What was the original name of Hawaii?

The 1778 arrival of British explorer Captain James Cook marked the first documented contact by a European explorer with Hawaiʻi; early British influence can be seen in the design of the flag of Hawaiʻi, which bears the Union Jack in the top-left corner. Cook named the archipelago "the Sandwich Islands" in honor of his sponsor John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, publishing the islands' location and rendering the native name as Owyhee.

The form "Owyhee" or "Owhyhee" is preserved in the names of certain locations in the American part of the Pacific Northwest, among them Owyhee County and Owyhee Mountains in Idaho, named after three native Hawaiian members of a trapping party who went missing in the area.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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16 Comments

MRogers

You identify the original name of the Hawai’ian Islands as the Sandwich Islands, a name given the islands in 1778 and then go on to say the Polynesian settlers called it Owyhee (Hawai’i). Since they go back to between 1000-1200AD, there’s a bit of a discrepancy don’t you think.

William Laughlin

The Sandwich Islands were the first name given to the islands by Europeans. I seriously doubt that was the first name use by the inhabitants before Europeans discovered them!

Shaz

Sandwich Island is the name James Cook imposed on the Hawaii as part of English exploration and imperialism in 1778. To say this is the original name is insulting to and denies the existence of the Polynesian people who had been there for centuries before that and who called it Owyhee (i.e. Hawai'i)

houghtom

I would think changing the name from Sandwich Islands to Hawaii was a return to the original name.

Phil Kennelty

The answers were not only wrong, the question and expected answer were racist, colonialist and insulting not only to all Hawaiians and Polynesians, but to anyone with any respect for world history from an non-European-Centric perspective. An apology is needed.

Susan Lake-Harris

Susan Lake-Harris, ooops - insert "Islands" after "Hawaiian" in the above. Hit Post before re-reading - silly me!

Susan Lake-Harris

I don't think the question is well-worded at all. The original inhabitants certainly didn't call their home the Sandwich Islands. A better option might have been "What did James Cook name the Hawaiian when claiming the islands for the British Empire in 1778?"

Emm Yo

This was not the original name.

Angeles Dembowski

The original name for Hawaii was Owyhee as the Hawaiians named their own country. The political name for that united nation was the KINGDOM OF OWYHEE. The US took it over after a coup by the American business community, which overthrew the legitimate royal government

catmom

Howard Groopman, lol.😂

JRW

Because "Cook named the archipelago "the Sandwich Islands" in honour of ... Earl of Sandwich", does NOT make it the original name. His form of the native name, Owyhee, seems more accurate.