Hawaiian Americans
Hawaiians: The ethnic designation “Hawaiian” is generally reserved for the descendants of the original Polynesian inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii has the nation's highest percentage of Asian residents—41.6% in 2000, when its Asian population numbered 503,868. In the same year, Pacific Islanders numbered 113,539 (including 80,137 native Hawaiians), 22,003 were black, and 3,535 were American Indians or Alaskan natives. About 87,699, or 7.2% of the total population, were Hispanic or Latino in 2000. Foreign-born residents numbered 212,229 in 2000, or 17.5% of the total state population—the 5th-highest percentage of foreign born among the 50 states.
Where Were They From: Of Hawaii's Asian residents in 2000, 201,764 were Japanese, 170,635 were Filipino, 56,600 were Chinese, and 23,637 were Korean. The earliest Asian immigrants, the Chinese, were superseded in number in 1900 by the Japanese, who have since become a significant factor in state politics. The influx of Filipinos and other Pacific Island peoples was largely a 20th-century phenomenon. In recent decades, ethnic Hawaiians have been increasingly intent on preserving their cultural identity.
When: In 1820, New England missionaries arrived and began to "westernize" the islands. In 1840, Britain, France, and the United States recognized Hawaii as an independent kingdom, headed by King Kamehameha III. Yet Britain and France wanted to control the islands, and thus Kamehameha III placed Hawaii under U.S. protection in 1875.
In 1887, the United States was granted permission to establish a naval base in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. Later, U.S. sugar interests encouraged that the King be overthrown, and Hawaii was established as a republic in 1893. U.S. domination of the islands came five years later when the United States annexed Hawaii and it became a U.S. territory in 1900.
What region of the US did they settle: The early settlement history of Hawaiian’s is still not completely resolved. Some believe that the first Polynesians arrived in Hawaii in the 3rd century from the Marquesas and were followed by Tahitian settlers in 1300 AD who conquered the original inhabitants. Others believe that there was only a single, extended period of settlement. Patrick Kirch, in his 2001 book Hawaiki, argues for an extended period of contact but not necessarily for a Tahitian invasion.
What occupations did they take part in: This is the side which became a huge, sugar-producing machine for better than a hundred years. And the people who built and worked in that machine - immigrants from China, Japan, the Philippines, Portugal and elsewhere - are those who joined the native Hawaiians to create the unique population that is Hawaii today. It is the only state where white people are the minority, and where most people are immigrants from Asia, their descendants, and native Hawaiians.
For them, Hawaii has been the land of aloha, but also the land of backbreaking work. Work cutting sugar cane. Work in the mills. Work on the docks loading sugar.
What are the family patterns, Rituals: The socialization of children was largely a concern of the extended family rather than the individual household, with all available elders taking responsibility for teaching children basic skills such as fishing, weaving, farming, and building. Adoption of related children was a common practice.
Are they a group that appreciates schooling: A few private preschools began using Hawaiian language to conduct all their student activities and lessons -- these schools were organized under the name "Punana Leo" (speech nest). A few public elementary school classrooms were specifically set aside to be "kula kaiapuni" (immersion schools) where all activities and lessons would be conducted in Hawaiian language. The idea was to create a group of children for whom Hawaiian would be a native language. At the same time, Hawaiian language courses became popular electives for high school students, college students, and adults attending night school. Such courses were taken by students of all ethnicities, although the private preschool and public elementary school immersion programs Punana Leo and Kula Kaiapuni were populated almost entirely by ethnic Hawaiian children (just as not many children would enroll in a French immersion classroom unless they had parents or grandparents of French ethnicity).
What are the basic demographics today? Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) are people having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands, even if they do not live in the Pacific Islands. According to the 2000 Census, those who identify only as NHOPI comprise 0.1 percent of the American population, or almost 400,000 individuals. Until 2000, NHOPIs were grouped with Asian Americans in studies of race and ethnicity. For this reason, there are no population growth projections for NHOPIs at this time. NHOPIs live throughout the United States, but their populations are most concentrated in the western mainland states and Hawaii. Though historically grouped with Asian Americans for data collection, NHOPI was assigned as a distinct category for the 2000 Census.
Fun Facts:
Surfing was invented long ago in Hawaii by ancient Kings.
The Hawaiian language has the shortest alphabet in the world. It is only 12 letters long - A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W. The 13 th symbol of the Hawaiian language is the 'okina ' which is an apostrophe.
Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. that grows coffee and is the worldwide leader in harvesting macadamia nuts and orchids. Much of the cropland in Hawaii is used for growing sugarcane and pineapples, and more than 1/3 of the commercial supply of pineapples comes from Hawaii.
Hawaii consumes the most Spam in the United States. Last checked, it was over 10,000 cans of Spam consumed every day in Hawaii.