south-sea-islanders

Updated: July 5, 2026

The long name of Sandwich-Islanders is dropped, and they are called by the whites, all over the Pacific Ocean, ``Kanakas, from a word in their own language, signifying, I believe, man, human being, which they apply to themselves, and to all South-Sea-Islanders, in distinction from whites, whom they call ``Haole. This name, ``Kanaka, they answer to, both collectively and individually.

Richard Henry Dana - Two Years Before the Mast