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HAWAII
DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT
The Polynesians utilized double hulled sailing
canoes to venture across the Pacific searching for new lands
to settle. Interestingly, Woody Brown, and Rudy Choy, the
designer of the Royal Hawaiian Catamaran, were inspired
by Hawaiian Sailing canoes to design and build the first
modern ocean going catamarans.
The main Hawaiian Islands are thought to have
been discovered by ancient Polynesians, probably from the
Marquesas, somewhere around the 3rd century A.D. The first
Heiau, or temple was built on the Big Island of Hawai`i
in 500 A.D. to worship their two primary gods, Ku, the god
of war and Lono, the god of peace and agriculture. By 850
A.D. the main Hawaiian Islands were mostly settled. The
Polynesians were accomplished ocean voyages and explorers
long before the Europeans had ventured far from land.
Tahitians came to the Hawaiian Islands around 1200 A. D.
and conquered the islands and the people. The Tahitian priest
Pa'ao started the "kahuna nui" or high-priest
line which initiated a ruling king for each island. He instituted
a stricter “Kapu” system, or system of law.
They worshiped four primary gods, Kane, the God of Life;
Ku, the God of War; Lono, the God of Agriculture; and Kanaloa,
the God of the Ocean. They enforced a much stricter division
of society and classes.
The Polynesian voyagers carried with them
all the supplies needed to settle new lands. They used the
stars, the sun, wave patterns and birds to navigate and
find new islands and their way across the vast Pacific Ocean.
. It is thought their voyages were mostly inspired by over
population of the islands were they lived. They are thought
to have journeyed as far as South America where they found
sweet potato, which became a staple of their diet.
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