September 26th, 2006
Who are the people of Hawaii?
When Captain James Cook arrived in Hawaii in 1778 that was a relatively easy question to answer. There were, depending on the various estimates available, between 300,000 and 400,000 kanaka maoli - native Hawaiians. Over the course of the next century the native Hawaiian population dropped drastically after more contact with foreigners. By 1878, the native population was estimated to be between 40,000 and 50,000 people. Today, there are less than 8,000 pure Hawaiians alive. The number of those who are at least part Hawaiian, and who consider themselves to be Hawaiian, has increased steadily since the turn of the century. Today, there are estimated to be between 255,000 and 275,000 native Hawaiians living in Hawaii.
According to the U.S. Census, there are approximately 1,108,229 people living in Hawaii. Of those people, 369, 616 (33.4%) were Caucasian, 247,486 (22.3%) were of Japanese descent, 168,682 (15.2%) were of Filipino descent, 138,742 (12.5%) were of Hawaiian descent, 68,804 (6.2%) were of Chinese descent, and 114,899 were of other ethnic backgrounds including 27,195 blacks, 24,454 Koreans and 15,034 Samoans.
Hawaii is clearly the most racially integrated state in the United States. This ethnic diversity makes for a very different society than is seen in the rest of the country. It is often said that there are two types of Hawaiians, those of Hawaiian blood and those who are Hawaiian-at-heart! 