Ancient Hawaiian Population
The exact population at the time of Captain James Cook's arrival is not known. What is known is that the first voyaging canoes to beaches on Hawaiian shores during the discovery and settlement of Hawaii around cannot have carried more than a hundred, perhaps even less. For the purposes of this article "ancient" Hawaii is defined as the time period running from the first arrival of people around AD 1100 to the initial contact with the first known westerners to arrive.
Constant Population Growth Theory
The frequently hypothesized model of constant population growth is that once people first arrived the population growth was constant until James Cook's arrival and thus halted by disease. This theory though relies on a hypothetical settlement date of AD 500 with the population doubling every 110 years. However modern high precision Radiocarbon Dating in Hawaii has since refuted that date as well as linear growth on the islands as the subsequent examination of habitation sights showed a peak population around 1450-1550 with a dramatic decline ensuing well before western contact due to declining fertility, infanticide and war between chiefs. Notwithstanding the subsequent advances, this theory advanced by Robert C. Schmitt and Lynn Zane is still used to support an estimate of between 800,000 and 1,000,000 people in 1778.[1]
Arrested Population Growth
Constant Population Growth Theory of Hawaii has scant support from the archaeological data and this is contradicted by paleo-environmental evidence and radiocarbon dating of historical sites. Because as the population increases so does their imprint on the land as more and more people would require more and more food, light, and heat; thus there would be more fires, and thus more wood charcoal produced correlated to the number of people. Accordingly the evidence indicates rather an interesting model of arrested population growth, especially as a consequence of island life. This theory finds corroboration in archaeological censuses of abandoned habitation sites on leeward Hawai'i island and Kaho'olawe Island which indicate that population levels reached a peak before Cook's arrival [2] The arrested-growth model fits well with an estimated pre-contact-era population of between 100,000 and 150,000, derived primarily from the study of historical records.[3]
Population estimates based on an initial discovery and settlement of Hawaii settlement date, of around AD 1150, and a proposed growth rate at the highest in the world, and relying on the paleo-environmental evidence of early human impact on the land completely contradicts the constant population growth theory. Instead, the estimated population curve can be divided into three sections, pre-settlement where there no people, the initial settlement growth phase of approximately 100 people around 1150 AD to the population peak in 1450 of approximately 150,000 people. The third phase between 1450 to 1778 reflected a relatively stable population, where apparent declines were followed by periods of growth.
Simply and briefly, as the population grew so did their agricultural imprint (forest clearing by burning) and building of heiau at those sites, as well as the decline of plants. The paleo environmental data showed that during 1450-1778 the construction of heiau pace slowed dramatically as well as the clearing of agricultural land. Accordingly, the estimated population in 1778 around Cook's arrival was between 110,000 and 150,000.[4]
Primitive State
It is believed relying on the archaeological data and oral traditions, that the social organizations evolved after the initial settlement as the population increased. During the initial settlement and growth phase on the island the social organizations were characterized by semi-independent chiefdoms organized as single nonegalitarian corporate units on each island. Which is essentially the same as ancestral polynesian society.[5] During the expansion inland and growth phase which lasted until about 1500-1550, the formation of basic ahupua'a land units which saw the widening of the gap between chief and commoner as the concept of kinship increased within the local community with the formation of ali'i and maka'ainana classes. The significant reduction of population in the 16-17th century was a result of warfare and conquest among competing chiefs [5] as well as the rise of Aikāne (homosexual) relations. Liloa originated the practice of moe āikane, the sexual relationship between males in the late 15th century.[6]
Table
| Term | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1000 to 1219.[7] | ~100's | |
| 1219–1450 | up to 160,000[4] | |
| 1450–1500 | ~110,000 to 160,000 | Peak of heiau construction as well as agricultural burning of lands for farming.[4] |
| 1500–1600 | ~150,000 | Decreasing agricultural burning until ~1600.[4] |
| 1600–1700 | ~96,000 | Population declined[4] |
| 1600–1778 | ~128,000 | Population bounced back[4] |
| 1778 | ~128,000 | |
| 1805 | 112,000 to 150,000 | |
References
- ↑ David E. Stannard, Before the Horror: The Population of Hawai'i on the Eve of Western Contact (Honolulu: Social Science Research Institute, U of Hawaii, 1989) 66-67g
- ↑ The Hawaiian Hournal of History, vol. 28 (1994)
- ↑ Robert C. Schmitt and Lynn Y. S. Zane, "How Many People Have Ever Lived in Hawaii?," unpublished typescript (Honolulu: Hawai'i State Department of Business and Economic Development Library, 1977);
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tom Dye; Eric Komori (1992). Pre-censal Population History of Hawai'i (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 14 (NA). p. 3.
- 1 2 Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory by By Patrick Vinton Kirch pg 297
- ↑ Kanalu G. Terry Young (25 February 2014). Rethinking the Native Hawaiian Past. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-317-77669-7.
- ↑ When Did the Polynesians Settle Hawai‘i? A Review of 150 Years of Scholarly Inquiry and a Tentative Answer by Patrick V. Kirch