Early History
Polynesians first set foot on the Hawaiian island around 1,000 A.D. They
traveled by double-hulled canoes. They brought with them pigs, dogs,
chickens, sweet potatoes, coconut, banana, and sugarcane. In addition to food and animals for the journey, they brought at least a half dozen plant species to cultivate, like bananas, taro, and breadfruit. To survive while they waited for their first plantings to grow and mature, they hunted birds, fished, and gathered native foods. On January 18, 1778 Captain James Cook and his crew where attempting to discover the passage between Alaska and Asia,were surprised to find the Hawaiian islands so far north in the Pacific. He named them the Sandwich Islands. After the discovery by James Cook other Europeans came to the Hawaiian Islands. As many as 300,00 Hawaiians may have lived on the islands when the first Europeans arrived in the 18th century.
traveled by double-hulled canoes. They brought with them pigs, dogs,
chickens, sweet potatoes, coconut, banana, and sugarcane. In addition to food and animals for the journey, they brought at least a half dozen plant species to cultivate, like bananas, taro, and breadfruit. To survive while they waited for their first plantings to grow and mature, they hunted birds, fished, and gathered native foods. On January 18, 1778 Captain James Cook and his crew where attempting to discover the passage between Alaska and Asia,were surprised to find the Hawaiian islands so far north in the Pacific. He named them the Sandwich Islands. After the discovery by James Cook other Europeans came to the Hawaiian Islands. As many as 300,00 Hawaiians may have lived on the islands when the first Europeans arrived in the 18th century.