Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [13]
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Several layers of ali’i ruled each island, and life was marked by much warring as they jockeyed for power and status. The basic political subdivision was the ahupua’a, a wedge-shaped slice of land from the mountains to the sea that contained all the resources each chiefdom needed. Below the chiefs were the kahuna (experts or masters), who included both the priests and the guildmasters – canoe makers, healers, navigators, and so on. Maka’ainana (commoners) did most of the physical labor, and below all was a small class of outcasts (kaua).
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Don’t miss artist, historian and voyager Herb Kawainui Kane’s beautiful history Ancient Hawai’i (1997). The 11 paintings that inspired this book are on display at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai (Click here).
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A culture of mutuality and reciprocity infused what otherwise resembled a feudal agricultural society: chiefs were custodians of their people, and humans custodians of nature, all of which was sacred – the living expression (or mana, spiritual essence) of the universe’s immortal soul. Everyone played their part, through work and ritual, to maintain the health of the community and its relationship to the gods; when needs and honor were satisfied, Hawaiians enjoyed themselves immensely, cultivating rich traditions in music, dance, sport and competition. Change was only marked by the seasons. If chiefs abused their power or failed their duties, commoners were free to move to other chiefdoms.
Nevertheless, in practice, a very strict code of ritualized behavior – the kapu system – governed every aspect of daily life; violating the kapu meant death. Further, in a society based on mutual respect, slights to honor – whether of one’s chief or extended family – could not be abided. As a result, ancient Hawai‘i was both a gracefully unselfish and fiercely uncompromising place.
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CAPTAIN COOK & THE DISCOVERY OF THE WEST
Britain’s greatest explorer, Captain James Cook, spent a decade traversing the Pacific Ocean over the course of three voyages. His ostensible goal was to locate a fabled ‘northwest passage’ between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. However, his were also self-conscious voyages of discovery, and he sailed with a full complement of scientists and artists to document the places, plants and peoples they found. In 1778, on the third trip, and quite by accident, Cook found the Hawaiian Islands.
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In Cook (2003), Nicholas Thomas seeks the breathing present-tense man behind the controversial legend, retelling the story of Captain Cook’s Pacific voyages with nuance and sensitivity to all perspectives.
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Cook’s arrival ended nearly 500 years of isolation, and it’s impossible to overstate the impact of this, or even to appreciate now what his unexpected appearance meant to Hawaiians. Cook, of course, was well familiar with Polynesian peoples, but Hawaiians knew nothing of the metal, guns, gods, diseases and races his ships carried, not to mention the world view they represented: Hawaiians lived in an island world inseparable from the spiritual world, while Cook embodied a continental consciousness steeped in the individualism of Europe’s Enlightenment, in which gods ruled only heaven and only men ruled earth.
In January 1778, Cook dropped anchor off O’ahu, and as he had elsewhere in the Pacific, he bartered with the indigenous peoples for badly needed food and fresh water. Then he left to hunt again for the northwest passage. He returned to the islands in November, this time sighting Maui. However, he didn’t land, but kept moving, circling the Big Island – continuing to trade for fresh supplies as he went – until he stopped in Kealakekua Bay in January 1779.
For a fuller story of what happened next, Click here. Cook’s ships were greeted by a thousand canoes, and Hawaiian chiefs and priests honored Cook with rituals and deference suggesting they perhaps considered him a god. The Hawaiians were so unrelentingly gracious, in fact – so fair in their dealings, so agreeable in every respect, including