The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society

335 Pages·2013·3.5 MB·English

by  Robert J. Hommon

The Ancient Hawaiian State
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The Ancient Hawaiian
State
Origins of a Political Society
Robert J. Hommon

1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hommon, Robert J.
Th e ancient Hawaiian state: origins of a political society /Robert J. Hommon.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-991612-2
1. Hawaii—Civilization. 2. Hawaii—Antiquities. 3. Hawaii—Politics and government—To 1893. I. Title.
DU624.5.H66 2013
996.902′7—dc23 2012028014
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
I ulu no ka lālā ke kumu
Th e branches grow because of the trunk
—Mary Kawena Pukui
` Ōlelo No`eau 1261
Th e past is never dead. It’s not even past.
—William Faulkner
Requiem for a Nun
To those who seek to know Hawai`i’s present past.
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CONTENTS
Preface i x
I ntroduction 1
PART ONE : Hawai`i in the Early Contact Era
1 . Th e People 1 1
2 . Government, War, and Refuge 2 5
3 . H omes and Craft s 39
4 . Farming and Fishing 5 5
5 . Gods and Temples 8 7
6 . Makahiki, Trails, and Exchange 99
PART TWO : State Societies and the Ancient Hawaiian Example
7 . State Societies 1 17
8 . Th e Ancient Hawaiian State 1 29
PART THREE : Polynesian Societies
9 . P olynesian Comparisons 1 39
10 . Tikopia 149
11 . Th e Marquesas Islands: Nuku Hiva and `Ua Pou 1 63
12 . Th e Society Islands: Tahiti and Porapora 175
13 . Th e Ancient Tongan State 1 87
PART FOUR : Th e Model of Hawaiian State Emergence
14 . Th e Model: Introduction and Chronology Construction 2 03
15 . Th e Hawaiian State Emergence Model 2 17
16 . Summary and Conclusion 2 57
Appendix: Summary of Ancient Hawaiian Political History 261
Glossary 277
B ibliography 279
Index 307
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PREFACE
One of the most profound revolutions in human history was the emergence of the
primary states, the ultimate progenitors of the 200 nation-states that now span the
world. Unlike the thousands of states that developed throughout the last six mil-
lennia through coercion by or emulation of already existing states, the primary
states emerged endogenously. In a sense, they taught themselves how to be states.
Th e rise of these self-made states is generally recognized to have taken place in six
widely distributed regions: Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, China, Meso-
america, and Andean South America between 6,000 and 2,000 years ago.
Th is book presents evidence that by the time of contact with the non-Polynesian
world in 1778, primary states had emerged in the Hawaiian Islands, and that there-
fore Polynesia, where Tonga too was a primary state, was the seventh and last world
region to host indigenous state formation. Hawaii and Tonga are uniquely suited
subjects for the study of primary state organization in that, unlike the primary states
of every other region which arose before sophisticated writing systems were devel-
oped, they were described by fully literate eyewitnesses in writt en and graphic
records, supplemented by a rich body of oral histories preserved in writt en form.
Th e Hawaiian kingdoms of the eighteenth century were large-scale, politically-
centralized societies in which a ruler or co-rulers delegated to a branching bureau-
cratic hierarchy the responsibility for governmental tasks including tax collection,
public works, and waging war. In some repects, from an organizational standpoint,
these Hawaiian primary states appear more similar to modern nation-states than to
the Polynesian societies to which they were bound by history and culture.
Th e rise of primary states was a major element in Hawaii’s history, particularly
the period of competition between islands ruled by warrior kings from the seven-
teenth through the early nineteenth century. What is learned about the nature and
emergence of Hawaiian primary states may help to guide research in other early
states, thereby aiding in the identifi cation of common themes in the general process
of state emergence and the nature of state societies in general.
Th is book is a direct, though extensively revised, descendant of my 1976 Univer-
sity of Arizona PhD dissertation, the fi rst extended exploration of Hawaiian state-
hood. In papers and articles throughout intervening decades, I have oft en returned
to the study of Hawaiian states.