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March 22, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Russian Colonization Thoughts in 1808

“There is nothing certain about trade with the islands; King Kamehameha, who lives on the main island, Hawaii, did not allow his subjects to engage in trade.”

“He did all the trading himself, maintaining large warehouses filled with European goods. He was not willing to sell his goods at a reasonable price.” (Hagemeister; Pierce)

“Because of the climate, one of these islands with small harbors can produce foods in quantities sufficient to supply [the population] of a large part of Asiatic Russia …”

“… sugar-cane, from which rum as well as sugar can be obtained; rice, which has been planted as an experiment and has yielded a good crop; also the bread plant, taro, which is similar to flour and is an important item.”

“If we are to undertake a settlement, we should start it on the island of Molokai, which is more fertile than the others. In the southern part there is a port for small boats. Near this island are the best fisheries.” (Hagemeister; Pierce)

“It would appear that the Russians had determined to form a settlement on these islands; at least, preparations were made for the purpose; and I was informed by the commander that if I chose I might get a situation as interpreter.”

“Being sure of meeting with American vessels at the Sandwich islands, in which I might get to Europe or America, I expressed a desire to embrace this opportunity of quitting Kodiak, and was accordingly permitted to take my passage in the ship.” (Campbell)

The Neva had a crew of seventy-five seamen, belonging to the Russian imperial service, and was commanded by Captain Hageimeister (Leontii Adrianovich Gagemeister (German: Karl August Ludwig von Hagemeister)), who had been bred in the British navy, and could speak English fluently. They left December 11, 1808.

They sailed for the Sandwich Islands, with instructions to establish a colony there, and to survey the field with a view to future occupation by the Russians.”

On January 27, 1809, “at day break, we discovered the mountains of Owhyhee, at the distance of ten leagues. In the afternoon, we were close in with the land, and coasted along the north side of the island.”

“We made sail in the evening, and reached Mowee the following day. … (and) weighed on the morning of tile 29th, and passing between the islands of Morokai and Ranai, reached the harbour of Hanaroora, on the south side of Wahoo, the same evening.” (Campbell)

“Arriving at a harbor on the southern side of O‘ahu, the ship was boarded by a large canoe, in which was seated, dressed in European costume, King Kamehameha, then the potentate of the Hawaiian group.”

“‘Immediately on his coming on board,’ says (Alexander) Campbell, a Scotch sailor who acted as Hagemeister’s interpreter, ‘the king entered into earnest conversation with the captain. Among other questions, he asked whether the ship was English or American.’”

“‘Being informed that she was Russian, he answered, ‘Meitei, meitei,’ or ‘Very good.’”

“‘A handsome scarlet cloak, edged and ornamented with ermine, was presented to him from the governor of the Aleutian Islands.’”

“‘After trying it on, he gave it to his attendants to be taken ashore. I never saw him use it afterwards. In other canoes came Tamena, one of his queens, Crymakoo, his brother-in-law, and other chiefs of inferior rank.’” (Bancroft)

“Fortunately, the Scotchman, Alexander Campbell, was with the expedition in the capacity of interpreter, and in conversation with a countryman at Lāhainā (MacCallum) in a moment of lucky indiscretion let the Russian cat out of the bag by revealing the secret purpose of the expedition …”

“… for which he was soundly rated by the captain for his frankness, who immediately sought to cloak his real purpose by giving out that he had an eye single to trade.”

“Though nothing came of this colonization scheme at the time, it had an eye-opening effect on Kamehameha, who the next year made advances towards placing his kingdom under the protection of the British flag.” (Emerson)

“(N)o attempt was made to found a settlement, though, if we can believe Kamehameha, Hagemeister tried to bring the natives of O‘ahu under subjection by threatening that ships of war should be sent against them.”

“After calling at other islands in the Hawaiian group, and bartering seal skins and walrus tusks for salt, sandalwood, and pearls, the captain sailed for Kamchatka, and thence for Novo Arkhangelsk, setting forth on his homeward voyage the following year.”

“In his report to Baranof, whom, as we shall see later, he succeeded in office, he states that taro, maize, and sugar could be purchased at moderate prices in Oahu and the neighboring islands, but that European goods were held at extravagant rates.”

“The control of the company’s affairs had long been felt as too severe a strain by the chief manager, who was now more than sixty years of age.”

“He had several times requested that a successor be appointed, and twice his request had been granted, but on both occasions the official who was sent to relieve him died on the way.” (Bancroft)

Hagemeister-WC

March 21, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Dominion of New England

Following the period of Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth in England, the ‘Restoration’ in 1660 marked the return of Charles II as king, who had been in exile in Europe and then reclaimed the crown of England. The bishops were restored to Parliament, which established a strict Anglican orthodoxy. (Britannia)

After the Restoration, Charles II cast a doubtful eye on the Massachusetts Bay Colony that sometimes ignored English civil law if it conflicted with biblical demands. (Brooks)

In 1683 Charles insisted that they revise its charter to weaken the influence of biblical teachings and eliminate the stringent voting requirements. The Massachusetts government said no. With that, Charles revoked the charter. Massachusetts remained in political limbo until 1685, when James II came to the throne. Then conditions grew far worse. (Brooks)

In an effort to centralize administration of his growing American empire, King James decided on a reorganization of the colonies. He combined several of the northern colonies into one large unit under direct loyal control. (Brooks)

King James II chose Sir Edmund Andros to govern the Dominion. Andros had previously served as the governor of New York and New Jersey from 1674 to 1681. (Brooks)

The constitution of the Dominion of New England was determined by the commission and instructions which were issued to Governor Andros and modeled on those given to the governors of the first royal colony, Virginia. (Barnes)

The Dominion of New England, included Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Plymouth Plantations, New Jersey and New York, both newly acquired from the Dutch. (Brooks)

The formation of the Dominion of New England was the most complete expression of the British colonial policy in the seventeenth century. (Barnes)

By it England attempted to define the status of the New England colonies, to bring them into a closer relationship with the mother country, and to reform the colonial policy in matters of trade and defense.

The establishment of Dominion government was variously received by the different parties and factions. The moderates, although supporting it at the outset, objected to the great concentration of power in the hands of the governor and council and to their extensive interference with long-established precedents and traditions.

The strict Puritans hated it because it destroyed their theocracy and brought a remodeling of their institutions on the English pattern. (Barnes)

According to the book The Imperial Executive in America, it was the lack of local legislatures that became the biggest source of strife in the Dominion:

The Dominion of New England did not have a representative assembly. All legislation would be adopted by the governor and council subject to the approval of the king.

William Blathwayt’s assistant, John Povey, accurately surmised that it “will put Sir Edmund to his utmost dexterity” to govern Massachusetts without a representative body.

Andros himself had no aversion to an assembly and in New York had requested the duke to permit him to call such a body. The absence of an assembly was probably the chief reason underlying unrest in Massachusetts.

Even before Andros arrived, [Edward] Randolph had warned the Privy Council that he found “the country dissatisfied for want of an Assembly of Representatives … with power to raise money, and make laws, etc.” Randolph’s suggestions to provide representative government fell on deaf ears.

Boston was chosen as the headquarters of the Dominion of New England. Andros arrived in Boston on December 20, 1686 and immediately took control of the Dominion.

Town meetings were severely restricted, the local legislatures were disbanded and a council was created to assist Andros in governing the colony. (Brooks)

Andros’ council was based in Boston and distance made it difficult for many of the council members, who were not paid for their service or compensated for their travel expenses, to attend the meetings. As a result, Andros often passed legislation that the council had not even voted on.

One of the first things Andros did as Governor of the Dominion was find a way to raise revenue. In March of 1687, Andros proposed a penny per pound tax for imports, estates and poll taxes. The council opposed this measure but discovered shortly after that Andros had signed it into law without a vote.

The following year, when these taxes failed to raise enough revenue, Andros also raised levies on wine, rum and brandy, which again went against the wishes of many of the councilors.

Also, because the old charter was revoked, all the old land titles were brought into question. All landowners were informed that the titles to their land had been voided. The land now belonged to the king and the landowners were required to petition the government for new titles. (Brooks)

Other measures Andros took involved cracking down on the smuggling of imports and goods that arose after the passage of the Navigation Act and, due to King James II Declaration of Indulgence, holding Anglican services in the local churches for the first time.

In 1686, Andros founded the King’s Chapel congregation, which was the first Anglican church in colonial New England.

In addition, although the puritan ban on Christmas was lifted in 1681, the puritans still disapproved of Christmas and were offended when Andros attended Christmas services, with sixty redcoats following behind him, the first month he arrived in Boston.

According to the New England Historical Society website, Andros committed a similar offense again on Good Friday:

On March 23, 1687, the Wednesday of Passion Week, Andros ordered his agent to ask for the keys to the Old South Church (then the Third Church) for Anglican services. He was rebuffed. A Puritan delegation visited him to explain why they couldn’t allow it.

On Good Friday, he ordered the sexton to throw open the doors of Old South and ring the bell for ‘those of the Church of England.’ Whether the sexton was persuaded or coerced is not known, but the doors were open, the bell rung and the service held. It was an affront the Puritans would not forgive.

In 1688, when the puritans in Boston refused to sell land to the congregation to build a church on, Andros directed King’s Chapel to be built on public land in the corner of an old puritan burying ground on Tremont street. (In 1749, the original small wooden church built there was eventually replaced with the large granite church that still stands there today.)

The British government also issued a Royalist flag for the Dominion: A white flag with a red cross and a gold crown embossed with the letters J.R.

When New York was added to the Dominion in 1688, the Lieutenant Governor of New York at the time, Thomas Dongan, was dismissed and Andros was sent to New York that summer to establish his commission.

The colonists strongly resented the Dominion of New England and Andros, whom they viewed as greedy and arrogant. Andros offended the puritans when he established the Church of England as the official religion of the colony. He also alienated the non-puritans when he completely abolished the local legislatures, which they had struggled to be included in for years.

When Andros instituted the new taxes, both puritans and non-puritans refused to pay them. The colonists were also angered by the presence of Andros’ small army of soldiers whom they accused of teaching people to “drink, blaspheme, curse and damn.”

The Dominion was disbanded after the Glorious Revolution took place in England, during which James II was pressured to abdicate the throne in December of 1688 after England was invaded by James II’s son-in-law, William of Orange.

On February 13, 1689 his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband, William of Orange, became King and Queen of England. The news sparked a mob to rise up in Boston and overthrow Andros.

The insurgents seized Andros on April 18 and set up a Council for Safety, which was led by Simon Bradstreet and included Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, who later became judges in the Salem Witch Trials.

The council handled affairs in the colony for a few months until official confirmation of a new regime came from William and Mary.

On May 22, the council voted to return the colony to its former puritan-run government. This prompted the other colonies that had been included in the Dominion to assert their independence and reinstate their old charters as well.

The Dominion of New England forever changed the culture of the New England colonies from a strict puritan society independent of Britain into a much more secular royal colony.

Following the failure of the Dominion of New England, in the late-1690s and early-1700s the British government began to follow a policy of salutary neglect, during which it relaxed its enforcement of laws and trade regulations in the colonies.

This came to an end though after the Seven Year’s War in 1763 when the government, saddled with debt from the war, began passing new laws and taxes in the colonies, causing the colonist’s lingering resentment to build until it erupted in the American Revolution in the late 1770s. (Brooks)

Click the following link to a general summary about the Dominion of New England:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Dominion-of-New-England.pdf

March 20, 2022 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hale O Papa

In Hawaiian culture, the natural and cultural resources are one and the same. Native traditions describe the birth of the islands and the life that exists on them in terms of genealogical accounts.

All natural forms of the environment are believed to be embodiments of gods and deities. From godly forces the Hawaiian Islands are born of Wākea (the expanse of the sky‐father) and Papahānaumoku (Papa who gave birth to the islands).

Wākea and Papa are credited for being the parents of the first man, Hāloa, the ancestor of all people. Commoners and ali‘i were all descended from the same ancestors, Wākea (sky father) and Papa (earth mother.)

It is from this genealogical thread that Hawaiians address their environment and it forms the basis of the Hawaiian system of land use.

Hawaiians had many forms of worship and places where they practiced; invoking peace, war, health or successful fishing and farming, etc. Formalized worship, offerings and/or sacrifice by chiefs took place in heiau (temples.)

There are many types and forms of heiau, which served as temples and ceremonial sites. Some were used for state worship -where only the paramount ruler of the island and priests were allowed to enter; others had specialized purposes.

One such specialized heiau was the Hale O Papa (House of Papa) – which were designated specifically to women; kapu (forbidden) to men.

The Hale O Papa were associated with the great Kū heiau (luakini), which demanded human sacrifice and were usually in areas of greater population. Without a luakini, there would be no Hale O Papa, according to Samuel Kamakau.

Luakini heiau served as the “seat of government” for the ruling Chiefs. The luakini heiau was the core of the “Royal Center,” which included the kauhale (group of houses) of the Chief and supporters and was surrounded by a large and densely-populated population.

The luakini heiau in Hālawa valley in the district of Ewa is most likely where Kumuhonua established his Royal Center, while Moikeha established his domain from the mouth of the Wailua river on Kaua‘i and Olopana did the same in Waipi‘o Valley on the island of Hawai‘i; while maintaining their political positions at the political marae of Taputapuatea, on the island of Raiatea. (Yardley)

Malo describes the ceremonies and rites in dedicating the luakini heiau: “(A)ll the female chiefs, relations of the king, came to the temple bringing a malo of great length as their present to the idol.”

“All the people assembled at the house of Papa to receive the women of the court. One end of the malo was borne into the heiau (being held by the priests), while the women chiefs kept hold of the other end; the priest meantime reciting the service of the malo, which is termed kaioloa.” (Malo)

“All the people being seated in rows, the kahuna who was to conduct the service (nana e papa ka pule) stood forth; and when he uttered the solemn word elieli (completed), the people responded with noa.”

“The kahuna said, “Ia e! O Ia!” and the people responded with noa honua (freedom to the ground). The consecration of the temple was now accomplished, and the tabu was removed from it, it was noa loa.” (Malo)

“With such rites and ceremonies as these was a luakini built and dedicated. The ceremonies and service of the luakini were very rigorous and strict. There was a proverb which said the work of the luakini is like hauling ohia timber, of all labor the most arduous.” (Malo)

Hale O Papa have been identified at Kaho‘olawe, Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau (Hawai‘i Island,) Hālawa Valley (O‘ahu,) Waimea Valley (O‘ahu,) Moku‘ula (Maui) and Honua‘ula (Maui.)

“The archaeological findings suggest that these activities included cooking, construction of structures supported by posts, and manufacture and use of stone tools. Distinct sleeping and storage areas, as well as a possible family shrine, are also present. Occupation of this site began as early as the fourteenth century.”

Kamakau notes that such heiau belonged to the high chiefesses (pi‘o and ni‘aupi‘o) and “were for the good of the women and the children borne for the benefit of the land. … Only the sacred chiefesses, whose tabu equalled that of a god, went into the Hale – o – Papa and ate of the dedicated foods of the heiau.”

The nearby luakini, could be built only by an ali‘i nui, or paramount chief. Luakini were built in times of war and other crises and allowed for human sacrifice to plead for the blessing of the gods.

Hale O Papa, or Heiau No Na Wahine, was used by royal women who were not permitted to worship the gods of the men, or to touch or eat foods which were acceptable offerings to the male gods.

There are different interpretations regarding how this feature was used, but generally described as a women’s heiau for worship, menstruation, pregnancy or as a place of seclusion for chiefly women.

This way of life began disappearing with Cook’s arrival in 1778 and was eliminated when Liholiho abolished the kapu system in 1819.

Ki_i Pohaku o Hale o Papa-Halawa (Tiger)

Ki_i Pohaku o Hale o Papa-Halawa (Yardley)

Ruins_of_Puu_O_Mahuka_Heiau

PuuoMahukaHeiau-topcorner-toward-Kaena

Puu_o_Mahuka_Heiau

Puu O Mahuka Heiau-NPS

Puu O Mahuka Heiau-GoogleEarth

Puu O Mahuka Heiau-plaque

Puu O Mahuka Heiau_noting Hale O Papa (on right)-(pleasantfields-com)

Puu O Mahuka Heiau-(NPS)-1962

Puu O Mahuka Heiau-noting Hale O Papa-(pleasantfields-com)

Hale o Papa-Puuhonua o Honaunau-GoogleEarth-zoom

Hale o Papa-Puuhonua o Honaunau-GoogleEarth

Hale_o_Papa-Puuhonua_o_Honaunau-Wall-1907

Hale_O_Papa-Puuhonua_o_Honaunau-Layout-noting_Women’s_Heiau-Baker-1921

Hale o Papa-Puuhonua o Honaunau

March 19, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

French Frigate Shoals (Kānemilohaʻi)

Is it just me, or can others see an eerie similarity between Lānaʻi and French Frigate Shoals?

Here’s another interesting quirk between them – each is 18-miles long. (Can you hear the Twilight Zone theme, too?)

French Frigate Shoals was my first experience in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) (now the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.)

After a 3½ plane ride, we landed on Tern Island (it looks like an aircraft carrier in the reef – it’s just off to the left at the top of the image.)

French Frigate Shoals is the first atoll to the northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands and is also the midpoint of the archipelago (about 490-miles WNW of Oʻahu) and the largest coral reef area in Hawai‘i.

According to the Monument Management Plan, this low, flat area is called Kānemilohaʻi (flat, sand island) is where Pele is said to have left one of her older brothers, Kānemiloha‘i, as a guardian during her first journey to Hawai‘i from Kahiki (Tahiti.)

Pele continued down the archipelago until finally settling in Kīlauea, Hawai‘i Island, where she is said to reside today.

“Shoal of the French Frigates” was rediscovered (and named by reference) on November 6, 1786 when two French frigates, the Astrolabe and the Boussole, narrowly averted running into the reef.

French Frigate Shoals is the largest atoll in the chain, taking the form of an 18-mile long crescent. It is estimated to be 12.3 million years old.

Tern Island (approximately 30-acres) in the atoll is the site of a Fish & Wildlife Service field station, which occupies a former U.S. Coast Guard Long-Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) station that closed in 1979.

Within the NWHI, French Frigate Shoals is the center of diversity for corals (more than 41 species, including the genus Acropora, which is all but absent elsewhere in Hawai‘i) and reef fishes (178 species).

A relatively deep (80 to 100 feet) coral reef at this atoll has been recently discovered to function as a spawning site for Ulua (the giant trevally); a rare discovery of spawning sites for top predators.

The lagoon is also unusual in that it contains two exposed volcanic pinnacles representing the last vestiges of the high island from which the atoll was derived, as well as nine low, sandy islets. The sand islets are small, shift position, and disappear and reappear.

The largest pinnacle, La Perouse Pinnacle, is a rock outcrop in the center of the atoll; it’s reportedly the oldest and most remote volcanic rock in the Hawaiian chain.

These islets provide important habitat for the world’s largest breeding colony of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.

The atoll’s sandy islets also provide nesting sites for 90 percent of the threatened green turtle population breeding in the Hawaiian Archipelago.

On a tour around Tern Island we saw monk seals and turtles resting on the sandy shore, as well markings in the sand of a turtle who laid her eggs the night before.

And lots of birds … mostly terns —> Tern Island.

On that trip, we were unexpectedly greeted by Jean-Michel Cousteau; he was on the island during his filming of “Voyage to Kure.”

March 18, 2022 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Daniel Dole

Daniel Dole was born in Bloomfield (now Skowhegan,) Maine, September 9, 1808. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1836 and Bangor Theological Seminary in 1839, and then married Emily Hoyt Ballard (1807-1844,) October 2, 1840 in Gardiner, Maine.

The education of their children was a concern of missionaries. There were two major dilemmas, (1) there were a limited number of missionary children and (2) existing schools (which the missionaries taught) served adult Hawaiians (who were taught from a limited curriculum in the Hawaiian language.)

During the first 21-years of the missionary period (1820-1863,) no fewer than 33 children were either taken back to the continent by their parents. (Seven-year-old Sophia Bingham, the first Caucasian girl born on Oʻahu, daughter of Hiram and Sybil, was sent to the continent in 1828. She is my great-great-grandmother.)

On July 11, 1842, fifteen children met for the first time in Punahou’s original E-shaped building. The first Board of Trustees (1841) included Rev. Daniel Dole, Rev. Richard Armstrong, Levi Chamberlain, Rev. John S Emerson and Gerrit P Judd. (Hawaiian Gazette, June 17, 1916)

By the end of that first year, 34-children from Sandwich Islands and Oregon missions were enrolled, only one over 12-years old. Tuition was $12 per term, and the school year covered three terms. (Punahou)

By 1851, Punahou officially opened its doors to all races and religions. (Students from Oregon, California and Tahiti were welcomed from 1841 – 1849.)

December 15 of that year, Old School Hall, “the new spacious school house,” opened officially to receive its first students. The building is still there and in use by the school.

“The founding of Punahou as a school for missionary children not only provided means of instruction for the children, of the Mission, but also gave a trend to the education and history of the Islands.”

“In 1841, at Punahou the Mission established this school and built for it simple halls of adobe. From this unpretentious beginning, the school has grown to its present prosperous condition.” (Report of the Superintendent of Public Education, 1900)

The curriculum at Punahou under Dole combined the elements of a classical education with a strong emphasis on manual labor in the school’s fields for the boys, and in domestic matters for the girls. The school raised much of its own food. (Burlin)

Some of Punahou’s early buildings include, Old School Hall (1852,) music studios; Bingham Hall (1882,) Bishop Hall of Science (1884,) Pauahi Hall (1894,) Charles R. Bishop Hall (1902,) recitation halls; Dole Hall and Rice Hall (1906,) dormitories; Cooke Library (1908) and Castle Hall (1913,) dormitory.

Dole Street, laid out in 1880 and part of the development of the lower Punahou pasture was named after Daniel Dole (other nearby streets were named after other Punahou presidents.)

Emily died on April 27, 1844 in Honolulu; Daniel Dole married Charlotte Close Knapp (1813-1874) June 22, 1846 in Honolulu, Oʻahu.

Daniel Dole resigned from Punahou in 1855 to become the pastor and teacher at Kōloa, Kauai. There, he started the Dole School that later became Kōloa School, the first public school on Kauai. Like Punahou, it filled the need to educate mission children.

The first Kōloa school house was a single room, a clapboard building with bare timbers inside and a thatched roof. Both missionary children as well as part-Hawaiian children attended the school. (Joesting)

Due to growing demand, the school was enlarged and boarding students were admitted. Reverend Elias Bond in Kohala sent his three oldest children to the Kōloa School, as did others from across the islands. (Joesting)

Charlotte died on Kauai in 1874 and Daniel Dole died August 26, 1878 in Kapaʻa, Kauai. Dole’s sons include Sanford Ballard Dole (President of the Republic of Hawaiʻi and 1st Territorial Governor of Hawaiʻi.) Daniel Dole was great uncle to James Dole, the ‘Pineapple King.’