Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 1, 1 January 1990 — Why 1778? [ARTICLE]

Why 1778?

Why is 1778 an important date for Hawaiians? It was in that year that Captain Cook made landfall in the Hawaiian Islands and it is from 1778 that western contact is dated. It is generally accepted that any person living in the Hawaiian Islands before 1778 was pure Hawaiian, one of the native, indigenous people of Hawai'i. That is why so many documents, laws and definitions speak about "people indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778." Being "Native Hawaiian" is defined, in both laws and traditions, as having ancestors in eommon. It is this single definition that is proposed for adoption in the OHA referendum. Native Hawaiians are descendants of Hawaii's first — and for nearly 1,500 years — only people. No ke aha ka makahiki 1778? No ke aha ka makahiki 1778 kekahi makahiki nui nō nā po'e Hawai'i? 'O ia ho'i kēlā ka makahiki i hiki mai 'o Kapena Kuke i nā moku pae 'āina 'o Hawai'i nei. Ua pa'a 'ia kelā makahiki 1778 i ka makahiki i ho'omaka ai i ka noho 'ana o nā po'e haoie 'ē i Hawai'i nei. He mana'o ma'a mau no ho'i, inā kekahi kanaka i noho i nā pae 'āina 'o Hawai'i ma mua o ka makahiki 1778 ua kanaka Hawai'i koko piha 'o ia. He kanaka maoli o nā po'e Hawai'i pono'i. 'O ia ho'i nui no nā palapala, nā kanawai a me nā wehewehe 'ana i 'ōlelo ai nō "nā po'e kanaka maoli i na moku pae 'āina 'o Hawai'i ma mua o 1778." Wehewehe 'ia "kanaka Hawai'i maoli," i nā kanawai a me nā 'ōlelo mai nā kūpuna mai, he pili koko. Kēia ka wehewehe 'ana ma mua 'oukou i ke koho kuikawā a ka po'e koho pāloka 'o OHA. He mamo no nā po'e kānaka maoli o nā kūpuna Hawai'i maoli.