Maui Hawaii: What's In The Name?

Amongst the multiple islands that Hawaii has, Maui is considered as the seventeenth largest island within the vicinity of the United States. It is the also the 2nd largest island included in the Hawaiian group of islands with about 727.2 sq. miles. Maui is affiliated with the state of Hawaii. Maui belongs to Maui County which also has there other islands along it namely: Kahoolawe, Molokai and Lanai. The four islands combined together will bring you Maui Nui.



It was in the year 2000 that Maui's population bloomed to 117,644. The town that has the largest population within Maui is Kahului and is also considered as the largest town, whereas Wailuku is known as the seat of the county of Maui.



How Maui Got its Name



In early times, the Native Hawaiians claims that the origin of their island's name came from the legend of the Polynesian navigator, Hawai'iloa. He was the one who is responsible for the attribution of Maui's discovery. According to the legend, Hawai'iloa named his son after the demigod named Maui. Maui, as the demigod, raised the islands of Hawaii from the depths of the sea. Maui Island is also known as “Valley Isle” because of the great isthmus which is in between two volcanoes.



A Dose of History



Originally, the Polynesians were the ones who populated Maui. They came from the Marquesas and the Tahiti. The core of the culture of Hawaii came from the kapu system which was introduced by the Tahitians. The kapu system was a social system that strictly affected the entire aspects of life of the people of Hawaii.



During the mid-1700s, a modern history for Hawaii was paved. It was the time of the Battle of Kepaniwai when King Kamehameha I resided and made his mark in the place of Lahaina after conquering Maui in the year 1790.



The first European explorer who saw Maui was Capt. James Cook that was in November 26, 1778. Back then, Cook never had the chance to set foot on the island's surface because it was difficult for him to find a more suitable spot to land his vessel. Then the French under the authority of Admiral Jean Francois de Galaup de La Perouse who was considered as the first European who had the opportunity to visit Maui followed. He landed on the now known La Perouse Bay that was on May 29, 1786. After that historical event, more Europeans followed and established a more productive part between them and the people of Maui.



One of the bands of Europeans who came to Maui was the missionaries who made several changes for the natives of the island to follow. The missionaries were responsible for the banning of hula dancing and affected the lives of the natives to a greater extent. The missionaries were also the ones who taught the natives on how to become more civilized. They shared their knowledge on things like writing and reading which resulted to an alphabet that consists of the 12 letters. Missionaries started a printing press which brought about the written history of the people of Maui. In an ironic sense, the missionaries preserved and altered most of the native's culture.



Maui, Hawaii began to be involved centrally in the height of the Pacific Theatre which staged World War II. This became a center for relaxation, rest and a training ground. Beaches of Maui were used for training and landings of marine sabotage and demolition.