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| Captain James Cook made first western contact with Hawaiians at Waimea, Kaua‘i in 1778. Illustration ArtToday.com. |
Western Contact
For hundreds of years, until 1778, people of Kaua‘i lived on the land without further outside influence. But when Captain James Cook landed his ships Resolution and Discovery at Waimea Bay on the west coast of Kaua‘i during that fateful year, he opened the door to the influx of westerners—missionaries, businessmen, laborers and succeeding cultures that gradually diminished the numbers of full-blooded Hawaiians.
With all these foreigners came ideas, materials and foods different to those of the native Hawaiians. With them, they also brought diseases against which the Hawaiians had no immunity and which decimated the native Hawaiian population.
A time of great change lay upon the land. Ancient kapu, or taboos, crumbled. War no longer seemed a viable option for settling larger differences.
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| Detail of King Kaumuali‘i, the last king of Kaua‘i, from a portrait by Laka Morton, courtesy of Kaua‘i Museum. |
King Kaumuali‘i, the last king of Kaua‘i, lived during this tumultuous time.
From the moment of his birth in the sacred Wailua region ca. 1780, King Kaumuali‘i lived a remarkable life. In what many call a wise move, he avoided the slaughter of his people in battle by ceding his kingdom to King Kamehameha the Great—the ruler of all Hawai‘i—who conquered all the main islands except Kaua‘i.
In return for his bloodless surrender and vowed allegiance to Kamehameha, and, upon Kamehameha’s death, to his successor and son, Liholiho, King Kaumuali‘i kept his rank and titles.
Kaumuali‘i was no stranger to battle. He’d had his first taste of it as a warrior when, at age 14, following the death of his father, he fought to rule his kingdom. Though Kaumuali‘i was defeated then, within two years, his enemy was dead and Kaumuali‘i assumed his rightful kingship.
At age 44, Kaumuali‘i died, but not before being kidnapped and taken to O‘ahu by Liholiho, wed to one of Kamehameha’s widows—the powerful Ka‘ahumanu—and, say some, powerfully influenced by Christianity.
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