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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Ka‘ahumanu’s Death

Almost 200 years ago, the American Protestant missionaries arrived in the Islands. Their leader was Reverend Hiram Bingham – Sybil … his wife of 2-weeks … joined him. They are my great-great-great grandparents.

They were preachers and teachers. It was important to them that Hawaiians had a personal experience reading the written “Word of the God of Heaven;” but back then, Hawaiian was only spoken, not written. That meant that each needed to learn to read.

So, Hiram and others developed an alphabet and formulated a written language, taught Hawaiians to be literate in their own language and translated the Bible for them to read. The missionaries learned the language, and were soon teaching their lessons in Hawaiian, rather than English.

As teaching expanded, the missionaries’ focus was on the Head, Heart and Hand. In addition to the rigorous academic drills (Head,) the schools provided religious and moral guidance (Heart,) and manual and vocational training (Hand.)

In collaboration with the aliʻi, Hiram and the other missionaries:
• Introduced Christianity to the Islands
• Created the written Hawaiian language and brought about widespread literacy
• Helped formulate a constitutional government
• Made Western medicine available, and
• Introduced a distinctive musical tradition with harmony and choral singing

About a year after Hiram arrived, Kaʻahumanu visited the mission and gave them supplies; it was the first time she showed interest in the teachings of the missionaries, and her first request for prayer. From that point on, Kaʻahumanu came into constant contact with the mission.

Hiram found a friend in Kaʻahumanu – she and other ali‘i visited often. In the wood frame house at Missions Houses, you can correctly say, “Kaʻahumanu slept here.”

A little side story on Hiram and Kaʻahumanu … shortly after arriving in the Islands, with a piece of driftwood, Hiram made a rocking chair for his wife – in describing it, Sybil said, “A box or trunk has been our only seat. My husband, I believe, was never a chair-maker before, but happy for me and the Mission family, that he is everything.”

On Sundays, the rocker was taken to the thatched Kawaiahaʻo church as a seat for Sybil, the pastor’s wife. Her wish was that when she died, she might be found in that chair … her wish was granted when she died in her rocker on February 27, 1848.

The rocker had its admirers, including Kaʻahumanu. She asked Hiram to make her one just like it – he did, it is one of the earliest known pieces of koa furniture in Hawaiʻi.

That was not the only gift Hiram gave Kaʻahumanu.

In 1825, Kaʻahumanu was baptized. Lucy Thurston noted, “She became distinguished for her humility, kindness and the affability of her deportment, regarded the missionaries as her own children, and treated them with the tenderness of maternal love.”

Lucy continued, “Her influence and authority had long been paramount and undisputed with the natives, and was now discreetly used for the benefit of the nation.”

In mid-1832, Kaʻahumanu became ill and was taken to her home in Mānoa. Hiram came to her bedside. “Her strength failed daily.”

Hiram noted, “About the last words she used were: ‘Here, here am I, O Jesus, … Grant me a gracious smile.’”

“A little after this she called (Hiram) to her and as (he) took her hand, she asked. ‘Is this Bingham?’ (He) replied, ‘It is I.’”

She finished, “‘I am going now.’” Hiram replied: “‘May Jesus go with you, go in peace.’”

Hiram noted, “The slow and solemn tolling of the bell struck on the pained ear as it had never done before in the Sandwich Islands.”

“In other bereavements, after the Gospel took effect, we had not only had the care and promise of our heavenly Father, but a queen-mother remaining, whose force, integrity, and kindness, could be relied on still.”

“But words can but feebly express the emotions that struggled in the bosoms of some who counted themselves mourners in those solemn hours; while memory glanced back through her most singular history, and faith followed her course onward far into the future.”

Her death took place at ten minutes past 3 o’clock on the morning of June 5, 1832, “after an illness of about 3 weeks in which she exhibited her unabated attachment to the Christian teachers and reliance on Christ, her Saviour.” (Hiram Bingham)

Hiram’s gift to Kaʻahumanu … and one that he shared with all Hawaiians across the Islands … was love … and hope … and guidance to the way of the Lord, salvation and eternal life.

© 2024 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Kaahumanu,_retouched_image_by_J._J._Williams_after_Louis_Choris
Kaahumanu,_retouched_image_by_J._J._Williams_after_Louis_Choris

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Chinatown

Captain Cook’s voyage of exploration and ‘contact’ with the Islands in 1778 opened Hawai‘i to the world – it also showed the world the possibilities of the fur trade via the North American Northwest Coast. (Quimby)

The maritime fur trade focused on acquiring furs of sea otters, seals and other animals from the Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the US.

American and British trading ships began plying between the American Northwest and South China, stopping at various ports in the Hawaiian Islands to replenish their supplies of food and water.

“In the month of January 1788, in conjunction with several British merchants resident in India, I purchased and fitted out two vessels, named the Felice and the Iphigenia … (each) built with sufficient strength to resist the tempestuous weather so much to be apprehended in the Northern Pacific Ocean, during the winter season.”

“The crews of these ships consisted of Europeans and China-men, with a larger proportion of the former. The Chinese were, on this occasion, shipped as an experiment: – they have been generally esteemed an hardy, and industrious, as well as ingenious race of people …”

“… they live on fish and rice, and, requiring but low wages, it was a matter also of economical consideration to employ them; and during the whole of the voyage there was every reason to be satisfied with their services.-If hereafter trading posts should be established on the American coast, a colony of these men would be a very important acquisition.” (Mears, 1790)

Shortly thereafter, in 1790, the American schooner Eleanora, with Simon Metcalf as master, reached Maui from Macao using a crew of 10-Americans and 45-Chinese. (Nordyke & Lee)

Crewmen from China were employed as cooks, carpenters and artisans, and Chinese businessmen sailed as passengers to America. Some of these men disembarked in Hawai‘i and remained as new settlers.

Sandalwood was first recognized as a commercial product in Hawai‘i in 1791 by Captain Kendrick (mainland merchants brought cotton, cloth and other goods for trade with the Hawaiians for their sandalwood – who would then trade the sandalwood in China.) Additional Chinese may have left their ships during the sandalwood trading.

Near the mouth of Nuʻuanu Stream, makai of King Street, is called Kapuʻukolo, a place “where white men and such dwelt.” At a nearby coral point was “where the first custom house stood.”

“In the vicinity of the custom house at the beach was a house for the first Chinese ever seen here. There were two or three of them, and they prepared food for the captains of the ship which took sandalwood to China.” (‘I‘i, Barrere & Rockwood)

“Because the faces of these people were unusual and their speech – which is not commonly heard – strange, a great number of persons went to look at them.” (I‘i; Kai)

Robert C Wyllie noted that by 1844 some Chinese had opened shops near the waterfront: “There are three stores kept by Chinamen, viz: Samping & Co, Ahung & Co and Tyhune.” (Wyllie, The Friend August 1, 1844)

In the mid-1840s, following defeat by Britain in the first Opium War, a series of natural catastrophes occurred across China resulting in famine, peasant uprisings and rebellions; many Chinese seized the opportunity to go elsewhere. (PBS) Some came to the Islands.

The region now known as Chinatown was established during the 1840s and 1850s, in an area along Honolulu Harbor southwest of Nuʻuanu Stream. (NPS) It is reportedly the oldest Chinese quarter in the US. (SunSentinel)

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages at Island sugar plantations were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America. The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.)

The sugar industry grew, so did the Chinese population in Hawaiʻi. (Between 1852 and 1884, the population of Chinese in Hawai‘i increased from 364 to 18,254, to become almost a quarter of the population of the Kingdom (almost 30% of them were living in Honolulu.)) (Young – Nordyke & Lee)

By the early-1860s extensive tracts of irrigated taro land were being turned over to the cultivation of rice, and at various outlying locations, large sugar plantations were emerging on the island scene. As a result, programs of Chinese immigration for the workforce were implemented.

In 1862, the first rice mill in the Hawaiian Islands was constructed in Honolulu (prior to that it was sent unhulled and uncleaned to be milled in San Francisco.) (By 1887, over 13-million pounds of rice were exported. In 1899, Hawaiʻi’s rice production had expanded so that it placed third in production of rice behind Louisiana and South Carolina.)

By 1884 the area in the vicinity of Honolulu’s Mauna Kea, Nuʻuanu, King and Beretania Streets was heavily devoted to Chinese businesses and residences. The 1886 fire burned most of “Chinatown” to the ground. The Chinese residents quickly rebuilt, but by the early-1890s, sanitary conditions and a “slum-like” environment brought about renewed fears of cholera and other diseases.

In December 1899, the first case of bubonic plague was confirmed in Chinatown, and events following identification of the case, and subsequent deaths, led to relocating hundreds of people from Chinatown to Kaka‘ako on January 5, 1900.

Schools were closed, and Chinatown, with its 7,000 inhabitants, was placed under quarantine. In hopes of containing the plague only within Honolulu, the Board of Health closed the port of Honolulu to both incoming and outgoing vessels.

On January 6, 1900, “controlled fires” began to be set at buildings where victims had resided, and additional quarantine facilities capable of housing 2,000 people were being set up in Kalihi.

As cases of the plague continued to increase, “controlled burns,” were used in larger areas in an effort to remove the threat. On January 20, 1900, the fire between Beretania, Kukui, River and Nuʻuanu Streets went wild, and the entire area, including Kaumakapili Church, was destroyed.

From there, the flames spread, and a day later, on January 21, 1900 nearly all the buildings between Kukui, Queen, River and Nuʻuanu Streets were burned to the ground. (Kepa Maly)

Because the fire displaced the residential population of Chinatown, as the area was rebuilt, the Chinese only rebuilt their businesses in the neighborhood – not their homes.

Chinatown reached its peak in the 1930s. In the days before air travel, visitors arrived in the Islands by cruise ship; it was just a block up the street was the pier where they disembarked – and they often headed straight for the shops and restaurants of Chinatown, which visitors considered an exotic treat.

Today, Chinatown Historic District is the largest area in the city that still recalls a historic sense of time and place. (NPS) (SunSentinel)

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Manokalanipō

Poetically Kauai is reportedly called, “Manokalanipō”, or “Kauai a Mano” after the ancient chief who was largely responsible for elevating Kauai’s ancient society to sophisticated heights of advancement and productivity. (NativeKauai)

Independent chiefdoms were ruled by a supreme chief, or aliʻi ʻaimoku (chief possessing an island or district); at times referred to as aliʻi-nui (great chief) to distinguish him from lesser chiefs.

Typically this position was attained by inheritance, as holder of highest rank among the nobility; however it could also be gained by force by a relative, lesser chief or outside invader.

The aliʻi-nui had complete control over his lands and production, as well as the lives of his subjects. He derived these rights from his familial relationship with the Hawaiian gods.

Poʻipū, Kauai was a Royal Center for the southern shoreline of Kauai. Here resided high chiefs Kukona (7th aliʻi ʻaimoku) and Manokalanipō (8th) when on the south-side; and they were kept in paramount chiefly control until the last Prince Keliiahonui, son of Kaumualiʻi (23rd) in the 1830s.

Manokalanipō has the characteristic honor of having had his name as a nickname to the island over which he ruled, and in epical and diplomatic language it was ever after known as “Kauai-a-Manokalanipō.”

Manokalanipō was noted for the energy and wisdom with which he encouraged agriculture and industry, executed long and difficult works of irrigation, and thus brought fields of wilderness under cultivation. The wife of Manokalanipō was Naekapulani. He was son of Kukona.

Kukona (7th aliʻi ʻaimoku (high chief or king) of Kauai), whose name in Hawaiʻi became a symbol of the very highest ideals of chivalry in battle, was born in Kōloa and fought his defining battle at Poʻipū. His year of birth is estimated at around 1405.

In the first part of the 15th century, Kalaunuiohua, the ambitious chief of Hawaiʻi who had already conquered three other islands, tried to seize Kauai. He was accompanied into battle by the combined armies and chiefs of Maui, Molokai and Oʻahu. The war is known as the War of Ka-welewele.

When the armada of Kalaunuiohua, touched the shores of Kauai, they were met by an army of only 500 men who were the defenders of Kauai.

Kukona had not even bothered to attend; he sent Manokalanipō. A small and greatly outnumbered force of Kauai warriors had decisively beaten the combined armies of all of the other islands. (Fornander)

Kukona captured all four chiefs of Hawaiʻi, Oʻahu, Maui and Molokai.

He had the opportunity to kill them all and assume leadership over the islands. However, he preferred peace and allowed them to return safely home with a promise that they never again make war on Kauai.

As noted by Fornander: “The war with the Hawaiʻi chief, and the terrible defeat and capture of the latter, as well as Kukona’s generous conduct towards the four chiefs who fell into his hands after the battle, brought Kauai back into the family circle of the other islands, and with an éclat and superiority which it maintained to the last of its independence.”

This peace lasted for four hundred years; the peace was called ka lai loa ia Kamaluohua (The Long Peace of Kamaluohua – named for the captured Maui chief who, while Kukona was sleeping, stated to the others, “Let us do no hurt to Kukona, because he has been kind to us. Here we are in his hands, but he has not put us to death. Let us then treat him kindly.” (Malo))

No foreign wars disturbed Kukona’s nor Manokalanipō’s reign, and it is remembered in the legends as the golden age of that island. (Fornander)

Today, people of Kauai proudly proclaim that their island was never conquered over the centuries, even when larger armies attempted to do so.

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Invasion of Waikiki

“From the Waikiki Inn to the Seaside Hotel the beach and all available space back of it was occupied by spectators. … There were hundreds of tourists hailing from the four corners of the earth and representatives of almost every race on the globe in the crowd.” (Hawaiian Gazette, February 25, 1913)

This was Hawaiʻi’s first pageant, part of the 1913 Mid-Winter Carnival, commemorating the conquering of Oʻahu by Hawaiʻi’s first King.

“Plunging across sunlit billows and riding swiftly upon the crest of the reef-combed rollers of Waikiki Bay yesterday, a fleet of war canoes brought the conquering army of Kamehameha the Great to Oahu, the first scene in the first historical pageant ever staged in the territory.” (Hawaiian Gazette, February 25, 1913)

“Kamehameha and his warriors were late landing. It was at first intended that the canoes bearing the brown soldiers should reach the beach between the Outrigger club grounds and the Moana hotel at o’clock, but one delay after another came up …”

“… the greatest of which was the tardy arrival of, the Pacific Mail steamer Mongolia, aboard of which were 134 passengers who had come all the way from San Francisco on purpose to witness the pageant.” (Star-Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

“In all there were in the flotilla about forty canoes, big and little, and as they paddled away in the gloom of the early morning each canoe was loaded to the guards.”

Palenapa, of the Honolulu police force, portrayed Kamehameha. Seventy Kamehameha Schools boys, a large delegation from the Kamehameha Aquatic club and several other organizations took part.

“Not a phase of the old conflict had been forgotten and as many of the features that made the flotilla of Kamehameha the Great unique had been placed aboard the canoes as could be got together in the short time allowed the manager of the pageant.”

“There were the tabu sticks, carried by the Puloulou, or custodian of the sacred things, there were the feathered tufts or the kahilis, sign of royalty, there: were the pauas or bows, and the puas or arrows, the deadly little poisoned darts”. (Star Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

“Probably over seven thousand people were at Waikiki to see the spectacle.”

“It is to be regretted that there were no grandstand accommodations and I am afraid that many or our visitors did not Vet a very good view of the picturesque ceremonies carried on. I hoe that if anything of the kind is attempted again, arrangements will be for more seating.” (Chillingworth, Star-Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

“All credit to John H. Wise, chairman of the regatta committee, and his lieutenants for making the affair the undoubted success it was despite the manifold difficulties with which they found themselves confronted at every stage of the preparations.”

“All credit to Director (Charles) Chillingworth, who stood behind his assistants, directing the work, fitting the multiplicity of detail into beautiful, harmonious whole.”

“Immediately after the ceremony of landing most of the crowd returned to town, though a large number gathered on the beach around the army of natives and were awarded by witnessing the hula dance.” (Star Bulletin, February 21, 1913)

Carnival events in 1913 included the Landing of Kamehameha, special productions at the Opera House, Horse Races, Military Parade, Floral Parade, Hawaiian luau and other events around town. Publicity on the mainland is credited for bringing in more than 2,000 tourists for the activities.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Waihou Spring

Under the reign of Kaka‘alaneo, Maui was divided into twelve moku (districts.) These included Ka‘anapali, Lahaina, Hāmākuapoko, Hāmākualoa, Koʻolau, Hana, Kīpahulu, Kaupo, Kahikinui, Honua‘ula, Wailuku and Kula.

The twelve ancient districts of Maui were later reduced to four under the Civil Code of 1859, which consolidated all East Maui districts into one.

Later the Session Laws of 1909 regained two districts, which established a total of six districts. Under the Session Laws of 1909, Hāmākualoa and Hāmākuapoko were joined to make the modern district of Makawao (‘forest beginning.’)

Makawao consists of four traditional Hawaiian political districts: Honua’ula to the south, along the leeward slopes of Haleakala; Kula, which overlooks the Wailuku District and the Isthmus lands; and Hāmākuapoko and Hāmākualoa along the windward slopes of Haleakalā. (Cultural Surveys)

In traditional times, the area would have been covered in native forest including koa, ʻōhiʻa lehua, ti and kukui. Logging in the mid- to late-1800s resulted in the elimination of majority of the forest trees, which was later followed by cattle.

Clearing of the forest trees for sugarcane by Europeans in the mid- to late-1800s had altered the environment. Ranching was to eventually dominate all land use in the upland slopes of Haleakala.

Clear cutting and burning of sandalwood continued well into the mid-1800s, which greatly impacted the landscaping of the area.

By the 1870s, the Waihou Springs (‘new water’) area was probably cleared pasture land, with little to no native vegetation. The only tree indicated in the vicinity of Waihou is a ‘lone koa tree.’

The Makawao Forest Reserve was established in 1908. The forest reserve was sanctioned off for watershed protection and included approximately 2,093 acres.

The introduction of gorse as hedging material in the early-1900s added to the rapidly declining native forest. Gorse is a spiny, evergreen exotic shrub which can grow up to 15-feet tall and 30-feet in diameter.

In a single gorse plant, there can be hundreds of pods which eventually burst and expel thousands of gorse seeds. By the mid-1950s, the gorse had spread uncontrollably, killing the majority of the remaining native plants.

In an effort to eliminate the gorse, a state territorial prison camp was also established in 1953 located near the present Olinda Homesteads. Low security prisoners were brought to Maui from overcrowded O’ahu prisons, with the primary purpose of clearing the overgrown gorse areas.

The Olinda prison facility was located on 114 acres of Haleakala land and initially housed approximately 30 prisoners. In addition to clearing the gorse, prisoners grew vegetables for shipment to Honolulu.

In the early-1950s, Olinda prisoners had also undertaken the job of linking the road to Kahakuloa with the highway that extends beyond Lahaina, making it possible to circle clear around the West Maui block of mountains.

By the mid-1950s, the majority of the gorse had been eliminated. (The old Olinda minimum-security prison was transformed in the late-1980s to a refuge for endangered endemic birds.)

Unlike most Forest Reserves established by Hawai‘i’s Territorial government in the early-20th century, the land that was set aside for Waihou Spring Forest Reserve in 1909 was open grazing land rather than forested land.

The Territorial Government initially set aside land for the Forest Reserve on June 5, 1909, the object of which was to protect the sources of Waihou Spring, cited at the time as “one of the very few permanent springs on the western slope of Mt. Haleakalā”.

Even though the Reserve was created to protect the source of the spring at Waihou, the spring had already been tunneled and its water was being piped to the lower reaches of the adjacent Haleakalā Ranch to water livestock.

Once bare pasture land and in response to the declining remnant forest, the State Forestry folks began a tree-planting program. Haleakalā Ranch was contracted to build cattle fencing for the Reserve in 1913 and the Maui Agricultural Company began tree planting in 1919.

Tree planting consisted primarily of eucalyptus, various pine and tropical ash. As a secondary measure, the tree planting also served to keep the gorse weed down by shading it out of existence. It is now well forested with both native and non-native tree species.

The ‘ōpe‘ape‘a (Hawaiian hoary bat) is commonly seen both within the boundaries of Waihou Spring Forest Reserve and also in the area surrounding the Reserve. This species roosts in trees and has often been associated with non-native.

Forest birds that may be seen in the area include the ‘amakihi, ʻapapane, ‘alauahio and occasionally ‘i‘iwi. Historical records of sightings within close proximity of the Forest Reserve include two endangered forest birds: ‘ākohekohe and ‘ō‘ū.

Today, the major agricultural activities in up country Maui and are livestock grazing, truck farming, flower production and orchard crops. The forest reserve has been used in recent time for recreation and hunting.

Pig hunting is still popular within the forest reserve, although the number of pigs have declined in recent years as a result of residential developments.

Additionally, changes in weather conditions over the last fifty years have affected the flow of water in the area and majority of the gulches and natural springs are dry.

At approximately 186 acres, Waihou Spring Forest Reserve is relatively small but is a popular day-use area. It is close to residential neighborhoods and has a well-used hiking trail. (Lots of information here is from Cultural Surveys and DLNR.)

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