Who are the people of Hawaii? When Captain James Cook arrived in Hawaii in 1778 that was a relatively easy question to answer. There were, depending on the various estimates available, between 300,000 and 400,000 kanaka maoli - native Hawaiians.
Over the course of the next century the native Hawaiian population dropped between 80-90%. This decline was due, in large part, to the diseases introduced by contact with foreigners.These diseases included venereal disease, small pox, measles, whooping cough and influenza. By 1878, the native population was estimated to be between 40,000 and 50,000 people. While drastically smaller than the population of just one hundred years previously, the native Hawaiians still comprised over 75% of the total population of Hawaii.
Over the last one hundred and twenty years, the numbers of pure Hawaiians, those with only Hawaiian blood, have continued to decline. The pure Hawaiian is a dying race. Today, there are less than 8,000 pure Hawaiians alive. The number of those who are at least part Hawaiian, and who consider themselves to be Hawaiian, has increased steadily since the turn of the century. Today, there are estimated to be between 255,000 and 275,000 native Hawaiians living in Hawaii.
What can be said about the native Hawaiian population of today is that it is growing at a rate of about 6000 people per year, and at a higher rate than any other ethnic group in Hawaii. The majority of the native Hawaiian people, however, have less than 50% pure Hawaiian blood. The majority live on the island of O`ahu, have a median income of $37,960 and are predominately unmarried.
The native Hawaiians, however, are only a part of the answer to the question, "Who are the people of Hawaii?". Depending on whether you accept the figures of the U.S. Census Bureau or those of the Health Surveillance Program of the Department of Health, the native Hawaiian population comprises between 12.5% and 18.8% of the total population of the State of Hawaii as of 1990. The native Hawaiians are a minority in their own land.
