Peter T Young

August 18, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Maui Jinsha Shrine

A century after Captain James Cook’s arrival in Hawaiʻi, sugar plantations started to dominate the landscape. Sugar was the dominant economic force in Hawaiʻi for over a century.

A shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge; the answer was imported labor. Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants” (providing the legal basis for contract-labor system,) labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

The first to arrive were the Chinese (1852.) Then, in 1868, approximately 150-Japanese came to Hawaiʻi to work on sugar plantations and another 40 to Guam. This unauthorized recruitment and shipment of laborers, known as the gannenmono (“first year men”,) marked the beginning of Japanese labor migration overseas. (JANM)

In March 1881, King Kalākaua visited Japan during which he discussed with Emperor Meiji Hawaiʻi’s desire to encourage Japanese nationals to settle in Hawaiʻi; this improved the relationship of the Hawaiian Kingdom with the Japanese government. (Nordyke/Matsumoto)

The first 943-government-sponsored, Kanyaku Imin, Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi arrived in Honolulu on February 8, 1885. Subsequent government approval was given for a second set of 930-immigrants who arrived in Hawaii on June 17, 1885. More followed, and they brought their religion with them – some were Shinto.

Shintoism is not Buddhism; but, the two religions are compatible. While Shintoism involves the prehistoric deities of Japan, Buddhism worships the Buddhist gods imported from India, as well as the departed spirits of the family. (Johnson)

The name Shinto is translated to mean ‘The Way of the Gods;’ it embraces natural and ancestor worship. Shintoism has no system of theology or ethics, nor sacred scriptures or books such as the Bible or Koran. It teaches the innate goodness of the human heart. (Johnson)

There were once six Shinto shrines on Maui, located at Wailuku, Pa‘ia, Ma‘alaea and Kahului. The Maui Jinsha Shinto Shrine is the only remaining original Shinto shrine on Maui, and one of very few left in the entire state.

The Maui Jinsha was established in 1914 by Masaho Matsumura who was born in Hiroshima and came to Maui from Kona. More than 460 names were gathered, representing those who supported the establishment of the Maui Jinsha shrine. From this group, a nine member Board of Trustees led by Mr. Kaneko was formed.

A building committee, made up of seventy-six local officials from various Maui communities, served under the Board of Trustees. The building committee selected the shrine’s original site in Kahului, next to the Japanese Elementary School. (Mason)

Construction of the Haiden began in 1916 (the fifth year of Taisho) with the help of the 1,014 individuals who each pledged a dollar. The painting of the “1000 Horses” by the artist Seppo Sawada commemorates the dollar contribution effort

The Maui Jinsha was built in commemoration of the Emperor Yoshihito (the Taisho Emperor). Up until this point, there were no shrines dedicated to the emperor of Japan in Hawaii.

The Emperor Meiji passed away in 1911 and Emperor Taisho took his place the same year. This event sparked interest in establishing a shrine dedicated to the emperor of Japan, who was thought of as a god.

The shrine houses three gods directly connected to the emperor of Japan: the Amaterasu Omigami, the Okuni Nushi-no-mikoto, and the Meiji emperor.

The Amaterasu Omigami is the central god of the Ise Jingu and is said to have come down from earth and landed on Izumo Kuni and gave birth to Japan.

The distinctive entrance structure of Shinto shrines is called a torii, usually described as a gateway or mystical gateway. Nearby is a washbasin where the physical act of washing one’s hands and rinsing one’s mouth symbolizes spiritual cleansing in preparation of entering the church.

As originally constructed, the Maui Jinsha exhibited the traditional form of a Shinto shrine, with the Haiden (worship space) and the Honden (space for the gods) built as two separate structures. The Honden and Haiden were built as open structures connected by a small bridge or stairway (tsuro).

The Honden was completed in 1915 and the Haiden was finished a year later due to budgetary constraints (Fig. 6). Another structure for the presentation of shibai (Japanese folk plays) was completed at that time.

The structure was built by local craftsmen under the supervision of a master carpenter trained in Japan. The structure is made of wood using the traditional Kiwari system as the design and construction guidelines for this structure.

The Kiwari system can be compared to the orders of ancient Greece, because it uses the column span and diameter to establish the proportions of the entire structure.

The Kiwari uses the post span (a) and the post diameter (1/10a) to establish rafter spacing, bracketing size, beam size and roof size and height of several types of structures in Japan including temples, shrines, and halls.

The Kiwari developed as a system during the Edo Period (1603-1868). It is also likely that the Japanese measuring unit of the shaku was used to build this structure. The builders of the Maui Jinsha were somewhat limited to the extent with which they could adhere to these principles, due to the limitations of materials, time, and funds.

In 1924, the Maui Jinsha Kyodan formally applied for the “incorporation of the Maui Jinsha Kyodan of Kahului, Maui”, and on September 22 of that year they received the charter and were recognized as an official religious organization by the Territory of Hawaii.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the shrine was closed, and in 1942 the Shinto priest and his family were evicted from their adjacent home.

In 1951 they moved the shrine to Wailuku, The Honden was moved intact and the Haiden was disassembled and reconstructed on the new site, which was completed in 1954.

The shrine shares the site with three other structures: a Hall for shibui performances which also served as a Japanese language school (no longer active), a kitchen building and a private residence for Reverend and family.

The Hall was moved from the original site along with the shrine, and the kitchen building appears to have been constructed in 1954, at the time of the shrine relocation. The two-story residence was built in the mid- 1980s. (Lots of information here is from Mason, NPS and Historic Hawai‘i.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-1916

Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building

Maui_Jinsha-1000 horses

Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-front elevation-Mason

Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-layout-Mason

Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-longitudinal section-Mason

Maui-Jinsha-Mission-building-West side elevation-Mason

August 17, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Largest Milk Dairy in the Hawaiian Kingdom

The east side of upper Manoa (and a roadway through it) is known today as “Woodlawn.” It’s named for the Woodlawn Dairy and Stock Company. It became the largest milk dairy in the Hawaiian Kingdom.

“This Dairy commenced business in June, 1879, under the name of “Woodlawn Dairy,” with stock consisting of ten native cows.” (Hawaiian Planters Monthly Advertisement)

“Mr (BF) Dillingham’s beautiful residence, ‘Woodlawn,’ at Punahou, about a mile and a half from town, (is) where the dairy was originally started. Here there is about 350 acres controlled by the company, including land in Mānoa Valley …”

“… and on this pasturage there is a herd of about 450 head of cattle, including Short horns, Durhams, Devon, Ayreshires, Holsteins and Jerseys.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 15, 1885)

“With the steady growth of the business, special regard has been paid to the importation of the best Dairy Stock. In the early part of 1883, a “Short Horn” Bull was imported from California, known on the Record as the ‘19th Duke of Manchester.’” (Hawaiian Planters Monthly Advertisement)

Later, a newspaper announcement noted: “Lost, Strayed or Stolen. “The 19th Duke of Manchester,” a larger red shorthorn Bull, property of the Woodlawn Dairy & Stock Co., anyone finding this Bull and returning same to said Company will be suitably rewarded. Woodlawn Dairy & Stock Co.” (Daily Bulletin, June 1, 1885)

“In 1884, the Thorough Bred Short Horn “Duke of the Valley” was purchased at $400; the animal was then 15 months old. In the spring of 1886 two thorough bred Holsteins were imported by the Company, from Syracuse, New York.”

“These animals were sent out to California by rail, thence by sail to Honolulu. These are probably the finest bred animals for beef and milk combined, ever landed on these Islands.”

“One of these bulls now in use at this Dairy weighed 1400 pounds when two years old, and about 1800 at 30 months.”

“A few Holstein Cows and Heifers have been added to this stock, one Heifer from Syracuse cost $450 there. One Holstein Heifer raised here, came in with her first calf last spring, her age being about 30 months, and gave, for nearly three months, 16 quarts of milk per day. Several other heifers raised at this Dairy have given from 12 to 15 quarts per day.”

“The Manager Mr. John Grace recently returned from a trip to California where he purchased with great care from the best dairy farms in that State, including the well-known Jersey farm of Mr. Maillard, 63 head of graded and thorough bred Jersey Cows and Heifers and one thorough bred Jersey Bull.”

“Any one desiring to improve their stock Cannot Do Better than to apply to the Woodlawn Dairy and Stock Company for some of their superior young Bulls, raised in this country from as fine dairy stock as can be found anywhere.” (Hawaiian Planters Monthly Advertisement)

“Visitors to the Pali, at the head of Nuʻuanu Valley, always notice the range of stables on the right of the road going up, at an elevation of about 700 feet above the sea, and upon inquiry are told that they are the property of the Woodlawn Dairy and Stock Company, who here own nearly 250 acres of fine valley and side-hill land.”

“This locality is what was long known as the ‘Wood’s plantation,’ where Mr. John Wood carried on for a number of years the cultivation of sugar cane and the manufacture of sugar.” (The Nuʻuanu section was later called Highland Park.)

“Mr Dillingham purchased the property from Mr. Wood, and shortly after the Woodlawn Company was incorporated, and now the establishment is run on an extensive scale, with Mr. Graham as manager.”

“This will be understood from the fact that the dairy has grown in the past five years from a beginning of ten cows, with an output of 600 quarts a month, to 150 cows in milk, with an output of 30,000 quarts per month.”

“Adjoining the old Wood residence there has been erected a substantial and convenient dwelling, which is under the care of Mrs. Grace, the wife of the sub-manager, John Grace, who constructed the new buildings, stables, etc., and now superintends that branch of the ranch.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 15, 1885)

“There are six men employed as milkers, each one taking a ‘string,’ as it is called, of twenty-five cows. When a milker is ready be opens the half door leading to his particular division of the milking platform, and calls the cows by name to come in to their breakfast or supper, as the case may be.”

“They walk forward in an orderly, methodical manner, and each one, going to her own place, is locked in by the pair of bars previously described, which confine her loosely by the neck. Until 7 o’clock the whole of the herd, averaging 150 in number, quietly enjoy their generous feed and then are milked.”

“Commencing at one end of his ‘string,’ the milker finishes with each cow in succession, releasing the one milked as soon as the operation is completed. She quietly walks out to the pasture again, where she generally enjoys a short nap ere resuming grazing.”

“Thus the milker never has a cow behind him while at work, and when his ‘string’ is finished the stable is empty and ready to be washed out.”

“From the milking stable the milk is carried into an adjoining room, where it is poured through strainers made of fine wire gauze and thick white flannel into the clean cans in which it is carried to the company’s customers.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 15, 1885)

Later, noted developer Charles Desky was identified as the ‘sole agent’ for lots in this ‘Fashionable Section of Honolulu.’ “This estate, Woodlawn, covering five hundred acres of the (Mānoa) valley and sloping up to the mountain top …”

“… is being improved by the construction of miles of automobile roads that on a gentle grade ascend the mountain side, giving great plateaus here and there with unmolested views of city, sea and mountains; ideal homesites, the views from which can never be obstructed.” “These ideal homesites may be had from $750.00 an acre up.” (Mid-Pacific Magazine, 1911)

Then, in 1920, Central Union Church’s then-pastor, Dr. Albert Palmer, chose a desirable 8.3-acre site at Punahou and Beretania streets for the site for the relocated church. The site was “Woodlawn,” for years the residence and dairy farm of prominent businessman BF Dillingham and his family.

Mrs. Emma Louise Dillingham, by then a widow, agreed to sell – she had been a member since Bethel Union days. In 1922, the cornerstone was laid, and the present sanctuary, designed in traditional New England style, was completed in 1924. Central Union Church, also known as the “Church in a Garden”, moved to its present location on Beretania Street.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Woodlawn-Manoa-Mid-Pacific Mag

Woodlawn, B. F. Dillingham home at the corner ofBeretania and Punahou streets-(centralunionchurch-org)

Woodlawn_Dairy-Award-Coin-1884

August 16, 2017 by Peter T Young 5 Comments

Carl Frederick Reppun

Born in Nice, France, March 29, 1883, Carl (in early years ‘Karl’) Frederick Reppun was the son of Frederick William and Fredericka (Koene) Reppun.

Carl’s father was of Swedish descent and his mother Dutch, but both subjects of Russia in the Baltic province of Riga, Latvia, where the two families had lived for 200 years.

He was well traveled in Europe and appeared to enjoy an outdoor life with many activities such as riding, skiing, hiking and sailing.

Reppun was educated in the schools of Nice, France, and Cassel, Germany, before entering and graduating with a medical degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Medizinische Facultat, Munich, Bavaria, in 1910.

In 1911, he married Emily Jane Lewis of Llein, Wales, in London, England. Carl and Emily honeymooned in Norway by taking a hike through the wilderness.

He took a further degree in 1912 from the University of Moscow Faculty of Medicine, and did post-graduate work in Vienna. He became a medical doctor.

In 1913, he had several career options: he could have become an apprentice to a Moscow surgeon or he could have chosen offers to set up a practice of medicine in Archangel (within the Arctic Circle), or in Irkutsk on Lake Baikal in far-eastern Siberia.

He chose to be the only physician in the mining or steel mill town of Tirljian which is on the Siberian side of the Southern Urals between European and Asiatic Russia.

The town of Tirljian was located approximately 50 +/- miles from Byeloretsk, to the southwest on the Byelaya (about 30-35 miles as the crow flies). With a population at that time of around 20-30,000, it was large enough to warrant its own hospital. There was no railway through Tirljian and all the roads were dirt.

The hospital complex was located at the edge of a forest whereas the town itself was about a mile away (twenty minutes by horse) to the east “down a gentle hill”.

The town was visible from the hospital/house. The hospital was a one-story log building with a capacity of around 50 beds. The house had an enclosed courtyard.

There were additionally servants quarters, a storehouse, stables with a covered portion for the carriages, and housing for farm animals. “Our house faced away to a fenced-in garden, beyond which was the forest on one side, fields and a grassy slope downhill to the village.” (Fred Reppun; Cupertino)

At the outbreak of World War I, Dr. Reppun was practicing medicine as a mining company doctor in the village of Tirljian, in the Ural Mountains between European and Asiatic Russia. He was the only doctor in a radius of 50 miles.

Being a Russian subject, he was mobilized into the Czar’s army, but remained in Tirljian as the head of the hospital, converted into a military one for the care of the wounded shipped back from the front.

When the Russian Revolution came in 1917, Dr. Reppun was chief of the hospital; he then had occasion to treat both the royalist Cossack wounded and the Bolshevik wounded, depending upon which side happened to be in local control.

The Reppuns escaped eastward in one carriage with one horse, the baggage being in another cart driven by a peasant and his family, they traveled a thousand miles over the Siberian steppes, going along the least frequented byways to Omsk.

At Omsk, the Reppuns met the advance point of the American Red Cross, which had come there to set up a large hospital under the direction of Dr. Arthur F. Jackson of Honolulu.

Reppun was immediately commandeered to assist the Red Cross doctors in their tremendous task. As the Red Cross and the American Expeditionary Forces withdrew toward Vladivostok 3,000 miles away, the Reppun family went along. Mrs. Reppun became a matron in charge of one of the Red Cross nursing homes in Vladivostok.

While in Vladivostok, the family reviewed options as to where to re-locate. They considered Japan, China and the Philippines, along with Hawaii

Due to, but due to the influence of Dr Jackson and Riley Allen of Honolulu, they opted to try Hawai‘i. In mid-1920, the Reppun family finally evacuated Russia aboard the last ship taking American personnel to Tsurugu, Japan.

They traveled across Japan, stopping for a short stay in Kyoto, then on to Nagasaki and thence to Honolulu aboard the Army transport S.S. Sheridan. Two weeks later on July 4, 1920, they sailed on the Army Transport “Sheridan” for Honolulu, and stayed there.

Dr. Reppun first started practice in Honolulu with the late Dr. Bert Mobbs on Beretania Street. In 1923, he went to Kaneohe as Government Physician of the Ko‘olaupoko-Waimanalo District, and as physician for Libby, McNeill & Libby at Kahalu‘u.

In 1927, he gave up the Kaneohe practice completely. Following his one and only visit to the mainland, in 1937, Dr. Reppun suffered serious injuries in a car accident from which he never fully recovered. He died on June 7, 1940, at The Queen’s Hospital, at the age of 57. (Reppun; Hawaii Medical Journal, 1966)

The Reppuns had three sons: ‘Frederick’ and Eric, born in Russia, and Arthur, born in Hawaii in 1921.) Eric was manager of the Kona operation of Robert Hind, Ltd. on the Big Island and Arthur was with Pan-American World Airways in Tokyo.

John Iorwerth Frederick (‘Frederick’) Reppun also became a doctor. In 1968 the Honolulu County Medical Society named him Medical Father of the year. In 1974, he was honored by the Hawaii Medical Association at the Association as Physician of the Year. Dr Frederick Reppun was my doctor when I was a kid growing up on Kāne‘ohe Bay Drive.

Carl Frederick Reppun-HawaiiMedJournal

August 15, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Asked to Come … Then Excluded

Except for the few Chinese adventurers who remained in Hawai’i from the ships of whalers, fur traders and merchants, their numbers did not have a significant impact upon the society of the Hawaiian kingdom.

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 in the sugar industry were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

This planned immigration had a strong influence on the growth, size, and composition of the population as well as on sociological change in the young Territory of Hawai’i at the turn of the century. (Nordyke)

The first contract from China came in 1852: 195 workers from the city of Amoy in the Fujian Province. By the 1880s more than 25,000 Chinese immigrants (more than 20% of Hawaii’s population) were working on Hawaii’s sugar plantation. (Jillian)

Because of excellent employment opportunities in Hawaiʻi, as well as the high value placed by Chinese on education (even though most immigrants had little formal schooling,) Chinese parents encouraged their sons to get as much education as possible. (Glick)

This strong emphasis on education resulted in a highly favorable position for Chinese men and women in Hawaiʻi. Nearly three-fourths of them are employed in higher-lever jobs – skilled, clerical and sales, proprietary and managerial, and professional. As a result, the Chinese enjoy the highest median of income of all ethnic groups in Hawaiʻi. (Glick)

On the continent, in the 1850s, Chinese workers migrated to the US, first to work in the gold mines, but also to take agricultural jobs, and factory work, especially in the garment industry. Chinese immigrants were particularly instrumental in building railroads in the American west.

Chinese immigrants worked as domestic servants, laundrymen, miners, road graders, railroad workers, cannery workers, fishermen, cooks, farmers and other occupations that were often shunned by others. (Chin; Organization of Chinese Americans)

Objections to Chinese immigration took many forms, and generally stemmed from economic and cultural tensions, as well as ethnic discrimination. Most Chinese laborers who came to the US did so in order to send money back to China to support their families there.

At the same time, they also had to repay loans to the Chinese merchants who paid their passage to America. These financial pressures left them little choice but to work for whatever wages they could.

Non-Chinese laborers often required much higher wages to support their wives and children in the US, and also generally had a stronger political standing to bargain for higher wages. Therefore many of the non-Chinese workers in the US came to resent the Chinese laborers, who might squeeze them out of their jobs. (State Department)

Competition with American workers and a growing nativism brought pressure for restrictive action. (US Archives) On the continent, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited (1) the immigration of Chinese laborers, (2) denied Chinese of naturalization; (3) and required Chinese laborers already legally present in the US who later wish to reenter to obtain “certificates of return.”

The latter provision was an unprecedented requirement that applied only to Chinese residents. Other Acts were passed and steps taken by the US to extend the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

Scott Act (1888) prohibited all Chinese laborers who would choose or had chosen to leave the US from reentering, cancelled all previously issued “certificates of return,” which prevented approximately 20,000 Chinese laborers abroad.

Geary Act (1892) extended the Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years, required all Chinese persons in the US – but no other race – to register with the federal government in order to obtain “certificates of residence.” In 1898, the US annexed Hawaiʻi and took control of the Philippines, and excluded thousands of Chinese in Hawaii and the Philippines from entering the US mainland.

In 1902, Congress indefinitely extended all laws relating and restricting Chinese immigration and residence. (Chin; Organization of Chinese Americans)

In the Islands, in 1883, the Hawaiian Cabinet Council, concerned that the Chinese had secured too strong a representation in the labor market, passed a resolution to restrict Chinese immigration to 2,400 men a year and to require Chinese leaving the Islands to obtain a passport to prove previous residence if they expected to return.

In 1885, harsher regulations limited passports to Chinese who had been in trade or who had conducted business for at least one year of residence, and no return passports were to be issued to departing laborers.

Further government regulations introduced from 1886 to 1892 virtually ended Chinese contract labor immigration by restricting passports to business people who had resided in the Islands, Chinese women and children and a few persons in China who were specifically invited by the minister of foreign affairs.

A limited number of Chinese laborers were permitted to enter Hawaiʻi under conditional work permits for agricultural purposes, provided that they left the Islands after five years. (Nordyke)

An effort to stabilize the Chinese population was made by a Hawaiian government policy that curtailed Chinese immigration so that the number of arrivals would not exceed departures.

While 5,727 Chinese were employed on sugar plantations in 1888, only 2,617 were reported in that occupation by 1892. Many of these workers migrated to the cities to obtain higher-paying jobs, but some laborers returned to their homeland. Between 1884 and 1890, the Chinese population declined from 18,254 to 16,752 persons. (Nordyke)

The Chinese Exclusion Acts were not repealed until 1943, and then only in the interests of aiding the morale of a wartime ally during World War II. (State Department)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Chinese men-PP-14-4-013-00001

August 14, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kahuna to Christian

“The tradition of the ships with white wings may have been the progenitor of the Hawaiians’ symbol for Lono during the Makahiki. … With so many ships with white sails coming to Hawaii at that time, how would he know which ship would bring the knowledge of the true God of Peace?”

“He could not have known that, although the missionaries set sail on October 23rd, one day before the Makahiki began, they would take six months to arrive. Therefore, it was quite prophetic that, when he saw the missionaries’ ship off in the distance, he announced ‘The new God is coming.’ One must wonder how Hewahewa knew that this was the ship.” (Kikawa)

“Hewahewa knew the prophesy given by Kalaikuahulu a generation before. This prophesy said that a communication would be made from heaven (the residence of Ke Akua Maoli, the God of the Hawaiians) by the real God. This communication would be entirely different from anything they had known. The prophecy also said that the kapus of the country would be overthrown.”

“Hewahewa also knew the prophesy of the prophet Kapihe, who announced near the end of Kamehameha’s conquests, ‘The islands will be united, the kapu of the gods will be brought low, and those of the earth (the common people) will be raised up.’”

“Kamehameha had already unified the islands, therefore, when the kapus were overthrown, Hewahewa knew a communication from God was imminent.” (Kikawa)

After the overthrow of the kapu system, Hewahewa retired to Kawaihae, to wait confidently for the coming of a “new and greater God.” (Kikawa)

“Kailua Harbor, April 5, 1820. In the dawn of the day, as we passed near shore, several chiefs were spending their idle hours in gambling, we were favored with an interview with Hewahewa, the late High Priest.”

“He received us kindly and on his introduction to Brother Bingham he expressed much satisfaction in meeting with a brother priest from America, still pleasantly claiming that distinction for himself.”

“He assures us that he will be our friend.”

“Who could have expected that such would have been our first interview with the man whose influence we had been accustomed to dread more than any other in the islands; whom we had regarded and could now hardly help regarding as a deceiver of his fellow men. But he seemed much pleased in speaking of the destruction of the heiau and idols.”

“About five months ago the young king consulted him with respect to the expediency of breaking taboo and asked him to tell him frankly and plainly whether it would be good or bad, assuring him at the same time that he would be guided by his view.”

“Hewahewa speedily replied, maikai it would be good, adding that he knew there is but one “Akoohah” (Akua) who is in heaven, and that their wooden gods could not save them nor do them any good.”

“He publicly renounced idolatry and with his own hand set fire to the heiau. The king no more observed their superstitious taboos.”

“Thus the heads of the civil and religious departments of the nation agreed in demolishing that forbidding and tottering taboo system which had been founded in ignorance, cemented with blood, and supported for ages by the basest of human passion.”

“They had, indeed, heard of the Christian’s God, but gave little evidence that they understood His laws, or loved His character, or feared His Holy Name. Whether they conceived him as worthy of their homage or not, they were convinced of the vanity of idols and the folly of idol worship.” (Extracts from a journal supposed to have been written By Mr Loomis; Gulick)

“Hewahewa … expressed most unexpectedly his gratification on meeting us … On our being introduced to (Liholiho,) he, with a smile, gave us the customary ‘Aloha.’”

“As ambassadors of the King of Heaven … we made to him the offer of the Gospel of eternal life, and proposed to teach him and his people the written, life-giving Word of the God of Heaven. … and asked permission to settle in his country, for the purpose of teaching the nation Christianity, literature and the arts.” (Bingham)

Hewahewa later retired to Oʻahu and became one of the first members of the church established there. This church is located in Haleiwa and is called the Liliʻuokalani Protestant Church. (Kikawa) “He lived in the valley of Waimea, a faithful, consistent follower of the new light.” (The Friend, March 1, 1914)

“In the days of Kamehameha I, Hewahewa was the highest priest in the land. A direct descendant of Pā‘ao, the priest who came from Tahiti and established the kapu system in Hawaiʻi, he performed his religious duties at the famous Puʻukoholā heiau at Kawaihae, a heiau built by Kamehameha I for the worship of the war god, Kukaʻilimoku.”

“But in the days between Kamehameha’s wars of conquest and the time of the Conqueror’s death in May, 1919, Hewahewa developed doubts about Hawaiʻi’s pagan system and the gods – Kane, Ku, Lono, and Kanaloa – who ruled over it.”

“He observed foreign traders who ignored or even scoffed at the sacred kapus yet suffered no ill. As the death of Kamehameha approached, he heard the great king forbid the human sacrifices that many loyal followers thought would save his life, saying that the men should be spared to serve the next generation.”

“Thus it was not strange that when Liholiho (Kamehameha II) asked Hewahewa’s advice about breaking the eating-kapu, the priest in a few words indicated that he would not oppose such a move.”

“Well aware of the young king’s intentions in November 1819, when a feast was prepared at Kailua, Kona, Hewahewa had his torch ready; and as soon as Liholiho sat down with the aliʻi women and began to eat, the priest went to a nearby heiau and set fire to its contents, destroying everything but the stone platform.”

“These flames spread – if not literally, at least figuratively – the change had been defeated in battle at Kuamoʻo, Hewahewa retired to Kawaihae to await confidently the coming of a new and greater god.”

“In about five months occurred the event he expected. At the end of March, 1820, a foreign ship brought visitors who could tell Hawaiʻi about the One Great God, who ruled the universe.”

“Apparently Hewahewa did not meet the newcomers until they reached Kailua, Kona, but he doubtless heard that they had called at the presence of the prime minister at Kawaihae, and that Kalanimoku had taken his whole household on board the foreign brig to sail to Kailua, where the king was.”

“Hewahewa hastened southward overland and told those at the king’s court, ‘The new god is coming. He is going to land right here.’”

“And, sure enough, on the morning of April 4, two of the missionaries came ashore, seeking permission from Liholiho to settle in Hawaiʻi and teach about their God. At the first opportunity Hewahewa went out to the Thaddeus to welcome the missionaries. (Loomis; Kawaiaha‘o)

Hewahewa is noted as saying, “I knew the wooden images of deities, carved by our own hands, could not supply our wants, but worshiped them because it was a custom of our fathers. My thoughts have always been, there is only one great God, dwelling in the heavens.” (Ohana Church)

On July 27 1830, Hewahewa wrote a letter to Levi Chamberlain, the superintendent of secular affairs for the mission and a missionary teacher. At the time of this letter, Hewahewa had converted to Christianity and was living in Lahaina, Maui.

“Greetings to you, Mr. Chamberlain, and Mrs. Chamberlain, This is my short message to you. I again testify to you about the grace God bestows upon me as I go on.”

“I walk in fear and awe of God for the wrongs of my heart, for he is the one who knows me. The love of the son of God is true indeed. It is of my own volition that I tell this to you. Regards to all the church members there.” (Hewahewa to Chamberlain, July 27, 1830; Ali‘i Letters Collection, Mission Houses)

Click HERE for a link to the original letter, its transcription, translation and annotation.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger