Date sent: Sun, 12 May 1996 21:21:53 -0400 Thesis: Hawaii is by far has some of the most interesting history and culture of any of the states. It also makes a great vacation spot for the young and old Outline: Introduction. I. History of the islands in general. II. Culture of the people. III. Oahu's main tourist attraction and what makes it so great. IV. Molokai's tourist attraction and why its so great. V. Concluding thoughts Hawaii is by far has some of the most interesting history and culture of any of the states. It also makes a great vacation spot for the young and old. In this paper I will give a history of the islands and their culture. I will also point out some of the main tourist attractions on two the most popular islands. Many of these places are hangouts for the local people. However, some were built only in the interest of the tourist. Many people think of Hawaii as one main island, but there are eight islands all together. Hawaii is the biggest of these islands and of course the most popular. The other seven islands are: Nihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and Kahoolawe. When the islands are viewed from the air they look like huge gems with sparkling beaches. The northern end of the island chain is made up of sunken volcanoes. The islands lie about 3,800 miles west of California (Sunset 20). The islands are made up of magma rock which leaked from under the earth's surface. Over the years it eventually came above sea level and formed the islands. Right now there is an island being formed near the Big Island of Hawaii. The islands are about five to ten million years old, and the main Good 2 Hawaii island is one to five million years old (Sunset 23). The Big Island still has a large amount of volcanic activity. The islands are first thought to be settled by the Marquesas chain northeast of Tahiti. It is not known why they settled these islands because there is no historical record. All we know is that they travel using doubled hulled canoes, and navigated using the stars. In the west they were unaware of these islands until Captain Cook sighted Oahu and landed on Kauai in 1778 (Myatt 15) . He named the group of islands the Sandwich Islands. Captain Cook's men started trading with the natives which only led to trouble. The men spread diseases to the healthy native which killed off many of their population. At the time of Cook's arrival there was 300,000 natives, only 60,000 remained 80 years later (Myatt 25). Hawaii's people have always been ruled by Kings and Queens throughout history. Kalaniopuu was the first ruling chief. After being killed in a battle with Cook's men, his son Kiwalao took his position and did a terrible job. So, his nephew Kamehameha took control over the land and for the next five years the island was stuck in tribal wars. Kamehameha finally defeated his enemies, but died in 1819. Then his wife declared herself Queen. She destroyed all sacred temples and idols that followed the Kupa system. The Kupa system was set at least a thousand years before hand. It was a system that set standards in which the Hawaiian's lived by. The queen and her husband were invited to the Royal families house in England, but got the measles and died while visiting them. After this the Queens brother took over. He wanted to avoid the whole Kupa problem so he converted to Christianity. This new religion swept the islands with unbelievable speed. Many years and many leaders later President Cleveland made Hawaii a republic, and in 1898 when McKinley became president he officially made Hawaii a United States possession. In 1900 Hawaii became United States territory by the signing of an Good 3 Organic Act. Finally in 1959 after War World II was over Hawaii became the 50th State (World Book). That same year the first commercial jet landed in Honolulu. Hawaii's culture is perhaps its most interesting aspect. The people once live according to the rule of their Gods and followed the sacred laws of Kupa. There were four main Gods which were also the same in southern Polynesian groups. Kane was the first, he was the god of creation, light and fresh water. Kanaloa was the god of the sea. Lono was the god of agriculture, clouds, winds, and fertility. Last, but just as powerful was Hina, who was the goddess of the sunset. All of these gods were believed to have played an important role in the peoples everyday life. Kupa was also very important to the people. To me it seems harsh and very illogical. An example would be that the High Priest had the power of life and death over all of his people. Because of this there were many human sacrifices. Also each family would have a certain kind of fish they could or could not eat, and when fishing they had to throw back the fish that was out of their Kupa. The fisherman would also have to throw back the first half of what he caught, and leave part of the other half at the local fishing shrine. It seems that the Kupa system was really only to protect the natural resources, in which it did a very good job. One of the Hawaiian's greatest abilities is to achieve racial harmony. Nations all around the world deal with racial problems day after day, but never really solve them. In America a person with a racial mixture is sometimes seen as different. However, In Hawaii a persons with only one blood pumping through their veins is an outcast. The main mixtures are; Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, Samoans, and Portuguese (Myatt 40). The people are proud of their heritage and are glad that they are not just of one race. Oahu, which means the Gathering Place, has some of the most popular cities. Honolulu is its capital. However, Waikiki is what makes this island what it is. It has some of the most famous tourist attractions. Perhaps one of the things that makes this island so popular amongst tourist is Good 4 the shopping centers. The Ala Moana Shopping Center and The Waikiki Shopping Plaza are probably the most famous, and the largest (Hite 64). You can have a lot of fun during the day in Waikiki, but you could have even more fun at night. The night is what makes this city come alive. To start your evening off you could go to a bar and have a few drinks while watching the sunset. The House Without a Key has one whole side made of nothing but glass (Hite 65). You can see beautiful sunsets here every evening. After that you may be a little hungry so lets go to a nice restaurant. One of the most popular restaurants is Bagwell's. They serve all type of food and while you eat you can enjoy a live guitarist. Of course after diner your going to have to go dancing and what better place to do it than Trapper's. Here you can experience live music until 4am on weekends. For those of you that have caught disco fever there are many top rated discos in Waikiki. The Power House is surpose to be the most popular among the college crowd. It stays open until 4am and also has a video-tech on the opposite side of the building. After you have danced the night away you may want to set back and relax while enjoying a cup of coffee or tea. There are three main coffee house's in Waikiki one of the best is Wailana Coffee House which is open twenty four hours unlike the others that are open until 2 or 3 am (Hite 68). Many people come to Waikiki to see some of their many shows. One of the best show groups is the Society of Seven which perform contemporary music, musical comedy, and comedy parody. They perform their shows at the Outrigger Hotel, Monday through Saturday at 8:30pm and 10:30pm (Hite 68). You can purchase a dinner and cocktail show package for about forty dollars. Some of the most fun happens about a mile of shore from Waikiki. These are the sunset and moonlight cruises. The best sunset cruise is The Royal Prince and the best moonlight is the Rellae Mae. Both of which cost about forty dollars including dinner. For those people who are into site seeing downtown Honolulu has many sites to offer. One of the favorite is China Town. Here the Chinese language is spoken and the food if being cooked Good 5 everyday. Honolulu host one of the finest museums around, the Bishop Museum. It contains many Polynesian artifacts, and also a very large library of books on Hawaii and the Polynesian history. Also right next door to the museum is the restored sailing ship, Falls of Clyde. Molokai, which means the friendly isle, is just about the opposite of Oahu. It's a place where you can go to just get away from it all. Oahu is full of commercialization , Maui and Kauai are both trying to build their tourist industry. Molokai is the only island that lags behind in their old ways. The island only has two major hotels and just about four years ago they got traffic lights. Molokai is the fifth largest of the islands, and it is regarded by historians as the earliest Polynesian settlement. The thing that make Molokai so important is its beauty. The Kaluapapa Peninsula is where a large portion of this beauty lies. The ocean here has raging twenty foot waves that come past the smaller islands of Mokapi and Okala. The Kaluapapa Peninsula was once a place to keep people with leprosy (Myatt 90). The high cliffs served as walls and anyone caught climbing them was shot. However, most tourist do not care about its history, they are only marveling the great beauty. You can take a mule ride from one end to the other during peak tourist season. The ride starts at about 8am and take a little over an hour and a half. The Palaau State Park is near the end of the trail. This is full of large meadows that are perfect for picnics. Here you can find the Kalaupapa Overlook which gives you an aerial view of the peninsula (Davis 44). On the western side of the island there is the Kaluakoi resort which feature Polynesian style rooms overlooking the ocean. Nearby is the Papohaku Beach which is Hawaii's largest white sand beach. There is also an eighteen whole golf course on the resort. While playing golf you should keep a close eye out for animals. The Molokai Ranch Wildlife Park is one of the main reason tourist and natives come to this island. It began in 1970 when a rancher imported some antelope and sheep to feed on the grass. The ranch's main purpose was to control vegetation, but later they wanted to provide a Good 6 home for exotic animals. Later on there was many other animals introduced to the park: axis deer, oryx, greater kudu, sika, rhea, and spotted deer. There are four daily camera safaris conducted, this is as close as you will every get to a true safari. The ranch also allows hunting on the property of Barbary sheep and axis deer. The fee seems very expensive, $1,000 per animal and a $400 dollar daily hunting fee (Myatt 94). You must pay the daily fee even if you do not kill anything. There is also a rare bird refuge about twenty minutes away from the ranch. It is call the Kamakou Preserve, but do not try to drive there unless you have a very large jeep. The roads are very bad, but there is tours conducted by the Nature Conservancy. Overall Hawaii and all of its islands are great places to visit. There are seven other islands with many cities on them, but the two spoke of seemed to be the most popular. The history and culture may not seem important to most people, but it will help you appreciate the islands and their people to the fullest extent. The resort and tourist attractions mentioned in this paper have been around for quite some time and are sure to stay. There is always new places to see and visit popping up around the islands. However, many of them do not last because the tourist industry is not always a stable business.