Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Free Health Care for Hawaiians?

In King Kamehameha IV’s initial speech to the legislature in 1854, the King voiced his desire to create a hospital for the people of Hawai’i. Queen Emma enthusiastically supported the dream of a hospital, and the two campaigned tirelessly to make it a reality. Hawaiians called the hospital and dispensary Hale Ma‘i o ka Wahine Ali‘i (literally, sick house of the lady chief,) or Hale Ma‘i for short. Opening day was August 1, 1859.

While there was no specific provision in the hospital’s charter for free medical service to native Hawaiians, “all native Hawaiians have been cared for without charge, while for others a charge has been made of from $1 to $3 per day.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 31, 1901) In part, the Hospital was funded with government funds (taxes and appropriations.) (Each passenger arriving from a foreign port paid a tax of $2 to the Collector of Customs for the support of such hospitals.) However, under the provisions of the Organic Act the Legislature has no power to give a subsidy to any institution and funding support stopped.

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Chinese Wo Hing Society Temple and Cookhouse

Starting in the 1850s, labor shortages in the Islands were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America. The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.) The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population; between 1852 and 1884, the population of Chinese in Hawai’i increased from 364 to 18,254 (almost a quarter of the population of the Kingdom (almost 30% of them were living in Honolulu)). Between 1869 and 1910 over thirty secret societies that have their roots in seventeenth century China were established in the Islands, six on Maui. These secret societies were formed to politically re-establish the deposed Ming dynasty.

These local clubs were mutual aid societies which met social and recreational needs of its members providing funeral services and burial, support in times of crisis, protective services and made contributions to their members. The Wo Hing Society – Wo, meaning “peace and harmony” and Hing, meaning “prosperity” was an important aspect of cultural and social life in Lāhainā for its immigrant Chinese. The society provided a fraternal structure which was a substitute for the absent family. In 1912, using private donations, the society built a 2-story temple on Front Street. It is believed that the present building replaced an earlier structure. In 1983, Lahaina Restoration Foundation took steps to restore this valuable site for Lāhainā and manages the site.

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Kona Hotel

The Kona Sugar Company started in 1899 with ambitious plans to create a major sugar plantation in Kona. From 1899 to 1926, Hōlualoa was a sugar town; coffee was cut down to make way for fields of sugarcane, which surrounded Hōlualoa. The sugar plantation carried the region’s economy, and Hōlualoa became its commercial center. But water was not sufficient to properly process the cane; in 1903, the company went broke.

Sugar’s collapse spelled economic ruin for many people. Coffee kept Hōlualoa alive, but just barely. Young people looking for employment left North Kona in droves, finding work in Honolulu or the mainland. It was at this time (1926,) when Zentaro and Hatsuyo Inaba opened their 11-room Kona Hotel in 1926, they advertised “Rooms and Meals”. They also welcomed the traveling salesmen and the occasional tourist traveling from Hilo, via Volcano.

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Steward’s House

The Foreign Mission School was instituted in the autumn of 1816, and opened in the beginning of May, 1817 in Cornwall Connecticut. Much of the Foreign Mission School’s campus buildings were acquired through donations. The citizenry of Cornwall donated fourteen acres of land as well as the building that would become the main educational site, which had been built in 1797 as a school house. One of the main campus buildings, and certainly the most social and vibrant, was the Steward’s house. This building was constructed in 1814 and served as the steward’s family home, the school dining hall, a boarding house and a nurse room for sick students.

This weekend, June 16-18, 2017, the community of Cornwall is hosting a bicentennial commemoration of the formation of the Foreign Mission School. In part, this marks the beginning of bicentennial activities for the Hawaiian Mission, whose Pioneer Company landed at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820. Several young Hawaiians were instrumental in seeing the American Protestant missionaries come to Hawai‘i. ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia was considered a leader of the school’s student body and had planned to return to the Islands as a missionary; unfortunately, he died prior to the mission to Hawai‘i. Among the members in the Pioneer Company were Hopu, Honoli‘i, Kanui and Humehume, all students of the Foreign Mission School.

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Buried at Sea

As there was no proper place for the burial of Lunalilo’s mother Kekāuluohi (she died June 7, 1845, at the age of 50,) Lunalilo ordered “his native servants to take the bones of his mother and bury them in the bosom of the deep, where no mortal could disturb them.”

“At the dead of night, the canoe bearing the remains of Kekāuluohi, manned by a crew of native kahu (attendants) left Waikiki. They went to a point many miles off Diamond Head. When they reached the place, prayers (kanaenae) were offered according to the ancient rites of burial.”