Many people conceive of Hawai'i as the 50th state of the United States, where the weather is sunny all year and there are hula dancers, beaches, luaus, surfers, and TV shows with ladies in bikinis, white sand shorelines, and waterfall backdrops. However, there is far more to this place than what is portrayed in popular culture.

This essay will take you far beyond what you previously understood about Hawai'i. Continue reading to learn more about the relationship between the United States, the Hawaiian Islands, and their native peoples. Even in the twenty-first century, the relationship remains complex, and most people are unaware of it.

1. Native Hawaiians are a race.

Native Hawaiians, also known as Kanaka Maoli, are the Hawaiian islands' indigenous or aboriginal inhabitants (and their descendants). Their forefathers were the original Polynesians who traveled to Hawai'i and established the islands about the fifth century AD.

The United States uses the term "Native Hawaiian" as a racial classification. According to the most recent Census, 690,000 persons identified as Native Hawaiian or mixed-race, which includes Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander. There may be as few as 5,000 pure-blood Native Hawaiians left in the world.

Did you know?

Hawaiians are not named for their state (like Californians, New Yorkers, and Texans). Unlike the other states, Hawai'i is named after its native population. Living in Hawai'i does not entitle you to Hawaiian citizenship; rather, it qualifies you as a Hawaiian resident.

2. Hawaiians Almost Went Extinct

The first recorded western contact with Hawai'i occurred in 1778, when Captain James Cook, an English explorer, sailed the HMS Resolution into Waimea Bay on Kaua'i. The following year, he sailed into Kealakekua Bay in Kona, Hawai'i. When Cook landed in Hawai'i, there were an estimated 400,000 to one million Native Hawaiians residing on the principal Hawaiian islands.

Because Hawai'i is a set of islands isolated from other land masses and people, diseases that plague the rest of the globe were unknown in Hawai'i. However, after a century of Cook's arrival, the Native Hawaiian population had been devastated, with only about 40,000 remaining. Smallpox, measles, influenza, sexually transmitted diseases, whooping cough, and the common cold were among the "new" ailments that caused deaths.

3. Hawai'i was an independent, sovereign nation.

The Kingdom of Hawai'i was an internationally recognized monarchy that signed bilateral trade and friendship treaties with other countries, including:

• United States (1826)
• Great Britain (1836).
• France (1839).
• Denmark (1846).
• Hamburg (1848)
• Sweden & Norway (1852)
• Tahiti (1853)
• Bremen (1854).
• Belgium and the Netherlands (1862
• Italy & Spain (1863)
• Swiss Confederation (1864).
• Russia (1869)
• Japan (1871)
• New South Wales (1874).
• Portugal (1882)
• Hong Kong (1884)
• Samoa (1887).

4. Hawaiians Quickly Became Literate Following Western Contact.

The first Christian missionaries arrived in Hawai'i in 1820. Soon after, Hawaiian youngsters began attending school, where they learned to read and write in Hawaiian.

According to a newspaper story from 1869, Hawai'i was the only Pacific-based administration to visit a Paris exposition. At the show, Hawai'i displayed newspapers, Bibles, textbooks, legal texts, agricultural products, and other examples of "civilization."

Meanwhile, European visitors to the islands were said to be shocked that in Hawai'i, the average man was taught things that only the European elite of the time were entitled to.

5. The US illegally overthrew Hawaii's government.

On January 17, 1893, the Hawaiian government was illegally overthrown. U.S. Marines from the USS Boston, two companies of US sailors, and US Government Minister John L. Stevens landed in Honolulu Harbor and, along with US and European businesses, carried out an unlawful coup against Queen Lili'uokalani.

What were their motivations? Greed, control of cheap land, and dominance over the sugar industry. Sanford Dole, well known as the "sugar baron," led the businesspeople and sugar growers. Sanford's cousin, James Dole, also known as the "pineapple king," established the pineapple industry in Hawaiʻi through his Hawaiian Pineapple Company. The Dole brand is likely familiar to you.

In the years that followed, Native Hawaiians were colonized and forced to adapt to losing their nation to the world's largest superpower. This decline was matched by a steady influx of visitors and immigrants from other states and nations. Furthermore, Pearl Harbor was destroyed during World War II because America utilized (and still uses) Hawaii to house its Pacific fleet.

6. The Hawaiian language was banned.

Three years after the Hawaiian government was toppled, a legislation was established making it unlawful to teach school classes in any language other than English. English has superseded Hawaiian as the official language of government, business, and education.

So started the colonization of Native Hawaiians. Children were disciplined at school for speaking Hawaiian, and those who spoke Hawaiian at home were mocked. This systematic suppression of Hawaiian culture and language lasted four generations, and the language was nearly extinct due to parents and grandparents who were hesitant to pass it on to future generations.

It wasn't until a constitutional amendment passed in Hawai'i in 1978 (!) that teaching Hawaiian in public schools became permissible again. Even then, Hawaiian was not taught in public schools until 1987, when the Hawaiian Immersion Program was established. At the time, it was estimated that less than 1% of the population spoke Hawaiian. The Hawaiian language is currently classified as "critically endangered" by UNESCO, a United Nations organization, however according to the most recent American Community Survey, over 18,000 persons claim to speak Hawaiian at home. This represents around 1.3% of Hawai'i's population. Slow yet steady progress...

7. Native Hawaiians attempted to fight back.

Following the coup, Native Hawaiians attempted to fight back using the United States' legal system in the following ways:

• Requested an official investigation by the Cleveland administration: When Hawai'i became a US protectorate, President Grover Cleveland was conducting an investigation at Queen Lili'uokalani's written request. Cleveland and his administration concluded that the overthrow was illegal ("a grievous wrong has been done") and referred the matter to Congress, where it languished while the illegal interim government in Hawai'i, now led by Sanford Dole, consolidated its control over the islands.
• Started a petition: Meanwhile, Native Hawaiians started a large petition to prevent the formal annexation of Hawai'i by the United States. They believed that if Congress discovered that Native Hawaiians did not want to be part of the United States, it would restore Hawai'i's independence. Public hearings were held on the five major islands, and 21,269 Native Hawaiians signed the petition out of a total known population of 39,000. This is an astounding majority, especially considering that many of the remaining numbers were youngsters.
• Queen Lili'uokalani flew to Washington, DC, to express her protest and petition to Congress. At the time, traveling thus far by boat and land took months. Unfortunately, Queen Lili'uokalani's trip was futile. Congress had not acted on President Cleveland's request, and a new Congress had been formed under President William McKinley's administration. By that time, the Spanish-American War was raging, and the United States refused to give up Hawai'i's strategic location in the Pacific.

Despite the efforts of the Native Hawaiians and their Queen, Hawai'i was illegally annexed as a United States territory in 1898, along with 1.2 million acres of Hawaiian crown lands that had formerly belonged to the monarchy and the Kingdom of Hawai’i.

8. Queen Lili'uokalani authored "Aloha 'Oe"

Ironically, Queen Lili'uokalani was the only person who served any jail time as a result of the revolt. In 1895, a hidden group of monarchy supporters conducted a failed counter-rebellion against the Sanford Dole-led administration. There was no bloodshed, but firearms were discovered on the grounds of the royal palace, and Lili'uokalani was convicted of treason against the government that had unjustly deposed her. Despite being sentenced to five years of hard labor, she served nine months under house arrest.

During her captivity, she wrote several songs, including the well-known "Aloha ʻOe" ("Farewell to Thee"). Lili'uokalani composed "Aloha ʻOe" in 1878 as a love song, but it is now widely used as a farewell song.

The territorial administration eventually opted to give her a $4,000 annual pension, but the United States never reimbursed her for the lands confiscated.

9. The United States officially apologized for the illegal overthrow.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton issued an official apology to Native Hawaiians for the illegitimate takeover of their country. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the overthrow, Congress issued Public Law 103-150 in 1993 via joint resolution. The law stipulated the following:

• The overthrow was illegal. In its first section: "The Congress...on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893, acknowledges the historical significance of this event which resulted in the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people" (Italics added)
• The nation apologizes "...to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893."
• Native Hawaiians may have legal claims against the United States. "Nothing in this Joint Resolution is intended to serve as a settlement of any claims against the United States."
• President Bill Clinton signed an official apology to Native Hawaiians. In the background, from left to right: Vice President Al Gore, Senator Daniel Inouye, Representative Patsy Mink, Representative Neil Abercrombie, and Senator Daniel Akaka.
• President Bill Clinton signed an official apology to Native Hawaiians. In the background, from left to right: Vice President Al Gore, Senator Daniel Inouye, Representative Patsy Mink, Representative Neil Abercrombie, and Senator Daniel Akaka.

10. Native Hawaiians are revitalizing their language and culture.

Although Native Hawaiians account for around 10.3% of Hawai'i's population, according to the most recent Native Hawaiian Data Book released by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), they continue to fight toward reclaiming their proper place in modern-day Hawai'i and recovering some sort of self-government. This involves fair compensation for the illegal overthrow of a nation.

Here are some milestones and examples of their work:

• Governor John Waihe'e was Hawaii's first elected governor of Native Hawaiian origin. He served from 1986 to 1994.
• In 1987, Hawaiian language instruction resumed in public schools. Today, 22 traditional public schools and six charter schools teach some of the state's public school pupils in all disciplines using the Hawaiian language. Any Hawai'i student can opt to participate in a Hawaiian language immersion program.
• The resurgence of Hawaiian culture, including language, dance, arts, and traditional rituals, began in the 1970s and continues to this day. One such example is the annual week-long Merrie Monarch Festival on the Big Island, which commemorates the art of hula dancing.
• The HTA, or Hawai'i Tourism Authority, a state body that was formerly entirely focused on bringing more tourists to Hawai'i, is now working to increase the visibility of Hawaiian cultural practitioners in the visitor business. They promote programs that highlight the Hawaiian culture's purity and originality in order to distinguish the Hawaiian Islands from other visitor experiences and recognize cultural authenticity.

11. Native Hawaiians Still Struggle for Self-Governance.

In today's Hawaii, the turmoil of a people who love their country is tangible. Opinions and facts occasionally cross, and the threat of generational colonialism continues to haunt many people's hearts and minds. This upheaval is a natural response to more than a century of dissatisfaction with America's apparent disrespect for indigenous rights.

There are ongoing efforts to return Hawaii to its rightful place in the world community of countries. If you want to understand more about Native Hawaiians, as well as the sovereignty and de-occupy movements in Hawai'i, here are some resources to help.

You've been warned: everything you thought you knew about Hawai'i will be tested. It is much more than just sun and waves.