Colonialism and its Effects

The first European contact made with the Polynesians, who navigated to the islands about 1,500 years ago, was made by Captain James Cook. The British sailor's arrival in 1778 would change the course of Hawaii's culture by putting the islands on maps. The following decades would be full of colonialism and cultural fusion.

Upon arrival, Europeans would immediately try to change the practices of the natives, and to an extent it was effective. Much of the symbols we identify with Hawaii were products of popular media, like Hollywood, and cultural suppression. The sarong, often associated with traditional Hawaiian clothing, was invented by staff at Paramount Studios for an actor staring in Jungle Princess (1936). Many of the fruits we think of growing on the islands were not native to the

region. Pineapples, watermelons, papayas, and guavas were all introduced post-contact.

The most influential group throughout Hawaii's cultural history was the working immigrants. People from Korea, Japan, China, Portugal, Spain, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere moved to Hawaii to work on plantations. Coffee, sugar, and fruits are the primary crops on the islands. These groups would bring their culture and introduce them to the native Polynesia population. For example, Chinese workers found success working at fishing ponds and capitalized on this enterprise and now have a large influence on major foodways in Hawaii.

(Katz, Ahuna and the Moʻo: Rethinking Chinese Success in Hawaiian Commercial Food Production.)