Channels of the Hawaiian Islands of Niʻihau and Lehua. Kumukahi means "first beginning." The Hoʻomoʻa Channel separates the islands of Lehua and Nihoa. Hoʻomoʻa means "to cook." The Hawaiʻiloa Channel to the northwest of the islands of Nihoa. Named after Hawaiʻiloa, hero of an ancient Hawaiian legend about the settling of the Hawaiian Islands. Channels of the Hawaiian Islands In an archipelago like the Hawaiian Islands the water between islands is typically called a "channel" or "passage". Described here are the channels between the islands of Hawaiʻi, arranged from southeast to northwest. The ʻAlenuihāhā separates the island of Hawaiʻi and the island of Maui. The
Ancient Hawaiian population Ancient Hawaiian population The exact population of the Hawaiian Islands at the time of Captain James Cook's arrival is not known. What is known is that the first voyaging canoes that landed on Hawaiian shores during the discovery and settlement of Hawaii cannot have carried more than a hundred people, and perhaps even fewer. For the purposes of this article, "ancient" Hawaii is defined as the period beginning with the first arrival of human settlers, around AD 1100, and ending with their initial contact with the first Western visitors. In the popular model of constant population growth, the human population