BACKGROUND - Maui: Including Molokai and Lanai - page 684

Under Kamehameha, social order was medieval, with ali'i (royalty) owing their mil-
itary allegiance to the king and the serf-like maka'ainana paying tribute and working the
lands.
The great king ruled until his death on May 8, 1819. Hawai'i knew a peaceful rule un-
der Kamehameha. After years on Maui, he returned to his home in Kona on the Big Island
where he eventually passed away. To this day, his burial place is unknown. His son, Liho-
liho, gained the kingdom (and would become Kamehameha II), although Kamehameha's
wife Ka'ahumanu had a strong influence and power.
NO MORE KAPU
As Ka'ahumanu used her strength to counsel Kamehameha's son and successor Liholiho,
she knew that the old ways would not carry Hawai'i into the future. In November 1819
she inspired Liholiho to eliminate the kapu system of laws which had so rigidly dom-
inated Hawaiian society. Men eating with women was prohibited, as was women eating
certain food, such as bananas and particular fish. To exhibit the end of the kapu system,
Ka'ahumanu and Liholiho ate together in public, thereby shattering these important ta-
boos and marking the demise of the old ways. As the first morsels passed Ka'ahumanu's
lips, the ancient gods of Hawai'i tumbled. Throughout the land, revered heiau were burned
and abandoned and idols knocked to the ground. Now the people had nothing but their
weakened inner selves to rely on. Nothing and no one could answer their prayers; their
spiritual lives were in shambles.
MISSIONARIES AND WHALERS
The year 1819 was of the utmost significance in Hawaiian history. It marked the death
of Kamehameha, the overthrow of the ancient kapu system, the arrival of the first whaler
in Lahaina, and the departure of Calvinist missionaries from New England, determined to
convert the heathen islands. With the kapu system and all of the ancient gods abandoned
(except for the fire goddess Pele of Kilauea), a great void existed in the souls of the
Hawaiians.
Missionaries
Into this spiritual vortex sailed the brig Thaddeus on April 4, 1820. Coming ashore in
Kailua-Kona, the Reverends Bingham and Thurston were granted a one-year trial mission-
ary period by King Liholiho. They established themselves on the Big Island and O'ahu
and from there began the transformation of Hawai'i. By 1824, the new faith had such a