Educational Map Series: Historic Hawaii Collection

Hawaii has a rich history and culture shaped by an enduring heritage, struggle and its natural environment. Cartography has helped to convey important aspects of the Hawaiian story, particularly as it relates to politics. Before the Kingdom of Hawaii became a territory in 1900, it had enjoyed sovereignty through monarchical rule for some 100 years. Foreign discovery during the 18th and 19th centuries brought about not only considerable, but fast changes that would reshape the Hawaiian archipelago. The politics and economy of the region were typically intertwined during that time and these four maps -Na mokupuni O Hawaii Nei, Topographical map of the Hawaiian Islands, Map of the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaii, 1906- Bartholomew of Edinburgh- help to give an idea of how cartography was used as a political tool and a way to convey changes that the region was experiencing before and after annexation. Simona P. Kalama’s map, “Na mokupuni O Hawaii Nei,” published in 1837 is the first separate map