Alii | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

Mission_Houses,_Honolulu,_ca._1837._Drawn_by_Wheeler_and_engraved_by-Kalama

December 26, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Aliʻi, the Missionaries and Hawaiʻi

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Hawaiian Islands.

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 (with harmony and choral singing).

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 his father’s wives, Queens Kaʻahumanu and Keōpūolani (Liholiho’s mother,) the Hawaiian people had already dismantled their heiau and had rejected their religious beliefs.

The kapu system was the common structure, the rule of order, and religious and political code. This social and political structure gave leaders absolute rule and authority. In addition to the abolition of the old ways, Kaʻahumanu created the office of Kuhina Nui (similar to premier, prime minister or regent) and would rule as an equal with Liholiho – this started the shift from absolute rule to shared rule.

Introduction of Christianity

Creation of the Hawaiian Written Language

After Western contact and attempts to write about Hawaiʻi, early writers tried to spell words based on the sound of the words they heard. People heard words differently, so it was not uncommon for words to be spelled differently, depending on the writer.

In addition to preaching the gospel, one of the first things Bingham and his fellow missionaries did was begin to learn the Hawaiian language and create an alphabet for a written format of the language. The 12-letter we use today was established by the missionaries on July 14, 1826.

Widespread Literacy

The proliferation of schoolhouses was augmented by the missionaries printing of 140,000-copies of the pī¬ʻāpā (elementary Hawaiian spelling book) by 1829 and the staffing of the schools with 1,000-plus Hawaiian teachers. (Laimana)

By 1853, nearly three-fourths of the native Hawaiian population over the age of sixteen years were literate in their own language. The short time span within which native Hawaiians achieved literacy is remarkable in light of the overall low literacy rates of the United States at that time. (Lucas)

Constitutional Government

King Kamehameha III asked missionary William Richards (who had previously been asked to serve as Queen Keōpūolani’s religious teacher) to become an advisor to the King as instructor in law, political economy and the administration of affairs generally.

Of his own free will, King Kamehameha III granted the Constitution of 1840, as a benefit to his country and people, that established his Government upon a declared plan. (Rex v. Booth – Hanifin)

That constitution introduced the innovation of representatives chosen by the people (rather than as previously solely selected by the Aliʻi.) This gave the common people a share in the government’s actual political power for the first time.

Western Medicine

Judd, a doctor by training, had originally come to the islands to serve as the missionary physician. While in that role, Judd set up part of the basement in the Mission House as a Western medicine pharmacy and doctor’s office, beginning in 1832.

Later (when Richards was sent on a diplomatic mission to the US and Europe to recognize the rights of a sovereign Hawaiʻi,) King Kamehameha III asked missionary Gerrit P Judd to resign from the mission and serve as his advisor and translator.

Distinctive Musical Tradition

Another lasting legacy left by the missionaries in the Islands related to music. Some songs were translations of Western songs into Hawaiian; some were original verse and melody.

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)

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. … some of the people who sat in darkness were beginning to turn their eyes to the light”. (Bingham)

“In view of the fact that the best modern Hawaiian music, now known the world over, owes much to the musical form of these early hymns, one wishes that history had been less restrained. Yet, even in default of any direct, consecutive record, one may piece out quite a little of the story of Hawaiian hymns from references in early letters and accounts of their printing.”

“And when one has the good fortune to touch with one’s own hands many of the early songbooks printed in Hawaiian, the search toward a complete account of them becomes a fascinating pursuit.” (Wilcox; Damon The Friend, March 1935)

“When our Protestant missionaries came to hymnody in Hawaiian – as they very soon did – they reared a natural superstructure upon this rich and rhythmical foundation of the Bible. It was a veritable treasure house.”

“But strangely, too, another very deep-seated source of balance and rhythm and figured speech flowed in the cultural consciousness of the Hawaiian people to whom these new Christian messages were being brought. Instinct in the Hawaiian mode of thought was the impulse and the act of prayer, of supplication, of praise.” (Wilcox; Damon The Friend, March 1935)

MISSION-HOUSES-drawing-by-James-P.-Chamberlain-LOC-ca-1860

June 2, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Food

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US set sail on the Thaddeus for the Hawaiian Islands. There were seven American couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity in this first company.

“(A)s the mission period progressed (the) missionaries developed a close association with ali‘i …The relationships constituted around gift giving and exchange created a necessary favorable link between American missionaries and ali‘i in this period.” (Thigpen)

The missionaries had to adapt to a new diet; for the most part, the missionaries had a very Hawaiian diet. Fish (i‘a), taro (kalo), poi, pigs (pua‘a), chickens (moa), bananas (mai‘a), sweet potatoes (‘uala) were regular parts of the missionary diet. (HMCS)

“Their manner of eating is something singular. They spread a mat on the floor, then, seat themselves on it in a circle & eat with their fingers. They have three kinds of poe, which is made of tarrow.”

“One is about as thick as starch which we use on muslin, and something resembles it. This is eaten with one finger. They get their finger in and turn it round to make it stick to it, then put it in their mouth and suck it off. When one has dipped in his fingers, the dish is passed to the next & so goes round.”

“The second kind which is thinner, is eaten in the same manner except with two fingers. The third which is still thinner with three. With this they eat fish, hogs and dogs.”(Mercy Whitney Journal, April 4, 1820)

“For their breakfast, one of the natives killed a hog by tying a rope around its neck and choking it. They dug a hole in the ground sufficiently large to put in the hog & when they had singed off the hair over a slow fire & took out the intestines, they filled the body with hot stones, putting it into the hole with hot stones both beneath & over it & then covering it with dirt.”

“In almost an hour they took it out & put it on a board to carve it. They had no knife to dress it with except a jackknife which one of the men had in his pocket. One of the natives took a dirty handkerchief off his neck put in some sugar-cane & squeezed it into a little chocolate which they had for drank. This they drank out of a gourd shell.” (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal, April 8, 1820)

In addition, the missionary diet included: melons, squashes, cabbages, cucumbers, green corn, beans, fresh pork, goat, goat’s milk, bread, rice, mountain apples, bananas, pineapples, butter, wine, plus spices such as cinnamon and allspice, beef, and fish.

The missionaries also ate New England foods shipped to them: dried apple rings, sea biscuits, salted beef and pork, and things made from wheat flour. (Smola)

Some food came from the missionaries buying food with money, from trading or bartering items like cloth and books, and from agricultural land given to the mission.

The items of New England food that they got came by supply shipments from the ABCFM usually brought out in whale ships or merchant ships that were already headed to Hawai‘i or were brought here to be planted once the missionaries landed. (HMCS)

Much of the food came in the form of gifts from the ali‘i. According to the account books, these gifts of food from the ali‘i occurred virtually daily for over 10 years. (HMCS) They also received land in order to grow food.

“On Monday the 2d, Krimakoo (Kalanimōku) and the king’s mother granted to the brethren three small pieces of land cultivated with taro, potatoes, bananas, melons, &c. and containing nineteen bread-fruit trees, from which they may derive no small portion of the fruit and vegetables needed by the family.”

“They proposed also to build, without delay, a thatched dwelling house for each of the two brethren, and a house for public worship.”

“It is interesting and worthy of our grateful remembrance, that these overtures were made known to the brethren at the time, when the Christian world were presenting their united supplications before the throne of grace for the blessing of heaven upon the efforts of missionaries.”

“Several brethren went to see the land, in the back part of Witeete (Waikiki), appropriated, some time since, by Krimakoo, to the use of the mission.”

“It contains two or three acres of upland on the side of the hill called Uala-kaa [Rolling potato] and an acre and half of low taro ground in a well watered valley of 600 acres.”

“On one side of this secluded valley they visited an old heiaoo (heiau) or place of worship in Tamahamaha’s time, consisting now simply of a stone wall from three to six feet thick, and from six to twelve feet high, enclosing a small area about twenty feet square.”

“They walked over these deserted grass grown ruins … After giving some directions to the tenants of our land, the brethren ascended, with some difficulty, a mountain, at the head of the valley, supposed to be about 3000 feet high, where they enjoyed an interesting and extensive prospect of the valley …”

“… the village and harbor of Honorooroo, the bay and district of Witeete, the salt lake at Moonarua, Pearl River or WaiEva, with its bays and plantations, the Alpine pass, called the pare (pali), between Honorooroo and Koolou, and the valley and ocean beyond …”

“… the craters of Diamond and Punchbowl Hills, many deep ravines, sharp ridges, and lofty mountains in the island of Woahoo, together with the islands of Ranai, Morokai, Mowee, and, as they believed, the more majestic heights of Maunakea, and Mounaroo on Owhyhee, at the distance of 130, or 140 miles.”

“Their assent to this commanding point occupied three hours, and was attended with some difficulty from the ruggedness of the way, the steep ascent of the rocks in some places, and the denseness of the shrubbery and vegetation in others.” (Journal of the Mission, June 4, 1823)

Manoa_Valley_from_Waikiki,_oil_on_canvas_by_Enoch_Wood_Perry_Jr.-1860s

January 22, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Makaʻāinana

In the generations that followed initial settlement, the Hawaiians developed a sophisticated system of land use and resource management. In the early 1500s, the island (moku-puni) was divided into districts or moku-o-loko.

The large moku-o-loko were further divided into political regions and manageable units of land. Ahupua‘a, another division of land, were usually marked by altars with images or representations of a pig placed upon them, thus the name ahu-pua‘a or pig altar.

The ahupua‘a were also divided into smaller manageable parcels of land—such as the ‘ili, kō‘ele, mahina ‘ai, māla, and kīhāpa – makaʻāinana lived on kuleana.

In these smaller land parcels the makaʻāinana cultivated crops necessary to sustain their families, and supplied the needs of the chiefly communities they were associated with. (Maly)

“The makaʻāinana were the planters and fishers who lived on (ma) the (ka) lands (‘āina;) the final na is a plural substantive.” (Handy) Or, they may be viewed as maka (eye) ‘āina (land) – ‘the eyes of the land.’ Pukui notes the name literally translates to ‘people that attend the land.’

“They were the commoners who were a class distinct and apart from the aliʻi, or class of chiefs, the temple kahuna or priests, koa or warriors, and konohiki or overseers.” (Handy) The rulers were set apart from the general populace, the makaʻāinana, by an elaborate, strictly enforced series of kapu or restrictions. (Mitchell)

“(T)he reason for this division being that men in the pursuit of their own gratification and pleasure wandered off in one direction and another until they were lost sight of and forgotten.” The makaʻāinana are said to have fallen to their common status because they lost their genealogies. (Malo)

The makaʻāinana made up the largest segment of the population. In addition to their work as the planters and the fishermen they were the craftsmen and the soldiers. They were the major source of manpower. (Mitchell)

The ahupua‘a supplied food and materials to the makaʻāinana who tended the land, as well as to the konohiki (overseers,) who administered the ahupua‘a and the aliʻi nui (chief,) who was responsible for several ahupua‘a.

This responsibility to provide for himself and the aliʻi on a long-term basis generally compelled the konohiki toward sustainable management of both human and natural resources. (Garovoy)

The makaʻāinana lived on the lands assigned to them by the chiefs as long as they worked acceptably and paid adequate taxes.
They could be removed from their lands by the konohiki or any chief with authority in the ahupuaʻa. If they were unhappy under a chief they were free to move to another ahupuaʻa. (Mitchell)

As long as sufficient tribute was offered and kapu (restrictions) were observed, the makaʻāinana who lived in a given ahupua‘a had access to most of the resources from mountain slopes to the ocean.

These access rights were almost uniformly tied to residency on a particular land, and earned as a result of taking responsibility for stewardship of the natural environment and supplying the needs of ones’ ali‘i. (Maly)

The makaʻāinana were allotted a plot of ground by their chief. Here they planted, irrigated, nurtured and harvested taro, sweet potatoes and other crops. They raised pigs, dogs and chickens to supplement their diet, and they had the right to fish in the sea or in protected fish ponds.

The makaʻāinana worked for the chief 6 days each month, fought in the chief’s wars, and paid taxes in the form of goods produced. Order and discipline were maintained through a strict code of laws, known as the kapu system. (UH-CLEAR)

The material necessities and the luxuries of the people of old Hawai’i were produced by these skilled workers. The culture materials which we admire in the museums and private collections today as the unique arts and crafts of Hawai’i are from the hands and minds of these “commoners who were not common.” (Mitchell)

Following the Great Māhele, by 1855, the lands in Hawaii had been distributed: the Konohiki were granted 1.5 million acres (Konohiki Lands;) King Kamehameha was granted approximately 1 million acres (Crown Lands;) and the Hawaiian government was granted 1.5 million acres (Government Lands.)

Deeds executed during the Māhele conveying land contained the phrase “ua koe ke kuleana o na kānaka,” or “reserving the rights of all native tenants,” in continuation of the reserved tenancies which characterized the traditional Hawaiian land tenure system.

The Kuleana Act of 1850 authorized the Land Commission to award fee simple titles to all native tenants who lived and worked on parcels of Crown, Government, or Konohiki Lands. Most makaʻāinana never claimed their kuleana.

Of the 29,221 adult males in Hawaii in 1850 eligible to make land claims, only 8,205 makaʻāinana actually received kuleana awards. Their awards account for a combined 28,600 acres of kuleana lands—less than one percent of the Kingdom’s lands. (Garovoy)

Hawaiians-grass_house-taro loi-PP-32-2-023

October 2, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The King’s Cape

“Centuries ago, when the rest of the world went to battle in iron clothing, the great seven-foot warriors of Hawaii donned gay war capes, fashioned of thousands of colorful feathers.”

“The principal colors used were red and yellow. The more yellow, the higher the rank of the wearer. … The first kings maintained a corps of trained ‘birdmen’ who lived in the forests and hunted these creatures.”

“They learned to imitate the call of the male and thus lure the birds close to their hiding place where they previously ‘doctored’ a flower particularly delectable to the bird they wished to catch.”

“Then they waited until the bird thrust his bill into the flower … Then the birdmen carefully removed the desired feathers and released the bird.” (Oakland Tribune, July 21, 1929)

Hawaiian featherwork consists of leis (or strings of feathers worn in the hair or around the neck,) kāhili (plumes of feathers used as royal insignia,) ahuʻula (cloaks or capes,) mahiole (helmets,) images of the god Kūkaʻilimoku (war god of Kamehameha,) or mat-like objects and other temple objects.) (Brigham)

The ‘ahuʻula (cloak or cape) was durable and comparatively small in bulk. Olonā (a fiber) was universally the basis of the Hawaiian feather capes. The Hawaiian had not looms, so a fiber net was formed as the foundation of the cape.

It was a common custom to net bands of a width from 8 to 12 inches and this was cut and joined. Regular and irregular pieces were put together to form the cape. (Brigham)

Hawaiian feather capes and cloaks were constructed by tying bundles of small feathers, usually 6-10 per bundle, to a foundation of netting. The ‘ahu‘ula of Kamehameha consists of approximately 450,000 feathers. (Bishop Museum)

To fasten feathers to this net much finer thread, often single fibers, was used and the feather was bound by 2 or 3 turns of the thread on the shaft of the feather. On the reverse, the feather did not show.

As in medieval Europe the vanquished knight was despoiled of his armor by the victor, so the chief who killed or captured his enemy took as spoils his feather cloak, helmet or lei. Generous Hawaiian chiefs often gave ‘ahuʻula as token of their friendship. (Brigham)

During the British warship Calypso’s three-and-a-half-month stay in Hawai‘i beginning on Oct. 2, 1858, its surgeon, WH Sloggett, was presented with a royal feather shoulder cape by King Kamehameha IV in gratitude for medical service he’d rendered the seriously ill King. (Soboleski)

“Sir Arthur Sloggett, surgeon-general of the British Expeditionary Forces during the World War, has presented, through a nephew who resides in the islands, the cape of Kamehameha IV, given to Sloggett’s great grandfather by the monarch.” (Oakland Tribune, July 21, 1929)

On occasion, the ship would carry King Kamehameha IV and his retinue to Hawai‘i Island. Taking advantage of the presence of the surgeon, the King requested an examination by Sloggett.

Sloggett declined to accept a fee. He felt he already was paid by the Navy so he didn’t need to be paid by the King for doing his job. (Faye)

However, as a gift Kamehameha IV delivered to the Calypso on its departure an ‘ahuʻula (red and yellow feather cape.) He hung it at his home in England. The King also gave him a small portrait of Queen Emma. (Faye, KauaiGold)

The Sloggett cape measures 15.5 inches in depth, 33 inches across at its widest width, and is made of the yellow and black feathers of the ‘o‘o (a now extinct black bird with one yellow feather indigenous to Hawai‘i), with yellow used as the background and black as ornamentation.

‘I‘iwi (a scarlet honeycreeper also indigenous to Hawai‘i) feathers also appear as ornamentation, while a network of olona fiber, intricately knotted, forms the foundation. The cape’s outside surface gleams like satin and its texture is as smooth as velvet.

Dr. Sloggett took the cape home to England, where he framed and hung it upon a wall in his house. Then in 1926, his son, Sir Arthur Sloggett, removed it from the drawing-room wall of his home in England and gave it to his nephew, Grove Farm Plantation director Henry Digby Sloggett, who returned it to Hawai‘i.

Henry Digby Sloggett passed the cape on to his son, Richard Henry Sloggett Sr, and for a time it was on loan to Honolulu’s Bishop Museum. The Sloggett cape can now be seen in the Kaua‘i Museum. (Soboleski) (Lots of information here is from Chris Faye and Kauai Museum. The image shows the Kamehameha IV ahuʻula given to Sloggett. (Faye – Kauai Museum))