Maui Hawaii: How Did It Get It’s Name
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It’s a known fact that Hawaii has a lot of islands, and Maui is considered the seventeenth largest island within the United States Area. It’s also the 2nd largest island included in the Hawaiian group of islands which spans 727.2 sq miles. Maui is considered to be within the state of Hawaii. It belongs to Maui County which consists of other islands such as Kahoolawe, Molokai and Lanai. The four islands combined together will bring you Maui Nui.
During the year 2000, the population of Maui flourished to 117,644. Kahului, is a town in Maui and has the largest population, which is unsurprisingly also its largest town. Whereas another town called Wailuku is known as the seat of the county of Maui.
So How Did Maui Got Its Name?
In early times, it is said that the Native Hawaiians said that the origin of the name came from the tale of the Polynesian navigator, Hawai’iloa. He was noted to have discovered Maui according to legend. The way it goes, Hawai’iloa named his son after the demigod named Maui. Maui, as the demigod, raised the islands of Hawaii from the depths of the sea. Maui Island is also known as “Valley Isle” because of the great isthmus which is in between two volcanoes.
Maui and its history
At first, the Polynesians were the ones who settled in Maui. They came from the Marquesas and the Tahiti. The culture of Hawaii originated from the kapu system which was introduced by the Tahitians. This was a social system that greatly affected the entire aspects of life of the people of Maui.
Around the mid-1700s, a modern history for Hawaii was created. It was during this time the Battle of Kenaniwal happened when King Kamehameha I resided and made his mark in the place of Lahaina after conquering Maui in the year 1790.
Capt. James Cook, in November 26, 1778 was the first European explorer to discover Maui. Though he never set foot on the island as he encountered difficulty to find a proper spot on the island to land his vessel. The actual European who step foot on Maui and visited it was a Frenchman named Admiral Hean Francois de Galaup de La Perouse. He landed on the now known La Perouse Bay that was on May 29, 1786. Following that historical event, More travelers from Europe came and established a more productive part between them and the people of Maui.
One of the groups of Europeans who came to Maui was the missionaries who made a few impact on the natives there. They were responsible for the banning of hula dancing among others. and to a greater extent, taught them how to become more civilized. The knowledge of writing and reading were shared with the natives by these missionaries that resulted in the alphabet that consists of the 12 letters. They also brought about the printing press which documented written history of the people of Maui. In an ironic sense, the missionaries preserved and altered most of the native’s culture.
Maui, Hawaii started to participate centrally in the height of the Pacific Theatre which staged World War II. Maui was a place to relax, rest and was also a training ground. The beaches was filled and used by the military for training and landings for sabotage and demolition.
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