There are few people in the world who haven’t heard of Hawai’i, but despite being widely known - most people don’t actually know what the Hawaiian Islands actually are....in Geological terms. 

In fact, the Hawaiian Islands are the tallest peaks in an underwater range of mountains called the Hawaiian Islands Emperor Seamount Chain.  This underwater mountain range extends 3600 miles from the 70-million-year-old Meiji Seamount off the coast of the Siberian Peninsula all the way down to the island of Hawaii (Big Island) and the Loihi Volcano which sits underwater just about ten miles to the south of the Big Island.

The Hawaiian Islands themselves extend from the Loihi volcano to Kure Atoll - 1600 miles to the Northwest.  All of the islands and the seamounts in the chain are the result of a volcanic ‘hot spot’ which sits under the Pacific Plate.  The Pacific Plate is one of 12 massive tectonic plates which float on the surface of the earth and carry all of our continents and oceans.  The Pacific Plate moves approximately three inches each year.  This is the reason for the chain of underwater volcanoes, seamounts and islands.  Oahu has moved approximately 220 miles in the last three-and-a-half million years!  The Meiji Seamount has moved 3600 miles in the past seventy-million years.  The Big Island of Hawaii still sits over the hot spot which is why her volcanoes are still active.  The volcanoes and islands of Hawaii get older and more eroded by time, weather, and sea as they travel northwest from the hot spot. ​
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​To understand the ancient Hawaiian code of conduct, the kapu system, one must also be aware that in the Hawaiian worldview, life was ruled by an invisible but powerful energy called mana.  Mana was, in many ways, similar to an energy that will be familiar to fans of the Star Wars universe - yes, mana was the the Hawaiian version of ‘the force’. 

Daily life in Ancient Hawaii was a struggle to keep the positive side of the force in control and to keep the dark side of the force from gaining power.  To be clear, mana is generally considered positive and a lack of mana is negative.  In order to keep things on the positive side - the Hawaiians developed a complex religious and political system that structured their daily interactions with one another.  All of this was designed to preserve the mana of the land and rulers on the positive side. 
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Kapu, is the Hawaiian pronunciation of the Tahitian word Taboo.  It’s not just a table game.  Taboo (and Kapu) mean forbidden.  Daily life in ancient Hawaii was structured around a strict set of rules, the violation of which often led to death.  The world of Hawaiians was very black and white with a great many things forbidden and everything else free or ‘noa’.  Some examples are the relations of men and women, the relationship between chiefs (ali'i in the Hawaiian Language) and commoners and even the colors of royalty.

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Visitors often chuckle at the list of kapu - things like women not being allowed to cook or eat ahi but the Hawaiians had reasons for these rules - it was the glue that held their society together.  Today, the word ‘kapu’ is still fairly common in Hawaii - although the meaning today is not quite the same (nor is it fatal if you  violate) - in today’s usage it generally means ‘keep out’ or ‘private property’.  Still, even though it is unlikely that anyone will be killed for violating a kapu today - it's best to pay attention and show respect to it when you see one.