Maui History 101

Pre Contact

It is not clear when the Hawaiian islands were first inhabited. It is believed that early Polynesian voyagers came from the Marquesas Islands around 450 A.D. However, recent archaeological evidence suggests the first settlers may have arrived earlier. Around 700 A.D., new waves of colonists arrived from Tahiti.

For centuries, Maui was divided into two separate kingdoms that fought for control. It was not until the early 15th century that the island was united by King Pi`ilani (pee-EE-lah-nee) under a single family of ali`i (royalty, pronounced ah-LEE-ee). Under King Pi`ilani’s reign, Maui experienced peace, prosperity, and the development of roads, fishponds and irrigation systems. Construction of the alaloa (King’s Highway) began under Pi`ilani, and was finished by his son. It became the only ancient highway to circle any of the Hawaiian islands, and stretched more than 138 miles.

Remnants of the King’s Highway built by Pi`ilani and his son can be seen near La Perouse Bay in South Maui and in Kapalua (kah-pah-LOO-ah) in West Maui. Pi`ilani is remembered in many Hawaiian chants, and six bays in West Maui are named for him.

The late 1700s: European Arrival & Hawaiian Unification

The late 1700s marked a pivotal period in Maui’s history. At a time when the future United States of America was taking its fledgling steps toward creating a new nation, the islands of Hawai`i came into contact with the European world.

In 1778, as American colonials battled British soldiers on the East Coast, Captain James Cook of England, on his third major voyage, sailed into Hawaiian waters and “discovered” the islands for the Western world. He saw Maui, but never set foot on it. In 1787, Captain Jean Francois de Galaup de La Perouse became the first foreigner to step foot on Maui, at what is now called La Perouse Bay along Maui’s southern coastline. Captain La Perouse defied orders from his king and chose not to claim Maui for France.

Three years later, in 1790, Kamehameha the Great (also called Kamehameha I, pronounced kah-MEH-hah-MEH-hah) invaded Maui and, with the help of Western armaments, defeated Maui’s last king, Kahekili, in historic I`ao Valley (EE-ah-oh). The Battle of I`ao was an important milestone in Kamehameha the Great’s campaign to unite the Hawaiian islands under a single ruler.

The site of the Battle of I`ao is called Kepaniwai (keh-PAH-nee-why), which literally means “stopping the waters.”  It is called so because the bodies of slain warriors were so numerous, it temporarily dammed the stream. The battle marked a turning point in Hawaiian history, and was the first Hawaiian use of a cannon in war.

The 1800s: A Century of Change

During the next 100 years, Maui experienced enormous change in virtually all aspects of society, government, cultural norms, industry and commerce, religious beliefs, and ethnic make-up.

Government: Maui, the Royal Seat

In 1802, Kamehameha the Great declared Lahaina (lah-HIGH-nah) on Maui as the official capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The royal seat was located near the shore at a sacred site called Moku`ula (moh-koo-OO-lah). Here, the royal family built a brick “palace,” family mausoleum, private residence and a fishpond.

Lahaina served as the center of government for nearly five decades until the mid-1800s, when the capital was relocated to its present location in Honolulu on the island of O`ahu (oh-AH-hoo). Toward the end of the century, in 1893, the constitutional Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown by American settlers living in Hawai`i.

Moku`ula was the site of a large, spring fed pond with an island that served as a sanctuary for Hawai`i’s royal family. According to Hawaiian legend, Moku`ula was also a home of the highest mo`o (lizard, water spirit) goddess, Kahawahine. Kahawahine was the ancestor, guardian and representative of her descendants, the royal family. Thus, her home at Moku`ula was regarded as divinely sacred. Today, archaeological research at Moku`ula in Lahaina continues to unearth knowledge about Maui’s ancient past.

Culture & Religion: An end to the kapu system and the arrival of missionaries

After Kamehameha the Great died in 1819, his powerful wife, Queen Ka`ahumanu (kah-AH-hoo-MAH-noo), declared herself co-ruler with Kamehameha’s 19-year-old son, Liholiho. Together with Liholiho’s mother, Queen Keopuolani, Ka`ahumanu influenced Liholiho to break the ancient and stern Hawaiian system of kapu (taboo, pronounced KAH-poo) which had strictly governed Hawaiian society and religion. 

The end of the kapu system created great social disorder, and occurred just as the first New England missionaries arrived on Maui in 1823. The turmoil created prime conditions for the introduction of Christianity. Queen Keopuolani was among the first of the Hawaiian royalty to convert to the “new” religion, and Maui’s first code of law, proclaimed by Queen Ka`ahumanu in 1824, was based on the Biblical Ten Commandments.

Under the kapu system, men and women were not allowed to dine together, nor were women allowed to eat bananas because they were a phallic symbol. The system also forbade commoners from looking at an ali`i (chief) or touching his shadow, or they would suffer instant death.

The missionaries exerted tremendous influence upon Hawaiian government and society. They served as advisors to the royal family; translated the Bible into Hawaiian; established schools and churches; produced Hawaiian newspapers and textbooks; introduced Western style medicinal practices, and fought against certain Hawaiian customs that they felt were sinful (such as marriage between brother and sister, a sacred Hawaiian tradition designed to keep the royal bloodline pure).

Lahainaluna on Maui was built as a mission school in 1831, and was the first high school west of the Rockies. The Baldwin Mission House was built in the same year, and is the oldest surviving house on Maui.

Business & Economy: Trees, Whales & Sugar

The arrival of foreigners paved the way for new forms of commerce on Maui, three of which were established in the 1800s: sandalwood exports, whaling and sugar processing. 

Under Kamehameha the Great, Hawai`i established foreign trade and began selling sandalwood to China. In 1821, some two million pounds of this fragrant wood were exported to Asia. Three years later, demand was so high that the royal family required their subjects to pay their taxes in the form of sandalwood.

At about the same time, the first whaling ship arrived at Maui from New Bedford, Massachusetts. Though whales were not plentiful in Hawaiian waters at that time, Lahaina served as a safe harbor from which ships would set off to hunt whales in the North Pacific. The town provided a place to anchor, restock supplies and get medical attention. In 1846, some 400 whaling ships visited Lahaina, sometimes as many as a hundred at a time. Ships often lay anchored for months.

Whaling boosted the island economy, but it also increased such social problems as drinking and prostitution, much to the angst of the island's missionaries. However, by mid-century, whaling began declined rapidly as whales became scarcer and the petroleum industry in Pennsylvania grew more successful.

Tense relations between Maui’s whalers and missionaries erupted in 1825 when the whalers blamed the missionaries for preventing women from visiting the ships. Verbal threats and a show of knives and guns escalated to cannon shots fired from a whaling ship at a missionary home on Lahaina’s Front Street. (The Richards home was located next to the Baldwin Mission House and across from where the public library now stands.) The shots missed, reportedly on purpose, and the ship left Lahaina, but tensions continued.

Sugar cane was first introduced to Hawai`i by Polynesian settlers more than a thousand years ago. The Hawaiians planted it around their taro fields and chewed the sweet stalk, but did not actually produce sugar. Maui’s first sugar mill began operations in 1828, and in the decades to come, sugar plantations popped up throughout the islands including more than 30 of various sizes on Maui. (Over time, consolidations and closures gradually reduced the number to fewer, but larger, plantations. Today, only one remains on Maui.)

In their heyday, the sugar plantations privately developed an extensive irrigation system that today still provides a significant portion of Maui’s water supply.  The plantations also built company housing, stores, hospitals and churches, which evolved into culturally rich, self contained communities that included most of the island's population.

Maui, the Melting Pot

As the sugar industry grew, its need for manpower exceeded the island's labor supply. Immigrants from around the world were recruited to work on the plantations, hailing from places as far-flung as China, Japan, Puerto Rico, Korea, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia. The first sugar plantation immigrants arrived on Maui in 1852, from Kwantgung, China. Japanese immigration began in 1855. These immigrants and others became the foundation of Maui’s multi-ethnic society, the “melting pot of the Pacific.”

Maui’s ubiquitous “mixed plate lunch,” found at local eateries throughout the island, has roots in the island's sugar cane fields. In times gone by, sugar plantation workers would eat their mid-day meals in the field from kau kau tins. (Kau kau means "food" or "to eat"; a kau kau tin is a lunch pail.) Sometimes, workers from different ethnic backgrounds shared their foods with each other, and this became the basis of today’s plate lunch which combines dishes of different ethnic backgrounds. Imagine steamed white rice (Asian), macaroni salad (American) and kim chee (Korean pickled vegetables), served with lau lau (a Hawaiian pork dish), chicken adobo (Filipino), sweet sour pork (Chinese) or beef stew.

The 20th Century: Part of the modern world

During the 1900s, Maui’s agricultural industry continued to grow, tourism became the island's top industry, and the United States permanently drew Hawai`i into its fold.

In 1903, Dwight Baldwin planted the first pineapple on Maui in Haiku? (correctly pronounced hah-ee-KOO, but commonly as HIGH-koo), and commercial production began in 1912 when David Thomas Fleming planted 20 acres of pineapple at Honolua Ranch (where Kapalua Resort is today). Fleming had also planted coffee, aloe, mango, avocado, citrus, lychee and macadamia nuts, but it was pineapple that eventually reigned supreme.

In 1916, Haleakala joined the national park system of the USA. However, it did not become a national park in until 1961, two years after Hawai`i became the 50th state.

Maui’s first resort, the Hotel Hana-Maui (HAH-nah), opened in 1946 and to this day welcomes guests from around the world. In 1961, Ka'anapali (KAH-ah-nah-pah-lee) opened as Hawai`i’s first master planned resort.

Coming Full Circle

Today, Maui is a modern and thriving U.S. destination, with accommodations and attractions that make it one of the most sought after and dreamed about destinations in the world. Maui has been voted Best Island in the World for nine consecutive years. But Maui also continues to be deeply rooted in its past through the active preservation and sharing of its cultural and historical wealth.

In 1976, members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society set sail from Maui for Tahiti on the maiden voyage of the Hokulea, a replica of an ancient Polynesian voyaging canoe. Completed the year prior, the Hokulea was the first canoe built in Hawai`i in more than 600 years. The canoe sailed to Tahiti in 33 days without the use of navigational instruments. In doing so, she proved what had previously been just a theory: that ancient Polynesians could have purposely traveled thousands of miles in similar voyaging canoes, and populated even the most remote places, including Hawai`i.

The Hokulea ignited renewed contemporary interest in ancient travels to Hawai`i. Other cultural treasures continue to be preserved and shared with visitors on a daily basis, including language, hula, lei making, Hawaiian artwork, paddling and more.

Hawai`i’s cultural values

Some of Maui County’s foremost cultural experts identified eight Hawaiian values with particular relevance for visitors to the islands. An understanding of these values may help travelers achieve a deeper appreciation for their Maui experience.

Aloha (ah-LOH-hah): Aloha means hello, love, mercy, compassion, pity, or goodbye. More importantly, it is an expression of the heart. Aloha is shown in numerous ways. A person who gives a lei to a visitor is sharing aloha. Aloha is also a spiritual recognition of the physical person, and thus, is sometimes expressed through an embrace or handshake or other form of physical contact because for many, it is important to feel the other person.

Ho`okipa (hoh-oh-KEE-pah): The concept of hospitality is common to many cultures, but many people feel that Hawai`i’s ho`okipa is different because of its broadness. Ho`okipa is meant to be given freely to all, and is not reserved for friends, neighbors or family. When a person is on the receiving end of ho`okipa, it is like receiving a tremendous gift.

Mahalo (mah-HAH-loh): Mahalo means being thankful. In Hawai`i, mahalo is more than a polite expression of appreciation. Mahalo is often expressed in action rather than words, by making a contribution, being courteous to others and respectful of the host culture. For some of Hawai`i’s cultural experts, visitors who take the time to understand and be aware of who Hawai`i’s people are, and who share that knowledge with others – that is a tremendous way of expressing mahalo.

Laulima (low-LEE-mah):  This word means cooperation, to work together. Laulima is to come together and make each other feel welcome. As a general rule, visitors who learn of a local community project and wish to participate will always be welcomed. Cooperation also means to cooperate with the “rules”: keep things clean, leave places better than when you arrived, and follow the protocol of the host location.

Kokua (koh-KOO-ah):  Kokua means to help, cooperate, assist or support. It means to care and share with each other. Visitors may see signs on Maui that say: “Please Kokua.” That means to please understand and please cooperate.

Malama (MAH-lah-mah):  Malama means to take care of, preserve, honor, fidelity, or loyalty. It applies to caring for people, such as children and elders, as well as things. Malama `aina (caring for the land) is an important Hawaiian concept. Littering or extinguishing cigarettes in the sand violate of the spirit of malama.

Lokahi (lo-KAH-hee): Lokahi means unity, agreement or accord. It emphasizes the importance of community and our inter-dependence upon each other. `Ike (EE-kay):  `Ike is defined as to see, know, feel, recognize, understand, knowledge or sense. If you smell a blossom, its scent is the `ike. If you listen to a Hawaiian chant, and you feel a sense of wonder or awe even though you don’t understand the words, you are experiencing `ike. `Ike can be gained by using all of the senses to gain a connection.