Abena,

Great article but Hawaiians were notorious slavers and engaged in human sacrifice.

If a commoner allowed his shadow to fall on a King, he was immediately killed for breaking such a taboo.

Besides disease, which wiped out some 75-85% of the Hawaiian people , missionaries also brought an end to both slavery and human sacrifice: cannibalism is still a contentious scholastic issue.

However, my ancestors were enslaved (the Barbary Pirates ensured that) and also enslaved. As well, recent archeology has unearthed countless examples of cannibalism amongst my ancestors.

Even so, most people can and should be forgiven for their cultural past.

Proof is that by the time that Queen Lili'uokalani assumed the throne and tried to save her people, such acts had long been discontinued.

She, although intelligent and sophisticated, was usurped by American Imperial avarice.

Pity.