Kauai
Historical Background
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In Ancient Times…
The island of Kaua'i formed from gradual volcanic overflow approximately 5.1 million years ago. The oldest of the Hawaiian Islands, Kaua'i has a heritage that is steeped in myth and legend.
Although most mainlanders group all the Hawaiian islands together, many of Kauai's people (and many students of Hawaiian history) consider Kaua'i to have a separate history from its sister islands. Some even insist that it is in fact, 'a separate kingdom'. This theory is based on evidence showing that Kaua'i was once the home of the seafaring Menehune tribe of Central Polynesia. At present, the word 'Menehune' describes a mythical creature similar to an elf or a sprite, but in ancient times they were a brave and formidable tribe, small of stature but long in reach.
Much of what is known about Kaua'i is based around its natural history, and can be better understood through a visit to the Koke'e Natural History Museum.
From 400 A.D. Until…
The first recorded history of Kauai’s people began with the Marquesans of Polynesia. They inhabited the island from the time of their arrival (400 A.D.) until the Tahitians finally conquered them 600 years later. The Polynesian bloodlines still run strong on the island: many of Kauai's oldest families are of Polynesian descent. In addition, much of the flora and fauna that flourish on the island was transported from Polynesia during this era of migration.
The ancient Hawaiians had a polytheistic society centered around the concept of mana, which stated that gods could appear in a variety of forms besides divine. Deities could take on human or animalistic shape, thereby passing through society undetected. Many places of worship known as heiau were erected during the ancient times; some are still standing today. Not a great deal of solid fact is verifiable, in regards to ancient religious practices. Most legends and legacies, including that of the Menehunes, are kept alive through Hawaiian chant and song, often performed in conjunction with hula dance.
The First Western Contact…
While the theory is under scrutiny, some historians uphold a belief that Captain Cook (hailed as the white founder of the Hawaiian chain) was not the first person to discover the Hawaiian Islands. Some evidence disproves his claim, showing that one of Spain’s navigators discovered the islands by accident—as with so many of history’s great discoveries. This Spaniard (by the name of Gaetan) was searching for the vast riches of Mexico. Finding no such jewels or spices in the Hawaiian Islands, he departed shortly after his arrival in 1542, never to return.
Whatever the truth might be, Hawai'i remained a world unto itself until the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1778. He sailed two ships into Waimea Bay on the Big Island, beginning the explosive era that would forever alter the islands, including heretofore blissfully self-sufficient Kaua'i. Initial interactions between Englishmen and native Kauaians were peaceable. Most negotiations involved the bartering of goods (mainly English sundries for edibles), but a few curious Englishmen made overtures into Hawaiian society. They left having gained much knowledge but earned little of material value.
Just more than 30 years later (in 1819), Kaua'i was brought into a union with the Hawaiian Kingdom, agreeing to accept the rule of King Kamehameha I. This arrangement strengthened the chain as a whole, but did little to prevent the eventual surrender of Kaua’i (and all other Hawaiian Islands) to American forces in 1893. At that point, Kaua’i had already harbored European missionary settlements for more than 100 years. It was also the home of numerous sugar plantations; these were quickly becoming the island’s best leverage for trade.
Some 50-odd years after Hawai'i was forcibly assimilated into the U.S. territories, it was granted statehood.
Spotlight On the Sugar Industry…
Perhaps the single-most influential time in Kauai’s recent history was the boom-time of the sugar industry. Up until that era, the sleepy little island had known nothing of trade. The first sugar plantation was founded in Koloa in the year 1835. Plantations like it would eventually attract scores of people from all corners of the world, including East Asia, the Philippines and Europe. Immigrant labor was cheap, with workers being housed in structures known as Camp Houses. A few of these old Camp Houses are still standing today, although they have been completely renovated. The Camp House Grill is a family-style Kalaheo restaurant situated inside one of these renovated buildings. Renovated plantation homes such as Grove Farm Homestead Museum and Kilohana Plantation teach visitors about the growth of the sugar industry and its influence on the island as a whole.
The Kauai-Hollywood Connection…
With its lush, tropical landscape, breathtaking views and relative seclusion, Kaua'i makes the perfect location for a Hollywood film shoot—particularly if the story is set in the jungle. Kauai's Hollywood history goes back as far as the 1930s, but it entered the international spotlight due to the 1976 production of 'King Kong'. In just the past 10 years, the world has seen Kauai's scenery in movies like 'Hook' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'George of the Jungle' (1997), 'Six Days, Seven Nights' (1998) and 'Mighty Joe Young' (1998). Hawaii Movie Tours takes interested tourists to all the top locations.
Kaua'i Today…
The Garden Isle's natural beauty draws visitors from all over the world—and the accompanying natural disasters only slow down the tourism flow for a few weeks at most. Today, a visitor to Kaua'i might not realize that both 1982 and 1992 brought mass destruction, in the form of Hurricanes Iwa and Iniki. Both of these hurricanes devastated the island, but in the near-decade since, Kaua'i has been rebuilt to far outshine its former self.
The Hawaiian Islands continue to develop all the time, in order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of visitors. The Garden Isle is no exception, and the first decade of the new millennium will doubtless prove to be yet another time of phenomenal and constant change.
