Statewide County HI Archives News.....Wiki Mo'olelo Part 1 . October 26, 2008 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/hi/hifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Darlene E. Kelley donkeyskid@msn.com November 16, 2008, 8:41 am Keepers Of The Culture, A Study In Time Of The Hawaiian Islands October 26, 2008 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley donkeyskid@msn.com October 26, 2008 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Hawai'i Keepers of the Culture A Study in Time, of the Hawai'ian Islands Wiki Mo'olelo Part 1 by Darlene E. Kelley +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 1 " Wiki Mo'olelo" Wiki Mo'olelo, means small histories, traditions, culture, told in journels of research, mythology and legends, and facts of Hawai'i nei --- some small and others larger. Intersting facts about the Hawai'ian peoples, and their history. D.E.K ++++++++++++++ Formation and Description of the Hawai'ian Archipelago. Hawai'i comprises the northern apex of the Polynesian Triangle, the name given an area in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean stretching from New Zealand on the south to Hawai'i on the north to Easter Island on the east and encompassing several island groups. All of these populations are thought to be descended from a common ancestral society. The Hawai'ian chain is among the most isolated areas in the world, lying approximately 2,100 nautical miles southwest of California and more than 4,000 miles from Japan and the Phillipines. As a consequence of their location, these islands were among the last areas in the world to be discovered and populated but also have served as an important link between North America and Asia. The greatest single distance between any of two of the larger Hawai'ian Islands is the eighty miles from Kaua'i to O'ahu, while the distances between adjacent islands average twenty-five or less. Except for certain wide and dangerous channels that limited communcation is some directions, the earlest inhabitants were able to voyage among most islands of the group with ease of paddling or sailing canoes. The entire Hawai'ian archipelago consists of 132 islands, islets, sand cays, and reefs. Most of the total land area, however, is made up of five majot islands -- Hawai'i, Mau'i, O'ahu, Kaua'i, and Moloka'i --- and three smaller ones -- Lana'i. Ni'ihau, and Kahoolawe -- stretching across the Tropic of Cancer. The Island of Hawai'i, cmmonly known as the " Big Island." contains more than twice as much land as the other seven islands combined. The group lies between latitudes 19 degrees and 29 degrees Nort and longitudes 154 and 179 degrees west. The northern and central, most westerly, leeward islands are small, almost uninhabited, volcanic rocks, and coral atolls. The two exceptions are Nihoa and Necker islands, which were uninhabited at the time of European discovery but contain certain archeological evidence of earlier human occupation. The larger islands of the Hawai'ian chain comprise the emerged summits of a 1,600 mile long, northwest-southwest trending range of volcanic mountains resting on the Pacific Plate. These shield-shaped basaltic domes have been built up by successive outpourinngs of lava from vents along a crack in the earth's crust that cooled to solid rock bodies. These islands vary considerably in configuration, land area, rainfall, and vegetation. The oldest eruptive centers are at the northwest ( Kaua'i, O'ahu ) end of the chain, while the youngest, still active volcanoes are at the southeast end, including Kilauea and Mauna Loa ( the world's largest active volcano ) on Hawai'i Island. This youngest island has been a focal point of active vulcanism during the period of human occupation. Volcanic eruptions have been a frequent cause of population dislocation, burying sttlements and agricultural land under sweeping lava flows. These flows preserve numerous important archeological sites. The different geological ages of the islands of the Hawai'ian chain mean great differences in topography, bespeaking various stages of formation and erosion. The larger islands, in which are all dome volcanoes, exhibit a gentle, gradual slope from summit to ocean. The central, mountainous parts of these islands are generally rugged and cover considerable area. Through the years volcanic flows have been subjected to various weathering processes. First chemical weathering gradually works upon the lava, resulting in formation of soil. That action is followed by rainfall-induced steam erosion associated with north-east trade winds -- the dominent feature of the Hawai'ian climate. Erosion is usaully greater on the windward side of the islands where the greatest amounts of rain fall, causing the formation of steep valleys and cliffs, often cut by permanent streams. These predominantly wet, cool areas are forested where not cultivated.. It has been estimated that almost fifty percent of the total area of the main islands (6,435 square miles) was forest land in pre-European times. The warmer and drier leeward sides of the islands, more sheltered from the rain, undergo much more gradual erosion and are mostly grassland and scrub, characterized by shallower, trough-like valleys, coastal plains, flat sand or cobble beaches, and occasional coral reefs. The mild, subtropical climate of Hawai'i has been favorable to the growth of introduced vegetation. Plants and animals native today are descendants of those that arrived over a period of time by one means or another and spread gradually through the islands. Hawai'i flora and fauna are highly specialized because of their isolation and the great variations in enviroment on the different islands. +++++++++++++ Human Occupation. Probably beginning about 1000 B.C. or earlier, small groups of people from Malanesia or southeast Asia migrated toward the Pacific into the western part of Polynesia. Their colonization attempts were highly sucessful for several reasons. A seafaring population, they developed strong double-hulled outrigger canoes that could carry many people and supplies and travel great distances. They had well developed celestial and other navigational skills that not only allowed far-flung colonization efforts but also enabled round trips between parent and daughter coonis. Finally, they had perfected the horicultural hunting, and fishing technologies needed to sustain fledgling populations on previously uninhabited islands. These colonists, who became the ancesters of a hybrid people known as Polynesians, ultimately spread to all other islands of the Triangle. The Hawai'ians are a branch of these peoples inhabiting the eastern tier of islands in the Pacific Ocean. The other pricipal branches were the Maori of New Zealand and the Samoans, Tongans, Tahitians, Cook Islanders, and Marquesans. There is strong evidence from a number of early Hawai'ian archeological sites that initial colonization of some of the islands had occurred by at least the fourth or fifth centuries, A.D. by people from the Marquesas islands. It is thought there were additional waves of immigrants to Hawai'i beginnng in the twelveth century from the Society Islands ( Tahiti ). Evidence exists, and Hawai'ian tradition suggests, that the route between Tahiti and Hawai'i was transversed frequently by large double-halled canoes during this later period, return voyages possibly being made to renew contacts and secure skilled labor and additional plants and animals. The role of external contacts in the evolution of Hawai'ian culture is still actively debated. Important new culturial elements forming the framework for the later Hawai'ian labor system, social structure, and religious order were introduced durig the final migratory period and superimposed upon the aboriginal society of earlier migarations. The leaders of these last arrivals were the ancestors of the ali'i, the chiefly class of Hawai'ian society noted by the earlier dsicoverers, whose origin ad cultural heritage were distinct from those of the older Hawai'ian population. After this period of " long voyages " ended, communication ceased between Hawai'i and other areas of Polynesia, and the Hawai'ians lived in nearly complete isolation from outside influences until 1778. Altough it has been established that it was the Spanish who first discovered the chain of Islands in the early sixteenth century, it would be Captain Cook who received the credit of that discovery. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Next - part 2. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/newspapers/wikimool83nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/hifiles/ File size: 8.9 Kb