What was the history of Hawaii before 1898?

Hawaiian islands belonged to tribal civilization before the entry of western civilization.

Although archaeologists believe that human history in Hawaii has been nearly two thousand years, the world knows that there are such a group of islands and tribes in the Pacific Ocean, thanks to an English captain named Jeames Cook. Little is known about Captain Cook's life except that he is a famous explorer. His arrival in Hawaii coincided with the legend of Hawaii, and his death in Hawaii was also very bizarre. Captain Cook first discovered Hawaii in 1778 65438+ 10, and was killed in Kealakekua Bay, which was once regarded as a god, on February/779 14, the first anniversary of his discovery of Hawaii.

Here's the thing. 1778 65438+1October, Captain james cook first discovered the Hawaiian Islands and named them the Sandwich Islands. He landed on Kauai, the northernmost island of Hawaii, and was warmly welcomed. The two sides exchanged gifts. Captain Cook formally incorporated the Hawaiian Islands into the world geographical map of western countries. 1778165438+1October, Captain Cook came to Hawaii again, and this time he stopped at the southernmost island of the archipelago, the Big Island of Hawaii. At that time, the Hawaiian islands had not yet formed such a centralized unity as modern times, and each island had its own king and chief. When he landed, it happened to be a major festival for the aborigines of the Big Island of Hawaii to worship God. The local people think that their prayers have been answered and God has really come.

At that time, there was a famous painter named john weber in Cook's fleet. He painted the scene of Hawaiian leaders driving catamarans and leading soldiers to meet Captain Cook.

At that time, the aborigines in Hawaii lived in a well-ordered and hierarchical social life. This system is called Karp system. Chiefs and priests are at the top of society, while women and slaves live at the bottom. Karp system stipulates that people of different levels should fish and hunt, farm and harvest, swim and play on the beach, what kind of food to eat and how to dress. Criminals are capital crimes. The Karp system also stipulates that men are superior to women, and women are not allowed to eat at the same table with men, touch fire, eat coconuts and bananas, eat roast pork and fish, and women are not allowed to appear in some public places. The following picture shows Hawaiian villages painted by westerners around 1790, and the execution of prisoners who violated the Karp system by Hawaiian leaders.

In Hawaiian legend, there is a white emperor named Lorno. So when the aborigines saw Captain Cook and his party with snow-white skin and spitting fire (smoking), there were many precious iron products of Hawaiians on board (there was no metal mine source in Hawaii, because the Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanic eruption. At that time, the common agricultural tools in Hawaii were made of sticks and stones. They really think that Captain Cook is the great Rono. So Captain Cook was worshipped as a living god in this grand sacrifice on the Big Island of Hawaii, and was arranged to sit on the throne, enjoying the treatment beyond their mortal chiefs and kings. They dressed Captain Cook in a precious colorful feather cloak and a feather crown that only chiefs can wear. In the Hawaiian concept at that time, God was supreme and had to be sacrificed by the living.

Hawaiian's most precious materials are shawls, cloaks and crowns woven with red and yellow feathers, which symbolize kingship in color and texture. The Hawaiian chief has a special bird-catching team. The yellow feather comes from a blackbird named Oo (right). Every bird has two bright yellow feathers. The red feathers come from a red bird called "Evie". A long cloak needs the feathers of 80 thousand birds, and sometimes it takes 200 years for the bird-catching team to collect enough materials.

At that time, the chief exchanged gifts with Captain Cook with this very precious shawl and helmet. Captain Cook gave me a knife and other small things that are very worthless in the western world. In the next few days, many of Captain Cook's crew made many deals with the locals. Among them was the nephew of the chief, Kamehameha the Great, who later unified the Hawaiian Islands. He traded his ancestral feather cloak for a knife. Hawaii is a hospitable nation, and women have no status, so Captain Cook's sailors get many romantic gifts in Hawaii-women sleep with them; However, West Renye Fang encountered a headache for them. Things on their ships, especially metal objects, often disappear.

Captain Cook was caught in a storm soon after he left, so he returned to the big island of Hawaii to repair the ship and increase the reserve. But his return is not welcome. The main reasons are: first, it hurts people's beliefs. Hawaiians think, if you are a god, why can't you even resist the storm? The second is material factors. The local people have worked hard to meet and entertain Captain Cook, and the people's financial resources have not yet had a chance to recover. The third factor is the deadly virus spread by sailors. As soon as the ship left, the sexually transmitted diseases transmitted by sailors to Hawaiian women began to spread among the aborigines, and such diseases were unprecedented in Hawaiian history. From then on, the Hawaiian nation began to experience the vicious results of contact with the outside world. Before foreigners came in, the land in Hawaii was as pure as heaven. No flies, mosquitoes, mice, cockroaches and bedbugs spread diseases. Regrettably, Hawaiians who have lived in the pure land for thousands of years do not have all the immunities of others on earth.

The fuse that caused Captain Cook's death was the theft of a ship from Captain Cook's fleet. Captain Cook went ashore with several guards and took the local king hostage, claiming that he would not release him until he returned the ship. Due to language communication barriers and different cultural backgrounds, communication between the two sides is quite difficult. At that time, there was a rumor in the tribe that the indigenous people who didn't know the truth thought that the white people were going to hurt their king, so they all gathered around and surrounded Captain Cook and his guards. It is said that at this critical moment, someone on Captain Cook's boat went off with a long gun, which made the local people think that there was a war. To make matters worse, at this time, someone reported to the king that several unknown leaders rushed to the moored ship, and one of them was shot and killed by Captain Cook's sailors. Hearing the news, the king turned to go, but Captain Cook reached out and stopped him. People around the king saw Cook reaching out and thought that Captain Cook wanted to hurt the king, so they threw a samurai at him. Cook screamed. When the natives heard this, Cook was obviously a human being, otherwise how could he not stand the pain like a human being? So the clubs danced around and the two sides immediately fought. In the scuffle, Captain Cook failed to escape. In this exchange of fire, 17 aborigines (including 5 leaders) and 4 white sailors died. Captain Cook himself was seriously injured and fell on the rocks on the shore, and soon passed away with regret. His heart and flesh were eaten by the natives, and his bones and hair were put on the altar to worship the heaven, so that the chiefs could absorb the "power of heaven." Some of Captain Cook's bones were sent back to Cook's fleet by local people, and the sailors buried him not far from the accident site.

Captain Cook's influence on Hawaii is enormous, but it is also mixed. After he left, a chief unified the Hawaiian islands with a white gun. Venereal diseases and plagues brought by white people almost destroyed the population of Hawaii. John Webber, the painter who accompanied Captain Cook at that time, painted a religious ceremony, and Hawaiian leaders, priests and soldiers sailed around Captain Cook's boat in a small catamaran. Did the aborigines at that time realize the coming of disaster and drive away ghosts?

An important data left by history is that according to Captain Cook's statistics, when he discovered the Hawaiian Islands, he thought that the population of Hawaii was around 300,000 to 1 10,000. By 183 1, that is, 53 years after whites entered the Hawaiian islands, Hawaii conducted a census, leaving only130,000 people.

Kamehameha was about 25 years old when Captain Cook arrived on the Big Island of Hawaii. He is also the leader of the chief and the nephew of the chief. However, among the chief's many men, Captain Cook noticed this dignified and serious young man at a glance.