David Malo was a Hawaiian scholar and royal adviser, who is perhaps best remembered today for his book, Hawaiian Antiquities,...
On this anniversary marking the 200th year of the missionaries’ departure from New England and arrival in Hawai‘i, we acknowledge...
For Hawaiians, the natural environment was imbued with religious significance. Geological features, plants and animals were often revered as kinolau, or manifestations of the many gods. Religion pervaded people’s lives – from the maka‘āinana (commoners) to the highest ranks of ali‘i, who ruled as embodiments of the gods.
From the time of Captain Cook, Hawaiians saw that foreigners used writing to both formalize agreements and communicate ideas. But...
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM), founded in 1810, arose from the religious fervor that America experienced during the Second Great Awakening.
Click on the islands of Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i to see key Ali‘i and mission members....
By the mid-1830s, Hawai‘i had endured a series of escalating foreign conflicts. Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) was pressured from all sides...
In 1786, trading ships began making regular stops in Hawai‘i on their way to China and the Pacific Northwest. Pursuing the lucrative fur trade, vessels from Great Britain, Spain and America found Hawai‘i an ideal place to restock provisions and replenish depleted crews with fresh Hawaiian sailors.
Liholiho, as Kamehameha II, is remembered for dismantling the kapu system and permitting the missionaries to stay in Hawai‘i. He...
Kauikeaouli was the son of Kamehameha I and his sacred wife, Keōpūolani. Born in 1813, in Keauhou, Hawaiʻi, he was...