Demographic history of Hawaii
[2][3] In 1776, Captain Cook brought European diseases into contact with the Hawaiian Islands, which, in combination with emigration, led to a rapid decline in the native population.
In the late 1800s, many immigrants were also brought in from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Portugal to work on the plantations, creating the diverse demographic makeup seen in Hawaii today.
The constant-population-growth theory of Hawaii has scant support from the archaeological data and is contradicted by paleo-environmental evidence and radiocarbon dating of historical sites.
[13]Population estimates based on an initial discovery and settlement of Hawaii in around 1150 CE, a proposed growth rate at the highest in the world and reliance on the paleo-environmental evidence of early human impact on the land completely contradict the constant-population-growth theory.
[14] Simply and briefly, as the population grew so did their agricultural imprint (forest clearing by burning) and building of heiau at those sites, as well as the decline of plants.
With unfamiliar diseases such as bubonic plague, leprosy, yellow fever, declining fertility, high infant mortality, infanticide, the introduction of alcohol, and emigration off the islands or to larger cities for trade jobs, the Native Hawaiian population fell from around 150,000 in 1778 to 71,000 by 1853.
Missionary William Ellis described deserted villages and abandoned enclosures which he attributed to "the frequent and desolating wars during Kamehameha's reign, the ravages of a pestilence brought in the first instance by foreign vessels, which has twice during the period [1778-1823] swept through the islands; the awful prevalence of infanticide; and the melancholy increase and destructive consequences of depravity and vice.
"[15]: 19 The Hawaii State Statistician Robert C. Schmitt explained the severe depopulation as a result of declining fertility, high infant mortality, and emigration.
Secondly, the family unit was centered around a "punahele" or favored child; a firstborn who would inherit the grandparent's property and continue the kupuna kin group.
[16] Artemas Bishop at Ewa in 1845 stated, "the young people of both sexes are idlers of a most worthless character, and dependent, in most cases, upon others for their daily food.
[20] With fewer natives to work on the sugar plantations and the rapid depopulation from emigration on ships and whalers, recruiters started to fan out across Asia and Europe for more male labor.
