An ecosystem passes
Cook and those who came after him gave cattle, goats, and large European pigs as gifts to the Hawaiian chiefs, and the animals overran the islands. They ate everything. Rainwater sluiced off the bare hillsides without replenishing the aquifers. Areas that had been blessed with an abundance of water suffered drought now. Native plants could not reestablish themselves because the unrestrained animals ate them as soon as they sent up a shoot. People wrongly concluded that native plants were inherently unable to reestablish themselves, and they imported non-native trees like the eucalyptuses and ironwoods that you see so often today.
The native habitat area and diversity shrank still more before the new sugar plantations. Planters drained wetlands for the commercially valuable crop and erected dams, ditches, and sluices to divert the natural water supply into a controllable water supply. What they did was not so very different from what the Polynesians had done when they had cleared the native lowland forests in order to plant their taro, but the scale was far vaster. In one particularly terrible mistake, growers imported the mongoose to prey on the rats that damaged their crops. But the rat forages at night, while the mongoose hunts by day: they seldom met. What the mongooses preyed on instead were the eggs of native ground-nesting birds.
Few of Hawaii’s native plants put forth showy flowers or set palatable fruit, so the new settlers imported ornamental and fruiting plants to brighten their gardens and tables. Many shrubs and trees did so well in Hawaii’s favorable climate that they escaped into the wild to become pest plants, crowding out native species and interrupting the food chain.
Birds brought over as pets escaped to compete with native species. More species of native birds have become extinct in Hawaii than anywhere else in the world, and most of the birds you see will be introduced species like the zebra dove and the myna.
It is tragic but true that when you visit Hawaii, you will probably see very few of its native plants and animals. Kauai’s upland forests offer some of the best remaining opportunities to see species that are truly unique to Hawaii.
A culture passes
Literacy replaced the rich Hawaiian oral tradition, and many legends and stories were forgotten before someone thought to write them down. The significance of many place names, apart from their literal meaning, has been lost forever. Zealous missionaries and converts believed that the native traditions were evil, and they nearly succeeded in eradicating all traces of the native culture.
A nation passes
Hawaiians saw that their only hope of surviving as an independent nation in the modern world was to secure the protection and guarantees of freedom of one of the major powers. The Hawaiian monarchs would have preferred the British, but British influence was ultimately inadequate to withstand American influence. American missionaries doled out God’s grace. American entrepreneurs established plantations and businesses. American ships filled the harbors. Economic and cultural domination of Hawaii eventually passed into American hands, particularly after the new land laws of 1850 made it possible for foreigners to own land in Hawaii. The Hawaiian monarchy lasted until 1893, but most of its economic and therefore its political power was gone. Hawaii as an independent nation disappeared soon after.
A race passes
The native Hawaiian people lost much of their importance in the changing, Westernized economy early in the nineteenth century. The burgeoning sugar and pineapple plantations needed laborers, and the Hawaiians were diligent, capable hired hands when they wanted to be. But they did not comprehend the idea of hiring themselves out as day laborers for wages. Planters began to import laborers from other parts of the world: China, Japan, the Philippines, Portugal. Many imported laborers stayed, married, raised families, and went on to establish their own successful businesses. The Hawaiians were soon a minority in their own land.
The numbers of full-blooded Hawaiians declined precipitously throughout the nineteenth century. Beginning with the tragic introduction of venereal disease by Cook’s men, venereal diseases swept through the native population who, particularly at Makahiki, exchanged partners freely. Venereal disease often leaves its victims sterile, and many who had survived Western diseases, wars, and the sandalwood trade were unable to reproduce. Others married foreigners, so their children only were part Hawaiian. Today most authorities believe that there are no full-blooded Hawaiians left, not even on Niihau, the only island where Hawaiian is still the language of everyday life.
Hawaii becomes American
In the late nineteenth century, the Hawaiian monarchy seemed to some powerful businessmen and civic leaders of American descent to get in the way of the smooth conduct of business. They thought Hawaii would be better off as an American territory. Queen Liliuokalani did not agree. She wanted to assert Hawaii’s independence and the authority of its monarchs.
The business community plotted a coup, deposed Liliuokalani in 1893, formed a new government, and petitioned the United States for territorial status. The United States formally annexed Hawaii in 1898.
Military projects and mass travel brought mainland Americans flooding into Hawaii. Many stayed, and so the majority of people in Hawaii came to see themselves as Americans, though a minority disagreed (some still do). After many years as a territory, Hawaii became the fiftieth state in 1959.
On November 23, 1993, the United States belatedly apologized to the Native Hawaiian people (Public Law 103-150). Today, several groups seek to restore some measure of self-rule to Hawaii. Models advocated range from that enjoyed by the recognized Native American tribes versus the rest of the United States’ citizens and lands, to that of Liechtenstein and Switzerland. To learn more, visit the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council web site at
http://planet-hawaii.com/hsec/index.html.
Things to come
The huge tourist industry is both a blessing and a curse. Massive development pushes the Hawaii-born off the land to make way for hotels. Displaced Hawaiians, whatever their ethnic background, find themselves having to survive as waiters, chambermaids, clerks—in essence, as the servants of those who have displaced them. Many also fear that tourism will result in the Hawaiian paradise being paved over and lost forever; others feel that it already has been. The story of Hawaii’s evolution is far from over.
Kauai Museum
Don’t miss the Kauai Museum, 4428 Rice St., Lihue, Kauai, HI 96766, telephone (808) 245-6931. Its fine exhibits on Hawaii’s natural and human history more than justify its modest admission fee.
Getting Around on Kauai
Public transportation
Kauai now has bus service; the regular fare as of March 2002 is $1.50/regular fare, $0.75 for seniors, students, and disabled people (drivers have the authority to ask for identification). Call the County of Kauai Transportation Agency at (808) 241-6410 from 7 A.M. to 5 P.M. Monday through Saturday to get more information, including a copy of the bus schedule. The bus will get you to the island’s major communities but, alas, not to most of the trailheads in this book. Consider using the bus to explore the island’s settled areas and renting a car only on those days you want to hike from trailheads that are too far from your lodgings or any bus stop. Some rules for the bus are: carry-ons limited to 9” x 14” x 22”; no oversized backpacks and baggage; no boogie boards; no food or drink, no smoking, and no profanity on buses; no drop-offs at undesignated bus stops.
Driving
If your plans include hikes that public transportation can’t get you to, you should arrange for a rental car well in advance of your visit. Ask for a modest vehicle in a drab color so it’s inconspicuous when parked at trailheads. Get a road map of Kauai in advance, perhaps from one of the national automobile clubs if you belong to one. It’s good to be able to study the map in advance and have some notion of the island’s roads before you tackle them. Some of the maps provided by tourist bureaus are so cute