in inbody Inbody Inbody body and character died young Ka Ka- Kamehameha Kamehameha Ka- Ka Kamehameha III who reigned a long longtime longtime longtime time was waa an able man who on the whole led his people wisely Kame Kame- Kamehameha Kamehameha IV and V left let no particular impression Old Line Lint Dies Out After this line died out a high chief was elected king He died soon after assuming the throne and David Kalakaua was elected to succeed him Kalakaua took a trip around the world Probably he tasted every wine in every country for he is re reo reported reported ported to have been often in a dazed condition and not always coherent His companion on the trip told the story that when the king was driving ing in Nikko with one of the im tin- imperial penal princes after a heavy lunch lunch- luncheon luncheon eon he fell asleep Rudely wakened wak ned by the cawing of ot crows he said po politely po- po politely to the prince In Japan how sweet is the singing of the birds Kalakaua's magnificent funeral with its dirges its wailing the pano pano- y s sn n HERE'S HERES YOUR POI A Ha Ile Hawaiian poi maker poi maker here demon demonstrates strates the thc ancient art of han lien handling I tiling one of the native foods I Poi is made from the root of oj the Taro plant and is boiled and end beaten into a pulpy mass It is it eaten with the fingers ply of ot its feather cloaks and really marked the end of Hawaiian royalty ro alty His Ins sister sue seeded him but her reign was shore shor and stormy In her desire to abolish the constitution and make herself hersel absolute she was a few centuries after her time The result was her hei dethronement and the establishment of a republic |