Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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Kapu and the New Religion

The kapu supported Hawai‘i’s social and political structure and directed every activity of Hawaiian life, from birth through death. The kapu system helped the ali‘i and kahuna keep their power over the people. The people believed that breaking the kapu would bring the anger of the gods on themselves and their community. They made every effort to follow the kapu set down by the ali‘i and kahuna. With the kapu, if you didn’t follow the rules, you could die. While the social order defined very strict societal rules, exoneration was possible if one could reach a puʻuhonua (place of refuge) and be cleansed, as well as cleared by a kahuna (priest). Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.

This changed the course of the social, political and religious structure and ended the kapu system, effectively weakened belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them. Some have suggested it was the missionaries that ended the kapu that disrupted the social/political system in the Islands; that is not true, they arrived in 1820. The Mission Prudential Committee in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said: “Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.” With Christianity, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

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Hula ‘Auana

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held in San Francisco in 1915 to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, as well as support San Francisco’s recovery from the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire. The Exposition looked to the future for innovation. Things we take for granted today – cars, airplanes, telephones, and movies – were in their infancy and were shown off at the fair, and some well-known technological luminaries were involved in the fair.

The San Francisco Exposition was also the launching site for broader awareness of hula ‘auana, contemporary hula – it was featured in the Hawaii exhibits. There, ‘Princess Lei Lokelani’ performed traditional foot movements – ku‘i and ‘uwehe – to modern ‘ukulele and steel guitar songs – this also launched the hapa-haole (half “foreign”) hula phenomenon into broader markets. The Hawaiian Pavilion was at the corner of what is now Baker Street and Marina Boulevard in San Francisco’s Marina District.

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Pendulum Peak

Early pendulum experiments helped calculate the force of gravity. By taking different readings at different locations across the planet, it is possible to calculate the contours of the earth, as well as the density of the interior. (A later Foucault pendulum was used to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth.)

Lt Charles Wilkes, as part of the US Exploring Expedition, came to Hawai‘i in 1840 with a 68-inch long pendulum and a pendulum clock. Just after new year’s in 1841, Wilkes conducted pendulum observations on the top of Mauna Loa, at a site they named Pendulum Peak. “The 3d proved fine, and the pendulum-clock and apparatus being arranged and adjusted, the clock was put in motion, and a comparison made with the three chronometers every two hours.”

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Lewers & Cooke

What started as a lumber company of Christopher H Lewers evolved into Lewers & Dickson, and eventually Lewers & Cooke. The primary parties in this process included Lewers, Robert Lewers (his cousin,) Joshua Gill Dickson and Charles Montague Cooke. Christopher Hamilton Lewers, a cabinet maker hailing from Dublin, Ireland, landed in Honolulu in about 1850. In 1852, he started into the business in the Islands with the purchase at auction of a cargo of eastern white pine shipped from the States via Cape Horn.

The Honolulu carpenters at that time kept on hand small lots of white pine to make sash, doors, blinds, etc, which were made entirely by hand. Lewers’ purchase cornered the market on white pine, and he found it a profitable transaction and made it the basis for a regular lumber business. At that time lumber, mostly Douglas fir. On January 1, 1901, Lewers & Cooke Ltd succeeded Lewers & Cooke. “A noteworthy fact in the establishment of the firm of Lewers & Cooke, Ltd., was the inclusion of a clause in the articles of incorporation empowering the directors to contribute a portion of the earnings for social, benevolent and religious purposes. It was the first time this had been done in Hawai‘i.”

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Twins – Neighbors

For their services, Kamehameha appointed Keʻeaumoku, Keaweaheulu, Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa (the four Kona Uncles) to be his secret advisors (hoa kuka malu) and counselors (hoaʻahaʻolelo) in ruling the islands. They alone were consulted about what would be for the good or the ill of the country. (Kamakau)

The latter two of the four (Kameʻeiamoku and Kamanawa) were twins, often referred to as the Royal Twins; they are depicted on the Hawaiian Coat of Arms. The twins were later neighbors. Kamanawa is reported to have been living at Kiholo at the time of the death of Kalani‘ōpu‘u in 1782, and Kame‘eiamoku at Ka‘upulehu (originally Ka‘ulu-pulehu, the roasted breadfruit), the adjacent ahupua‘a to the south of Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a. (Artwork by Brook Parker.)

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Ordination of Hiram Bingham and Asa Thurston

“Of the Sandwich Islands’ mission, Goshen (CT) may not improperly be said to be the birthplace.” “It was on September 29, 1819, that people interested in the starting of the Sandwich Island mission gathered in the Goshen Congregational church to witness the ordination of Hiram Bingham and Asa Thurston. The day of the Ordination was lovely, as Dr. A. C. Thompson says, ‘Never did the sun look down more brilliantly on our ample woodlands and our little lakes.’ Many strangers came to witness the inspiring scene, and the homes of all the old families of Goshen were hospitably thrown open to receive these guests.”

“Within two weeks after the ordination in Goshen, the missionary company assembled in Boston, to receive their instructions and embark. There, in the vestry of Park Street Church, under the counsels of the officers of the Board, Dr. S. Worcester, Dr. J. Morse, J. Evarts, Esq., and others, the little pioneer band was, on the 15th of Oct., 1819, organized into a Church for transplantation. The members renewed their covenant, and publicly subscribed with their hands unto the Lord, and united in a joyful song.’ (O Happy Day That Fixed My Choice)”

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Pua‘aiki

The Pioneer Company of missionaries arrived in the Islands “early found among the thousands of their degraded inhabitants, a poor blind man, almost destitute of clothing, habitation, and friends. He was born at Waikapu … probably about the year 1785.” “He is poor and despised in his person, small almost to deformity; and in his countenance, from the loss of sight, not prepossessing. Still, in our judgment he bears on him the image and superscription of Christ; and if so, how striking an example of the truth of the Apostle’s declaration …”

“Having a shagged head of black hair, unshielded by a hat from tropical suns and showers, and, at middle age, a beard growing at full length under the chin, the rest being plucked out, he roamed shoeless, without moral or mental culture, without hope, and without a Saviour.” “His name is on heavenly records, and it is familiar to the ear of Protestant Christendom, as the Blind Hawaiian Preacher, or Bartimeus L Pua‘aiki.” “Residing chiefly at Wailuku for some two years, he itinerated and preached at many villages around the island, generally about three Sabbaths in a month at out-stations from five to twenty miles distant. … on Sabbath evening, September 17, 1843, he surrendered his liberated spirit into his gracious hands.”