History Summarized: Hawai'i 

"Look records are sparse, Archeologists are doing their best." Yeah, because it's not easy to dig underwater.

Props to Blue for _using the indigenous pronunciation._ Btw Duolingo has Hawaiian (and Navajo/Diné) now. Don’t let the language and culture die!

As a kiwi, I'm impressed to see an American not only use the name "Aotearoa" for my country but also pronounce it correctly. Kia ora.

As a Hawaiian, I am quite impressed by the research you have done for the video. Most people skip from “King Kamehameha The Great” to “Republic of Hawaii” and so I am very glad you’ve filled in the blanks, and I am also very glad you’ve brought attention to the international reactions and long lasting consequences of the coup of the Kingdom.

The fact Blue is scared of water is mildly amusing.

List of Blue's Fears: -Deep Water -Modern History *-People Who Don't Stan Venice* I think the last part was clear for anyone who watched your other videos Blue.

Thank you for learning how to say the native pronunciation "Ha-v-eye-E" correctly and for doing it at least once, even if you didn't stick with it.

Some info that was left off: When Kalakaua rose to power, he identified two major issues he wanted to take care of: Longevity for Hawai'i and longevity for Hawaiian culture. Seeing that the native population was declining, Kalakaua made the decision to increase the population through immigration. His thought process was that although he'd be fundamentally changing the culture of Hawai'i by introducing new people, it would increase that chance that any semblance of Hawaiian culture, no matter how altered or dirtied, would survive through the new population. With a plan in mind to preserve Hawaii's cultural identity Kalakaua embarked on a global tour soon after his inauguration (which was and still is widely criticized and labeled extravagant). There were several major decisions made on this trip. First, Kalakaua successfully negotiated with Japan, Portugal, and China to send workers and families to Hawai'i (as part of his plan to grow the population). Secondly, Kalakaua met with the emperor of Japan where several propositions were made (more on that later). Lastly, Kalakaua met with world leaders in an attempt to promote the monarchy and therefore the kingdom. Upon his return to Hawai'i, Kalakaua embarked on a spending spree in an attempt to emulate the West and modernize Hawaii. Kalakaua had met with Thomas Edison on his tour and soon he would have the city of Honolulu powered with electricity before both Buckingham Palace and the White House via a hydroelectric dam. This was also when I'olani Palace was built. Kalakaua had by this point done everything in his power to promote Hawai'i as a nation which deserved the respect and recognition that others had at the time. Hawai'i was recognized as a sovereign nation via treaty by nearly every major superpower on the world stage, had set up consulates in 25 other countries, and had also started to form alliances with other Pacific players. One major alliance that Kalakaua fostered was one with Japan. Kalakaua had viewed Japan as the most trustworthy of the foreign powers. When he met with the emperor on his world tour, he made three major propositions: He offered to have his niece married to the crown prince, negotiated to have Hawai'i become a protectorate under Japan, and introduced the idea of an Asian-Polynesian confederacy with Japan as the head. All were rejected with the emperor offering to consider the idea of the confederacy (which he later declined). It should be obvious through these actions that Kalakaua feared for Hawaii's independence. Kalakaua had seen the West claim nearly every Pacific island state with the exception of Tonga and Samoa. He knew that if he didn't act, these two states as well as Hawaii would fall prey to imperialism. Without Japan's participation, Kalakaua officially set his plan into motion, albeit on a smaller scale with only Samoa and Tonga as potential members. Samoa actually accepted and signed the treaty. Unfortunately, we'll never know what could've came out of this as the Bayonet Consititution was signed that same year. --- In my experience with the history books, Hawai'i has always been depicted as a helpless victim of the West who had the rug swept out from under them. When folks attempt to defend Hawai'i in arguments about its downfall, I often see them infantilize the nation. "The US should've never taken advantage of such a small state. It isn't Hawaii's fault that the US was more advanced and experienced." This argument portrays Hawaii as a small child pulverized by the playground bully. An innocent victim who had no chance of defending from such a foreboding figure. This is wrong. Hawai'i was peer to the US, not a subordinate. Many forget that the US is about the same age as Modern Hawai'i, both uniting in the late 1700s. Hawai'i was not an infant nation. It had a supreme court, a government, mayors, representatives. There were business deals and corruption, racism and class warfare, city slums and beachside manors. Hawai'i was more than a victim to the US. It was calculating and power hungry. It had a voice and a heartbeat. Just because Hawai'i lost its independence, it doesn't erase over 100 years worth of decisions that it made independently as a modern nation. So please, stop trying to paint Hawai'i as an innocent victim. This narrative ignores how complex Hawai'i was (as was any other nation at the time) and instead dumbs down its image to the point of mockery.

Blue: Mentions Pele *miles away* Red: Someone is encroaching on my territory

"So, not only is puting pineapple on pizza an atrocity to nature; but calling it 'Hawaiian Pizza' is another slap in the face to the civilization that got stolen for sweets." I have no idea how to respond to a great line like that. Just keep writing your awesome history videos Blue.😆😂

As a Native Hawaiian, I really appreciate the time you took to really research into our culture. Mahalo nui for this.

I love how he actually pronounces the words mostly right. I’ve never found a RU-vidr talking about this subject that did.

My favorite note on Hawaiian history is the song “Aloha ‘Oe” (translating to “Farewell to Thee) which sticks in my generation’s collective mind at least from the movie Lilo and Stitch, was written by Queen Lili’uokalani as a farewell song and has taken on the cultural representation of being her farewell to her kingdom as it was annexed by the US and this being the last reigning (and sole female) monarch of the Hawaiian kingdom.

Fun fact: The song Aloha Oe that is sung by Nani in Lilo and Stitch was written by Queen Liliʻuokalani.

K I’ve been mulling this over to pinpoint exactly what bothered me since I saw this video a week or two ago. I have to say, it was much better than many videos out there, so well done in the regard. One major problem I have was the claim that Kalākaua was corrupt. That’s something we were told in school growing up because of an American point of view that was spread about our Merrie Monarch. In fact, he got electricity up and going in ʻIolani Palace before the White House and Buckingham Palace. He did, as you said, push to get all of Honolulu electricity as quick as possible. What you didn’t mention was that he traveled the world trying to 1) get Hawaiʻi international recognition as a sovereign nation and 2) form a Pacific alliance to protect against the rapid colonization of Western superpowers. His electricity initiatives were a success, and were an attempt to modernize Hawaiʻi quickly, also intended to show that Hawaiʻi didn’t NEED to be saved by colonizing westerners. His lavish parties were modeled after other nations’ parties to garner the support and respect of the likes of ambassadors and such. There was so much he did to try to prevent colonization that calling him corrupt is one of the highest insults in our school system, among many other inaccuracies and bold-faced lies many of us have come to believe. Also, the US broke multiple treaties with Hawaiʻi when they assisted in the coup to overthrow Her Majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani. No one else showed any interest in taking over Hawaiʻi, in spite of every naysayer’s claim that our occupation/colonization by China/Japan/Russia/Britain/etc. was inevitable. Only the US has been in constant breach of its treaties with the kingdom. Another problem I had was the idea that the kapu system was oppressive against women. First of all, if you were to compare the western treatment of women to Hawaiʻi and the other Pacific island nations, there’s no comparison. This interpretation of the treatment of women is another lie that has been widespread in the public school system here, originally intended to make my ancestors look like savages that needs saving. In fact, women were seen as having the powerful mana of procreation. Giving birth was a huge deal, so it was out of respect and reverence for that innate mana that they ate separately. Also, Hawaiʻi’s culture has been shown to have been at least a balance between patriarchy and matriarchy with so much room for gender fluidity that we have a word for non-heteronormative people (LGBTQIA+)-māhū. They were highly respected and were mostly responsible for preserving much if our history, culture, and language when it was made illegal, especially when the language was illegal to speak in schools after the illegal annexation. The illegal annexation was illegal because the US was required to have a treaty of annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Instead, the US Congress had a Joint Resolution to annex the islands, which means nothing without the treaty. In fact, in my lifetime, there surfaced a petition with thousands upon thousands of Native Hawaiian citizens’ signatures protesting AGAINST annexation. There’s so much more that was missed, but 1) I can’t fault you for not knowing/finding all this because you’re not a Hawaiian history scholar nor are you Hawaiian so this history doesn’t directly affect you and 2) it was a summary, and you wouldn’t be able to fit all this in one short enough video. Again, I appreciate your effort and thank you for trying to pronounce Polynesian words correctly. I just wanted to point out some of the things that made me uncomfortable as I watched it. I just ask that you please be careful when making claims about indigenous leaders and cultures, especially when they’re honored and occupied/colonized/oppressed. Thank you.

Fun fact: traditionally, "Aotearoa" only refers to the North Island. a more accurate term for the south island would be either "Te Waka-o-Aoraki" (the waka (boat) of Aoraki, an important figure in Ngāi Tahu history) or "Te Waipounamu". It's only recently that "Aotearoa" has referred to New Zealand as a whole.

Texas: Y'all, we were an independent republic for nine years! Hawai'i: That's adorable

Ok, ok but I almost burst into tears when Blue called New Zealand 'Aotearoa'. More than that, he pronounced it correctly when a lot of non-New Zealanders can't pronounce Maori vowels very well. This made my day

Well as a Hawaiian as someone who lives here in Hawaii, and knows the history of my people. I really appreciate your accurate telling of our history, mahalo

"Pretty beaches and Pineapples... which, fun fact, aren't even native to Hawaii" Those contemptible colonialists, introducing beaches to Hawaii.

Honestly lads, I didn't know Asian People made 38% of Hawai'i, already learning something And I'm only like 1 minute in Edit: thank you all, I'll be honest I've never looked deep into Hawaiian history, or anything about modern day Hawai'i, so to learn there's so much relating to Asia is enlightening!

As a native hawaiian, it makes me very happy to see people with platforms talking about our history 💚

Damn, I always forget how fucking huge the pacific is. The fact that they had more area than the Mongols is kind of insane.

I was born and raised on Oʻahu and have only recently begun to truly articulate the history of my home -- sadly, less than a decade ago, much of our history was still absent from local classrooms. Things are changing now, but I wish I (and so many others) knew sooner and dug deeper. Appreciate your research, respectful coverage, and elevation of Kanaka Maoli history & ʻāina. So in love with Hawaiʻi nei.

To be fair, the south sandwich islands are a real place to this day.

As a native Hawaiian and an islander, you have no idea how happy it made me that you made the distinction between those two terms. It physically pained me when I would meet people in the mainland and they said their sibling/friend/etc is "Hawaiian now" when they meant islander. Always took it with aloha and tried explaining the difference, but some people never learned. edit: two years later and I still get bigots popping in trynna fight me on this. But I love suffering to pointless online arguments so here I am still replying, hoping I can hopefully help someone form a couple more brain wrinkles 🤣

The fact that you guys not only referenced New Zealand as Aotearoa, but then also said it should have been called 'Fish & Chips Isles' shows the dedication to research you guys put into these videos

As a native Hawaiian, I have to say this was very well done and entertaining! Thanks for sharing the history of my people.

Blue just casually nailing the pronunciation of 'Aotearoa'.

Fun fact: The people of Madagascar are also Austronesian. Madagascar was apparently first settled from what is Indonesia today, not from mainland Africa as one might guess.

Thank you for this video!! I am Hawaiian but don't live in Hawaii. My grandmother was born on Maui so I still have lots of family out there. For some reason, she never really talked about our Hawaiian culture or heritage very much. She only wanted to talk about service level things and even played into horrible tropes and stereotypes with others. It makes me sad because I am proud of my heritage and people's history but hardly know anything about it. I have to learn more from videos like this and extremely distant family members in order to become educated. I want more people to be educated of the Hawaiian people and culture as well. I already loved your guy's videos, but now I appreciate them even more.

The idea of a sprawling culture of naval explorers covering that much space is honestly one of the most badass things ever.

I was a navy brat and I lived on Oahu for 5 years when I was very young. I remember my grade school was super diverse, and that was a really positive formative experience for me. Also we learned some Hawaiian in school, which I really enjoyed.

Austronesians: (see water) Also Austroneaians: LIFE IS A HIGHWAY

The fact that you pronounced Hawaiʻi correct makes me so happy. When I lived in South Carolina as a kid, they were learning about Pearl Harbor and myself being a native Hawaiian they of course asked me a million awful and frankly kinda racist questions which made me realize that people in the mainland really have no idea about us as a people so this is such an uplifting thing to see.

When he said you wouldn’t find this shit in history books, he’s right. I attended school in the mainland. All I got about Hawai’i was a sub-heading and less than 100 words in my 7th grade world history textbook. Literally. All it had was the name, date we were annexed, and briefly mentioned Pearl Harbor. Nothing about illegal annexation. Nothing about using sacred Hawaiian land as bomb testing sites during the war. I kind of cried when I found this video, because it feels so good. For someone to see, share, and learn.

Let's take a moment to appreciate that Hawaiian is relatively compatible with the Latin alphabet so we don't have any weird consonants we can't understand.

Kamehameha II: "Okay, but what if I ate my dinner alongside a woman?" Hawaiians: *[Confused Screaming]*

This was super helpful! I'm an "islander" in Hawai'i of Asian and Caucasian descent and unfortunately, my education of Hawaiian history isn't as developed as it should be--and tbh, I didn't have much interest as a kid to look into it more. But I don't want to be ignorant anymore. Thank you for making this video and helping to educate people about these beautiful islands!

As a native Hawaiian I was not only pleased with your presentation of facts but very impressed with your pronunciation oh Hawaiian words. Well done. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

hearing you say all Hawaiian/Polynesian words near perfectly (I'm saying near because although I did grow up in Hawaii, practiced hula for a while, and grew up with a sister who goes to Kamehameha Schools, I'm not too good with the Hawaiian language, so I'm one to talk) really made my day, I'm happy more people are able to learn a lot of proper Hawaiian history. thank you for this!

“The US has run out destiny to manifest, so they’re looking for more.”

As a pacific islander I bursted out laughing when Blue said "Haole"

I’m part Native Hawaiian, and let me just say your pronunciation was great 👍🏻 You practiced really hard and it paid off! Thank you for the video as well. I learned our history because I live here, but when I went away to college, I made so many friends who had never heard of any of this. To my surprise, my American history class in college did actually cover the overthrow of our kingdom, and I nearly cried in class. I was shocked, but so grateful to that professor for teaching our history. There are many people in Hawaii that wish to return to the monarchy, but I feel like so much has changed, and it’s not like we can go back in time to reverse everything. If anything, I would hope one day the US will ask us to make a choice on if we want to remain as a state, or if we wish to leave. At least then our opinions can be heard.

Pele: you talk a lot of conversion for someone in PYROCLASTIC FLOW RANGE

Thank you, OSP! I was born and raised here on Maui, and I love it when people talk about my home.

This video is very well done. Thank you for taking the time and effort to produce an actual educational history video. There is a lot to cover when it comes to Hawaiian history but you did a fair job relaying that. I also love the humor mixed in.

I actually learned most of this in my us history class, im actually kinda proud of my teacher for including it.

me, a historian & college professor: BOAT BOIS

"So, not only is puting pineapple on pizza an atrocity to nature; but calling it 'Hawaiian Pizza' is another slap in the face to the civilization that got stolen for sweets." Me who grew up enjoying commercialized pineapple on pizza and is only recently understanding the painful history of Hawaii and Polynesia in general through videos like this on RU-vid: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! THE INTERNAL CONFLICT!!!!!!!!!

*Bold of you to leave my religion when you’re still in Volcanoeing range*

Thank you to the narrator for reminding me to look up this word in the dictionary. 'Ethnocentrism' defined: 1. noun Belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group. 2. noun Overriding concern with ethnicity. 3. noun belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group.

I remember the deleted scenes of lilo and stitch and how lilo mess with tourists and how the picture she do of them is a sort of revenge.

The Pacific ocean is so large, the Indonesian coast is closer to the Chile coast from the opposite direction (If you go west from Indonesia) than if go East.

I am a native Hawaiian, and I’m very happy to see a video about Hawai’i that’s accurate. The history is so complex and there is so much that isn’t taught in schools here. Also I’ve been a fan of OSP for a long time!

This made me cry. As a Hawaii it is so nice to see my culture and its history being portrayed correctly. From the correct pronunciation of words (or at least an effort to) to showing how much my people suffered from the introduction of white colonizers. Thank you for shedding a light on how my people were really treated and how though a lot has been stolen from us, we refuse to give up the fight for our right to our homeland.

As a Polynesian I am fully willing to admit I did a small happy dance when I saw this video on my recommended feed. I am not Hawaiian, however Polynesian culture throughout all of Polynesia is so similar, that connections run through our blood. So I love to see the recognition my Hawaiian brothers and sisters are getting.

The amount of Coups that fruit companies have made us staggeringly high

I went to Hawaii when I was 17, and although admiring native culture wasn't exactly a priority, the natural beauty is second to none. Aside from the gorgeous beaches, I swam in pools atop waterfalls, went on the best whale watch of my life, and took a helicopter ride over Mt. Kilauea. If I ever return, I would like to dig more into the local culture and mythology.

As someone who has lived in Hawai’i for most of my life and given that it’s a requirement for students there to learn it’s history, you’ve done a pretty good job. It got me to feeling, for lack of a better term, angry and upset when I first learned about the history. So glad to have lived there as they don’t sugar coat anything. Also, the importance of Aloha spirit when being with other people has shaped me so much into who I am today.

10:20- that part made me sad. The queen wrote a song as an apology to her people. We would know this song as "Aloha 'Oe". Really puts in perspective of Nani singing that to Lilo in "Lilo and Stitch"

"I don't stan Venice." *_And hence the man condemned itself, as a swift slash of the blade rested his soul in the night. The killer? An assassin that goes by Blue_*

I’m glad to see Blue cover Hawaiian history as objectively as he did. Important to treat colonization with the big kid gloves. Additionally, thank you for calling pineapple on pizza what it is.

Mongol Empire: Domination Victory Polynesian Islands: Cultural Victory

I have never been so excited for one of Blue’s videos

The last time I went on a deep dive into polynesian culture and history, was after watching Moana. Now after this I want to watch it again XD

I went "Oh no" when the British spotted Hawaii

Thank you for covering Hawaiian history! I really feel like not enough people in the world know about Hawaiian history and *especially* about how it got illegally annexed.

As an Asian American from Hawai’i thank you so much for doing this and the cultural sensitivity and amazing amount of research and care you took with this project!

You plebs: “Pacific Ocean” Me the intellectual: “Earl Grey Sea”

This was a really good video, Blue. Great work as always, man. And you too Indigo!!! You guys never disappoint!!!

As an ISLANDER from Oahu Hawaii, thank you so much for this video. Thank you for taking the time to research and pronounce things correctly. You definitely deserve my subscription ❤️ Mahalo

Fun fact about the Law of the Splintered Paddle: it's named that and was inspired by Kamehameha getting smacked upside the head by a fisherman in a village he was attacking during his conquering days. The oar that was used as an impromptu club shattered, of course, and the fisherman fled the scene. Most other alii would have had the fisherman chased down and executed- punishment for breaking kapu is death, after all, and striking a king is certainly a breach- but our boy there realized that the fisherman was just a man defending his home with whatever he had on hand. Defending them from invading soldiers, who, like soldiers for centuries and across the planet, may decide to throw some pillaging and random destruction into their day if no enemy troops are in sight. Thus did the Law also include rules of engagement and protection for noncombatants. Eat that, Geneva Convention.

Hey, pretty nice job on the pronunciations! I wish you had talked a little more about Lili'uokalani and her contributions to all sorts of different areas, including history, politics, music, literature, religious freedom, etc. She's one of the coolest monarchs and absolutely deserves a history makers video.

As an Hawaiian person, This is amazing! Thank you blue! The amount of research that was put into this makes me so happy. Thank you :)

Mahalo nui loa for making this video on our people’s history and our land 🤙🏽 I’m currently living in DC and I just met randomly with another Hawaiian native at a American Indian prayer event and we just sat and talked about stories from the homeland. Really warms my heart to see this. Lots of Aloha!

This was actually really good in terms of accuracy, there’s a lot of pre-“discovery” stuff that wasn’t exactly covered but most don’t cover it anyway. The pronunciations were pretty close, except for King Kalākaua (the kahakō makes the second ‘a’ a little longer than all other vowels, making is more like “kah-laa-kow-wuh” but still, the others were fine!). Also, Fun Fact: When Captain Cook first arrived the Hawaiian people believed he was the god Lono, a god of fertility and agriculture. He gets a whole 4-ish month long period dedicated to him (Makahiki [basically the duration that Makaliʻi or Pleiades is in the night sky which is pretty soon as of today!]) and Capt. Cook arrived in the middle of that. Lono was often represented by giant white cloths on cross beams, so when Cook rolled up with multiple big white sails... you can deduce the rest. Great video and thank you if you end up reading this!!

Holy shit. We almost had a captain named 'Cook' name an island 'Sandwich'.

It’s sad that I learn more about my nation from RU-vid than from school. Sad, but not surprising cause we ignore our icky bits.

As someone who has grown up on the Island of Kauai and is studying Hawaiian history in college I have one thing to say. You absolutely nailed it, mahalo for spreading the word about our history!

Buying out large chunks of a countries real estate is the most American way to take over a place

*me: sees the pacific islands* *Also Me:* is it Tonga time? I think it’s Tonga time.

This is the best video ever the “American History” and telling everyone that pineapples aren’t from Hawaii I’m so happy someone has recognized all of this Mahalo nui

12:56 got me🤣🤣🤣 Also, you pronounced almost everything correctly. I am from Oahu, Hawai’i. Kalakaua, say it as one word. Also, Hawai’i is originally pronounced hu-vu-ee(the W makes a V sound, just fun fact if ya didn’t know). That’s all. Other than that, good job with everything, and thank you for covering our history. :) Mahalo

10:58 "Hawaiian" pizza should probably have spam and teriyaki sauce on it. That would be waaaaaaay more accurate.

“There goes Hawaii, oh there goes Hawaii, there goes Hawaii, the island is gone.” I love real time fan dubs

Thank you for making this video. As a Hawaiian myself, born and raised, you did a great job on getting all the pointers of the Hawaiian History. I think it would’ve been nicer to elaborate on what Queen Lili’uokalani had done for her people, since she is truly a respectable person. Queen Lili’uokalani actually had to sign the papers because Americans had threatened to kill her people. Her and her people were actually at gun point, and of course, since Americans had more westernized weapons, they had the upper hand. Queen Lili’uokalani then signed the papers to save Hawaii from being massacred. She was then imprisoned in her own house, confined to her room. She wasn’t aloud to leave her room and could only see the world from her window. Queen Lili’uokalani deserves a lot for saving Hawaiians. She’s a very inspirational person to which I hold high regard too. Other then that, you did a marvelous job, and i thank you for all you’ve done. Mahalo Nui Loa! ☺️

Thanks for doing this video Blue. Im hawaii born & raised, and I felt the love and respect from your video towards both the Hawaiian people and locals like me. Mahalo 🤙

Fun fact: if the Hawaiian royal family was restored to the throne today, the queen would be Princess Owana Kaʻōhelelani Salazar.

Next: do the Austronesians who went west instead of East and ended up in Madagascar of all places! The history of Madagascar is WILD.

This is wonderful. Thank you so much for doing a polynesian history with such accuracy! 💙💗

Wow, this is very well done. I'm impressed with the breadth of information you covered and it's great to see you put effort into pronouncing names and words. Thank you for sharing.

i started tearing up when blue pronounce Aotearoa right

Kamehameha just Kamehameha’d the other Hawaiian Kingdoms

thank you its really hard to find videos with the correct info about our islands and most people don't share anything about the horrible way we were overthrown. you have made islanders all across the pacific happy

6:12 TIL the special move in Dragon Ball Z is named Kamehameha because Kame means Turtle in Japanese and Akira Toriyama's wife suggested the name of the first king of Hawaii as the name of the move

"Those are bold words for someone within volcano range."

The only reason Blue fears deep waters is that Venice could sink in to them and he would loose it.

I? You as someone who is from Hawai'i. Thank you for educating other about our island history. I was also quite impressed when you pronounced Hawai'i correctly. And ya I hate when people saying that abomination of a pizza is "Hawaiian pizza" if it was "Hawaiian pizza it would have Kalua pig, Lau Lau, with a side of Lomi salmon. " shit I'm hungry now.

Hay blue as a new Zealander that has had my home town and country named butcherd so many times I appreciate your pronunciation of my home country. Thanks