Integration of Cultural Concepts in Establishing Ha Kupuna: The National Resource Center for Native Hawaiian Elders

ative Hawaiians (kanaka maoli) are the indigenous people of the islands of Hawai‘i. Their Polynesian ancestors were seafaring voyagers from the South Pacific who sailed from their home around A.D. 100 and settled in Hawai‘i (Blaisdell & Mokuau, 1991). They were a self-sufficient and self-governed population estimated at 800,000 to one million, living in isolation until the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1778. In the years that followed Captain Cook’s arrival, contact with Western sailors and merchants led to the introduction of infectious diseases and the massive decline of the Native Hawaiian population. By 1893, the Native Hawaiian population was estimated at 40,000—a 95% reduction of the population (Stannard, 1989). Concurrent with depopulation, Native Hawaiians experienced dramatic losses such as the replacement of their monarchy with a provisional government of the U.S., dispossession of their land, and irrevocable changes to Native language, religion, and education (Mokuau & Matsuoka, 1995). Despite a history of turbulent change, “Native Hawaiians have succeeded in preserving Hawaiian culture and pursuing self-determination” (Kana‘iaupuni, Malone, & Ishibashi, 2005, p. 29).