Native Hawaiians

Native Hawaiians (in Hawaiian, kanaka ‘oiwi or kanaka māoli) are the indigenous Polynesian peoples of the Hawaiian Islands who trace their ancestry back to antiquity before the arrival of British explorer Captain James Cook in 1778. According to the U.S. Census Bureau report for 2000, there are 476,000 people who identified themselves as being native Hawaiian, part native Hawaiian and mixed native Hawaiian. Most native Hawaiians are residents of the United States in California, the State of Hawaii, Nevada and Washington. Two-thirds live in the State of Hawaii while the other one-third is split among mainland states. Almost half of the mainland share of the population is in California.

History

The history of native Hawaiians and of Hawai‘i in general are classified into four major periods: antiquity, monarchy, colonial and statehood. Click on the following links to read relevant historical articles covering native Hawaiians:

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• Ancient Hawai‘i
• Kingdom of Hawai‘i
• Territory of Hawaii
• State of Hawaii