How Has Christianity Impacted Hawaiian Religious Beliefs?
- Susie Hamilton
- Jan 20
- 7 min read
Ancient Hawaiians mastered the skills necessary to voyage throughout the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, the Polynesian people, throughout hundreds of years, sailed from southeast Asia all the way to Alaska. Some Polynesians decided to settle in the Archipelago known as Hawaii. The Hawaiian people lived under the Kapu system. The Kapu system laid out the laws of the land to ensure that the people lived in harmony with each other and their surroundings. In the same way, the Kapu system impacted Hawaiians' lives, and so did their religion. Hawaiian people worshiped many gods and goddesses every day until the introduction of Christianity. The introduction of Christianity has caused confusion of ancient Hawaiian history, fueled the deterioration of the native culture, and induced the Cultural Renaissance of the 1970s.
Background
The first Christian ritual performed in Hawaii was a funeral for one of Captain Cook's men. It was conducted in tandem with the Christian and Hawaiian funeral rites (Sea People). This marked the beginning of Christianity within the Hawaiian Islands and the beginning of colonialism. King Kamehameha United the Islands in an attempt to combat outside Western influence. However, over the years, a flux of missionaries "left Boston Harbor with the first boatload of New England missionaries bound for Hawaii in 1819" (Vowell). The missionaries placed bans on cultural practices that have altered Hawaiian religion. Since then, there has been a confusing blend of Christianity and ancient Hawaiian religion.
Muddled view of Hawaiian history due to Christian influence
The confusing blend of Christian and Hawaiian beliefs began when Christianity was first introduced by Captain Cook. After that, the colonizers made many efforts to convert the native people to Christianity. Over time, the foreigners gained more and more control in Hawaii and banned many cultural practices, trying to erase the Hawaiian religion and culture. The colonists' efforts began to dilute the Indigenous culture and replace it with their Christian beliefs. They built schools that preached only Christian values to erase the Hawaiian culture further.
The introduction of Christianity has created a muddled view of past religious history in Hawaii. Due to the introduction of Christianity, Hawaiian and Christian beliefs have become confusing when trying to separate the ancient Hawaiian beliefs from the Christian ones. Predating Christianity in Hawaii, the Hawaiian religion was polytheistic and is now more monotheistic. Missionaries were "using claims on Ke Akua (God)" (Williams) to distract from the other gods in Hawaiian religion. This concept of one sole god only emerged when Christianity entered the islands. While Christianity has altered the view of gods, it also reached many parts of Hawaiian religion, including its religious stories.
David Kalakaua's (Hawaiian past king) book on Hawaiian religion exemplifies Christian influence on Hawaiian religious stories. His book shows the Christian influence in his retellings of Hawaiian legends. However, the book still does incorporate many traditional stories. Many Hawaiian stories were fused with Christian ones, keeping the Hawaiian values alive but diluting the original content. Overall, the influence of Christianity has led to religious stories being fused, making it challenging to differentiate ancient Hawaii from Christianity. This has led to the deterioration of Hawaiian culture.
Deterioration of Hawaiian culture
The introduction of Christianity into the Hawaiian islands has led to the deterioration of the native culture over the years. After Captain Cook found the islands, missionaries started to come over to convert the indigenous people to their religion. Over time, the missionaries built schools to erase Hawaiian culture and teach Christianity. One way that missionaries attempted to erase the culture was through banning cultural practices such as hula dancing. The British viewed the cultural dance as “scandalous” and tried to eliminate many other cultural practices. Through colonization, the British could enforce their false beliefs of the Hawaiian people.
The way Hawaii was colonized was a complicated process. Land ownership was not a concept in the islands until British colonizers appeared. In response to the many plantations taking land, King Kamehameha, the third, instituted land ownership on the islands in hopes that the Hawaiian people could gain land ownership. However, since this concept was new, the plantations quickly swooped in to take ownership of all the land by the freshwater sources. These plantations then started diverting the water away from the locals and to their plantations. Along with this, foreign businessmen gained power in the government and placed bans on Hawaiian cultural practices. Hawaiians soon gained their sovereignty and were recognized by many major countries worldwide. In 1893, foreign businessmen overthrew the Hawaiian government and queen, they "...took possession of Hawaiʻi in late 1898." ("Christianity in Hawaiʻi | Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion.”) These businessmen gained control over Hawaii with the aid of the United States.
Western globalization brought many different cultures into the Hawaiian islands. With the many plantations in Hawaii, the owners brought workers from all over Asia to provide labor to these businessmen. These people brought with them different cultures. Many were from China, Portugal, the Philippines, Korea, etc. This sudden mix of people who did not know the same language led to the creation of pidgin. Pidgin is a language that forms when many people of varying languages attempt to communicate. It is everyday slang now used in the modern day. This fusion of many cultures in Hawaii helped lead to the 1970s revival, where a key player was not Hawaiian but Micronesian.
Cultural renaissance
The Renaissance of Hawaiian culture in the 1970s was a response to the deterioration of Hawaiian culture. Many Hawaiian people no longer knew their language and cultural practices, so during the 1970s, there was a call to action to bring back this culture. One of the many traditions that had been forgotten was voyaging. At the time, many theories were circulating about how Polynesian expansion happened. A group of men from all over Polynesia came together to form the Polynesian Voyaging Society to prove that Polynesians knew where they were going when they found Hawaii. The Polynesian Voyaging Society then raised money to build a traditional Polynesian sailing canoe called the Hokule'a. This Voyaging canoe was seen as a symbol of the determination of the Hawaiian people and a beacon of hope. The Hokulea is a beacon of hope, “but ultimately, it is a story of survival, rediscovery, and the restoration of pride and dignity”(“Hōkūleʻa”). The Hokule’a was created to prove that Polynesians navigated from Tahiti to Hawaii using ancient voyaging ways and to restore the Hawaiian peoples' culture. The crew recreated this voyage and proved that Polynesians voyaged from Tahiti to Hawaii.
With the call to action came the call for education; many Hawaiian immersion schools were founded in hopes of reteaching the youth of their culture. These schools were created to reteach and preserve the dying Hawaiian language (Olelo Hawai’i). The deterioration of the Hawaiian language happened over hundreds of years of colonization, but the call to preserve the language was met. The first school to emerge was Aha Punana Leo; “in January 1983, a group of Hawaiian language educators met to discuss strategies to perpetuate the language” (“Aha Pūnana Leo”). It was created by a grassroots organization closely tied to a similar movement by the Maori people in New Zealand. This movement has grown from just one school on one island to many on all the islands. Language preservation in Hawaiian culture played a vital part in the Renaissance because it gave Hawaiians their voice back and the ability to speak like their ancestors.
In addition, hula dancing was on the rise as a way to tell the stories of Hawaii's ancestors. Hula dancing is how Hawaiian people passed down their religion and history. Through this cultural dance, stories have been saved from the clutches of missionaries. During this time of cultural renaissance, emphasis was put on these cultural practices, so hula rose again. Hula was widely celebrated and shared to spread the stories told through the dances throughout Hawaii and the world. Hula has always been an integral part of Hawaiian culture, and with the revitalization of the culture, it has finally been seen as such.
This renaissance of Hawaiian culture made it possible for future generations of Hawaiian people to know who they are and be proud of their heritage. Voyaging connected the Hawaiian people to their roots across all of Polynesia, while the language gave them a voice once more, and hula allowed them to tell of all of this through dance. All the aspects of the 1970s revival are essential because they are all vital parts of Hawaiian culture. The Hokule’a trip to Tahiti started it all, and many people met that call to action to save this deteriorating culture. People were finally able to know who they were and be proud of that. During this time, people showed their reliance as the Hawaiian people and truly saved the culture. This era in Hawaiian history was a response to all that previously occurred, including colonization and missions.
Conclusion
Christianity has led to the deterioration of Hawaiian culture, creating confusion surrounding Ancient Hawaii's religious beliefs. As a result, the Hawaiian people led a renaissance of the culture in the 1970s to preserve their beliefs. The muddled Ancient Hawaiian history caused issues when separating Hawaiian religion from Christianity. In addition, the deterioration of Hawaiian culture has led many Hawaiians to struggle to connect to their past. However, despite all these factors, the Hawaiian people led a renaissance of their culture in the 1970s so future generations could know who their people are. All of these factors make me believe that it is crucial to continue investing in indigenous cultures worldwide to continue the renaissance of indigenous cultures. So that younger generations can engage in critical cultural practices such as voyaging to Polynesian people.
Bibliography
Admin, CMS. “The Mission to Hawaii.” Christianity Today, 14 Aug. 2014, www.christianitytoday.com/2011/06/missionhawaii/.
“ʻAha Pūnana Leo.” ʻAha Pūnana Leo, https://www.ahapunanaleo.org/. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
“Hōkūleʻa — The Story of Hōkūleʻa - Hōkūleʻa.” Hōkūleʻa, http://www.facebook.com/hokuleawwv, https://worldwidevoyage.hokulea.com/voyages/our-story/. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
LLC, Pearl Harbor Tours. “Ancient Hawaiian History Timeline.” Pearl Harbor Tours, 5 Oct. 2024, www.pearlharbortours.com/history/ancient-hawaiian-history-timeline/.
Thompson, Christina. Sea People. HarperCollins, 2019.
Vowell, Sarah. Unfamiliar Fishes. Penguin, 2011.
Williams, Ronald. “Christianity in Hawaiʻi | Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, Oxford University Press, https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-406;jsessionid=381058F80D2BCA7725922CBB0CE5503D?rskey=QhsIO0&result=17. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.