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June 1, 2020 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Missionary Period

“The advent of the white man in the Pacific was inevitable, and especially in Hawaii, by reason of its size, resources, and, most important, its location at the crossroads of this vastest of oceans, rapidly coming into its own in fulfilment of prophecies that it was destined to become the chief theater of the world’s future activities.”

Years before the westward land movement gathered momentum, the energies of seafaring New Englanders found their natural outlet, along their traditional pathway, in the Pacific Ocean.

On the afternoon of January 20, 1778, Cook anchored his ships near the mouth of the Waimea River on Kauai’s southwestern shore. After a couple of weeks, there, they headed to the west coast of North America.

In the Islands, as in New France (Canada to Louisiana (1534,)) New Spain (Southwest and Central North America to Mexico and Central America (1521)) and New England (Northeast US,) the trader preceded the missionary.

Practically every vessel that visited the North Pacific in the closing years of the 18th century stopped at Hawai‘i for provisions and recreation.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) There were seven American couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity in this first company.

By the time the Pioneer Company arrived, Kamehameha I had died and the centuries-old kapu system had been abolished; through the actions of King Kamehameha II (Liholiho,) with encouragement by former Queens Kaʻahumanu and Keōpūolani (Liholiho’s mother,) the Hawaiian people had already dismantled their heiau and had rejected their religious beliefs.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 184-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

“(F)or forty years Hawaiians wanted everything on every ship that came. And they could get it; it was pretty easy to get. Two pigs and … a place to live, you could trade for almost anything.”

“(The missionaries) come with a set of skills that Hawaiians are really impressed with. … The missionaries were the first group of a scholarly background, but they also had the patience and endurance. So that’s part of the skill sets. … That’s really the more important things that are attracted first.”

“But the second thing is they are pono.”

“They have an interaction that is intentionally not taking advantage. It’s not crude. They don’t get drunk and throw up on the street … and they don’t take advantage and they don’t make a profit. So that pono actually is more attractive than religion.” (Puakea Nogelmeier)

Collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the
• Introduction of Christianity;
• Development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• Promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• Combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine; and
• Evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing)

Above text is a summary – Click HERE for more information

Missionaries_preaching_under_kukui_groves,_1841
Missionaries_preaching_under_kukui_groves,_1841

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Alphabet, American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, Christianity, Constitutional Government, Hawaii, Hawaiian Language, Literacy, Missionaries, New Musical Tradition, Western Medicine

May 30, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

St. Andrew’s Priory

At the invitation of King Kamehameha IV, the Anglican Church mission came to Hawaiʻi in 1862; the invitation was extended to both the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the Unites States. The Church of England gave a favorable response.

At the time, the American Protestants, through the Congregational Church, and Roman Catholic Church were established and active in the islands. Each had also established schools within the islands.

Queen Emma recognized the educational needs of the young women of her island nation. Her mission of establishing a girls’ school in Honolulu took her to England to seek the counsel of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Under his authority, the Sisters of the Church of England returned to Hawai’i with Queen Emma to begin their work.

Queen Emma was raised in the Anglican faith and envisioned a school where Hawaiian girls would receive an education equivalent to the education that was traditionally offered only to boys.

St. Andrew’s Priory School was founded on Ascension Day, May 30, 1867, by Queen Emma, wife of King Kamehameha IV, and Mother Priscilla Lydia Sellon of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity of Devonport, England.

St. Andrews Priory was named in honor of St. Andrew, which was also the dedication of the Cathedral. This name had been chosen for the Cathedral because St. Andrews Day, November 30, was the anniversary of the death of Kamehameha IV, for whom the building was a memorial.

The Society of the Most Holy Trinity used the Benedictine terminology, whereby the mother house of a religious order was called an abbey and a branch house a priory. Therefore, the school became St. Andrew’s Priory School for Girls.

The school opened with 11-boarders and a few day students; by the end of the year, 17-boarders had registered. Most of the boarders were aliʻi.

Priory was eligible and received government grants; in doing so, it had to follow government regulations. As such, curriculum included the required reading in English or Hawaiian, writing, arithmetic grammar, geography and training in industrial work,

Good English was the Priory’s chief objective, so all instruction was in English and the girls were not allowed to speak Hawaiian, even on the playground. The girls learned sewing and embroidery, music, drawing, in addition to the academic subjects. Religious classes were part of the school curriculum. (Heyes)

The Board of Education encouraged early entrance, before age 10, to English schools, so that students may learn English in their formative years. The Priory’s first 17-boarders ranged in age from four 1/2 to sixteen. In 1871, a 2 1/2-year old Kauaʻi student (McBryde) was admitted with her two older sisters.

The girls slept in dormitories (they furnished their own beds and bedding.) The girls had poi every day. Initially, the girls wore their own clothes, there was no uniform (however, every girl had a white dress for Sundays and special occasions – uniforms started sometime after 1918.)

By 1876, the school was well established; dormitory space had been almost doubled, making room for forty boarders. The number of day students also increased and in that year to a total of 118-students.

In the 1880s, the Royal Hawaiian Band played concerts twice a week in Queen Emma Square. “One of our pleasant diversions was to go to and hear Captain Berger’s band play at Emma Square every Saturday afternoon. … we all went and sat in the carriage just outside the park. There was usually a crowd there, as it was very popular.” (Sutherland Journal)

With the formation of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, the educational policy favored establishing the American system of free public schools for everyone. Government aid to private schools was forbidden. (However, private schools continued to flourish.)

In 1902, the school transferred to the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church of the United States and was run by the Sisters of the American Order of the Transfiguration. The school was then dependent financially on tuition and gifts from friends.

Even with these changes, there was no basic change in the purpose of the school. An education suited for the “probable life circumstances” of the girls still placed high emphasis on the homemaking arts, as well as preparing the girls for teaching, nursing and secretarial work. (Heyes)

In 1903, a high school department was opened offering the girls an opportunity to receive secondary education, placing the Priory at the forefront of the secondary school movement in Hawaiʻi. At the time, the only other secondary education options for girls were Honolulu High School (later known as McKinley) and Punahou.

There was significant new construction between 1906 and 1914; in 1909 the cornerstone for the new Dickey-designed Priory was laid for a two-story building made of steel and concrete (the first of its kind in the islands.)

The Sisters of the American Order of the Transfiguration operated the school until 1969. Since that time, the school has been under the leadership of a head of school.

In 1976, the Priory became a non-profit corporation with a Board of Trustees and a charter of incorporation that continues to provide an official link with the Episcopal Church.

Founded as a school for girls, the Priory remains dedicated to this legacy. Today, the Priory provides girls in grades K-12 a college preparatory education within a Christian environment so that in any future community they will be self-confident, capable, participating members. (Lots of information here from Heyes.)

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Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Schools Tagged With: Episcopal, Hawaii, Honolulu, Kamehameha IV, Oahu, Queen Emma, Royal Hawaiian Band, St. Andrews Priory

May 23, 2020 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Love always for Hawaiʻi

“For more than 100 years, love of the land and its natural beauty has been the poetry Hawaiian composers have used to speak of love. Hawaiian songs also speak to people’s passion for their homeland and their beliefs.” (Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame, 1998)

The Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame further noted, Hawaiʻi Aloha is “widely regarded as Hawaiʻi’s second anthem”. (Hawaiian Music Museum)

“It is performed at important government and social functions to bring people together in unity, and at the closing of Hawaiʻi Legislative sessions. Today, people automatically stand when this song is played extolling the virtues of ‘beloved Hawaiʻi.’”

Hawaiʻi Aloha was written by a Protestant missionary, Lorenzo Lyons. The music is from James McGranahan “I Left It All With Jesus.” (Kam)

Some suggest Lyons wrote the song for Kamehameha IV. However, “Since Kamehameha IV died on November 30, 1863, and the American tune by McGranahan appeared in print in 1879 or 1881, the song could not have been the king’s favorite song.” (Kam)

“In 1998, The Advisory Board honored these traditional songs for their beauty and their messages, which have made them popular, with concert performers and recording artists, as well as the public.”

Hawaiʻi Aloha has three verses, but most typically sing the first verse and repeat portions of the chorus:

E Hawaiʻi e kuʻu one hānau e
Kuʻu home kulaiwi nei
ʻOli nō au i nā pono lani ou
E Hawaiʻi, aloha ē

Hui:
E hauʻoli nā ʻōpio o Hawai`i nei
ʻOli ē! ʻOli ē!
Mai nā aheahe makani e pā mai nei
Mau ke aloha, no Hawaiʻi

Reverend Lorenzo Lyons was fluent in the Hawaiian language and composed many poems and hymns; his best known and beloved work is the hymn “Hawaiʻi Aloha” sung to the tune of “I Left It All With Jesus.”

The most likely date for the composition of the words of “Hawai‘i Aloha,” falls after the publication of Gospel Hymns, No. 4 (Words Only) in 1879, when the music was first available, and before the death of Lyons on October 6, 1886. (Kam)

Here’s the English translation (first verse and chorus):

O Hawaiʻi, o sands of my birth
My native home
I rejoice in the blessings of heaven
O Hawaiʻi, aloha

Chorus:
Happy youth of Hawai`i
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Gentle breezes blow
Love always for Hawaiʻi

Here’s a link to Hawaiʻi Aloha – sung by Ledward Kaʻapana, Dennis Kamakahi & Nathan Aweau – written by a missionary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWjpR-J0BSc

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – Hawai’i Aloha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q0_wr2IflQ

Collaboration between native Hawaiians and the American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the introduction of Christianity, the creation of the Hawaiian written language, widespread literacy, the promulgation of the concept of constitutional government, making Western medicine available and the evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition.

Oli and mele were already a part of the Hawaiian tradition. “As the Hawaiian songs were unwritten, and adapted to chanting rather than metrical music, a line was measured by the breath; their hopuna, answering to our line, was as many words as could be easily cantilated at one breath.” (Bingham)

Some songs were translations of Western songs into Hawaiian; some were original verse and melody. Hawaiʻi Aloha is an example of the music left as a lasting legacy by the missionaries in the Islands.

Missionaries used songs as a part of the celebration, as well as learning process. “At this period, the same style of sermons, prayers, songs, interrogations, and exhortations, which proves effectual in promoting revivals of religion, conversion, or growth in grace among a plain people in the United States was undoubtedly adapted to be useful at the Sandwich Islands.” (Bingham)

“The king (Kamehameha III) being desirous to use his good voice in singing, we sang together at my house, not war songs, but sacred songs of praise to the God of peace.” (Bingham)

Hawaiʻi Aloha was not the only popular song written by the missionaries.

One of the unique verses (sung to an old melody) was Hoʻonani Hole ‐ Hoʻonani I Ka Makua Mau. Missionary Hiram Bingham wrote/translated it to Hawaiian and people sang it to a melody that dates back to the 1600s – today, it is known as the Hawaiian Doxology. (It is his original lyrics, not a translation of “Praise God from whom all blessings flow …”

“In 1872, (Lyons) published Buke Himeni Hawaiʻi containing over 600 hymns, two thirds his own composition. Some years later he prepared the Sabbath School Hymn and Tune Book Lei Aliʻi.””

“The Hawaiians owe entirely to his exertions their introduction to modern enlivening styles of popular sacred music.” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 19, 1886)

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Charles_Kauha-the_background-1890

Filed Under: General, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Hawaii Aloha, Lorenzo Lyons, Missionaries

May 18, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society (HMCS)

“The name ‘Cousins’ Society’ was given by Mr. Orramel Gulick, who said that as the fathers and mothers spoke constantly of each other as ‘brother’ and ‘sister,’ their children were cousins – hence ‘Cousins’ Society’ became the common name.”

“The children of missionaries on these islands have formed an association among themselves which they call the ‘Cousin’s Society.’” (Anderson)

“The society was organized on June 5, 1852, by the young people of Honolulu. These young folk had assembled informally two weeks before, on May 22, at the old adobe school house – still in Kawaiaha‘o Lane”. (Andrews, Mid-Pacific Magazine, December 1913)

It Started as a Social Society

In 1852, the initial Constitution of the organization noted in its preamble, “We the children of the American Protestant Mission to the Hawaiian Islands, desiring to strengthen the bond of union that naturally exists among us, and to cultivate the missionary spirit among ourselves … do hereby organize ourselves into a Social Missionary Society …”

That initial constitution noted that, “The design of this Society is to cherish and promote union among its members, to cultivate in them an active missionary spirit; to stir them up to good works, and more especially to assist in the support of those children of Missionaries who may go forth from these islands on Christian Missions.”

“At the time our Society was organized June 5, 1852, there were no places of entertainment, for social enjoyments or organized mission work, or any society for the missionary children, no uplifting influences at their disposal. The family rules were strict.”

“Native prayer meetings at five o’clock in the morning and long Sunday services, mostly in Hawaiian, were the only change the poor children had, and the formation of the HMCS was a beautiful and wise undertaking. It has done its work faithfully and well.” (Cooke, 1900)

“Meetings were appointed for ‘the last Saturday evening of each month,’ which time was soon changed to ‘the Saturday evening of each month nearest the full moon.’”

“These meetings were opened by prayer and singing, and closed with the missionary hymn, ‘Waft, waft ye winds His story,’ and a collection for their missionary was taken up. Otherwise the meetings were social, literary and musical.”

“The first entertainment consisted of essays … The social attractions were perhaps even greater than the literary, as the ‘veranda brigade,’ men and women now in middle life, then belonging to the younger set, can aver. Lifelong friendships were made, and at least one marriage, that of OH Gulick and Annie Clark occurred at a ‘cousins’ meeting’ in that same adobe schoolhouse …”

“At the time of the organization of this society there were perhaps not more than twenty white families outside the mission circle. As the monthly ‘cousins’ meeting’ was about the only social function in Honolulu society, other people of refinement were very glad to receive invitations to these meetings.”

“Many of them became annual members, and some secured a life membership and became, and are still, as devoted adopted cousins, as loyal as are those born into the mission.” (Andrews, Mid-Pacific Magazine)

HMCS Transitioned into an Educational Institution

“But the years went by. The original members were scattered. A new generation arose. Society’s demands were many and moonlit Saturday nights were wanted for other meetings. … The society seemed to have outgrown the purpose for which it had been organized, and there was talk of disbanding. (Andrews, Mid-Pacific Magazine, December 1913)

In the 1900 annual meeting of the HMCS, retiring President, AF (Amos Francis Cooke, known as A Frank) Cooke gave his ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ address. In it, he challenged, “Having fulfilled its original design, let us now form a new society with broader aim, and with a more extended scope for membership, and plan to become a historical centre for all missionary efforts in the wide Pacific.”

“A historical or commemorative society offering occasion for missionary intelligence and personal reminiscences of the lives of our fathers and mothers on special or appointed days, would give to us and to our children and to the Christian world, a most valuable record and much history might be preserved that would otherwise remain unknown.

In 1904, the Constitution was changed, and the purpose expanded, “The design of the Society shall be to perpetuate the memory of the missionary fathers and mothers who brought Christianity to these Islands, also to promote union among its members, to cultivate in them an active missionary spirit, stir them up to good deeds, and to assist in the support of Christian work.” (Noted in the HMCS Annual Report 1904)

“Today (amended in 2015) the Society, preserves the memory and spirit of the original mission, promoting union among its members, stirring them up to good deeds, assisting in the support of Christian work, collecting, preserving, and interpreting archival and library materials, buildings, objects, historic fencing, and the grounds …”

“… at a historic site and library relating to the history of American Protestant Missionaries to Hawai`i and their descendants and relationships with the peoples of Hawai`i, and caring for, regulating and preserving the Mission Cemetery at Kawaiaha‘o.” (HMCS Constitutional Provisions 2015)

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives

A 501(c)3 non-profit educational institution, Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society was founded in 1852, incorporated in 1907, and has no religious affiliation. It acquired the 1821 Mission House in 1906, restored and opened it in 1908. (HMCS now operates as Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.)

Mission Houses Museum was established in 1920, and in 1974, the museum was granted full accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM). The property was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

The historic site, one acre in the middle of downtown Honolulu, includes Hawai‘i’s two oldest houses, the 1821 Mission House and the 1831 Chamberlain House, a bedroom annex interpreted as the Print Shop (1841), the Mission Memorial Cemetery, and a building which houses collections and archives, a reading room, a visitors’ store and staff offices.

A coral and grass stage, Kahua Ho‘okipa, was added in 2011; addition of a reconstructed grass dwelling is in permitting process. This was the headquarters for the American protestant Sandwich Island Mission established here from 1820 through 1863.

The organization developed a professional staff in 1970 and named the public program component Mission Houses Museum. An extensive strategic planning process culminated in early 2012 with a new name, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives.

The archival collections include more than 12,000 books, manuscripts, original letters, diaries, journals, illustrations, and Hawaiian church records.

Hawaiian Mission Houses owns the largest collection of Hawaiian language books in the world, and the second largest collection of letters written by the ali‘i. The size and scope of these collections make Hawaiian Mission Houses one of the foremost repositories for nineteenth century Hawaiian history.

Visit the website at www.missionhouses.org

Click HERE to View/Download more on Hawaiian Mission Houses.

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Mission Houses

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii, Hawaiian Mission Childrens Society, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives

May 12, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sewing Circles

Long before Western explorers and missionaries arrived in the Polynesian islands, many traditional crafts existed in Hawai‘i that set the stage for the development of its unique style of quilting.

Among other things, Hawaiians were skilled in the creation of kapa (tapa,) clothing or bedding made from the bark of the wauke (paper mulberry) plant.

It is thought that kapa technique – involving the pounding together of strips of bark to form sheets of different textures, which are then colorfully decorated by pen with various dyes – provided the foundation upon which Hawaiian quilting was eventually built.

The use of stitchery in Hawai‘i is documented as early as 1809. After contact, Western and Chinese cloth and silk became available as trade with the islands opened up. Cotton was grown on Maui and O‘ahu in the 19th century, but cotton gins for processing were quite rare.

When missionaries from New England arrived in 1820, the missionary women brought with them their quilts (mostly as keepsakes.) Missionary women helped Hawaiian women to learn to sew in the European style.

“One of the former queens had before requested that our wihenes would make her a gown like their own, was told that it was the Lord’s day, and that they would make it tomorrow.” (April 2, 1820, Thaddeus Journal)

The next day, the first Hawaiian sewing circle was held on the decks of the Thaddeus, “Kalakua brought a web of white cambric to have a dress made for herself in the fashion of our ladies, and was very particular in her wish to have it finished while sailing along the western side of the island, before reaching the king.”

“Monday morning April 3d (1820,) the first sewing circle was formed that the sun ever looked down upon in the Hawaiian realm. Kalakua was directress. She requested all the seven white ladies to take seats with them on mats, on the deck of the Thaddeus.”

“Mrs Holman and Mrs Ruggles were executive officers to ply the scissors and prepare the work … The four native women of distinction were furnished with calico patchwork to sew – a new employment for them.”

“The dress was made in the fashion of 1819. The length of the skirt accorded with Brigham Young’s rule to his Mormon damsels, – have it come down to the tops of the shoes. But in the queen’s case, where the shoes were wanting, the bare feet cropped out very prominently.” (Lucy Thurston, part of the Pioneer Company)

“These were made in the style then prevailing, a very deep yoke, with a short bodice, belted at the waist, and a full skirt. The chiefess was a huge woman, and a belt was found to be impracticable, so the ladles instead gathered the loose skirt on to the yoke.”

“The native women were so delighted with the now garb, so much more convenient than their own, that they at once gave It the name holoku, expressive of the fact that in it they had perfect freedom of motion.”

“The holoku is exactly like the ‘Mother Hubbard gown’ that had such a painful popularity in our country some years ago. It is, to-day, the regulation costume of the Hawaiian women.”

“They wear it at church and on shopping expeditions, in the park and on state occasions, and, this delightful climate permitting such scantiness of attire, it is not an uncommon thing to meet upon Fort street an old woman of the poorer class whose holoku is her sole garment.” (San Francisco Call, March 19, 1893)

“All the women wore the native dress, the sack or holoku, many of which were black, blue, green, or bright rose color, some were bright yellow, a few were pure white, and others were a mixture of orange and scarlet.” Isabella Bird 1894

“At first the holoku, which is only a full, yoke nightgown, is not attractive, but I admire it heartily now, and the sagacity of those who devised it.”

“It conceals awkwardness, and befits grace of movement; it is fit for the climate, is equally adapted for walking and riding, and has that general appropriateness which is desirable in costume.” (Isabella Bird, 1894)

Quilting in Hawai‘i back in 1820s was done in the patchwork style. The Hawaiian women tediously cut the material into the patchwork squares and sewed them back together as they were taught by the missionaries.

It is theorized that Hawaiian women gradually began incorporating elements of tapa design into patchwork quilts, and soon discarded the patchwork approach altogether in favor of the appliqué quilt.

A traditional Hawaiian quilt is a bed sized quilt that is completely an appliquéd design. The design is cut out of one square piece of fabric with a repeat of 8.

The appliqué fabric is folded in half, or three times and all 8 layers are cut out at the same time, then opened out, like a “snowflake”. Usually the designs are symbolic of the flowers, trees or places in Hawai‘i.

The designing of a quilt was a very personal thing. Women occasionally shared their designs with a special friend or relative, but copying a quilt without permission was very much frowned upon.

Many believed that the spirit of the person creating and stitching the quilt became an integral part of the finished work, giving it an added dimension – a sense of life.

Each quilt was given a name, often reflecting the inspiration behind the design. These intriguing quilts have survived as they were only used for special occasions and then passed on from generation to generation.

Four methods of constructing and designing a quilt, when combined, make the Hawaiian quilting process unique:

  • use of whole pieces of fabric for the appliqué and background;
  • the “snowflake” method of cutting the design all at one time;
  • the use of usually only two colors of fabric; and
  • the echo, or outline style of quilting which follows the contour of the applied design throughout the entire quilt

The image shows my mother with quilts she made for her grandchildren; they are made in the patchwork tradition her great-great grandmother (Sybil Bingham) and the other missionary wives used in 1820 when teaching sewing aboard the Thaddeus and later. (I also added to the album our recent addition, a quilt bed cover at our Colorado house.)

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Filed Under: General, Hawaiian Traditions, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Hawaiian Quilt, Kapa, Missionaries, Sybil Bingham

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People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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