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Colonialism arose with the expansion of Western societies, as they sought to dominate other peoples while acquiring wealth and otherwise unavailable raw materials, land, and financial opportunity. Colonizing nations will exercise military, political, and economic control over newly acquired territories, while exploiting cultural traditions to the rest of the world with a steady decline in the native population. After the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, the United States dominated its government, economy, and culture of the indigenous Hawaiian people, a system that was thousands of miles abroad and had no history in the land they sought to take away. Ancient Hawaiian religion tells us that the Hawaiian race was created from the convergence of Earth and Sky and through this belief, Hawaiian spirit and mana were bound to the land for all generations. Hawaiians also believed that their lives and prosperity were owed to their gods, guarantors of the land. Over 40,000 gods were idolized and worshipped each with its own purpose, from protecting the fishermen to the hunters. Some gods were associated with politics and ali’i were believed to be destined to ruler ship from the gods themselves. In this way, all aspects of Hawaiian life were controlled and maintained, most importantly by its own people. An empowering ideal of the time, present even before the introduction of foreigners, was that of Ea. Ea was held highly by the Hawaiian people, as it was considered to be a blessing and birthright from the gods. It is translated as sovereignty, an idea that means having political control over a land or people united as its own nation. This further provides evidence that the ancient Hawaiian world was first built on and regulated, for thousands of years by the native peoples who inhabited it.
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