THE POPULATION OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS-1893

Volume 2 1893 > Volume 2, No.4, December 1893

THE POPULATION OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. IS THE HAWAIIAN A DOOMED RACE?

PRESENT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS.

By A. Marques.

IT is not our intention to discuss the recent extraordinary events which have made matters pertaining to the Hawaiian Islands of peculiar interest, especially those referring to the population, but the purpose of this paper is merely to try, by plain statistical facts, to throw some light on the present situation and on the future prospects of the group, and of its aboriginal population.

I.—Foreign Population.

As will be seen in the general population table “A,” herewith annexed, drawn from the official census taken on the last day of December, 1890, the population now living on these islands, is made up of very heterogenous elements.

In a broad way at the above date, it was composed:—1st. of 45.5 per cent. of Natives, pure or half-castes;1 2nd. of 30·74 per cent. of Asiatics, principally transient coolie labourers for the sixty-four sugar plantations;2 and 3rd. of 24·13 per cent. of all other foreigners and their direct descendants (Hawaiian-born), this element including 9·57 per cent, of Portuguese labourers, and 4·57 per cent. - 254 of their young children born here. In the total of this population, the American element is only a liliputian faction of 2·14 per cent. of the whole, or of 4·72 per cent. as compared with the Native element alone, who are the rightful owners of the country. And moreover, this small fraction of 2·14 per cent. is far from being unanimous for annexation, while it is also nearly counterbalanced by the English, 1·48 per cent., or more than balanced by the English and German elements together, 2·63 per cent.

Under another broad point of view, the population is composed of 49,372 foreigners of all kinds, against only 40,622 Natives. But here it is necessary to call special attention to the startling fact—proved by the census (column of variations)—that the bulk of the foreign element is very far from being stable; in the main it is transient, not settled, and therefore hardly entitled to a voice, or at least to a preponderant one, in the Government of the Kingdom. In fact, the foreign element, as seen in the census, is composed principally of labourers introduced at different times for the sugar industry, the majority of whom cannot be expected to remain after the expiration of their labour contracts, as the country offers them but very little inducement for settlement. The census also elicits these facts:—1st., that while the pure Natives are decreasing, their natural descendants and successors, the Hawaiian half-castes, are rapidly increasing; 2nd., that the Chinese, Portuguese, and all other foreigners, except the English, are decreasing in various proportions, while the Japanese, introduced within the last six years, have been up to the present time, pouring in so as to threaten to constitute a prevailing element in the near future.3

A rapid review of those various classes will make the matter still plainer.

A.—The Japanese have all been introduced gradually since 1884, only 116 of them being found in the census of that date; they come under a three year contract, at the end of which the majority of them return to Japan, so that their numbers in this country can only be kept up by fresh importations.

B.—It would be rather difficult to state exactly when the first Chinese landed in the group, but they had gradually increased to 1,200 in 1866; however, it was only after the impetus given to sugar by the American Reciprocity Treaty,4 that they were introduced in large numbers, as laborers, and they reached their maximum (a little over 19,000) in 1889, since when they have decreased on account of the planters' preference for Japanese labour. Amongst the number of Chinamen now found on the islands, only a couple of thousand continue as plantation workers, the others have invaded many lines of occupation formerly held by Natives or white foreigners, and they constitute the bulk of household servants, washermen, retail dealers, tailors, shoemakers, gardeners, and farmers, especially rice growers. - 255 As such, they are stable as long as the country is prosperous or their business profitable; but the dream of every one of them, is to return eventually to the “Flowery Empire,” as soon as they have saved money enough.

C.—The Portuguese were introduced direct from Maderia and the Azores after 1878; and from 436 at that date, rapidly grew to over 12,000 (including their Hawaiian-born children). But they have been steadily going away since 1885, as they have ceased to be in favour with the planters, who accuse them of being too expensive since the introduction of the cheap Japs; and they would now emigrate en masse, if they had the means and another handy place to go to. But the new stringent emigration laws of America and the general depression in that country makes the matter more difficult for them.

D.—Concerning the other foreigners, whether imported as laborers or free-emigrants, it can also be said that the majority of them are transient, as the principal object of nearly all of them,—from the rich planter and the thrifty merchant down to the poorest clerk or mechanic,—is to make as much money in as short a time as possible, and then go and enjoy it elsewhere. The only foreigners from whom might be expected a stable residence, are the owners of real estate,—but their number does not amount to many over a thousand, out of whom 177 only are Americans, while 169 are Britishers. And yet it is a faction of these transient foreigners, who clamour for annexation, and would fain impose it by force on the stable classes, on the unwilling Natives, not for the good of the country, but for the benefit of their own transient interests.

Outside of coolie labor, and of the semi-Hawaiians, the only noticeable factor of increase is that of the Hawaiian-born foreigners. Herein might also be a promise of stability for the population, if they contained only the children of our bonâ fide permanent residents. But they principally include the children of the married laborers of various nationalities introduced for plantation work, the total number—7,495—of this element being composed (as far as the census reports may be correct) of 4,117 children of Portuguese parents, 1,701 of Chinese and Japanese parents, 1,617 of white foreigners (principally Caucasian), among whom are the true settlers, and of 60 of other races. Out of the above total, as many as 6,797 are under 15 years of age, and 5,455 under 7 years, and therefore of no account as yet as political factors. But even this element cannot be considered as stable for the future; many of them may perchance remain in the country, which is theirs only through “an accident of birth,” but they would all go if their parents departed, so that as a whole, even this class, although apparently a promising one for a growth of population, cannot be relied upon much more than the rest of the foreigners, whose raison d'être is sugar, and who would rapidly leave the country if any calamity befell that industry.5

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Politically, this kingdom, through the good natured hospitality of the Aborigines, offers the extraordinary, unprecedented feature that foreigners are allowed the political rights of citizenship without becoming naturalised or taking allegiance to the country, this having been one of the unfair results of the revolution of 1887. However, out of the motley crowd of population, only the Natives and such foreigners that do not belong to the Asiatic races, enjoy the privilege of the ballot-box, the total number of voters being 13,593, only 637 of whom are Americans, against 505 English, so that the party who cling to American protection while they use their Hawaiian citizen-ship against the autonomy of the kingdom, form only 4·6 per cent. of the whole Hawaiian voters, or 6·6 per cent. of the true native voters.

Financially, outside of the money invested in sugar estates, and which is difficult to appraise correctly, the American element has little to boast about, as it pays only 26·08 per cent. of the personal and real-estate taxes of the kingdom, or, in their aggregate, only $783, 79 cts. more than the share of the despised Chinamen and Japanese. Moreover, the composite and unstable nature of the whole foreign population, in which the Anglo-Saxon factor is so exiguous, does not afford the Government any promise of a steady financial status, since any movement of emigration among the laborers, would leave the produce of taxes down to the bed-rock of the native elements.

From all the above hard facts, it is quite safe to conclude that the mere point, that the foreigner happens to outnumber the native, cannot allow the former any just preponderance over the latter, nor does it diminish the natives' sovereignty. So really, outside of their legal inborn rights, the native portion of the Hawaiian population being positively the only ones that are stable, permanent, are therefore the only elements worthy of being considered in connection with the future of the country, and with any measures that may affect its Government. The only exception that could be taken against this conclusion, is that it is useless to have any consideration for a “doomed race,” and this brings us to the vexed question of the natives' vitality.

II.—Native Population.

Truly, the rapid decrease of the Hawaiian Aborigines within the last hundred years has caused it to be taken for granted that, like so many other uncivilised races suddenly thrown into contact with the white civilisation, this race was also condemned to utter extinction in a very short lapse of time, an idea repeated as a certain fact by many would-be authorities who ought to know better. In reality, to formulate any such off-handed opinion on the question is merely a proof of presumption or prejudice, because the past decrease does not fatally warrant its continuance, and because the question is really a difficult one, even to the earnest student, owing to the lack of positive, trustworthy statistics. The Government censuses, and deductions therefrom, have never been reliable, or at least only so as approximations, and the only rational way of checking and adjusting those official figures, viz.: by comparing them with the returns of arrivals and departures, and of births and deaths, is utterly unavailable, on account of the constant evasions of the custom and shipping regulations, and of the very loose system of registration, or etat-civil kept here. Even - 257 in Honolulu, this registration is very imperfect; but in the outer-districts, and especially in such as are thinly populated with scattered inhabitants; it is merely nominal, and quite a number of deaths, as well as of births, go absolutely unnoticed and unrecorded.

However, there is a growing opinion among thinking men that the broad notion of the impending extinction of the Hawaiian race is, to say the least, premature. Several of the leading natives do not even hesitate to say that at the present time the harping on that erroneous idea is only a bugbear used for political purposes by the small clique of foreigners, who want to override the native element, and conveniently justify their policy. In other words, the sentiment seems to be crystalising that the decrease of the Aborigines has seen its lowest ebb, and that the tide has begun to turn; so that, owing to the very prolific nature of their half-castes, the Hawaiians can no longer be expected to disappear, if they are at all taken care of as a nation, both sanitarily and politically.

An enquiry on this matter may therefore be interesting, starting from the various findings of the official censuses, but taking them only for what they may be worth, and not going however further back than that of 1823, the first attempt at a count made by the Missionaries. The previous figures, based on a loose estimate by Captain Cook, are absolutely devoid of any scientific accuracy and value, and, moreover, various extraordinary causes—bitter wars and the great pestilence of 1805 (the okuu, most certainly the Asiatic cholera)—contributed to make the decrease exceptional at that time.

We shall thus obtain one table (B), showing the official figures embracing the pure natives and the Hawaiian half-castes taken together, as a whole native nation; and another one (C), differentiating the two elements, as divided since 1866 only.

Table B.—Decrease of Natives.

Censuses Years	Total Foreign Population.	Total Natives and Half-castes	Total Decrease of Hawaiians in	Total Decrease of Hawaiians in	Percentage of Decrease.	Yearly Mean Decrease.	Causes.
1823		142,050
1832	?	130,315	9 years	11,735	8·2	1,304·0	?
1836	?	108,5796	4 ”	21,736	16·6	5,434·0	?
1850	1,9627	82,203	14 ”	26,376	24·3	1,184·0	ulalii, measles
1853	2,119	71,019	3 ”	11,184	12·3	3,728·0	small-pox
1860	2,716	67,0848	7 ”	3,935	5·59	562·1	normal condition
1866	4,194	58,765	6 ”	8,319	12·410	1,386·5	leprosy, whalers, 1865
1872	5,456	51,531	6 ”	7,234	12·3	1,205·7	loss, whalers, 1871
1878	10,383	47,502	6 ”	4,023	7·8	670·5	normal condition
1884	36,346	44,232	6 ”	3,276	6·8	546·0	normal condition
1890	49,278	40,622	6 ”	3,610	8·1	601·6	normal condition

- 258 Table C.

Censuses Years.	Total Natives.	Apparent Decrease In Period.	Apparent Decrease Per Year.	Total Half-castes.	Positive Increase In Period.	Positive Increase Per Year.
1866	57,125			1,640
1872	49,044	8,081	1346·8	2,487	847	141·1
1878	44,088	4,956	826·0	3,420	933	155·5
1884	40,014	4,074	679·0	4,218	79811	133·0
1890	34,436	5,578	929·8	6,186	1,968	356·0
	Official Decrease in 6 Years 13· 9 per cent.			Official Increase in 6 Years 46· 6 per cent.
1896	30,000	My Own Estimate.		11,000	My Own Estimate.

In a general way, the above tables go to show a total decrease, in 67 years, of 107,614 natives—75 per cent. of the whole amount—or taking into account the increasing Hawaiian half-castes, a loss of 101,428, or 72 per cent., making an annual mean decrease of 1514 people. Arguing on a similar rate, after the census of 1850, the Missionaries announced from the pulpit the complete extinction of the natives within the 40 years now just elapsed; whilst, on the contrary, half of the pure natives do still exist, their yearly rate of decrease is considerably lessened, and there is a growing factor of half-castes which they did not foresee. Therefore, the present conditions would seem to grant at least 30 more years for the total disappearance of the pure Hawaiians. But at the end of that same period, the Hawaiian half-castes promise to number at least, 50,000, perhaps 100,000, without taking into account the rapidly growing element of Hawaiian-born foreigners, part at least of which can be expected to coalesce into them.

None of the above figures however can be expected to carry all their apparent significance, for the reasons now to be more especially enumerated:

• 1.—The last census is incomplete;
• 2.—It is erroneous under the respective headings of Natives and half-castes;
• 3.—It does not allow any estimate of loss from emigration.

1.—The last census was ordered at a very late hour, and the superintendent thereof acknowledges that he had barely the indispensable time necessary for appointing enumerators and giving them the necessary material, instructions, and explanations. It cannot therefore be surprising that, in the distant districts, principally on Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, many enumerators were incompetent or indifferent, or did not understand thoroughly their work, so that the people could not obtain the proper information to render complete and correct reports. The result of this is known among the leading natives to be that quite a number of Hawaiians, grown-up people and children, has not been enumerated.

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2.—The same argument applies to the returns of the half-castes, with more especially these two further causes of error:

1st. That many real half-castes have been reported in the distant districts, as pure natives, who ought to be transported to the half-caste account. Anyone acquainted with the natives can testify that they very easily overlook any accidental admixture of foreign blood, and consider themselves pure natives when brought up exclusively by natives away from foreign influence; moreover,—with the old native rule that the rank came from the mother and did not follow the father,—every person who has a Hawaiian mother is a Hawaiian to the full extent. In fact, nearly all the present native leaders are half-castes in various degree, and yet are readily granted the influence and authority of full natives. Therefore,—and if only by reason of the licentiousness of former years,—no well-informed man can hesitate to readily admit that unmixed natives must be considerably less than the number officially reported. A good illustration of this assertion, out of many to my own knowledge, will be the following: When a certain naval captain, in his exploring expedition, made the ascent of the Mauna-Loa mountain, he was escorted by a troop of natives from Puna; during the trip, he took a fancy to one of the native girls, who nine months later gave birth to a boy, thus clearly a half-caste; but, having been kept by his native parents in Puna, where he married a native woman and reared an unusually large family, this son and his children have been enumerated as pure Hawaiians. Yet, a gentleman a friend of mine, who knows this man and has seen portraits of the gentleman referred to, has always been struck with the characteristic resemblance of the son to his father.

2nd.—Many enumerators seem to have been sorely puzzled on the question of the children of Chinamen married to half or three-quarter Chinese-Hawaiian women; these most certainly ought also to be enumerated as half-castes, as it is a very noticeable fact that the tendencies, tastes, ideas, and patriotism of half-castes,—whatever may be their degree and the nationality of the father,—always and most decidedly bend to their Hawaiian mother's side. Consequently, in the last census, quite a number of these cases have erroneously gone to swell the number of Chinese to the detriment of the half-caste enumeration.

From these various facts, it is safe to conclude that the figures of the last census are:

• Deficient as a general total for the natives;
• Too large in the amount of reported pure natives;
• Too small by two elements, in the number of half-castes; and
• Too large in the amount of Chinese children.

A more rigid and enlightened inquiry at the next census (1893), must therefore show more half-castes and less full natives than might be expected through the last returns, and will consequently prove that the reproductive power of the nation is still greater than the proportions hereinabove deducted from the census.

3.—The third cause through which the results of all the various Hawaiian censuses do certainly give a wrong impression as to the true rate of decrease of the native element, is that they have never allowed the enquirer to make any difference between the natural decrease, due to the natural excess of deaths over births, and the artificial one, caused by natives leaving the country, whereby they may be lost to the - 260 enumeration here, but cannot be used to show or swell a tendency to a decrease in the race.

To elucidate this point, it is necessary to briefly examine the probable causes and reasons of the recorded decrease. The following have been broadly mentioned, some of which do account for the unusual rapidity of decrease during some periods: the diseases introduced with civilisation, deadly epidemics of measles and small-pox, and later, leprosy; to these may be added early intemperance and licentiousness, infanticide, or more properly fœticide, sickness resulting from carelessness in connection with the new modes of living, and clothing suddenly imposed by the Missionaries, the constant disproportion of sexes, and last, but not least, emigration.

A.—Diseases:—The first disease introduced was syphilis, whose ravages cannot be expressed in figures, but are known to have been appalling. It has also thoroughly debilitated the whole race; the historian Jarvis mentions its recrudescence and virulence particularly on females, about 1842; but nowadays, especially since the last law “to mitigate,” it has lost much of its former prevalence and deadliness.

Measles and whooping-cough were introduced in 1848, and are commonly acknowledged to have carried off one-tenth of the population, correctly making the rate of decrease of that period jump from 16 to 24 per cent. Next came small-pox, in 1853, which killed about 3,000 people and caused the rate of decrease to jump again to 12 per cent. Then followed seven years of normal conditions, in which the rate went down to about 6 per cent. only. Proper quarantine precautions in the future, ought easily to preserve the race from any other calamities of that nature, if the Government are earnest in their professed desire to protect the natives.

Leprosy, first observed in 1853, aroused public attention in 1864, and at the end of 1865, the settlement at Molokai was started with 140 persons. Since then, up to July 31st, 1893, 4,782 persons have been sent there.12 These, however, do not represent all the cases that have developed here, many not having come to the cognisance of the authorities, and others, principally foreigners, having left the country. The spread of this dire disease is popularly attributed, in a great measure, to careless vaccination, and there is no other way that can account for the number of children, native and white, who have developed leprosy without their parents, nurses, or attendants having shown any symptoms of the scourge. To leprosy must evidently be attributed a certain proportion of the native decrease since 1853; but there is no plausible reason to suppose that its future effects may possibly increase the past or present rate of mortality.

No additional light can be gathered, on the respective influence of the various other diseases as factors of mortality, by referring to the returns of the Board of Health, because these, outside of Honolulu, are merely nominal; and even in the capital, the number of cases recorded as “unattended,” or “cause unknown”—and the true causes of which are thereby not scientifically ascertained—is so large that any percentage tables would be vitiated and useless. - 261 It can only be mentioned that consumption and lung diseases are a large factor, and this can be asserted as a direct result of the sudden revolution in clothing enforced by the Missionaries13. But it must be borne in mind that the general sanitary conditions of the natives—even though they might still be bettered, to the advantage of the longevity of the race—have yet wonderfully improved during the last decade, especially among the half-castes, whose modes of living are getting to be more enlightened, cautious, and refined, and quite equal to those of the best foreigners.

B.—Disproportion of Sexes:—The other causes enumerated were only very secondary, and their influence is waning14, except that of the disproportion of sexes among the natives. The last census registered 18,364 males against 16,072 females, out of the total 34,436. By referring to the figures of the previous censuses, the following table has been compiled:

Excess of Males over Females, per cent.

1850	1853	1860	1866	1872	1878	1884	1890
4·39 (?)	4·42	5·48	5·90	6·50	6·56	7·48	6·66

It will be noticed that, except for the dip in the last census, this disproportion of sexes has steadily increased within the last 40 years, no data existing for the previous periods. Stranger yet is it to note that the same thing happens among the foreigners born in the islands, though in a trifling smaller proportion, 4·32 per cent., the half-castes—the hope of our future—being the only stable class in which the sexes are about equally divided, with even a regular slight excess in favour of the females. But, what is more, if we take all the races together, in the proportion under 15 years only, then the excess of males is really 8·84 per cent., a point from which we can conclude that the said disproportion will continue in increasing rate for the future. This would lead us to suppose a climatic cause rather more than a racial one. Whatever it may be, the fact is here, and, in what concerns the natives separately, it must be admitted as striking, that the ordinary rate of decrease among them follows very closely their ratio of excess of males, thus proving that this same disproportion of sexes has been no unimportant factor in the past decrease of the race. Furthermore, the influence of this factor is aggravated by every - 262 marriage of Hawaiian women to foreigners. Thus, the last census reports about 600 of such marriages. This means 5 per cent. of the number of marriageable Hawaiian women. “ By such marriages, foreigners have been supplied with wives from a race which has no women to spare, to the detriment of the males of that same race.” The only remedy to this would seem to be an importation of women, such as I advocated as far back as 1886, and which had been seriously contemplated by the late King Kalakaua. 2,292 women would be necessary to balance the Hawaiian males, and 423 for the Hawaiian-born foreigners.

The next factor, intimately connected with the above, is the proportionate fewness of births and large mortality of infants among the full Hawaiians, in other words, the tendency among many of their females to barrenness, and carelessness in rearing. These circumstances were already recorded by Jarvis, and confirmed in 1860, when Superintendent Fuller of the census, noticed that the decrease of the native population was “ not owing to any unusual great degree of mortality among the people, but to the paucity of births.” This is probably due to the debauchery, licentiousness, promiscuous living and prostitution at all times prevalent among the people, and only natural and to be expected in a population in whom moral ideas were formerly so very different, and in whom at the present time, not only the male aborigines are in excess, but no less than 26,000 single men of other nationalities have been added as laborers since the Reciprocity Treaty, to pander to the rapacity of the white settlers; and all this, without taking into account the passing crews of numerous ships.

And here, it must be said that there is a most erroneous estimate in the last census about the number of native women married, and the proportion of children they are supposed to bear. Out of 11,135 native women of age, 7,556 (76·66 per cent.) are reported as married. Of these, 6,049 (not quite six-sevenths) are reported to have borne children, thus giving a rate of 4·7 offsprings for each mother, 54·07 per cent. of these surviving. This would leave nearly 3 surviving children to each mother, and consequently ought to keep the population nearly stationary, instead of allowing the present decrease of 13 per cent. But we must remember that, owing to the loose habits of the land, out of the remaining 32·34 per cent. of unmarried women, four-fifths live in concubinage; this proportion may even be larger, because girls of the common people, especially in the towns and sugar districts with large laboring classes of aliens, frequently begin that kind of life at fourteen or even earlier, and are soon rendered barren. That this state of things is not revealed by the census, is not extraordinary, for two reasons: 1st—That children of unmarried women are generally recorded as belonging to some married sister or relation; 2nd—That it is also covered by the fashion, at all times prevalent among the Hawaiians, to adopt, and call theirs, children of their friends and relatives. It is therefore quite safe to say that the census ratio of children to each married full-native woman is absolutely misleading. It would be much more correct to consider 90 or 95 per cent. of all the women of physiological age as actually married, and, by dividing among them the number of children actually born and surviving, it would give for the average fertility of the present Hawaiian mother, from 2 to 3 children, less than half of whom survive, a proportion more in accord with the rate of decrease of population.

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This cause of decrease might perhaps be greatly reduced by rational, practical laws on prostitution—instead of absurd legislation due to Missionary prudishness—and by legislative encouragements to large families. Such a supposition is corroborated by the fact that large families are not yet rare among the full natives who lead purer lives.15 It is further confirmed by the assertion of leading natives, that, in the most remote, inaccessible districts, principally in Kona and Puna, of Hawaii, Kalalau, of Kauai, etc., where the foreign, white, or Asiatic residents or laborers are nearly absent or reduced to a minimum, the number of young native children is quite noticeable and evidently on the increase; in other words, where the lewd influence of white and Asiatic elements is less felt, the native women are more prolific and keep the population up, a fact full of meaning for a race reported as fatally dying out. This is practically confirmed by the census, which notes that in South Kona, the total decrease of natives in six years has only been thirteen individuals, or 0.8 per cent.!

It is only justice, however, to note that the morality and chastity of the Hawaiian female has vastly improved in the last few years, which bodes good results for the future.

C.—Emigration:—Now comes the most obscure factor of Hawaiian decrease, about which one can proceed only by conjectures, as all available official statistics fail to throw the faintest light on it, and no documents are known to exist, by which the number of aborigines could be ascertained, who did leave the country at any time, whether to return or not. Even of late, with our “improved” passport system, no separate record has been kept of Hawaiian travellers or emigrants, and no official document can show at any time how many native sailors are shipped on the foreign trade vessels. However, all collateral evidence proves that emigration has existed at all times, and that the Hawaiian's taste for adventures has been, in modern years, the same as it was in those remote periods recorded in their oral traditions, when they left in large bodies for other regions of the Pacific, and the last instance of which was the disastrous expedition of Boki, in 1829, with whom were lost 479 of the best men of the country.16

Most of the modern emigration has been through the readiness of the aborigines to join any ship willing to engage their services. This began with the last years of the past century, one Kalehua being taken to Boston in 1791, by a Captain Ingraham. Other Hawaiian - 264 sailors thus carried to New England about 1808 or 1809, were certainly the immediate cause of the American Missionaries being sent here, instead of those of the London Society, who started in the South Pacific.

Their pleasant, cheerful temperament, their intelligence, ready adaptation to circumstances and willingness for work, soon made Hawaiian sailors favourites with navigators, and with the growth of the whaling business they were finally exported regularly every year, in large numbers. Old residents of Honolulu still remember the times when over 300 whalers were moored in that harbour alone, every one of which had some Hawaiian sailors on board. For a long while, between two and four thousand Hawaiians, all men in the prime of life, used to go off yearly, “a great many of whom, says Jarvis, never returned.” Mortality among them must have been fearful, from the hardships of that kind of navigation and the trying effects of changes from tropical to glacial climates. Those who did come back, the “holokahiki” as they were termed, by their reports and examples of foreign habits, did certainly more for the immediate and wonderfully rapid civilisation of the mass of the nation, than the lessons and hymns of the Missionaries, or at least powerfully helped the installation of their teachings.

For many years, no laws regulated the recruiting of these sailors; but so many abuses were committed against them, so many were kidnapped, and so many failed to be returned according to the shipping agreements, that legislation was finally enacted, which was embodied in 1859, in the Hawaiian Penal Code, by which no Hawaiian could be shipped without the permission of the Government and a bond of $300, with security, subscribed in order to insure their return. But, even when these wise dispositions were in full force—or at least supposed to be enforced—many were recruited clandestinely, and a large number of youths, tired of Missionary schools, kept running away to ships cruising along the coasts—as they are doing even now-a-days—no official count of whom could ever be undertaken. Several of our present most intelligent and best educated natives are self-made men, who thus ran away in violation of the shipping laws, and had the good luck to be able to return when others could not.

But many, even among those legally shipped, also failed to return, by being easily led to settle in other congenial countries, and, as far back as 1847, Jarvis mentions the existence of small colonies of Hawaiian settlers, amounting to over a thousand in Tahiti, Oregon, Peru, etc., with unknown floating numbers in Europe and America. A number of them took part in the American war and served with honour. That some of these rovers were eventually taken with a - 265 desire to return to their native land, is attested by the necessity which has been found to keep, year after year, in the Hawaiian Budget, a special appropriation “for the return of indigent Hawaiians”; but, for a few who did obtain such help, how many died far away, regretting the sweet country they had abandoned, and which their desertion had contributed to depopulate?

That this drain of Hawaiian sailors did have a powerful influence on the depopulation, two instances will suffice to prove. In 1864-65, the Confederate cruisers destroyed a large number of whalers, whose crews were sent to the nearest American ports. Several hundreds of Hawaiians are known to have thus been landed at San Francisco, who ought to have been returned to Hawaii. From Ponape alone, 98 Hawaiian sailors had to be sent for, at Government expense. But many more, whose contracts for return could not be fulfilled, have been lost sight of and drifted to various settling points abroad. Now, it will be observed in table B, that, in the following Hawaiian census, 1866, the ratio of decrease suddenly jumped from the normal 6 to 12.4 per cent., with no other cause to account for it, while a loss of only 2,000 sailors is sufficient to justify this excess of decrease. In a similar manner, in 1871, a great disaster destroyed the whaling fleet in the Behring Sea, and, though over 1,000 Hawaiians were returned direct from Icy Cape, yet in the next local census the ratio of decrease is again 12.3 per cent., without any other possible justification than the absence or death of 1,700 sailors, whilst the decrease falls back to the normal rate at the next period.

To this first cause of emigration was added later another one, that of free departures, called away by some relative or friend who had previously settled abroad, or enticed by the Californian gold-fever, which caused a large exodus in 1848. Many of these emigrants went off with wives and children, but no official record exists of the facts, which can be ascertained only by speaking with some surviving parents. Nevertheless, this form of exodus grew at last so alarming that a law was passed prohibiting Hawaiians from leaving the kingdom. This has unwisely been repealed, and lately, the Mormons took advantage of it to allure at different times, about 200 people to go to Utah, where a village of about 90 persons still exists. It is fortunate that this movement did not extend, because the Mormons enticed especially those who had promising families and independent means, and who very foolishly went away with their money, wives, and children.

That, as a whole, these two forms of emigration must have been very large, and quite an unnoticed but heavy drain, is moreover corroborated by the fact, that at the present day Hawaiians and their progeny are found within an immense area, not only in the Pacific and on its borders, China, Japan, the Philippines, Vancouver, Oregon, California, Mexico, Peru, Chili, New Zealand, and Australia, but also in Valparaiso, Rio Janiero, Philadelphia, New Bedford, New York, Boston, and various ports of Europe, principally England. The fact seems to be, according to the expression of an experienced seaman, that no port to which whalers usually resort, is found without its contingent of Hawaiians, settled down or navigating, and generally thriving. They are also found in nearly all the South Sea Islands, both north and south of the equator, some voluntary emigrants, others sent by the Board of American Missions, as teachers of the Gospel, and principally at the Marquesas, Gilbert, and Carolines. A - 266 few were reported as far as Guam and the Pelew Islands; quite a number are employed on the various guano islands to the westward of Hawaii, and though eventually returning here, they are not computed in the census. Some went to Samoa, at various times, and especially during the alliance with that country (1886), and when they were expelled by Malietoa (1889) for fear of leprosy, only a few came back here, others preferring to go to Tonga, Fiji, and other Melanesian Islands, where one is known to have acquired a small island, Matafaa, and another is reported well off among the Tonga chiefs. But the bulk of them, in small colonies, appear, now as in the time of Jarvis, to be on the American coast, from Vancouver, Columbia River, Puget Sound, Oregan and California, down to Chili, married to Hawaiian, white or Indian females, many with very large families.17 Also quite a number of Hawaiian half-caste girls, married to foreigners, have followed their husbands abroad.

Of course, no positive computation can be made of the total of all these emigrant sons and daughters of Hawaii, which is now variously estimated between three and five thousands. But the absolute loss to the nation here, in the last eighty years, from the various kind of absentees, I cannot estimate less than one-quarter of the whole decrease. Thus it no longer can be denied that a goodly proportion of our depopulation must be attributed to other causes than deaths and local factors. But, fortunately, the emigrating tendency is now extinct: very few have left the country within the last few years. The whalers, although on the ascendant again, no longer come here to recruit crews; and such Hawaiian sailors as still navigate outside of the Inter-Island fleet are on board ships engaged in the regular clipper-trade between these islands and America, England, Germany, and Australia (18).These do eventually come back here, though they are - 267 not computed in the census. It can therefore be expected that emigration, as a cause of decrease of population, will have no further noticeable effect, unless unlooked-for political changes force the remnants of the Hawaiians to go and take refuge with some of their South Sea cousins.

The Half-castes, the “Hope of the Future”—Now we come to the most interesting element of the Hawaiian population. For a long time, the half-castes were not taken into any account in official documents, being merely counted either with the pure Hawaiians or with the foreigners. The census of 1850 was about the first to mention, en passant, that 312 foreigners married to native women had 558 children. That of 1853 states that, out of 1,311 foreigners then living in Honolulu and Oahu, 98 were married to native women and 20 to half-castes. But it was not before 1866 that the half-castes were counted separately from the other elements. Table C. has shown how rapidly they have increased; and here it must be said that, of the people who do freely return themselves as half-castes, nearly all have received the best education available here. The data, therefore, given by them to the last census enumerators are such that the official figures relating to them may be taken as the most correct. From these we gather:—

1st. That the sexes are more equally represented: 3,101 females for 3,085 males; thus giving the only excess (about 0·8 per cent.) of females we have in the national elements;

2nd. That more than half (55·4 per cent.) of our half-castes are yet under 15 years of age, and that only 273 out of the total of 6,186 are over 45 years of age; so that nearly all the females of that class are either still within the physiological age, or will gradually ripen to it, thus constantly increasing the number of probable child-bearers, and promising an infallible increase in geometrical progression within the next few years;

3rd. That out of 1,391 half-caste women over 15 years of age, only 754 are yet married (54·21 per cent.), 728 of whom are already mothers (52·34 per cent. of the whole number of age); and these mothers have already 2,930 children, a ratio of 4·02 to each mother, out of which 71·60 per cent. survive.

And yet these figures, however forcible, do not give a full idea of the true fertility of our half-caste women, since nearly all of them are only just beginning to bear.19

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Moreover, a most remarkable fact is that our half-castes are prolific in all the degrees of crossings, and also between themselves, contrary to the generally accredited opinion that half-castes do not breed with their own kind; thus two half-white sisters, Mrs. Kellet and Mrs. Smith, married to two half-white men, all still quite young, have already had, one, 8 girls all living, the other 7 boys and 1 girl, also all living. Furthermore, it is quite conspicuous that the superlatively prolific crossings are the half-white or half-Chinese females married to Chinamen. Thus, the well-known rich Chinese merchant, Afong, had 17 children from a half-white wife, 16 of whom are living. In Hilo, Kamukai, a half-Chinese man married to a half-Chinese girl, both young, have had 17 children, and from some of these, in spite of their yet tender age, 19 more have already been born, all living. And this peculiar kind of crossing is bound to become quite numerous in the near future.

Our last remark about the half-castes. They generally keep the tall, strong build of body of the Polynesian race, and the females especially preserve the large, deep, black eyes, and long, straight, or waving black hair of their Hawaiian mothers. Moreover, they boast of being, as a rule, strong and healthy, bright and intelligent—deformities among them being extremely rare.

All the above facts and figures will be sufficient to show the strong vitality of the Hawaiian half-castes, and to prove what reliance can be placed on their fecundity and vitality for the prompt repopulation of these islands. If any kind of prognostic is allowable, it seems that in the future, the growing half-white grls will give more consorts to the foreign element, which is better able ito grant them the luxuries of life, the value of which they fully appreciate. This will oblige the corresponding half-white males to select their wives more from the so-called full native girls, thereby causing a more rapid disappearance of the native male, but doubly strengthening and inceasing the population of half-castes.

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III.—Conclusion.

It will now be easier to venture an answer to our leading question:
“Is The Hawaiian a Doomed Race?”

The worst causes of the past extinction or decrease among the full Hawaiians have been shown to be waning, while their sanitary and moral conditions are constantly bettering. Therefore the past rapid decrease cannot be expected to continue, and—though the pure native may be bound to disappear eventually—it will yet take many years.

But during that interval—if nothing interferes—he will have sprung up, like the phœnix out of its ashes, into a new life and a new nation, under the shape of the healthy, prolific, educated and civilised half-caste, just as thoroughly Hawaiian in sentiment as himself. Consequently, in so far as human intelligence can predict, the Hawaiian race seems doomed—not to extinction—but to a glorious transformation, and this transformation will not merely be, as Judge Fornander foresaw, a special Anglo-Polynesian race, but really a powerful amalgamation to which nearly all the races of the earth will have contributed, by crossings similar to those out of which have sprung the mighty nations of England and America, and which we are told to be the rule in all Kali-Yugas, such as is our present period. All the Hawaiian needs for this is the preservation of his national independence, protection against foreign oppression and encroachments, and patriotism, common sense and prudence on the part of his native leaders.

And all this makes more forcible the point stated at the start of this study, viz.: that the two portions of the native element being the only permanent factor in the archipelago, their civil rights and autonomy ought not to be allowed to be trampelled down to suit the ambition and lust for power of a fraction of white adventurers. Annexation to America can in no way excuse the usurpation, because annexation would be of no possible benefit to the Hawaiians, only detrimental—and because America, the land of liberty—for the white race—has nothing to be proud about the treatment of the weak or inferior races within its own borders, who are crushed, not helped as the Maoris are in New Zealand. And annexation against the free will of the aborigines and their heirs, would be an indelible stain on the hitherto pure escutcheon of the Great Republic.

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Table A.—POPULATION OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

Illustration

1  By the term “half-caste,” in this article, is meant any degree of crossing of Hawaiian with foreign blood, though it must be also understood that, as a rule, our half-castes are produced by Hawaiian mothers—pure or crossed—and foreign or half-caste fathers whatever may be the race or colour of the foreigners. Some half-caste men have married white ladies, but, outside of a few Portuguese, no white woman is known here to have married a full kanaka.

2  Sugar is the main, if not the sole industry of the group; nearly 275 million pounds (value $9,550,537) were exported in 1891, the balance of domestic produce exported being only about $543,000.

3  It has just transpired that, at the request of the planters who have suddenly decided to stop all further Japanese immigration, the provisional Government are preparing to resume the importation of Chinese, to the amount of 5,000, a fact quite contrary to American principles.

4  This treaty was granted by America to King Kalakaua through a sentiment of generosity, as a special favour and help to the decreasing Native race; in reality it has benefited only a few foreigners and largely the Asiatics.

5  Already in 1886, in a critique on the census of the time, I called attention to the sad fact that any increase of population through imported laborers was only fictitious, not solid, durable, of no use for the future of the country, and could not awaken or justify any genuine satisfaction; “if any critical period was to fall to these islands, a thing quite possible at the present age of crises and general hard times, a general exodus of such laborers would in a few months leave the population down to the sole Natives.” . . . . .

6  Including the few foreigners then residing on the islands.

7  Including 359 white children and 558 half-caste children, but not including 168 white wives; the total of adult male foreigners being really 1045.

8  Including the Chinese living in Honolulu.

9  Owing to the above blunder of counting these Chinese with the natives, the percentages of the two periods are faulty, and I consider that the proportions would be more nearly correct at respectively 6·8 instead of 5·5, and 11·2 instead of 12·4.

10  Owing to the above blunder of counting these Chinese with the natives, the percentages of the two periods are faulty, and I consider that the proportions would be more nearly correct at respectively 6·8 instead of 5·5, and 11·2 instead of 12·4.

11  I contended in 1886, and still maintain that this figure was erroneous, and ought to be about 1,100.

12  These are supposed to include about 150 white foreigners, but no record has been kept of the nationalities; many are Chinese. 1168 lepers were living at Molokai, July 31st, 1893, and according to Government assertions, they are pretty near all the cases now existing, segregation being enforced with extreme severity, even at the cost of the Kalalau tragedy, in which one native, Koolau, kept at bay a whole company of foreign soldiers, with artillery (June, 1893).

13  “The natives, both males and females, very soon learned to add the necessities of fashion to the requirements of decency as taught by the New England Puritans, and from the early times when the money brought in by whalers circulated freely in the country, the natives used to spend all their earnings on rich dresses to out-do their neighbours in the then important event of going to church. From the light national costume, suited to the climate, they jumped to heavy silk dresses, heavy woollen clothes, shoes and stockings, beaver hats, etc., which, in the heat of the day and in crowded meetings, made them perspire freely and feel so uncomfortable that, as soon as they could return home, they would strip naked and seek relief in the cold winds or through-drafts, or throw themselves into the cold waters, thus bringing on themselves every kind of lung and rheumatic troubles.”

14  The Hawaiian Islands have never been naturally fertile, and in olden times the large aboriginal population only subsisted through dint of hard work. Infanticide must then have resulted as a matter of dire necessity, as it is in China; and it is reported that as many as two-thirds of the children born were systematically destroyed, either in the womb or after birth, these last usually by being buried alive, often in the very hut of the parents. It is not to be wondered then that infanticide should have been the last of heathen customs to cede to christian teachings, and though now it is a criminal offence extremely rare, yet some instances may yet happen, principally to favour prostitution

15  A few examples will illustrate the assertion, all of which relate to families whose parents are full natives on both sides. In Puna, one full native, Lono, boasts of 49 living descendants in two generations, a fact commemorated in the name of the last-born, Kahanaunui, “the big family”; Kailihiwa has 33 living descendants; Kahiki, 25; Bila (a native from Rarotonga married to a pure native) has 27 living; in Hilo, Kaelemakule, through two daughters, has now 29 descendants living; Kealoha has 9 children and 11 grand-children, all young and healthy. In Kauai, a young native lady, Mrs. L. Opeka has already had 16 children, 15 of whom are living. Twins are also no uncommon occurence among the natives.

16  Boki was a turbulent high chief of Oahu, who was made Governor of the island by the Regent Kaahumanu. He squandered to his own account the treasures of sandal-wood piled up for the use of the Government, plotted against the King, and finally growing ashamed of his lawlessness, determined to reform and make up for his embezzlement. For that purpose he fitted out two schooners, the “Kamehameha” and the “Becket,” for an expedition to the New Hebrides, where sandal-wood had then recently been discovered. He sailed December 2nd, 1829, arrived at Rotumah, from whence he departed for Erromango, leaving the “Becket” to join him later at the same island, which, however, he never reached. He must have been caught in a cyclone, which shipwrecked him on the reef of a district called Iwa, on Sawaii (Samoa). He and his companions landed safely, but probably disgusted at the failure of his scheme, which put an end to his ambitious dreams in Oahu, he made up his mind to take allegiance to Malietoa, and settle in Samoa, where many of his descendants still bear his name. The two cannons, of Prussian make, which armed his ship, were still in the principal village of Iwa, at the time of the Hawaiian Embassy to Samoa (1886). The “Becket” left Erromango after suffering dreadfully from the deadly climate, and did manage to crawl back to Honolulu, a floating hospital, only twenty of the whole crew surviving, eight of whom were white people, who behaved shamefully to the poor natives.

17  Approximate figures have been handed to me by an intelligent and reliable Hawaiian seaman, which puts the present number around Vancouver, Burrard's Inlet and the Sound, at over 250, principally farmers or employed in the lumber mills, forests, and salmon fisheries; many are well off; one settlement is said to be named Hawaii. Some twenty years ago these settlers carried on quite a brisk trade with their mother country, sending down cargoes of potatoes, wheat, oats, fish, and other products of their adopted region. In Victoria, three families are known to be in very good circumstances. Around Portland and Astoria (Oregon) over 200. Several little settlements are found in San Francisco Bay, especially towards Sacramento, one location being called Honolulu; these settlers are principally fishermen, and their total number must be 200. At the time of King Kalakaua's trip to the States, and also when the present Queen made a visit over there, the San Francisco Hawaiians gave both of them enthusiastic receptions and made a fine display of numbers. When asked whether they had lost all “aloha” (love) for their native land, they replied that they had not, and would be glad to return, but that it offered no inducements, no chance to gain their living, so that having large families to care for, they had to stay where they were. In Peru, over 200 live around Tumbez and Payta. At Talcahuana (Chili), the Hawaiians are estimated over 250, three of whom are doing a large business and considered well off. Around Sydney and Brisbane they are said to be more than 50, one Kawelo (Thomson) is known to be master of a whaler from Sydney, quite wealthy. In New Zealand they are represented as clustering principally around Auckland, Mangonui, and Onehunga, over 80. In Japan, around Yokohama and Nagasaki, it is fair to put them down at 60. One has been known for years as a valued officer in the Chinese customs at Tien-tsin, others are in Hong Kong. One has just come back from Liverpool, after 10 years absence; another returned from Tahiti. Each year brings back some of these wanderers from other parts of the world after long absence.

18  The Inter-Island fleet consists of 22 steamers = 4,306 tons (largest 609 tons, smallest 5 tons), and 25 sailing crafts = 1,096 tons (largest 147 tons, smallest 4 tons). The fleet for foreign trade in 1891 comprised 8 ships under Hawaiian flag (8,052 tons), that made 21 trips (26,869 tons), and foreign ships that made 290 trips (247,983 tons), out of which 233 were American, 33 British, 9 Germans, 5 Japanese, and 10 various others.

19  A truer conception of the capacity of this element will be obtained by some individual examples, selected at random:—
The grandfather of Hon. S. Parker, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, married in Waimea, Hawaii, a Kipikane, pure native, who bore three children, one of whom accidentally died without issue; from the other two have already sprung 103 descendants, 90 of whom are living. One lady of this family had one child with a white husband, and 19 children with a native husband;
Hon. J. Cummins, whose American father married a pure native, has already 22 living children and granchildren;
Hon. J. E. Bush, whose English father married a pure native, has had 12 children, by two half-caste wives;
Mrs. Brickwood, half-native and Indian, has had from an English husband nine children and 34 grandchildren, 40 being alive out of the 43;
From J. Robinson (English), and two wives (one half-caste, the other full native), have been born 32 persons in two generations, 29 of whom are now living;
The celebrated John Adams, the first white man to serve Kamehameta I., had nine children of pure nat ive wives, from whom 43 descendants are now living, out of 49 in three generations, and yet several of his children died without issue;
An American named Stillman, by a full native, had six children, from whom followed 30 descendants, 24 now living;
The Holt family (English father and half-white mother), now count, in the third generation, 30 persons living out of 31;
Judge Widemann (German), marri ed to a full native, has eight children, only four of whom, married as yet, have already given him 20 grandchildren, all living;
Nahaolelua, a young pure native, married to a half-white girl, has already nine children, all living;
Kolomoku, a young half-white man, married to a full native, has six children, two of whom, quite young, have already had four children, all living.
It would be useless to multiply such examples, which show that, with our young half-caste element, families of 10 and 15 children will be a common occurrence. As a whole, the fertility of the females of Hawaiian descent with the superior races, is not only remarkable, but it has also served to disprove one of the physiological scientific fallacies, which asserted that human or animal females, after intercourse with males of higher orders, always remained barren to their own males. I can give here a few examples to the contrary, merely suppressing the names of the white parties. Two full Hawaiian females in Kona—Kulana and Keaka, and one in Honolulu (Keluia)—first married to white husbands, from whom they had no issue, bore afterwards six, four, and three children respectively, from native husbands. In Maui, Kailiino, with no children from a first husband (white), got five children from a second husband, and three from a third; these two last full natives. Kanae, in Honolulu, had a child from a white man, and afterwards six from a native. Mrs. Ayer, also full native, had three children from a white husband, and then five from a native, &c.
P.S.—Since writing the above, I have obtained the official available figures concerning the movements of the population since the last census up to July 31st, 1893, and it may be interesting to refer to them here as a further proof of the migatory, unstable nature of the foreign inhabitants of this Archipelago, alluded to in § I.
The arrivals and departures recorded by the Custom-House since the census, up to July 31, have been as follows: Arrivals, 21,397, (including the Japanese laborers); Departures, 14,153; giving 7,244 excess of arrivals over departures. But if we analyse these figures we find an Asiatic increase of 8,146, (China 276, Japanese 7,870), while there is a decrease of other foreigners of 922, (Portuguese 803, other whites, principally Americans 119). In the meanwhile the excess of all births in the country over all deaths can be estimated about 1,000 since the census, so that the total population of the group can be placed at 98,884, an increase of 8,894 in 36 months. But we now have a total of 36,477 Asiatics, or 37·25 per cent of the whole population (Japanese 20,900; Chinese, 15,577), instead of the figures given above of 30·74 per cent. existing in 1890; and even this proportion has increased since July by the further arrival of a couple of thousand Japanese.

 http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_2_1893/Volume_2%2C_No.4%2C_December_1893/The_population_of_the_Hawaiian_islands._Is_the_Hawaiian_a_doomed_race%3F_by_A._Marques%2C_p_253-270/p1?page=0&action=searchresult&target=

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NOW

Population

Historical populations Census Pop. %± 1900 154,001 — 1910 191,874 24.6% 1920 255,881 33.4% 1930 368,300 43.9% 1940 422,770 14.8% 1950 499,794 18.2% 1960 632,772 26.6% 1970 769,913 21.7% 1980 964,691 25.3% 1990 1,108,229 14.9% 2000 1,211,537 9.3% Est. 2008[2] 1,288,198 6.3%

As of 2005, Hawaii has an estimated population of 1,275,194, an increase of 13,070, or 1.0%, from the prior year and an increase of 63,657, or 5.3%, since 2000. This includes a natural increase of 48,111 people (that is 96,028 births minus 47,917 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 16,956 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 30,068 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 13,112 people. The center of population of Hawaii is located between the two islands of Oʻahu and Molokaʻi.^[45]
Hawaii has a de facto population of over 1.3 million due to large military and tourist populations. Oʻahu, nicknamed "The Gathering Place", is the most populous island (and has the highest population density), with a resident population of just under one million in 597 square miles (1,546 km²), about 1,650 people per square mile (for comparison, New Jersey, which has 8,717,925 people in 7,417 square miles (19,210 km²) is the most-densely populated state with 1,134 people per square mile.)^[46] Hawaii's 1,275,194 people, spread over 6,423 square miles (16,640 km²) (including many unpopulated islands) results in an average population density of 188.6 persons per square mile,^[47] which makes Hawaii less densely populated than Ohio and Illinois.^[48]
The average projected lifespan of those born in Hawaii in 2000 was 79.8 years (77.1 years if male, 82.5 if female), longer than any other state.^[49]
U.S. military personnel make up approximately 1.3% of the population in the islands.

Race and ethnicity

Further information: Europeans in Oceania

According to the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, White Americans made up 27.1% of Hawaii's population; 24.8% were non-Hispanic whites. Blacks or African Americans made up 2.4% (2.3% non-Hispanic). American Indians made up 0.2% ( 0.1% non-Hispanic). Asian Americans made up 38.5% (37.6% non-Hispanic). Pacific Islander Americans made up 9.0% (8.6% non-Hispanic). Individuals from some other race made up 1.4% (0.1% non-Hispanic). Multiracial Americans made up 21.4% (17.8% non-Hispanic). Hispanics and Latinos (of any race) made up 8.7%.^[50]
Hawaii has the highest percentage of Asian Americans, mainly 175,000 Filipino Americans and 161,000 Japanese Americans. In addition, there are roughly 53,000 Chinese Americans and 40,000 Korean Americans. Indigenous Hawaiians number 70,000 (or 5.5%). Over 110,000 Hispanic and Latino Americans make Hawaii their home. Mexicans number 37,000; Puerto Ricans number 35,000. Also, Hawaii has the highest percentage of Multiracial Americans; mixed-race individuals form roughly 21% of Hawaii's population.. Eurasian Americans are a prominent mixed-race group; there are roughly 61,000 Eurasian Americans in Hawaii.^[50]
The five largest European ancestries in Hawaii are German (7.4%), Irish (5.2%), English (4.6%), Portuguese (4.3%), and Italian (2.7%).
Approximately 82.2% of Hawaii's residents were born in the United States. Roughly 75.0% of the foreign-born residents hail from Asia.^[50]
Hawaii is a majority-minority state. Non-Hispanic whites do not form a majority. Hawaii was the second majority-minority state. Both Hawaii and New Mexico have been majority-minority since the early 20th century.

Ancestry groups

Population Of Hawaii^[50]

Ancestry	Percentage	Main article:
Filipino	13.6%	See Filipino American
Japanese	12.6%	See Japanese American
Polynesian	9.0%	See Native Hawaiians
German	7.4%	See German American
Irish	5.2%	See Irish American
English	4.6%	See English American
Portuguese	4.3%	See Portuguese American
Chinese	4.1%	See Chinese American
Korean	3.1%	See Korean American
Mexican	2.9%	See Mexican American
Puerto Rican	2.8%	See Puerto Rican
African	2.4%	See African American
Italian	2.7%	See Italian American
French	1.7%	See French American
Scottish	1.2%	See Scottish American

The largest ancestry groups in Hawaii as of 2008 are in the table at right. The third group of foreigners to arrive upon Hawaii's shores, after those from Polynesia and Europe, was from Han China. Chinese workers on Western trading ships settled in Hawaii starting in 1789. In 1820 the first American missionaries came to preach Christianity and teach the Hawaiians Western ways. They were instrumental in convincing the Hawaiian Chiefs to end human sacrifice.
A large proportion of Hawaii's population is now of Asian ancestry (especially Chinese, Japanese and Filipino.) Many are descendants of those immigrants brought to work on the sugar plantations in the 1850s and after. The first 153 Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii on June 19, 1868. They were not "legally" approved by the Japanese government because the contract was between a broker and the Tokugawa shogunate, by then replaced by the Meiji Restoration. The first Japanese government-approved immigrants arrived on February 9, 1885 after Kalākaua's petition to Emperor Meiji when Kalākaua visited Japan in 1881.
Almost 13,000 Portuguese had come by 1899. They too worked on the sugar plantations. By October 17, 1901, 5,000 Puerto Ricans had made new homes on the four islands.

Languages

The State of Hawaii has two official languages recognized in its 1978 constitution: English and Hawaiian. Article XV, Section 4, specifies that "Hawaiian shall be required for public acts and transactions only as provided by law" [italic added]. Hawaii Creole English (locally referred to as 'Pidgin') is the native dialect of many born-and-raised residents and is a second dialect for many other residents.

English

As of the 2000 Census, 73.44% of Hawaii residents age 5 and older speak only English at home.^[51]
According to the 2008 American Community Survey, 74.6% of Hawaii's residents over the age of five speak only English at home.^[50]

Minority languages

In addition, 2.6% of the state's residents speak Spanish; 1.6% speak other Indo-European languages; 21.0% speak an Asian language; and 0.2% speak a different language at home.^[50]
After English, other popular languages are Tagalog (most are bilingual in Filipino), Japanese, and Ilokano. Significant European immigrants and descendants also speak their native languages; the most numerous are Spanish, German, Portuguese and French.
Tagalog speakers make up 5.37% (which includes non-native speakers of Filipino language, the national co-official Tagalog-based language), followed by Japanese at 4.96%, Ilokano at 4.05%, Chinese at 1.92%, Hawaiian at 1.68%, Spanish at 1.66%, Korean at 1.61%, and Samoan at 1.01%.^[51]

Hawaiian

Main article: Hawaiian language

The Hawaiian language is a member of the Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family. It began to develop around 1000 A.D., when Marquesans or Tahitians colonized Hawaii. Those Polynesians remained in the islands, thereby becoming the Hawaiian people. Their language developed into the Hawaiian language. Before the arrival of Captain James Cook, the Hawaiian language had no written form. That form was developed mainly by American Protestant missionaries during 1820–1826. They assigned letters from the Latin alphabet that corresponded to the Hawaiian sounds.
Interest in Hawaiian increased significantly in the late 20th century. With the help of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, specially designated immersion schools were established where all subjects would be taught in Hawaiian. Also, the University of Hawaii developed a Hawaiian language graduate studies program. Municipal codes were altered to favor Hawaiian place and street names for new civic developments.
Hawaiian distinguishes between long and short vowels. In modern practice, vowel length is indicated with a macron (kahakō). Also, Hawaiian uses the glottal stop as a consonant (ʻokina). It is written as a symbol similar to the apostrophe or opening single quote.
Hawaiian-language newspapers published from 1834–1948 and traditional native speakers of Hawaiian generally omit the marks in their own writing. The ʻokina and kahakō are intended to help non-native speakers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii#Population