Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hamaite

The first Hawaiian word written is ‘Hamaite’ – it was spoken to Captain Cook at the time he made contact with the Islands and he wrote it in his journal. It was made in reference to iron. Some suggest it refers to Hematite (ferric oxide – a mineral form of iron oxide – that is Hematita in Spanish.) However, others suggest ‘Hamaite’ is actually a Hawaiian expression of He maita‘i – good.

“(T)hey had never been … acquainted with any of our commodities except iron; which, however, it was plain, they had only heard of, or had known it in some small quantity brought to them at some distant period. … They asked for it by the name of hamaite”. So, it appears evident, before Cook’s contact with the islands, the Hawaiian already had, used and wanted more iron – to make tools and weapons (principally to shape into knives.) Did they first find it a flotsam? Or, maybe the Spanish made contact with the Islands centuries before Cook.

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

First Sight of Land

In January 1778, Captain James Cook aboard the Resolution and Captain Charles Clerke aboard the Discovery were sailing from the Society Islands to the Northwest coast of North America on Cook’s Third Expedition of the Pacific Ocean. “On the 19th, at sunrise, the island first seen, bore east several leagues distant. This being directly to windward, which prevented our getting near it, I stood for the other, which we could reach; and not long after discovered a third island in the direction of west north-west, as far distant as land could be seen.”

“Seeing no signs of an anchoring place at this eastern extreme of the island, I bore away to leeward, and ranged along the south east side, at the distance of half a league from the shore. … We passed several villages; some settled near the sea, and others farther up the country. The inhabitants of all of them crowded to the shore, and collected themselves on the elevated places to view the ships. … Of what number this newly-discovered Archipelago consists, must be left for future investigation. We saw five of them, whose names, as given to us by the natives, are Woahoo (O‘ahu,) Atooi (Kauai,) Oneeheow (Ni‘ihau,) Oreehoua (Lehua) and Tahoora (Kaula.)” … Contact …

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Fifteen Days in the Islands

In January, 1778, Captain Cook was travelling from Christmas Island (“As we kept our Christmas here, I called this discovery Christmas Island” (Cook,)) heading across the north Pacific to the Oregon coast of North America. He wasn’t looking for Hawai‘I, but saw it and landed on Kauai.

Then, “after spending more time about these islands than was necessary to have answered all our purposes, we were obliged to leave them before we had completed our water and got from them such a quantity of refreshments as their inhabitants were both able and willing to have supplied us with.” The Discovery and Resolution left Hawai‘i on February 2, 1778.

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Not Completely Settled

At the time of discovery by Captain Cook, the Hawaiian Islands were not completely settled. Only the best arable land was actually utilized. The Nature Conservancy and Office of Hawaiian Affairs collaborated on a mapping project that identified ecological regions and the pre- and post-contact ‘Hawaiian Footprint’ (areas that were chronically occupied, directly manipulated and significantly changed.)

The Native Hawaiian Footprint of the main Hawaiian Islands is estimated to be approximately 382,000 acres or about 9.3-percent of the main Hawaiian Islands. The pre-contact footprint is remarkably smaller than the present-day footprint of approximately 2.1-million acres or over 52-percent of the main Hawaiian Islands.

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Timeline Tuesday … 1000 – 1780s

Today’s ‘Timeline Tuesday’ takes us from the approximately 600 AD (when some estimate the first settlement of the Islands took place) to the rise of Kamehameha, Contact and death of Captain Cook. We look at what was happening in Hawai‘i during this time period and what else was happening around the rest of the world.

A Comparative Timeline illustrates the events with images and short phrases. This helps us to get a better context on what was happening in Hawai‘i versus the rest of the world. I prepared these a few years ago for a planning project. (Ultimately, they never got used for the project, but I thought they might be on interest to others.) (Click to the full post to see the Comparative Timeline.)