How Islanders Make a Living Now and In the Past

Today

    The main industry of the Hawaiian Islands today is tourism. Thousands of people are employed in this industry.  The state advertises all over the world.  On any given day, one can hear many different languages spoken.  Japanese tourists visit the islands in droves.  Signs can be found in all the major tourist attractions in both English and Japanese.
Sugar cane is no longer grown in great quantities in the islands.  It can be grown much less expensively in other parts of the World. Some pineapple is still grown, but usually just for the local consumption.  Banana trees can be found all over the islands, but are no longer grown for export. They are consumed in the islands. The island of Hawaii is known for Kona coffee.
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In the Past

    The islanders of the past earned a living from the land and the sea.  Hawaiians of old were a people of the sea.  They were some of the first peoples to do fish farming.  They would create shallow ponds by stacking rocks up to form barriers high enough for small fish to enter, but would not allow the larger fish to get out.  Islanders ate ate fruits and vegetables which grow wild in the islands.  They learned to transplant these to make it easier to gather them.

    As the Haoles, foreigners, came to the islands new things were grown.  In the 1800s, sugar cane and pineapple were grown on huge plantations.  The islands became an important port for ships sailing the South Pacific.  A large group of people were involved in trading goods with the ships.