Hawaiian religion refers to the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of native Hawaiians, also known as the kapu system. Hawaiian religion is based largely on the tapu religion common in Polynesia and likely originated among the Tahitians and other Pacific islanders who landed in Hawaiʻi between 500 and 1300 AD. It is polytheistic and animistic, with a belief in many deities and spirits, including the belief that spirits are found in non-human beings and objects such as other animals, the waves, and the sky. It was only during the reign of Kamehameha I that a ruler from Hawaii island attempted to impose a singular "Hawaiian" religion on all the Hawaiian islands that was not Christianity.
A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816
Kailua-Kona, Island of Hawaii
Kū, Hawaiian God of war
King Kamehameha II
Native Hawaiians are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
King Kamehameha II
Hawaiians performing a Hula
Hawaiian man with his two children, c. 1890
A depiction of a royal heiau (Hawaiian temple) at Kealakekua Bay, c. 1816