The Culture of Hawaii

Native Hawaiians refer to the Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. The Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the first settlers of Hawaii.

The history of Native Hawaiians is classified into four groups. They are the antiquity, monarchy, territorial, and statehood. The culture of Hawaii originated from the traditional culture of the Native Hawaiians. The term "Hawaiian is used to describe the people of partial or total Native Hawaiian ancestry. The Hawaiian language was the primary language of the Native Hawaiian people. Today, most people in Hawaii speak English. Others speak dialect. The Hawaiian language was promoted for revival by a state program of cultural preservation. Hawaiian dances represent their culture and belief in the gods. They have many gods such as for love, nature, water, and death. They believe that as soon as people do something bad, They're forced to live a horrible life and death and there's no going back. They also worship every Friday night topraise the gods and make them happy.

The cuisine of the Hawaiians is multicultural. They come from America, China, Philippines, Japan, Korea, and Portugal. The first restaurant in Honolulu was opened in 1849 by Peter Fernandez. The tradition with pineapples came in when James Dole first planted them in 1901. Sea salt was a common spice in Hawaii. At special occasions, they held a traditional feast. The modern name for it is luau.

Hawaiian earth ovens, known as imus, combine roasting and steaming with a method called kalua. They made imus by digging into the ground and lined it up with volcanic rocks and other rocks that don't split when at a high temperature. Chickens and pigs were put in an imu with hot rocks inside their stomach. The men did all of the cooking, while the women's food was made in a separate imu. After the food is done cooking, the men and women ate separately. The tradition of cooking with an imu continues to this day. As the plantations expanded, the demand for work grew. Sice this happened, the plantation owners hired immagrant workers. Most of the workers were from Asia. The Chinese brought Cantonese cuisine. Korean immigration to Hawaii brought kimchi and built barbecue pits to cook meats.

The art created in the islands are divided into three categories. They are: art existing prior to Cook's arrival, art produced recently by arrived westerners, and art produced by Hawaiians using western materials and ideas. Outstanding public collections of Hawaiian art is found in the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Art existing prior to Cook's arrival is the ture native art. It's similar to other Pacific Islander arts. It includes wood carvings, feather works, petroglyphs, bark cloth, and tattoos. Some of the first westerner sto visit Hawaii were both amatuer and professional artists. The western trained artists sketched and painted Hawaii's people and landscapes using imported materials. Artworks made by Hawaii's native people used western materials and ideas include paintings on canvas and quilts. Most of the art currently made in Hawaii falls into this category.

Although Hawaii has made its own traditions, as we can see it is a melting pot of other cultures. It goes to show that all cultures enrich each other.