Hawaii- A Brief History of Culture

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In 1820, missionaries from New England, began converting many Hawaiians to Chrisitanity, including the King. In the 1830's sugar plantations were established and Honolulu became a booming city, bars and brothels alike were opened. All of the land up to this point was held by the Monarchy. The idea of an individual owning land was unknown to Hawaiians.

In 1847 The Great Mahele, was signed into law. This allowed land to be divided up by the King to various groups.

You can read a rather complete history of the Hawaii from The Great Mahele to modern times here: History of Hawaii

The Monarchy was overthrown by a number of influential business men, in 1898. The new government sought to ally itself with the United States. Because of increasing western influence, Hawaii, and most importantly Pearl Harbor, officially became a US territory in 1898. There were several arguments, failed bills and lots of political red tape that kept Hawaii from becoming a U.S. state.

The gateway to allowing Hawaii to become an official state was tourism. Pan American Airlines flew the first passenger flights from the mainland to Hawaii in 1936. This led to mass tourism. After the Korean War and the attacks on Pearl Harbor, it became imminent to make Hawaii an official state. Hawaii was declared the 50th state on August 21, 1959.

In the 1970's the Hawaiian culture had a resurgence of pride and heritage awareness. The ancient Hawaiian language had all but disappeared and a huge westernization had spread across the state. In the seventies the original Hawaiian language was reintroduced back into preschools and became an important part of the heritage again. Thanks to the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch we all know that ohana means family. Today the language is taught at the University of Hawaii as well.

The luau is also another important part of Hawaiian culture. Luaus have been with the culture for hundreds of years. The word luau really just means a party or a celebration. This is the way that friends and family honor each other on special occasions. Today there are two types of Luaus.

The first is, just a gathering of family and friends, and is the only authentic type. They are private, and unless you have local connections, it is unlikely that tourists would be invited to such an event. Luaus are held on special occasions such as The First Birthday of a child or graduation ceremonies. You will generally find kalua pork (pig roasted in an underground oven known as an imu.) Lomi lomi salmon, as well as lau lau (pork and or fish wrapped inside of ti leaves and steamed). Poi, mashed taro root is also served.

The second type of Luau is commercial. It's the type that tourists would frequent. They are heavily choreographed and can be quite entertaining. The luau usually has a buffet of some sort of roasted pig as the entrée accompanied by rice and of course pineapple. These luaus are also complete with hula dancers for the guys and Polynesian dancers for the ladies viewing pleasure. There is plenty of entertainment to go around, especially when you add an open bar to the mix. Although commercial events this type of luau can be quite fun and entertaining.

The merry monarch festival was founded in 1971. It is a hula festival; in fact it is the largest hula festival in the world. It features thousands of dancers and honors the long time Hawaiian tradition of hula dancing. The festival takes place in March or April and draws huge crowds. It is located in Hilo on the Big island Hawaii and is a weeklong cultural event.



Albert Grande
http://hawaiisecret.com
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