Native Hawaiians facts for kids

"Hawaiians" redirects here. For information on the population of Hawaii, see Demographics of Hawaii.

"Kanaka Maoli" redirects here. For other uses, see Kanaka (disambiguation).

Quick facts for kids
Native Hawaiians
Kānaka Maoli, Hawaiʻi Maoli
Native Hawaiians performing a traditional hula dance
Total population
Over 640,000 in the United States
Regions with significant populations
United States	640,442
Canada	3,300
New Zealand	700
Australia	300
Languages
English Hawaiian Hawaiʻi Sign Language Hawaiian Pidgin
Religion
Christianity Traditional Hawaiian beliefs
Related ethnic groups
other Polynesians, other Pacific Islanders

Native Hawaiians, also known as Kānaka Maoli, are the original Polynesian people who settled the Hawaiian Islands. Long before modern ships or planes existed, their ancestors traveled across thousands of miles of open ocean to make Hawaiʻi their home. Over many centuries, they developed a rich culture, a distinct language, and a society closely connected to nature.

Today, hundreds of thousands of Native Hawaiians live across the islands of Hawaiʻi and throughout the mainland United States. They continue to celebrate their heritage through music, dance, language revival, and deep-rooted cultural values.

Understanding Native Hawaiian History and Origins

How Did the First Settlers Arrive in Hawaiʻi?

The story of the Native Hawaiian people begins with extraordinary ocean voyages. Voyagers from other Polynesian islands, such as the Marquesas and the Society Islands (which include Tahiti), sailed across the Pacific Ocean in large, double-hulled canoes called waʻa.

These early navigators did not have compasses, maps, or modern navigation equipment. Instead, they used traditional wayfinding techniques. They carefully observed the stars, ocean swells, flight paths of birds, and cloud patterns to guide their journey over thousands of miles. The first settlers likely reached the islands around 800 to 1,000 years ago.

Once settled in Hawaiʻi, the voyagers built thriving communities. Because the islands were far away from other land masses, the people developed their own unique culture, dialect, traditions, and social systems over generations.

What Was Life Like in Ancient Hawaiʻi?

Ancient Hawaiian society had an organized social structure led by chiefs, known as Aliʻi. Spiritual leaders and experts in various fields were called kahuna. Everyday community members worked as farmers, fishermen, and builders.

Life centered around a deep respect for natural resources. The people created sustainable farming and fishing systems that allowed large populations to live well without damaging the environment. They built large stone fishponds along shorelines and engineered terraced fields to grow crops like taro (called kalo).

How Was the Hawaiian Kingdom Formed?

For centuries, different islands and districts were ruled by independent chiefs. That changed at the end of the eighteenth century through the leadership of King Kamehameha I.

Kamehameha was a skilled leader and diplomat from the island of Hawaiʻi. Through strategic alliances and battles, he unified the major islands—including Oʻahu, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi—into a single kingdom in 1795. By 1810, the islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau joined peacefully, establishing the unified Hawaiian Kingdom.

During the 1800s, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was recognized internationally as an independent nation. It established treaties with countries around the world, built schools, and adopted a written constitution.

King Kamehameha II, who ruled the Hawaiian Kingdom during a period of rapid change.

What Major Changes Happened in the 1800s and 1890s?

Contact with European and American visitors, beginning with the arrival of British explorer Captain James Cook in 1778, brought rapid changes. Visitors brought foreign illnesses to which Native Hawaiians had no natural immunity. Outbreaks of measles and other illnesses reduced the population drastically during the nineteenth century.

In 1893, a group of foreign businessmen and residents overthrew the monarchy of Queen Liliʻuokalani. In 1898, the United States annexed the islands as a territory. Hawaiʻi eventually became the 50th U.S. state in 1959. In 1993, the United States Congress passed the Apology Resolution, formally apologizing for the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy a century earlier.

Land Stewardship and Traditional Living

What Is the Ahupuaʻa System?

Land stewardship in ancient Hawaiʻi was organized through a land division system known as the ahupuaʻa. Each island was divided into districts called moku, which were further divided into individual ahupuaʻa.

An ahupuaʻa was a self-sustaining slice of land running from the mountain ridge down to the ocean reef. This design ensured that everyone living in the area had access to everything they needed to survive:

Mountain forests provided timber for canoes, plants for medicine, and bird feathers for royal cloaks.
Valley floors provided rich soil and fresh stream water for growing taro, sweet potatoes, and bananas.
Coastal waters and coral reefs provided fish, seaweed (limu), shellfish, and sea salt.

Resource managers ensured that people never took more than they needed. This balance kept the land and water healthy for future generations.

A Native Hawaiian man preparing poi from taro with his children, around 1890.

Why Is Taro Culturally Important?

The taro plant, known locally as kalo, holds a sacred place in Hawaiian culture. According to Hawaiian traditions, the first kalo plant grew from the earth and was considered an elder brother to the first human, Hāloa. Because of this relationship, Native Hawaiians view kalo as family.

From kalo, people make poi, a nutritious staple food made by steaming and mashing the root with water. Growing kalo required careful community cooperation to maintain irrigation ditches, reinforcing teamwork and unity.

Traditional Arts, Music, and Dance

What Is the Meaning of Traditional Hula?

Hula is one of the most famous cultural traditions of Hawaiʻi. It is far more than a dance; it is a way of preserving history, recording genealogies, and honoring the natural world. In ancient times, when there was no written language, stories and legends were passed down through chants accompanied by hula movements.

There are two primary styles of hula:

Hula Kahiko: This is the ancient, traditional style. Dancers perform to rhythmic chanting (oli) and traditional percussion instruments, such as the pahu (a sharkskin drum) and the ipu (a gourd instrument). The movements are powerful, precise, and deeply spiritual.
Hula ʻAuana: This is the modern style that developed in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It features melodic music played on modern instruments like the ukulele and slack-key guitar, with graceful, flowing motions.

What Are Hawaiian Holidays and Celebrations?

Native Hawaiians celebrate many cultural traditions throughout the year. Community gatherings often center around a Lūʻau, a feast with traditional food and music.

Important official holidays include:

Prince Kūhiō Day (March 26): Honors Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, a leader who served as a delegate to the U.S. Congress and worked to protect lands for Native Hawaiian families.
King Kamehameha I Day (June 11): Celebrates the leader who united the Hawaiian Islands. Statues of King Kamehameha are decorated with long strands of flower garlands, known as lei, during colorful parades.

The Hawaiian Language and Cultural Revival

What Is the Story of the Hawaiian Language?

The Hawaiian language, or ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, is an East Polynesian language closely related to Tahitian and Māori. It is known for its musical sound, using only eight consonants and five vowels, along with the ʻokina (a glottal stop) and the kahakō (a macron indicating a long vowel).

During the late nineteenth century, laws were passed that required English to be the primary language of instruction in schools. Over time, fewer children learned Hawaiian at home, and the language was in danger of disappearing.

However, during the 1970s, a movement known as the Hawaiian Renaissance sparked renewed interest in traditional culture, music, and language. In 1978, Hawaiian was made an official language of the state of Hawaiʻi alongside English.

How Are Immersion Schools Saving the Language?

To help the language grow, educators established Hawaiian language immersion preschools called Pūnana Leo ("language nests") in the 1980s. In these schools, young children hear and speak only Hawaiian throughout the day.

Today, students can attend Hawaiian immersion schools from kindergarten through high school, and even earn master's and doctoral degrees in the Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaiʻi. Due to these efforts, thousands of young people speak ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi fluently today.

What Is Hawaiian Pidgin?

In addition to English and Hawaiian, many people in Hawaiʻi speak Hawaiian Creole English, commonly called Pidgin. This language developed on multi-ethnic sugar and pineapple plantations during the 1800s and 1900s. It blends words and sentence structures from Hawaiian, English, Portuguese, Cantonese, Japanese, and Tagalog, allowing workers from different countries to communicate.

An early nineteenth-century depiction of a royal heiau (traditional Hawaiian place of worship) at Kealakekua Bay.

Modern Community and Wayfinding

What Is the Legacy of the Hōkūleʻa?

One of the most inspiring symbols of cultural pride is the traditional double-hulled voyaging canoe named Hōkūleʻa. Built in 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Hōkūleʻa was created to prove that ancient Polynesians could navigate across the ocean intentionally without modern instruments.

In 1976, master navigators sailed Hōkūleʻa from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti using only the stars, wind, and waves. Since then, the canoe has sailed all around the globe, teaching people about traditional navigation, ocean conservation, and cultural heritage.

Where Do Native Hawaiians Live Today?

Today, there are more than 640,000 people of Native Hawaiian ancestry living across the United States. While many live in Hawaiʻi, a large number live in states like California, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. The city of Las Vegas is home to so many former Hawaiʻi residents that it is affectionately called the "Ninth Island."

Organizations such as the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu work to preserve precious artifacts and historical documents, ensuring future generations understand the history of the Hawaiian people.

Images for kids

Distribution map of Native Hawaiian populations across the United States.
Ka Hae Hawaiʻi, the official flag of the State of Hawaiʻi and the former Hawaiian Kingdom.