Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hiki‘au Heiau

After sailing around the island and exploring its northern and eastern sides, Captain Cook landed at Kealakekua Bay early in 1779.

When Cook arrived at Kealakekua, “they called Captain Cook Lono (after the god Lono who had gone away promising to return).” (Kamakau)

When Cook went ashore, he was taken to Hiki‘au Heiau and was seated above the altar and covered with a cloak of red tapa like that about the images.

Both chiefs and commoners said to each other, “This is indeed Lono, and this is his heiau come across the Sea from Moa-ʻula-nui-akea (land in Raʻiatea in the Society Islands) across Mano-wai-nui-kai-oʻo!” (Kamakau)

There are a number of reasons why the people may have thought Cook was the god Lono:

  • He arrived during the Makahiki festival, a time when the god Lono symbolically returned from his travels
  • Like Lono, Cook had come to the Hawaiian people from the sea
  • The shapes of the English ships were reminiscent of the kapa cloth and upright standards used in the Makahiki parades
  • Cook’s ships had sailed around Hawai’i clockwise, the same direction followed by Lono’s processions
  • Kealakekua, where Cook’s ships anchored, was the site of the important Hiki‘au Heiau dedicated to Lono

When Kalani‘ōpu‘u (Ali‘i ʻAimoku (High Chief or King) of the Island of Hawai‘i) met with Cook, he treated him with hospitality, giving him hogs, taro, potatoes, bananas and other provisions.

In addition, he gave feather capes, helmets, kahili, feather lei, wooden bowls, tapa cloths and finely woven mats. Cook gave Kalani’ōpu’u gifts in return.

When Captain Vancouver visited the islands in the 1790s, he provided the following description of Hiki‘au:“Adjoining one side of the Square was the great Morai (heiau,) where there stood a kind of steeple (‘anu‘u) that ran up to the height of 60 or 70 feet, …”

“… it was in square form, narrowing gradually towards the top where it was square and flat; it is built of very slight twigs & laths, placed horizontally and closely, and each lath hung with narrow pieces of white Cloth.”

“… next to this was a House occupied by the Priests, where they performed their religious ceremonies and the whole was enclosed by a high railing on which in many parts were stuck skulls of those people, who had fallen victims to the Wrath of their Deity.. . . In the center of the Morai stood a preposterous figure carved out of wood larger than life representing the . . . supreme deity. . ..”

John Papa I‘i wrote that in ca. 1812-1813, shortly after Kamehameha’s return to Hawai‘i, the king celebrated the Makahiki and in the course of doing so he rededicated Hiki‘au, “the most important heiau in the district of Kona”.

In 1819, Louis de Freycinet also visited Hiki‘au Heiau and stated: “The one [temple] of Riorio (Liholiho) in Kayakakoua (Kealakekua) was surrounded by a simple square palisade in the center of which were twelve hideous idols of gigantic proportions. …”

“Next to them rose the light wooden obelisk-like structure that we mentioned earlier and then a small terrace surrounding a wooden platform, which was supported by two stakes driven into the ground. This platform is where they sacrifice men and animals to these terrible deities.”

“… A rather large number of rocks, piled here and there without any seeming order, covered the ground. … In the center, as well as to the extreme right of the enclosure, stood wooden huts covered with palm leaves. One of these was reserved for the king during certain ceremonies and others for the priests.”

As a side note, you recall that Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia left Hawai‘i in 1809 and sailed to the continent where he eventually inspired the first missionaries to volunteer to carry the message of Christianity to the islands.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia had wanted to join them in spreading the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi, but died in 1818 of typhus fever before the first company of missionaries sailed to Hawaiʻi in 1819, landing at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

It is interesting to note that ʻŌpūkahaʻia (prior to leaving the islands) had been under the direction of his uncle, a kahuna (priest) at the Hiki‘au Heiau. It had been the hope of his uncle that Opukahaʻia would take his place as the kahuna at Hiki‘au Heiau.

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hopu – Kanui – Honoli‘i – Humehume

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Hawaiian Islands. Four young Hawaiians joined the Pioneer Company.

Hopu (Thomas Hopu) ‘ Hopoo’

Hopu, “was born about the year 1795, in Owhyhee, one of the Sandwich Islands.”

“Among the American traders who frequently visit the Sandwich Islands, was Captain Brintnall, of New-Haven, (Conn.) who … touched and tarried some time at Owhyhee, one of these Islands.” In 1808, Hopu and Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia sailed with Captain Brintnall on the ‘Triumph.’

The ship returned to America by the way of China. “After Hopoo had lived for a season in New-Haven, his disposition seemed inclined rove than to study.” After returning from his last voyage, he returned to New-Haven, joined ʻŌpūkahaʻia and resumed his studies, including religious instruction.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries set sail on the Thaddeus for the Islands. Hopu was part of the Pioneer Company of missionaries and returned to Hawai‘i with them.

Throughout those early missionary years in Hawaiʻi, Hopu appears here and there preforming his duties; forcibly delivering a sermon, spreading cheer, comforting and aiding to those suffering.

Kanui (William Kanui) ‘Tennooe’

Kanui “was born on the Island of Oʻahu, about the close of the last century. His father belonging to the party of a defeated chief, fled with his son to Waimea, Kauai, while there (1809,) an American merchant vessel … touched for supplies.” Kanui and his brother caught a ride on the ship and ended up in Boston. (The Friend, February 5, 1864)

“Soon after their arrival, they attracted the attention of the friends of foreign missions, and when the mission school was opened … they were received as pupils (Kanui, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i”.)) (The Friend, February 5, 1864)

The boys were taught to read and write, but the only available textbooks were in the English language – there was not yet an appropriate alphabet, nor was there a single printed page in Hawaiian. For 2 ½ years, Kanui was totally immersed in studies. (Warne)

Kanui joined the Pioneer Company – he stayed in Kailua with the Thurstons. In the Kailua mission at Kona Lucy Thurston noted, “In the morning the two Hawaiian youth (Kanui and Hopu) walked away to see the gentry; and having an eye to influence, they put on their best broadcloth suits and ruffled shirts, their conspicuous watch chains, of course, dangling from the fobs of their pants.”

On July 23, 1820, Kanui was the first to return to the “old ways.” Bingham excommunicated Kanui from the church. Kanui later returned to the Islands and the first person he looked up was Hiram Bingham. Kanui was welcomed back.

Kanui died at Queen’s Hospital, January 14, 1864, at the age of about 66 years. “(H)e departed this life leaving the most substantial and gratifying evidence that he was prepared to die. His views were remarkably clear and satisfactory. Christ was his only hope, and Heaven the only desire of his heart.”

Honoli‘i (John Honoli‘i) ‘Honoree’

Honoli‘i arrived in Boston in the fall of 1815. He came over in a ship belonging to Messrs. Ropes & Co merchants of Boston. He was taken on board the ship by the consent of his friends, and replaced a sailor, who died before the ship arrived at Hawai‘i. He was curious and wanted to see the world.

“A place was soon found for him at the Rev. Mr. Vaill’s of Guilford, where he began to learn the first rudiments of the English language. Messrs. Ropes & Co., in whose ship he came to this country, not only cheerfully released him for the purpose of being educated, but very generously gave one hundred dollars towards the expense of his education.”

“He was ignorant of our language. And of every species of learning or religion, when he began to study. In about six months he began to read in a broken manner in the Bible. In the mean time, he also learned to write, which cost him but little time or labour.”

“He is industrious, faithful, and persevering, not only in his studies, but in whatever business he undertakes. He is at present with his comrades, at South Farms, in Litchfield, under the instruction of the Rev A Pettengill, expecting to join the school for heathen youth, as soon as it shall be established.”

Honoli‘i became a valuable Hawaiian language instructor because, having come at a later age, he still had good command of his native tongue. He also won praise for his considerable vigor and intellect and his discreet and stately deportment. (Kelley)

When getting back to the Islands with the Pioneer Company, Honoli‘i, shuttling between his home island of Hawaii and Maui, labored for the Church longest of all his companions. He proved an important assistant at Kailua, Honolulu.

Adjoining the Ka‘ahumanu Church in Wailuku is Honoliʻi Park. It is believed that John Honoliʻ is buried in an unmarked grave in the Kaʻahumanu Church cemetery. (Honoliʻi died in 1838.)

Humehume (George Prince) ‘Tamoree’

Humehume was born on Kauai in about 1797 to King Kaumuali‘i and, apparently, a commoner wife. For the first six years of his life he was known as Humehume. At the time of his birth his father, the young king, is believed to have been about eighteen years of age.

His father, King Kaumuali’i, suggested he be called George (after King George of England) when he went abroad. (Warne) During his short life, this son of King Kaumuali‘i was known by at least five names: Humehume, Kumoree, George Prince, George Prince Tamoree and George Prince Kaumuali‘i.

George was about six years old when he boarded the Hazard that ultimately sailed into Providence, Rhode Island on June 30, 1805 after a year-and-a-half at sea. Over the next few years he made his way to Worcester, Massachusetts.

Tamoree eventually enlisted in the US Navy and was wounded during the War of 1812. Humehume was “discovered” and taken under the wing of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM).

Humehume left the Islands as a young child and spent years around English speakers; he lost the knowledge of speaking Hawaiian. With this interaction with the Hawaiians at the school, He began “learning the Owhyhee language. This friend that lives here with me is a great benefit to me, for he can learn me the Owhyhee language. I can learn him the English language.”

Three years later, Humehume joined the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries. The Company first landed in Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820. After the Thaddeus departed for Honolulu, Humehume remained in Kailua-Kona and took Betty Davis, the half-Hawaiian daughter of Isaac Davis, as his wife, or his “rib” as he described her. In a short time they rejoined the missionary party in Honolulu.

On May 3, 1820, Humehume returned to Kauai and was reunited with his father after many years apart. Shortly following the death of King Kaumuali‘i (May 26, 1824,) Humehume joined a group of Kauai chiefs in an unsuccessful rebellion.

The closing year and a half of George’s life were spent in Honolulu under the custody of Kalanimōku, prime minster of the kingdom. A victim of influenza, George died on May 3, 1826, six years to the day of his return to Waimea, Kauai.

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Four Young Hawaiians
Four_Owyhean_Youths-Thomas Hoopoo, George Tamoree, William Tenooe and John Honoree
Four_Owyhean_Youths-Thomas Hoopoo, George Tamoree, William Tenooe and John Honoree

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Foreign Mission School

In June 1810, Mills and James Richards petitioned the General Association of the Congregational Church to establish the foreign missions. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was formed with a Board of members from Massachusetts and Connecticut.

ABCFM had its origin in the desire of several young men in the Andover Theological Seminary to preach the gospel in the heathen world. (The term ‘heathen’ (without the knowledge of Jesus Christ and God) was a term in use at the time (200-years ago.))

“The Board has established missions, in the order of time in which they are now named at Bombay, and Ceylon; among the Cherokees, Choctaws, and the Cherokees of the Arkansaw ….”

It is important to note that in the early nineteenth century all land west of the Ohio Valley was considered foreign territory. Westward continental expansion bled into the Pacific and beyond. (NPS)

By 1816, contributions to the ABCFM had declined. There were several reasons including post-War of 1812 recession and the fact that India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) were too remote to hold public interest. (Wagner)

Folks saw a couple options: bring Indian and foreign youth into white communities and teach them there, or go out to them and teach them in their own communities. They chose the former.

“If the proper means were employed, no doubt can be entertained, that many of these Youths would become the instruments of good, to themselves and to the nations to which they belong. From the declarations o: providence of God, it is reasonable to hope, that some, if favoured with a religious education, would become the subjects of divine grace.”

“The great object in educating these Youths, is, that they may be employed as instruments of salvation to their benighted countrymen. Should they become qualified to preach the Gospel, they will possess many advantages over Missionaries, from this, or any other part of the Christian World.”

Formation of Foreign Mission School

“(W)e have a school at Cornwall, Connecticut, instituted for the purpose of educating youths of Heathen nations, with a view of their being useful in their respective countries. This school commenced in May, 1817. The number of pupils is at present about thirty; fifteen of whom are Indian youths, of principal families, belonging to five or six different Indian tribes …”

“… several of these last receive an allowance from the government; and I beg to commend them all to the favor of the President, as very promising youths, in a course of education, which will qualify them for extending influence, and for important usefulness, in their respective nations. They, as well as the pupils in the schools in the nations, are exercised in various labors, and inured to industry; and the school comprises most of the branches of academical education, and is under excellent instruction and government.” (Morse, 1822)

The object of the school was the education, in the US country, of heathen youth, so that they might be qualified to become useful missionaries, physicians, surgeons, schoolmasters or interpreters, and to communicate to the heathen nations such knowledge in agriculture and the arts, as might prove the means of promoting Christianity and civilization. (ABCFM)

Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School exemplified evangelical efforts to recruit young men from indigenous cultures around the world, convert them to Christianity, educate them and train them to become preachers, health workers, translators and teachers back in their native lands.

The school’s first student was Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia (Obookiah,) a native Hawaiian from the Island of Hawaiʻi who in 1808 (after his parents had been killed) boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent. In its first year, the Foreign Mission School had 12 students, more than half of whom were Hawaiian.

Curricula operated at various levels, as some of the pupils were more advanced in their studies while others where just learning basic literacy – the more advanced students helped teach the others.

Once enrolled, students spent seven hours a day in study. Students studied penmanship, grammar, arithmetic, Latin, Greek, rhetoric, navigation, surveying, astronomy, theology, chemistry, and ecclesiastical history, among other specialized subjects.

Students rose around 5 or 6 am and ate breakfast together at 7 am in the dining room of the steward’s house. Daily classes ran from 9 am to noon, and again from 2 to 5 pm, with all sessions taking place on the first floor of the main school building just across the street from the steward’s house.

Academics were balanced with mandatory outdoor labor. Students were tasked with the maintenance of the school’s agricultural plots and assigned to labor in the fields “two (and a half) days” a week and “two at a time.” Additionally, the school enforced strict rules for students’ social lives and study times.

The coming of Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia and other young Hawaiians to the US, who awakened a deep Christian sympathy in the churches, moved the ABCFM to establish a mission at the Islands. When asked “Who will return with these boys to their native land to teach the truths of salvation?”

Bingham and his classmate, Asa Thurston, were the first to respond, and offer their services to the Board. (Congregational Quarterly) They were ordained at Goshen, Connecticut on September 29, 1819; several years earlier from Goshen came the first official request for a mission to Hawai‘i; this ordination of foreign missionaries was the first held in the State of Connecticut.

“During its brief existence, Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School taught over 100 students. More importantly, however, it connected a small town in Connecticut to larger, international events, such as the flourishing Christian missionary movement. Additionally, it reveals the boundaries of tolerance in the early 1800s.” (Connecticut History) By the time the school closed in 1826, only fourteen students remained.

Click HERE to view/download for more information on the Foreign Mission School.

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Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School
Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School
Cornwall-home_of_the_Foreign_Mission_School-by_Barber-(WC)-1835
Cornwall-home_of_the_Foreign_Mission_School-by_Barber-(WC)-1835
Steward's_House
Steward’s_House
Steward's_House
Steward’s_House
Cornwall Valley Map Sketch-1825-26
Cornwall Valley Map Sketch-1825-26
Cornwall Map-1854
Cornwall Map-1854
Litchfield and Cornwall Map
Litchfield and Cornwall Map
Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s
Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s
Four_Owyhean_Youths-Thomas Hoopoo, George Tamoree, William Tenooe and John Honoree
Four_Owyhean_Youths-Thomas Hoopoo, George Tamoree, William Tenooe and John Honoree

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‘Ōpūkaha‘ia – The Inspiration for the Hawaiian Mission

In about 1807, a young Hawaiian man, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, swam out to the ‘Triumph’, a China-bound seal skin trading ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay. Both of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s parents and his younger brother had been slain during the battles on the island.

Click HERE to view/download Background on ʻŌpūkahaʻia.

Also on board was Hopu, another young Hawaiian. They set sail for New York, stopping first in China. Russell Hubbard was also on board. “This Mr. Hubbard was a member of Yale College. He was a friend of Christ. … Mr. Hubbard was very kind to me on our passage, and taught me the letters in English spelling-book.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

They landed at New York and remained there until the Captain sold out all the Chinese goods. Then, they made their way to New England.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was eager to study and learn. He “was sitting on the steps of a Yale building, weeping. A solicitous student stopped to inquire what was wrong, and Obookiah (the spelling of his name, based on its sound) said, ‘No one will give me learning.’”

The student was Edwin Dwight. “(W)hen the question was put him, ‘Do you wish to learn?’ his countenance began to brighten. And when the proposal was made that he should come the next day to the college for that purpose, he served it with great eagerness.” (Dwight)

Later, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) formed the Foreign Mission School; ʻŌpūkahaʻia was one of its first students. He yearned “with great earnestness that he would (return to Hawaiʻi) and preach the Gospel to his poor countrymen.” Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died on February 17, 1818.

Dwight put together a book, ‘Memoirs of Henry Obookiah’ (the spelling of the name based on its pronunciation). It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries. The book about his life was printed and circulated after his death.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men and women with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Hawaiian Islands.

In giving instructions to the first missionaries, the ABCFM, noted: “You will never forget ʻŌpūkahaʻia. You will never forget his fervent love, his affectionate counsels, his many prayers and tears for you, and for his and your nation.”

“You saw him die; saw how the Christian could triumph over death and the grave; saw the radient glory in which he left this world for heaven. You will remember it always, and you will tell it to your kindred and countrymen who are dying without hope.”

Click HERE to view/download Background on ʻŌpūkahaʻia

Missionary Period

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Hawaiian Islands – they anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

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. 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)

On August 15, 1993, ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s remains were returned to Hawai‘i from Cornwall and laid in a vault facing the ocean at Kahikolu Church.

Click HERE to view/download Background on ʻŌpūkahaʻia.

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Henry_Opukahaia_ca.-1810s

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“Alloah o‘e”

About the commencement of the year 1818, Obookiah became seriously indisposed, and was obliged wholly to abandon his studies. A physician was called, and speedy attention paid to his complaints.

It was soon found that his disease was the typhus fever; and a thorough course of medicine was commenced, which after one or two weeks appeared to check the progress of the disorder, and confident expectations were entertained of his recovery.

Hope continued to be cherished until it became evident that his strength was wasting, and that his constitution, naturally strong, was giving way to the violence of the disease, which had taken fast hold of him, and had not been essentially removed.

Notwithstanding the unremitted care and the skill of his attending physician, and the counsel of others called to consult with him, the kindest and most judicious attentions of the family into which he had fallen, and the universal solicitude of his surrounding friends, he continued to decline …

In this last lingering sickness, the christian character of Obookiah was advantageously exhibited. His patience, cheerfulness, resignation to the will of God, gratitude for the kindness of his friends, and benevolence, were particular subjects of notice and conversation to those who attended him during this interesting period.

His physician said of him that ‘he was the first patient whom he had ever attended through a long course of fever, that had not in some instances manifested a greater or less degree of peevishness and impatience.’

Mrs. S. in whose family he was confined, and who devoted her attention exclusively to the care of him, observed, that ‘this had been one of the happiest and most profitable periods of her life …

… that she had been more than rewarded for her cares and watchings by day and night, in being permitted to witness his excellent example, and to hear his godly conversation.’

By this friend a part of his observations and answers, particularly within a few of the last days of his sickness, were committed to writing; and are as follows:

To one of his countrymen, as he entered the room in the morning, after he had passed a night of suffering, he said, ‘I almost died last night. It is a good thing to be sick, S , we must all die—and ‘tis no matter where we are.’

Being asked by another ‘Are you afraid to die?’ he answered, ‘No, I am not.’ A friend said to him, ‘I am sorry to find you so very sick’ – he replied, ‘Let God do as he pleases.’

He appeared very affectionate to all, especially his countrymen. He insisted on some one of them being with him continually; would call very earnestly for them if they were out of his sight; and would be satisfied only with this, that they were gone to eat or to rest. To one of them he said, ‘W- I thank you for all you have done for me; you have done a great deal; but you will not have to wait on me much more, I shall not live.’

To another, ‘My dear friend S-, you have been very kind to me; I think of you often; I thank you; but I must die, G- , and so must you. Think of God, G- , never fail.’

To another, ‘You must stay; perhaps I finish off this forenoon. How much God has done for me and for you!’

The day before he died, ‘after a distressing night, and a bewildered state of mind, he appeared to have his reason perfectly, and requested that his countrymen might be called.’

After they came in he inquired several times for one of them who was absent, and for whom he had no hope; and said, ‘I have not seen him much – I shan’t see him – I want to talk to him.’

When the rest had seated themselves around his bed, he addressed them most feelingly in his native language, as long as his strength would permit.

As much of the address as could be recollected, was afterwards written in English by one of his countrymen, and was essentially as follows : –

‘My dear countrymen, I wish to say something to you all – you have been very kind to me – I feel my obligation to you – I thank you. And now, my dear friends, I must beseech you to remember that you have got to follow me.

Above all things, make your peace with God – you must make Christ your friend – you are in a strange land – you have no father – no mother to take care of you when you are sick – but God will be your friend if you put your trust in him.

He has raised up friends here, for you and for me – I have strong faith in God – I am willing to die when the voice of my Saviour call me hence – I am willing, if God design to take me.

But I cannot leave you without calling upon the mercy of God to sanctify your souls and fit you for Heaven. When we meet there we shall part no more.

Remember, my friends, that you are poor – it is by the mercy of God that you have comfortable clothes, and that you are so kindly supported. You must love God – I want to have you make your peace with God.

Can’t you see how good God is to you? God has done great deal for you and for me. Remember that you have got to love God, or else you perish for ever.

God has given his Son to die for you—I want to have you love God very much. I want to talk with you by and by—my strength fails – I can’t now – I want to say more’.

As death seemed to approach, Mrs. S. said to him, ‘Henry, do you think you are dying?’ He answered, ‘Yes, ma’am’ – and then said. ‘Mrs. S. I thank you for your kindness.’

She said, ‘I wish we might meet hereafter.’ He replied, ‘I hope we shall’ – and taking her hand, affectionately bid her farewell.
Another friend taking his hand, told him that he ‘must die soon.’ He heard it without emotion, and with a heavenly smile bade him his last adieu.

He shook hands with all his companions present, and with perfect composure addressed to them the parting salutation of his native language, ‘Alloah o‘e.’ – My love be with you.

But a few minutes before he breathed his last, his physician said to him, ‘How do you feel now, Henry?’ He answered. ‘Very well – I am not sick – I have no pain – I feel well.’

The expression of his countenance was that of perfect peace. He now seemed a little revived, and lay in a composed and quiet state for several minutes.

Most of those who were present, not apprehending an immediate change, had seated themselves by the fire.

No alarm was given, until one of his countrymen who was standing by his bed-side, exclaimed, ‘Obookiah’s gone.’ (ʻŌpūkahaʻia died February 17, 1818 – 200-years ago.)

All sprang to the bed. The spirit had departed – but a smile, such as none present had ever beheld – an expression of the final triumph of his soul, remained upon his countenance. (All above is directly from Memoirs of Obookiah)

“A few months after his death a book appeared in New England – a thin, brown-covered volume of a hundred small pages. It told, in his own words and the words of those who had known him the story of the boy’s life and death.”

“The printer who set the type, struck off the sheets and bound them together did not know it, but that book was to launch a ship and a movement that was to transform Hawai‘i.” (Albertine Loomis’ Introduction in Memoirs of Obookiah)

“Memoirs of Henry Obookiah by Edwin W Dwight is the story of a young Hawaiian man from 19th century Hawai’i who lived for only 26 years, and yet whose brief existence changed the course of a nation and the people of Hawai‘i.” (Lyon)

Ōpūkaha’ia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Hawaiian Islands.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Hawaiian Islands.

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Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s
Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s