Channels 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 maximum depth of this channel is , and the channel is 30 miles wide. There is a significant wind funnel effect in the channel, which is subject to scientific investigations. ʻAlenuihāhā means "great billows smashing." The ʻAlalākeiki Channel separates the islands of Kahoʻolawe and Maui, at a distance of
Rulers of the Hawaiian Islands Sometime between 1 and 600, the first Polynesians began to settle the islands. By about 1000, settlements founded along the perimeters of the islands were beginning to cultivate their own foods in gardens, and by 1500, they would begin to spread inward to the interiors of the islands and religion began to be more emphasised. A Tahitian priest named Pā‘ao is said to have brought a new order to the islands around 1200. The new order included new laws and a new social structure for the islands separating the people into classes. The "ali‘i nui" was the king, with his