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Chapter 10
A = Narrator, B = Dr. Higgins, C = Dr. Rooks from the same place, and that the Hawaiian people
came from another Polynesian island. We don’t
A: Today, the islands of Hawaii are a popular tourist
know exactly where, but one idea is that they came
destination. Visitors from the United States,
from Tahiti. Of course, there’s only one problem
Europe, and all over the world come here for the
with that theory: Tahiti is 2000 miles from Hawaii,
beautiful weather, the perfect beaches, and the
by sea!
fascinating culture. Americans come to Hawaii for
honeymoons and exotic destinations. But many A: The story of the settlement of Hawaii is truly
people forget that Hawaii is part of the United remarkable. According to some experts, the
States. It became the 50th state in 1959. first immigrants to Hawaii from Tahiti and other
islands arrived around the year 400. That’s 1300
However, Hawaii doesn’t look or feel like part of
years before the first known European contact
the United States. The people, language, stories,
with Hawaii. Those first Polynesian fisherman and
and culture of Hawaii reveal a mysterious history of
explorers built canoes—simple boats—with the
immigration and settlement. We’ll investigate this
most basic materials. To find out more about these
history tonight.
people, we spoke with John Rooks, the director of
The first stop on our trip is at the University the Hawaiian History Museum.
of Hawaii. Dr. Emily Higgins is an expert on
C: The Polynesians probably built their boats from tree
immigration to Hawaii. So, Dr. Higgins, who are the
trunks. We think that they would chop down a tree
native people of these islands?
and then cut a canoe from the center of the tree. Then,
B: The one thing we know about native Hawaiians is they used coconut fibers and tree sap to fill holes.
that they’re not really native to Hawaii. They came The brilliant part of the construction was the idea to
from somewhere else. tie two trees together to form a double canoe—again,
A: Where did they come from? with wood and coconuts. This made the boats more
stable so that they could travel these huge distances.
B: That’s an interesting question. The first European to
find Hawaii was the famous English explorer, Captain A: But how did these earlier migrants navigate? How did
James Cook. He arrived in Hawaii in 1778, and he they find their way to Hawaii without getting lost?
noticed that the native people were similar to other C: These explorers had amazing knowledge of
people he’d seen in the other islands of Polynesia. navigation. They used the sun, the stars, and the
A: And Polynesia refers to a number of islands in the winds. They memorized distances and directions.
South Pacific Ocean. They sailed across thousands of miles of empty sea.
It’s an amazing achievement.
B: Right, including the islands of Hawaii, as well as
New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and the Cook A: There is another source of information about the first
Islands… which were named after Captain Cook. people of Hawaii: the stories, myths, and legends
of the Hawaiian people themselves. According to
A: So, what do Hawaiians have in common with other Hawaiian tradition, the father of the Hawaiian Islands
Polynesians? was a man called Hawai’i Loa. He was born on an
B: Well, one way to find the origins of an immigrant island far from what we now know as Hawaii. But
group is to look at their language. Languages exist in Hawai’i Loa was a famous fisherman, and he traveled
families—just like people. So, if you find two languages far across the sea. One day, he discovered an island
that are related—brother and sister, for example—you with many trees, fruits, and vegetables. He gave the
can guess that they have the same parent. island his name—Hawaii—and brought his wife and
children to live with him. To this day some of the
Although most Hawaiians today speak English,
other islands in the Hawaiian group of islands carry
there is a native Hawaiian language. Cook noticed,
the names of Hawai’i Loa’s family members.
and modern linguists have confirmed, that the
Hawaiian language is related to other Polynesian Coming up on Mass Migrations, we’ll look at some
languages. This suggests that the languages come research that may lead to new theories of how the
Hawaiian Islands were populated.

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