A Brief History of Hawaiian Games

The Hawaiians played many games and had many races to show off their skills. Some of the games were for fun, and some of them were good training for war. When Captain Cook visited the island of Hawaii in November, 1778, the native people were in the middle of their annual celebration called Makahiki. 

 

 

This is a drawing of men having a boxing match for Captain Cook in 1778. Boxing was called mokomoko. They did not use boxing gloves. 

 Bishop Museum Archives

 Some of the games Hawaiians played were `ulu maika (bowling), ke`a pua (darts), and holua (sledding). For sledding, they made a slide of smooth rocks and dirt and grass. They used a sled made of wood.

The Hawaiians had kukini ( foot races).

They also liked to raise animals to see who had the stronger animal. The Hawaiians raised chickens to fight. Cockfighting was called haka moa. They would bet on which cock would fight the best. The Hawaiians liked chicken fights so much, they didn't like to eat their chickens.

The Hawaiians also played games in the water. Surfing was called he'e nalu. Surfing was a true Hawaiian sport. Many of the people body surfed, and in the old days, it was mostly the ali'i, or chiefs, that used surfboards. The Hawaiians were the only Pacific Islanders to stand up on their surfboards.

Bishop Museum Archives

The Hawaiians also raced canoes and jumped into the ocean from cliffs for contests.