Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kou and Kuloloia

In the late-18th and early 19th centuries most vessels sailing through the North Pacific stopped for supplies at the Hawaiian Islands. A key stop was at Kou (what is now downtown Honolulu) and Honolulu Harbor, also known as Kuloloia. Boats either anchored off-shore, or they were pulled, towed or tracked into the harbor (this was done with canoes; or, it meant men and/or oxen pulled them in.) The harbor’s narrow entrance and channel were always a problem for vessels entering. The small inter-island schooners could negotiate it without help, but the larger foreign vessels were towed in – first by their own boats and later by double-canoes.

A few years after, in 1825, the first pier in the harbor was improvised by sinking a ship’s hull near the present Pier 12 site. The first efforts to deepen Honolulu Harbor were made in the 1840s. The idea to use the dredged material, composed of sand and crushed coral, to fill in low-lying lands was quickly adopted. It wasn’t until 1850 that streets received official names. in 1857, the fort was dismantled; its massive 12-foot walls were torn apart and used to fill the harbor to accommodate an expanding downtown.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

When Was Hawai‘i Settled?

Evidence for human settlement of an island or archipelago can come from two different sources: (1) direct artifactual evidence from human settlements such as sand dune occupations or rockshelters; and (2) indirect evidence in the form of proxy signals of anthropogenic disturbance, such as increases in charcoal fluxes in lake or swamp sediments, rapid changes in pollen frequencies in these sediments, or the appearance plants and animals that live near or benefit from association with humans (such as weeds, insects or rats.)

The invention of radiocarbon dating helped to spark a boom in Polynesian and Pacific archaeology. Once an organism dies the carbon is no longer replaced. Because the radiocarbon is radioactive, it will slowly decay away. Radiocarbon dating technology and techniques improved. So, what does the updated technology and techniques show as the time of Hawaiian settlement in the Islands? Based on what we know now, it is suggested here that initial Polynesian discovery and settlement of the Hawaiian Islands occurred between approximately AD 1000 and 1200. (Kirch.)

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sailor’s Home and Seamen’s Institute

It opened September 11, 1856, “That little affair at the Sailor’s Home came off on Thursday, and if the house is ever again so full of merry laughter and innocent enthusiasts, it may congratulate itself upon being the scene of a second triumph. … We have not yet heard what the receipts were. If ever an institution was introduced to public notice under happy patronage it is the Sailor’s Home. Long may it flourish.”

The nearby Seamen’s Bethel Chapel was built by the American Seamen’s Friend Society of New York, in 1833, the materials having been shipped from New London, Ct, for Honolulu via Cape Horn. It was the first edifice for the public worship of English-speaking people, erected in Polynesia. It was open to both seamen and foreign residents. The Honolulu Sailor’s Home provided mariners with room and board at a reasonable price. In this building were the offices of “Hawaiian Board and Bible Society;” office of the Friend; the “Bible and Tract Depository,” and YMCA Reading Room.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

First Descriptions of the Islands and the People

“On the 19th (of January, 1778,) at sunrise, the island first seen, bore east several leagues distant. … At this time, we were in some doubt whether or not the land before us was inhabited; but this doubt was soon cleared up, by seeing some canoes coming off from the shore, toward the ships”.

“The inhabitants are of a middling stature, firmly made, with some exceptions, neither remarkable for a beautiful shape, nor for striking features, which rather express an openness and good-nature, than a keen, intelligent disposition.” “The habitations of the natives were thinly scattered about … Judging from what we saw growing, and from what was brought to market, there can be no doubt that the greatest part of their vegetable food consists of sweet potatoes, taro, and plantains; and that bread-fruit and yams are rather to be esteemed rarities.”

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Joe Bal & Jack Ena

As early as 1811, the fur trading Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) had already hired twelve Hawaiians on three year contracts to work for them in the Pacific Northwest. By 1824, HBC employed thirty-five Hawaiians west of the Rocky Mountains. The number of Hawaiians working as contract laborers for the Hudson’s Bay Company steadily grew. The large number of Hawaiian workers in the village at Fort Vancouver led to the name “Kanaka Town” in the early 1850s. The whaling industry had a major effect upon Hawaiian commerce and trade.

Captain of the initial whaler into the Islands noted, “Left Oahu 10th of 10 Mo 1819 for Coast of California. I shipped two Kanakas from Maui and had them the remainder of the Voyage and took them to New Bedford. Their names were Joe Bal and Jack Ena, the two names comprising that of my ship Balaena. Much notice was taken of them, singing their national songs and airs. They were the first brought to this place.” Thousands of Hawaiians shipped out as seamen aboard the whaling ships, so many that the crews were often half Hawaiian.