Hawaiian Housing and Lifestyle

The people lived in villages usually located along the shore and near the mouths of streams. Fresh water bathing was in the stream near the village while drinking water was collected in gourds or calabashes farther upstream.
Hawaiian Lifestyle
In the pre-European days, there were no mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches, centipedes, scorpions, fleas, ants, termites and other small pests.
The Hawaiian house’s purpose was to protect the occupants from rain, sun, and winds. Due to a mild climate along the shores where most of the people lived, the construction was simple. The framework of posts was lashed together and covered with thatch. The small doorway was the only opening.
Hawaiian Household Furnishings
The common people’s homes would contain a few items needed to prepare and serve food, and some clothing and bedding to keep them warm at night. However, furnishings of excellent workmanship and great beauty could be found in the houses of the chiefs.
Transportation in historical Hawaii was mostly by water and on foot due to the absence of roadways. Canoes were ideal since their hulls could clear th...
The culture of Hawai'ian people, along with that of the rest of the Polynesians is unique primarily due to isolation of the islands. A scholar once wrote that...
Kapu was the system of laws regulating the people. Some kapu were the long-standing laws of the land much like the Jewish system that western man inco...
Many areas in Hawai’i have good soil and abundant water, and the sunny, subtropical climate encourages growth year round. The original Hawaiian settlers bro...
A variety of places were provided for religious observances. Typical heiaus were enclosed by sturdy walls of lava stone, the floors were covered with smooth r...
While many of the heiaus have been destroyed through the ages, some have been restored, and can be visited. Many can be identified by a remaining wall of rock...
Hawaiian religion had many deities, and was also based on a belief that spirits are found in animals, the waves, the sky, volcanoes, etc. Religion was...
The Hawaiian people, before the Europeans came, were healthy, hardy and free from disease. They maintained their health through practices we now acknowledge a...
While religion figures prominently in all of the activities of the kahuna, they were also experts in their professions or crafts. The temple priests w...
The Hawaiian language is poetic and expressive with a vocabulary of some 25,000 words. Before the arrival of the “white” man, communication in Hawai’i...




























