Maui Hawaii
History of Maui
Maui Island Hawaii
The original peoples to populate Maui were Polynesians who came from Tahiti and the Marquesas.. The Tahitians introduced the kapu system, a strict social order that affected all aspects of life and became the core of Hawaiian culture.
Modern Hawaiian history began in the mid-1700s. King Kamehameha I, king of Hawaii's "Big Island," invaded Maui in 1790 and fought the inconclusive Battle of Kepaniwai, but returned to Hawaii to battle a rival, finally subduing Maui a few years later.
Captain James Cook was the first European to see Maui on November 26th, 1778. Cook never set foot on the island because he was unable to find a suitable landing. The first European to visit Maui was the French admiral Jean-François de La Pérouse, who landed on the shores of what is now known as La Perouse Bay on May 29th, 1786.
More Europeans followed: traders, whalers, loggers (e.g., of sandalwood) and missionaries. The latter began to arrive from New England in 1823, settling in Lahaina, which at that time was the capital. They clothed the natives, banned them from dancing hula, and greatly altered the culture.
The missionaries taught reading and writing, created the 12-letter Hawaiian alphabet, started a printing press in Lahaina, and began writing the islands' history, which until then was transmitted orally. Ironically, the missionaries both altered and preserved the native culture. The religious work altered the culture while the literacy efforts preserved native history and language. Missionaries started the first school in Lahaina, which still exists today: Lahainaluna Mission School, which opened in 1831.
One of the most famous events occurred much later and forms part of our own modern history. That event was the attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese on December 7th 1941.
Geography of Maui
Maui is the second largest Hawaiian Island. Maui is a volcanic island and the last volcanic eruption occurred in 1790.
General Information of Maui
There are several tourist attractions in Maui including the Hāna Highway, Haleakalā National Park, and Lahaina.
Climate in Maui
Maui has two seasons a year which are mild and uniform temperatures everywhere (except at high elevations), marked geographic differences in rainfall, high relative humidity, extensive cloud formations (except on the driest coasts and at high elevations), and dominant trade-wind flow (especially at elevations below a few thousand feet). Maui has a wide range of climatic conditions and weather patterns that are influenced by several different factors in the physical environment: