Native Hawaiians

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Native Hawaiians

Kānaka Maoli, Hawaiʻi Maoli
Flag of Hawaii
Native Hawaiians performing a Hula
Total population
527,077 (2010 census)[1] 156,456 (Native Hawaiian alone)[2]
Regions with significant populations
United States	527,077
Canada	3,300[3]
New Zealand	429[4]
Languages
English Hawaiian Hawaiʻi Sign Language (HSL) Hawaiian Pidgin
Religion
Christianity Hawaiian religion
Related ethnic groups
Polynesians, other Pacific Islanders

Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; Hawaiian: kānaka, kānaka ʻōiwi, Kānaka Maoli, and Hawaiʻi maoli) are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaii was settled at least 800 years ago by Polynesians who sailed from the Society Islands. The settlers gradually became detached from their homeland and developed a distinct Hawaiian culture and identity in their new home. They created new religious and cultural structures, in response to their new circumstances and to pass knowledge from one generation to the next. Hence, the Hawaiian religion focuses on ways to live and relate to the land and instills a sense of community.

The Hawaiian Kingdom was formed in 1795, when Kamehameha the Great, of the then-independent island of Hawaiʻi, conquered the independent islands of Oʻahu, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi to form the kingdom. In 1810, Kauaʻi and Niʻihau joined the Kingdom, the last inhabited islands to do so. The Kingdom received many immigrants from the United States and Asia. The Hawaiian sovereignty movement seeks autonomy or independence for Hawaii.

In the 2010 U.S. census, people with Native Hawaiian ancestry were reported to be residents in all 50 of the U.S. states, as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.^[1] Within the U.S. in 2010, 540,013 residents reported Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander ancestry alone, of which 135,422 lived in Hawaii.^[1] In the United States overall, 1.2 million people identified as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, either alone or in combination with one or more other races.^[1] The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population was one of the fastest-growing groups between 2000 and 2010.^[1]