Peter T Young

August 31, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Māʻilikūkahi

Traditions on the island of O‘ahu provide the names of a dynasty of ruling chiefs beginning with Māʻilikūkahi, honored as the first great king of O‘ahu.

Māʻilikūkahi holds a prominent place in O‘ahu legends for his wise, firm, judicious government.

He was born ali‘i kapu at the birthing stones of Kūkaniloko; Kūkaniloko was one of two places in Hawai‘i specifically designated for the birth of high ranking children; the other site was Holoholokū at Wailua on Kauai.

Māʻilikūkahi, who ruled in the 1400-1500s (at about the same time Christopher Columbus ‘discovered’ America,) was raised partly in Waialua and is said to have maintained a kulanakauhale (village) there.

There is said to have been a mythical heiau (temple) called Kapukapuākea built by the menehune. Māʻilikūkahi was taken to Kapukapuākea (heiau) at Pa‘la‘akai in Waialua to be consecrated and installed as aliʻi there.

Kapukapuākea was to the Oʻahu aliʻi what Westminster Abbey is to the kings of England, the site of ritual acknowledgement of their divine right to rule (Kirch)

Soon after becoming aliʻi, Māʻilikūkahi moved to Waikīkī. The stories tell us that he was probably one of the first chiefs to live there. Up until this time the chiefs had typically lived at Waialua and ‘Ewa.

From that point on, with few exceptions, Waikīkī remained the seat of Oʻahu aliʻi, until Kamehameha I moved the seat to Honolulu.

Māʻilikūkahi was a religious chief, built several heiau, held the priests in honor and stopped human sacrifices. The island of Oʻahu is said to have become very populous during his reign, and thrift and prosperity abounded.

Land was considered the property of the aliʻi which he held in trust for the gods. The title of aliʻi ensured rights and responsibilities pertaining to the land, but did not confer absolute ownership.

The aliʻi kept the parcels he wanted, his higher chiefs received large parcels from him and, in turn, distributed smaller parcels to lesser chiefs. The makaʻāinana (commoners) worked the individual plots of land (kuleana.)

Māʻilikūkahi is noted for clearly marking and reorganizing land division palena (boundaries) on O‘ahu. Defined palena brought greater productivity to the lands; lessened conflict and was a means of settling disputes of future aliʻi who would be in control of the bounded lands; protected the commoners from the chiefs; and brought (for the most part) peace and prosperity.

Fornander writes, “He caused the island to be thoroughly surveyed, and boundaries between differing divisions and lands be definitely and permanently marked out, thus obviating future disputes between neighboring chiefs and landholders.”

Kamakau tells a similar story, “When the kingdom passed to Māʻilikūkahi, the land divisions were in a state of confusion; the ahupuaʻa, the ku, the ʻili ʻaina, the moʻo ʻaina, the pauku ʻaina, and the kihapai were not clearly defined.”

“Therefore, Māʻilikūkahi ordered the chiefs, aliʻi, the lesser chiefs, kaukau aliʻi, the warrior chiefs, puʻali aliʻi, and the overseers (luna) to divide all of Oʻahu into moku, ahupuaʻa, ʻili kupono, ʻili ʻaina, and moʻo ʻaina.”

What is commonly referred to as the “ahupuaʻa system” is a result of the firm establishment of palena (boundaries.) This system of land divisions and boundaries enabled a konohiki (land/resource manager) to know the limits and productivity of the resources that they managed – and increase its productivity.

Māʻilikūkahi is also known for a benevolent reign that was followed by generations of peace. He prohibited the chiefs from plundering the maka‘āinana, with punishment of death. His reign “ushered in an era of benign rule lasting for several generations.”

Māʻilikūkahi’s peaceful reign was interrupted by an invasion by chiefs from Waipi‘o. It was not considered as a war between the two islands, but rather as a raid by some restless and turbulent chiefs from the Islands of Hawaiʻi.

The invading force landed at first at Waikīkī, but, for reasons not stated in the legend, altered their mind and proceeded up the Ewa lagoon and marched inland.

At Waikakalaua (Wahiawa or Waipahu) they met Māʻilikūkahi with his forces, and a battle ensued. The fight continued from there to the Kīpapa gulch. The invaders were thoroughly defeated, and the gulch is said to have been literally paved with the corpses of the slain, and received its name, “Kīpapa,” (placed prone.)

Māʻilikūkahi’s wife was Kanepukaa. They had two sons, Kalonanui and Kalona-iki, the latter succeeding his father as Aliʻi Aimoku of Oʻahu.

In the past, MAʻO Organic Farms created and facilitated ‘Āina Ho‘ōla o Māʻilikūkahi, the annual statewide Hands Turned to the Soil conference. The word ho‘ōla means to restore/give life.

The conference’s name therefore reflects an understanding that our ‘āina must itself be healthy in order to feed us and that ‘aina, kanaka and kaiaulu (land, people and community) work in concert to provide and maintain sustenance for all living things.

In 2018, the University of Hawai‘i – West Oahu Sustainable Community Food Systems Program, the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association, the University of Hawai‘i System Office of Sustainability and key community partners hosted the 2018 Sustainable Agriculture Education Association Conference and the Hoʻōla ʻĀina O Māʻilikūkahi Youth Food Sovereignty Congress.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

August 31, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 054- December 15, 1819

December 15, 1819 – As we have been approaching the Equator have been amused with luminous appearance of the sea.
Capt. B. spoke and boarded the ship “Mary”, Capt. Smith, Boston. We sent about 30 letters, one to Dr. W. (Thaddeus Journal)

Dec. 15th. We had much enjoyment this morning, in the providence which permitted us to make communications, for the first time since sailing, to our beloved friends. There was great joy on board—all hearts seemed animated, all hands busy. I sent seven letters—two to my sistero, one to Mrs. Johns, Mrs. Kibbe, M—Shepartf, Mrs. Collins and B. Morse. Mr. B— to his parents—to Dr. Worcester, and his early instructor, Mr. Gale. The vessel, hailed, was Ship Mary, Capt. Smith of Boston, bound home from Calcutta. 0, may many hearts be revived, ere long, by hearing that thus far we have been conducted in safety.
I was not aware how much my spirits would be raised by the event. When shall we receive communications? In GOD’s own time. We were two degrees South of the Line. (Sybil Bingham)

December 15. Sabbath between services: Since I wrote the above I have not been able to sit up half the time. High seas and a constant rocking of the vessel have kept me sick, that I have scarcely been able to crawl upon deck, while all of the rest, brother S. excepted, are able to attend to their respective business. (Lucia Ruggles Holman)

Dec. 15. This has been in an eventful day two us. We spoke with a vessel (ship Mary) bound from Calcutta to Boston, and sent intelligence to our dear friends. I had no letters prepared previous to the appearance of the vessel, but knowing from experience how gratifying it is to hear from friends whom we love, I could not lose the opportunity of sending you a line. While Capt B was gone to carry letters, we espied a shark, and threw out a hook to catch it, which he immediately ceased, and for a moment we thought him safe; but attempting to draw him out of the water, he let go the bait and swam off. When capped B and his men returned with the boat, they brought a sea animal (which sailors call a Portuguese man-of-war) which they had caught in a sail. It resembled a turnover in shape, with many long fibers growing from the body. As to substance, I hardly know what it resembles. It looked more like a blubber than anything else, to which I can compare it. I should scarcely have believed it an animate object had I not seen it move. Its colour was changeable tinctured with red and blue. (Mercy Partridge Whitney Journal)

15. – Today we spoke the ship Mary (Capt Smith) of Boston. Sent 3 letters to America, & regret that I could not send more; but owing to an inflammation in my eyes which has prevented me from writing off a late I was unable – (Samuel Whitney Journal)

Dec. 15, 1819. Resolved That each member of the Mission be supplied with a dish and spoon which they are to keep in their possession. – Resolved, That such of the brethern and sisters as chose have tea in the morning, instead of coffee, if it shall meet the approbation of Capt. Blanchard and that water gruel be made for those who wish, for supper. (Minutes of the Prudential Meetings of the Mission Family)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

August 30, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

View of Hawaiians in 1828

“Almost all travelers have been pleased to endow with surpassing beauty the women of the different archipelagos of the South Seas. I cannot speak of those in the Marquesas or Society Islands, but if one may judge by the Sandwich Islanders, on whom they have heaped the same praises, I am obliged to say that they are far from living up to this portrait.”

“But I must agree that they possess a natural grace that, without matching the fine and regular features of a white and delicate skin has nevertheless an almost irresistible attraction. Their movements are smooth and supple, their postures enchanting and easy, and their glances, more than anything, are indescribably alluring.”

“The freedom they enjoy means that they are strangers to anxiety or constraint, and this state of tranquility is reflected in all their bodily manners.”

“If they suffer storms of the heart these must be of a passing nature because there is no need for these to persist. Their ways appear to be based on inconstancy; they need never suffer the boredom of an ill-matched union.”

“Amused by the veriest trifles, they wear only smiles on their lips, and their mouths never open to say no. It is surprising that that the stranger, finding such an easy welcome among them, lets himself pain =t them with flattering praise if only to enlarge on and embellish his own conquests.”

“When, several days after our arrival, the young king wished to visit the Heros, we prepared a small collation, and he came on board with the regent and a numerous suite.”

“Kauikeaouli drank with pleasure our best liquors and ate our cakes with eagerness. We noticed that he did not touch the poi that he always has brought along wherever he goes; he preferred our good bread.”

“When he got into his boat to return we saluted him with thirteen guns, a courtesy that he found quite flattering. On the quay his bodyguard awaited: a score of fine young men fitted out simply but uniformly in blue pantaloons, short blue jackets, round hats, guns, bayonets, and ammunition pouches.”

“The king’s house is located in the same compound as that of the regent and is of the same style and size. It has a very high roof supported by low sidings that incline to the inside.”

“This shape imparts to these dwellings of wood and straw more strength than if the sustaining walls were perpendicular. The king has another house built according to the rules of our architecture but he never lives in it, preferring this one of thatch.”

“In fact, this sort of dwelling is better suited to their mode of life. They love to stretch out on mats, letting themselves drop wherever the fancy strikes them, and there they spend the greatest part of the day lying together helter-skelter on their rush carpets. This could not be done in lodgings furnished like ours, where they would need a sofa for each person.”

“The young king sleeps in his thatched great house only in bad weather; when the night is fine he stays in a small hut that has to be entered on hands and knees and that is barely large enough for four people sitting or stretched out.”

“Those of his young court follow his example; each constructs a small hut close to his, all of them together forming a sort of camp around the principal house, which hardly serve for more than to store the furniture.”

“The king and the regent are not the only principal authorities in the archipelago. A wife of the famous Kamehameha I, Queen Kaahumanu, exercises much power in fact if not legally.”

“She has her private court and her own coterie of followers. She lives in the city during the winter but passes the summer in a pretty valley a league to the east of Honolulu.”

“Along with the English consul I went one day to see her at her residence, which consisted of two main houses and a number
of huts.”

“We found her seated on a mat and leaning back on cushions covered in silk. Although she was not much interested in us, she received us in a dignified way. A woman of forty-two, she appeared to have once had much embonpoint, but bad health, caused by her well-known excesses, had brought on premature old age, which left her little hope of a long life.”

“Thus the adherents of the young king were being patient while awaiting the death of Kaahumanu, which they expected soon and believed would deliver him from a feminine yoke.”

French sea captain Auguste Dehaut-Cilly made round-the world travels between 1826 and 1829; all of the above is from his account of the Islands following his trip from California to Hawai‘i, in 1828.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Alphonse_Pellion,_Sandwich Islands-Houses of Kalanimoku, Prime Minister of the King_(c._1819)
Alphonse_Pellion,_Îles_Sandwich;_Maisons_de_Kraïmokou,_Premier_Ministre_du_Roi;_Fabrication_des_Étoffes_(c._1819,_detail)

August 30, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Day 055 – December 16, 1819

December 16, 1819 – no entry. (Thaddeus Journal)

“This has been a peculiarly interesting day to all of us, having spoke a vessel, bound from Calcutta to Boston, in which we have sent letters to America, but very much regretted not having more time, which was not more than 20 minutes. The boat, which took off our letters, returned and brought with it a Portuguese Man-of-war, as the sailors call it. An animal substance (if substance it may be said to possess, for it appears more like blubber than anything else) resembling a turn-over pie. with ten thousand fibrous legs and as many joints, each a foot long. The touch of this animal produces a sensation somewhat like an electric shock – the Dr. only, tried the experiment.
The colour is a changeable red and blue which gives a purple luster. We often see them floating upon the surface of the water, and they are objects of great curiosity to us who have never beheld many wonders of the sea. My jonny cake eats very well, which brother Sam’l told you about in his letter yesterday — altho at home you know I was never fond of Indian cakes – but anything that is fresh goes well at sea.
We have everything that is wholesome and good to eat and drink, that is, for hearty people, but I have not been long enough at sea yet to get an appetite for it. Monday we have pork and beef and puddings (rice and flour); Tuesday, pork and beans or peas; Wednesday, salt fish and potatoes &c. ; Thursday, fowls or a sea-pye; Friday, pork. baked; Saturday salt fish &c. Sabbath. fresh pork and pudding.
For breakfast we have coffee and hash; supper – tea, crackers and cheese; and now and then we are allowed the rich repast of water gruel. This is the greatest luxury I have enjoyed since I took up my residence upon the water.
I must drop my pen, it being past ten Oc. & all asleep but myself – a dread solemn seems to fill the whole ship – no sound or noise to be heard but the dashing of the waves against our vessel, which skims over the Maine at the rate of 8 miles an hour, and the gentle footsteps of the man at helm. and the watch, who walks with half his weight. for fear of waking his brother tars, who are asleep below.” (Lucia Ruggles Holman)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

August 29, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Po‘ahā

Those who belong to the po‘ahā are brought, in some degree, under the watch and care of the church, and, so far as they are conscientious, they are bound to correct principles and practices. (Missionary Herald)

Po‘ahā – Thursday – a reference to the Bible study meetings, held on Thursdays, that prepared one for baptism and membership in the church congregation.

“The numbers of the natives, both men and women, who desired admission to the church, multiplied, and some were formed into classes which met weekly, on Thursday, for prayer, inquiry, and instruction, and from which candidates were, from time to time, selected, propounded, and received to fellowship.” (Bingham)

The Adobe Schoolhouse was constructed during the period 1833-1835, of air-dried adobe bricks and lumber, as it became available, to replace the earlier straw school and meeting house.

The “most beautiful room in Honolulu,” as architects have called it, was used for a school, for the annual spring General Meeting of the Mission, as a social hall, and, in 1855, as the scene of a wedding between two mission “cousins.”

In 1852, it saw the establishment of the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, often known as the Cousins Society, a group of missionary descendants whose parents had long called each other “brother” and “sister.”

For a while during the 1870s, the building was rented to the Government for use as a public school, at which time a partition was put in.

Later, it housed the Thursday daytime meetings of Kawaiaha’o Church and became known as Hale Poaha, the Thursday House of Kawaiaha‘o. (NPS)

“The congregation is large on the Sabbath. In the morning, our spacious house is filled, and becoming seriousness pervades the congregation.”

“Other meetings are well attended. Multitudes are pressing into the poaha, i.e. the Thursday meeting for religious inquiry.”

None are admitted to this meeting, except persons who are found, on examination by ourselves, to have a general understanding of the essential doctrines of the gospel, and a belief of them, and who declare their intention to renounce all known sin, and obey every known duty.”

“Such evidences of a renovated heart are not required, as would be insisted on in order to a participation of the Lord’s Supper.” (Chamberlain, 1830; Missionary Herald)

“Since the middle of March, I have myself examined 324 persons; and of this number, I should hope, that as many as one in ten are pious.”

“The whole number which, on this island, have been admitted to this meeting, cannot, I think, be less than 1,000. And I trust there may be found among them, at least, 100 persons, who might with great propriety be received into the church.”

“The native members of the church have recently held a meeting, at their own instance, for the purpose of comparing their views with respect to the moral and religious character of those persons within their knowledge, who have expressed a desire to join the church …”

“… and upwards of 100 names were written down of persons, whom they do not hesitate to recommend to our notice, as suitable candidates for baptism and church-fellowship.”

“Those who belong to the poaha are brought, in some degree, under the watch and care of the church, and, so far as they are conscientious, they are bound to correct principles and practices.” (Chamberlain, 18830; Missionary Herald)

On June 5, 1825, ten Hawaiians made “a full declaration of their desire to be numbered among the disciples of Christ.” These were Kalanimōku, Ka‘ahumanu, Kapule, Kapi‘olani, Keali‘iahonui, Kalakua, Namahana (or Opi‘ia,) Kaiu, La‘anui and Richard Kala‘aia‘ulu (who had arrived from the Cornwall School in 1823.)

A probation period of six months was set for these candidates. (Damon)

By the time a newly constructed thatched Kawaiaha‘o church was nearly finished, “Sabbath Decr. 4th. This has been a day of uncommon interest; and the transactions of it form an era in the Sandwich Island Church.”

“Eight persons who have for more than six months stood as candidates for admission and who have given as satisfactory evidence of personal piety as the nature of their circumstances will admit, came forward & united themselves to our number …”

“… and entered into a solemn covenant to walk in all the ordinances of the Gospel; and subscribed with their own hands unto the Lord, binding themselves by the most solemn engagements to be his forever.”

“Seven of the candidates received baptism – Karaimoku having been baptized a number of years ago by a French Chaplain, only brought forward his little son, which it was a pleasing sight to witness in the arms of his father to be presented for Christian baptism – He received the name of Joseph Leleohoku.”

“Ka‘ahumanu was baptised by the Christian name of Elizabeth. – Opi‘ia by that of Lydia; Tapule Deborah; Keri‘iahonui – Aaron; La‘ahui – Gideon; Kaiu – Simeon. Kara‘aiaulu – Richard.” (Levi Chamberlain Journal)

The Kawaiaha’o Church register lists the names of those who, beginning on December 4, 1825, took their vows, and were baptized. Their signatures are on the church charter.