Hawaii was settled at least 800 years ago with the voyage of Polynesians from the Society Islands. The settlers gradually became detached from their original homeland, developing a distinct Hawaiian culture and identity in their new isolated home; this included the creation of new religious and cultural structures, mostly in response to the new living environment and the need for a structured belief system through which to pass on knowledge. Hence the Hawaiian religion focuses on ways to live and relate to the land, instilling a sense of communal living as well as a specialized spatial awareness.