Things to do / Travel Guide
The recorded history of the Big Island of Hawaii stretches back approximately 1,500 years and very much parallels the history of the entire island chain.
The Hawaiian Islands were first settled by Polynesians, who arrived in canoes. Over the next 700 years, many more migrants arrived from Tahiti, bringing along new customs and religious beliefs. For the next 600 years or so, the island chain appears to have gone into a state of complete isolation from the rest of the world. It is believed that the Hawaiian population knew about the outside world only through oral tradition. During this period, the islands were ruled over by one or more tribal chief. The Big Island contains the largest amount of relics from this “ancient Hawaiian” period.
The world was introduced to Hawaii in 1778, when Captain James Cook, a British explorer, “discovered” the islands and encountered a native population numbering approximately one million people (a similar amount of people reside in Hawaii today ). The British introduced metal tools to the Hawaiians and received supplies from them in return. Although the Brits initially might have been considered gods by the natives, some of their activities (such as infecting the local women with venereal diseases) were indeed quite mortal. About a year after his arrival, Captain Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay. The context in which he was killed is still disputed today.
With some foreign assistance, Kamehameha the Great heroically unified the islands and established the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. About 10 years later, however, the Hawaiian people dismantled their religion. Led by Queen Kaahumanu and King Liholiho, the Hawaiians broke the most sacred kapus (forbidden laws), destroyed temples, and toppled idols. Soon after, however, the first Western missionaries arrived at Kailua and restored a sense of order, quickly introducing Christianity to fill the inhabitants' spiritual void. With the growing importance of Oahu as a commerce and trade center over the years, the center of the Hawaiian monarchy moved off the Big Island.
More recently, the history of the Big Island has been shaped by natural forces. Volcanic eruptions continually change the landscape, and tsunamis have tragically wiped out entire valleys. Specifically, twice since 1946, tsunamis have caused great destruction in Hilo, the island's only city.
Hawaii became the 50th state in the Union in 1959, with the city of Honolulu, on Oahu, being the capital.
Laurence S. Rockefeller brought luxury tourism to the Big Island in the late 1960s with the opening of the Mauna Kea Resort, still one of the most highly-rated resorts in the world.
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