Hawaii (Principia Moderni IV Map Game)

Mokupuni o Hawaiʻi is said to have been named after Hawaiʻiloa, the legendary Polynesian navigator who first discovered it. Other accounts attribute the name to the legendary realm of Hawaiki, a place from which the Polynesian people are said to have originated, the place where they go in the afterlife, the realm of the gods and goddesses.

The island was generally ruled by an aliʻi nui (supreme ruler) with lower ranking subordinate chiefs called aliʻi ʻaimoku, ruling individual districts with land agents called konohiki.

Caste System
Hawaiʻi had a caste society developed from Polynesians. The main classes were:
 * Aliʻi. This class consisted of the high and lesser chiefs of the realms. They governed with divine power called mana.
 * Kahuna. Priests conducted religious ceremonies, at the heiau and elsewhere. Professionals included master carpenters and boatbuilders, chanters, dancers, genealogists, physicians and healers.
 * Makaʻāinana. Commoners farmed, fished, and exercised the simpler crafts. They labored not only for themselves and their families, but to support the chiefs and kahuna.
 * Kauwā. They are believed to have been war captives or the descendants of war captives. Marriage between higher castes and the kauwā was strictly forbidden. The kauwā worked for the chiefs and were often used as human sacrifices at the luakini heiau. (They were not the only sacrifices; law-breakers of all castes or defeated political opponents were also acceptable as victims.).

Economy
The Hawaiian economy became complex over time. People began to specialize in specific skills. Generations of families became committed to certain careers: roof thatchers, house builders, stone grinders, bird catchers who would make the feather cloaks of the aliʻi, canoe builders.