“The Aloha State” was annexed to the United States in 1959, but its history can be dated back centuries earlier. Approximately 1,500 years ago, Polynesians from the Marquesas Islands first set foot in Hawaii. Hawaiian culture, a mixture of many Polynesian traditions, flourished over the centuries. The arrival of Captain James Cook, Protestant missionaries, and European diseases in the late 18th and early 19th centuries stunted the growth and development of the native Hawaiian population. Western influence continued to grow and by 1893, American colonists, who controlled much of Hawaii's economy, overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom. Although many natives died in the hustle of their history, their culture lived on. When on vacationing in Hawaii, tourists can experience the vibrancy of the Hawaiian culture firsthand.…