With the death of Kamehameha and ascension of his son Liholiho to the throne, significant changes began to take place. The most profound was the decision by Liholiho to disregard the sanctity of the ''kapu'' system of rules and customs that had been the backbone of Hawaiian society. In gradual steps, he allowed changes to customs like allowing men and women to eat together at feasts for the first time, and as objections to these changes were dropped or put down they continued until temples to the ancient gods were dismantled and idols burned. The abandonment of ''kapu'' left a void in the social structure of Hawaii just as the first Christian missionaries began to arrive. <ref>http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/06/16/millennium/index.html</ref> | With the death of Kamehameha and ascension of his son Liholiho to the throne, significant changes began to take place. The most profound was the decision by Liholiho to disregard the sanctity of the ''kapu'' system of rules and customs that had been the backbone of Hawaiian society. In gradual steps, he allowed changes to customs like allowing men and women to eat together at feasts for the first time, and as objections to these changes were dropped or put down they continued until temples to the ancient gods were dismantled and idols burned. The abandonment of ''kapu'' left a void in the social structure of Hawaii just as the first Christian missionaries began to arrive. <ref>http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/06/16/millennium/index.html</ref> |