Kaua'i - Hawaii - page 1053

to cultures found throughout Polynesia. Hawaiian society was highly stratified, ruled by
a chiefly class called aliʻi whose power derived from their ancestry: they were believed
to be descended from the gods. In ancient Hawaiʻi, clan loyalty trumped individuality,
elaborate traditions of gifting and feasting conferred prestige, and a pantheon of shape-
shifting gods animated the natural world.
Several ranks of aliʻi ruled each island, and life was marked by frequent warfare as
they jockeyed for power. The largest geopolitical division was the mokupuni (island),
presided over by a member of the aliʻi nui (kingly class). Each island was further divided
into moku, wedge-shaped areas of land running from the ridge of the mountains to the
sea. Smaller, similarly wedge-shaped ahupuaʻa comprised each moku ; they were mostly
self-sustaining and had local chiefs.
Ranking just below aliʻi , the kahuna (experts or masters) included priests, healers and
skilled craftspeople - canoe makers, navigators etc. Also beneath the chiefs were the
konohiki, who supervised natural resource management on land and sea within an
ahupuaʻa and collected taxes from the makaʻainana (commoners), who did most of the
physical labor. Occupying the lowest tier was a small class of outcasts or untouchables
called kaua, who were a source of puaʻa waewae loloa - 'long-legged pigs,' a euphem-
ism for human sacrificial victims.
A culture of mutuality and reciprocity infused what was essentially a feudal agricultur-
al society. Chiefs were custodians of their people, and humans custodians of nature, all of
which was sacred - the living expression of mana (spiritual essence). Everyone played a
part through work and ritual to maintain the health of the community and its comity with
the gods. Ancient Hawaiians also developed rich traditions in art, music, dance, sport and
competition.
Captain Cook & First Western Contact
Starting in 1778, everything changed. It was the archetypal clash of civilizations: the
British Empire, the most technologically advanced culture on the planet, sent an explorer
on a mission. The Hawaiʻi he stumbled upon was, to his eyes, a place inhabited by hea-
thens stuck in prehistoric times; their worship of pagan gods and human sacrifice seemed
anathema to the Christian world view. But Hawaiʻi's geographic position and wealth of
natural resources ensured these islands would quickly become a target of the West's
civilizing impulse.
Captain James Cook had spent a decade traversing the Pacific over the course of three
voyages. He sought the fabled 'Northwest Passage' linking the Pacific and Atlantic, but
his were also voyages of discovery. He sailed with a complement of scientists and artists
to document what they found. On the third voyage in 1778, and quite by accident, Cook