Hawai'i's Kamaʻāina

Hawai'i was governed by its own monarchy since its establishment in 1795, and stayed that way for 82 years until a group of wealthy plantation owners (supported by the US) overthrew the monarchy at gunpoint in 1887 (History, 2009) . Known as the Bayonet Constitution, King Kalakaua signed it to prevent the start of any conflict; however, it came at the cost of the Hawaiian Kingdom's rights and ownership of the islands being given to the United States  (History, 2009) .

When King Kalakaua passed away in 1891, Queen Liliuokalani succeeded him and tried to enact many peaceful attempts for the monarchy to be restored  (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2024) . Unfortunately, her attempts were all in vain when  the Organic Act of 1900  established Hawai'i as an official territory of the United States, which allowed for cheaper sugar exports as tariffs were lifted.

In present day, Hawaii is home to lots of people with many different ethnic backgrounds (refer to the map on the right). Many of which may have descended from an immigrant or may be an immigrant themself. According to  the Migration Policy Institute (n.d.), it was found that about 17.1% of people in Hawaii are foreign born in 2022, with 72.6% of them being Asian. As for the Native Hawaiians, it should be noted that they currently only make up 21.8% of the population  (Office of Hawaiian Affairs [OHA], 2023) .

This diverse population has earned Hawaii the nickname of "The Melting Pot of the Pacific", but how did it reach this point? What had attracted these groups to immigrate to Hawaii in the first place? How has Hawaii changed over the last century or so?

For the sake of simplicity, we will focus primarily on the biggest immigration groups (Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, and Caucasian) as well as the Native Hawaiian population to see the population changes in the 20th century and the 21st century. However, notable trends with particular groups immigrating to Hawaii in abundance and the reason behind it will be mentioned in the decade(s) it occurred. As for the percent of growth rate for the population and each group, it is calculated with the formula (P ₂ - P ₁ /P ₁ ) x 100, where P ₂  is the new population and P ₁  is the previous population, and then rounded to the nearest tenth.

In the map above, the population in 1900 was roughly 154,001, which was composed of about 25,767 Chinese, 61,111 Japanese, 37,656 Hawaiians, and 28,819 Caucasians while the rest of the population consisted of other demographic groups  (OHA, n.d.) . Filipinos have 0 as their population number due to being undocumented at the time.

Within the next three decades (1900 to 1930), we see the population increase by 139.2% at 368,336 people, with the leading demographic growth being the Japanese at 128.5% of the increase, Caucasian at 178.9%, Hawaiian at 35.1%, and Chinese at 5.5%. There is no given percent for Filipino due to being undocumented in 1900.

Although the initial waves of immigration for plantation work began in the 19th century, it continued to cause people to immigrate in the early 20th century.

The Chinese, who initially came in 1850s, was the first group of people who immigrated to Hawaii to work in rice plantations, which had replaced kalo/taro's position as a mass-farmed crop  (Fox, 2021) . Although a third of workers chose to return home, many others settled in Hawaii's urban areas, such as Honolulu, for business opportunities and better education for their children  (Fox, 2021) . However, due to Hawaii being a territory of America, the Chinese Exclusion Act came into effect, and thus halting the immigration of this group to Hawaii due to the contracting of Chinese laborers being illegal (University of Hawaii - West Oahu, n.d.) .

The Japanese came in 1885 for work, but the early 20th century introduced new acts that affected their ability to easily enter America  (Fox, 2021) . The first notable act being the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 to 1908 between the US and Japan, which severely limited Japanese immigration to only allowing relatives to current immigrants residing in Hawaii  (Library of Congress, n.d.) . Due to this exception, many Japanese women immigrated as picture brides, which were women who were engaged to men they have never met and only saw in pictures  (Library of Congress, n.d.) . In the 1920s, however, the Japanese were barred from immigrating to the US due to the Immigration Act of 1924 severely restricting immigration from non-European countries  (Library of Congress, n.d.) .

Filipino planation workers, also called Sakadas, came in 1906 to 1946. The first group were sent t Ola'a Plantation and used to encourage more Filipinos to come to Hawaii for work  (Stinton, 2019) . Many of the recruits from 1907 lacked agricultural experience and ended up working in the city after their contracts had expired  (Stinton, 2019) . However, due to the Gentlemen's Agreement, Chinese Exclusion Act, and Japanese workers striking, many plantations started to focus more on bringing more Filipino laborers in to work in 1909 (Stinton, 2019) . They were not affected by the Immigration Act of 1924 due to the Philippines being a territory of the US at the time  (Milestones: 1921–1936 - Office of the Historian, n.d.) .

Regardless of their racial background, many of these workers came with the intention of making enough money and return back home to live comfortably.

Additionally, from 1900 to 1930, the Halekulani, Alexander Young, Royal Hawaiian, and Haleiwa hotels were established, and thus beginning tourism in Hawaii  (Paiva, 2016) . However, tourism had yet to boom since transportation by sea was the most common method of transportation during this time.

According to the  Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA, n.d),  the population in 1930 was 368,336, which was composed of about 27,179 Chinese, 63,052 Filipinos, 139,631 Japanese, 80,373 Caucasians, and 50,860 Hawaiians.

From 1930 to 1960, Hawaii's population saw increase by 255,436 people, with an increase in population across all demographics. The Caucasian group grew from 80,373 to 202,230 (151.6%). The Japanese population grew from 139,631 to 203,455 (45.7%). Hawaiian grew from 50,860 to 102,403 (101.3%). The Chinese grew from 27,179 to 38,197(40.5%). Finally, Filipinos grew from 63,052 to 69,070(9.5%).

In the early 1930s, the Great Depression greatly reduced Hawaii's economy, with 1/4 of workers being unemployed in December 1936  (La Croix, 2001) . Nevertheless, Hawaii still saw an increase in population. This increase can presumably be caused by the plantation workers starting families in Hawaii since there were much stricter laws surrounding immigration at this time. For example, due to the Immigration Act of 1924, the Japanese population increase seen is attributed to the previous plantation workers having families. This generation were called the Nisei while the first generation is referred to as the Issei  (Library of Congress, n.d.) .

In the 1940s, Pearl harbor was attacked, thus putting Hawaii in martial law. Vast amounts of military personnel were displaced into Hawaii, resulting in the development of military infrastructure and urbanization boosted Hawaii's construction industry  (HyperWar: Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II [Chapter 22], n.d.).  However, because of Pearl Harbor, internment camps began and the Japanese in Hawaii were forced to stop participating in their culture to prove their loyalty to America  (Blakemore, 2019). 

Besides WWII, plantation workers from 33 out of 34 plantations went on strike for better treatment in the plantations in 1946 (Sept. 1, 1946: Hawaiian Sugar Plantation Workers Stage Mass Strike, 2023) . Led by the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU), they demanded higher pay, 40 hour work weeks, and a workers' union, which they eventually got  (Sept. 1, 1946: Hawaiian Sugar Plantation Workers Stage Mass Strike, 2023) . This disrupted the control the plantation owners had on Hawaii and contributed towards the democratization of the islands (Sept. 1, 1946: Hawaiian Sugar Plantation Workers Stage Mass Strike, 2023).

In the 1950s, air travel caused the start of a tourism boom, and as plantation owners faced a reduction in the need for sugar, as well as protests from laborers, land owners slowly realized profit came with creating homes and hotels  (CBS News, 2016) . Thus, the sugar plantation industry within Hawaii began to slowly fade away. Additionally, in 1959, Hawaii was annexed and officially became a state of the United States.

According to the    OHA (n.d) , the population in 1960 was 623,772, which was composed of about 38,197 Chinese, 69,070 Filipinos, 203,455 Japanese, and 102,403 Hawaiians.

From 1960 to 1990, the population of Hawaii saw an astounding increase of 484,457 people. The biggest demographic growth was the Caucasians at 167,386 people (82.8% increase). For the rest of the groups, Filipinos grew by 144.2%, Japanese at 21.6%, Hawaiians at 35.5, and Chinese at 80.1%.

From the 60s to 80s, the Interstate H-1, H-2, and H-3 highways were being developed  (Allen, 2021).  It can reasonably be assumed that the construction industry's growth grew foreign immigration into Hawaii since new employment opportunities arose. Additionally, Hawaii became a popular vacation spot in the 1960s following its annexation in 1959  (Bacilio, 2023). From this, it can be assumed that the hospitality industry grew, and thus more employment opportunities. However, this has caused problems for the environment and local people  (Bacilio, 2023) .

According to the OHA (n.d) , the population in 1990 was 1,108,229, which was composed of about 68,804 Chinese, 168,682 Filipinos, 247,486 Japanese, and 138,742 Hawaiians.

Additionally, the population in 2020 rose to 1,455,271 (31.3%), which was composed of about 54,211 Chinese, 223,205 Filipinos, 167,362 Japanese, and 94,025 Hawaiians (United States Census Bureau, 2020). Compared to 1990, each demographic excluding the Filipino (grew 32.3%) and Caucasian population (grew 48.4%) decreased. The Chinese decreased by 21.2%, Japanese by 32.4%, and Hawaiians by 32.2%. However, it should be noted that the 2020 populations only take into account people who were fully a certain demographic. Those who identified as in combination or partial were not counted towards our data.

Within the next two decades (1990 to 2010), Hawai'i's economy continued to grow. Aside for work, immigrants were attracted to the great ethnic diversity and opportunity for education as well as modern healthcare and infrastructure within the islands.

While not being represented on the map, it should be noted that around this time, many Micronesians have been immigrating to Hawaii due to Micronesia's economic state. As explained by  Borgen Project (2017),  Micronesia is ranked second highest in poverty for Asian Pacific countries. Additionally, much of the population lack electricity and clean water  (Borgen Project, 2017) .

Furthermore, multiple nuclear bombs tested by the United States from 1943 to 1958 made portions of Micronesia uninhabitable to this day  (Yamashite et al., 2023) . As with the other ethnic groups, many Micronesians moved to the mainland/continental US, specifically to find better jobs, healthcare, housing, and better living conditions overall  (Yamashita et. al, 2023) .

Within present day society, Hawaii's economy is, unfortunately, heavily dependent on tourism. In fact, nearly 1/4 of the economy is generated by it  (Wianecki, n.d.) . With our data, we can see that the population for almost every demographic is decreasing. To put this into perspective, about 15,000 Hawaiians leave Hawaii each year, which tally up to a larger population outside of the state of Hawaii itself  (Yamaguchi & Breen, 2023) . This suggests that people in Hawaii have begun to see that living in the islands have become unsustainable.

Many have come to Hawai'i for a variety of reasons, whether it be for a new life or to support their family back in their home country. The Hawaiian islands is well known for its beauty as well as its melting pot of culture due to its historical position in the sugarcane and pineapple industry.

However, more local and indigenous people continue to be pushed out of the islands. With our data, we predict that Hawaii's population will increase to 1,866,500 people by 2045.  (Population and Economic Projections for the State of Hawaii to 2045, n.d.)  This may be due to a combination of the high cost of living and increasingly inaffordable housing market that threatens homelessness found in the islands.

Considering these facts, Hawai'i is a prime example of why gentrification is an important topic to understand. As time continues, Hawai'i's locals are gradually pushed out, resulting in Hawai'i potentially becoming a hub for the wealthy. As a result of this, Hawai'i may inevitably see the loss of a multi-cultural society that has been established for more than a century.

So what can we do now to preserve the land, culture, people, and their practices?

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Yamaguchi, A., & Breen, K. (2023, December 29). Why native Hawaiians are being “pushed out of paradise” in their homeland. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-native-hawaiians-moving-cost-of-living/