Economy | Page 60 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

June 13, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sutter’s Hawaiians

Early California history is closely linked with Hawaii. (Kenn)

“[I]n December 1838, there arrived in Honolulu one of the most colorful soldiers of fortune to land on Hawaiian shores. This individual was Captain John Sutter, later to make his mark on California history, accompanied by a small party of followers. The previous October, Sutter and his party had reached Fort Vancouver after an overland trek from Missouri.”

“He was welcomed at Fort Vancouver and treated generously. An excellent raconteur with an active imagination (his title of former Captain in the Swiss Guards serving France was entirely his own invention), a congenial guest, part visionary and part con man, Sutter’s presence enlivened this active but still relatively isolated post.” (Spoehr)

“It was in the latter part of 1838 that Captain John Sutter arrived in Honolulu from Oregon on his way to California where he hoped to make his fortune, and where he realized his ambition until gold was discovered on his land when he lost everything in the turmoil that followed.”

“Sutter was a citizen of the Principality of the Grand Dutchy of Baden, Germany, where he left his wife and four children to seek his fortune in America. After crossing two oceans and a continent, Sutter found himself in Honolulu where he remained for five months, eagerly awaiting passage to California.”

“He made friends with Honolulu merchants and participated in a few business ventures, one of which was to purchase the abandoned ship Clementine moored in the harbor. He served as supercargo, sailing first to Sitka, Alaska, then to Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, where he disembarked with some Sandwich Islanders.”

“There were contracted to serve him for three years at ten dollars each per month …. He was to pay their passage back to Hawaii after that time. The actual number of Hawaiians who accompanied Sutter is not definitely known. Sutter claimed there were ten, eight men and two women, while William Heath Davis numbered eight, four men and four women.” (Kenn)

“Sutter was very poor on names and referred to the Sandwich Islanders merely as ‘Canacas,’ though he observed that had it not been for his Canacas he would not have been able to succeed in his California venture. They helped to build his fort [near present-day Sacramento] said to be patterned after Kekuanohu (the Honolulu fort)”. (Kenn)

“The task of [Sutter’s] Hawaiian workers was not only to assist with building the fort, but to ensure labor tranquility amongst the hundreds of California natives (including Nisenan, Miwok, and Yokut) who would eventually be laboring at New Helvetia by 1846. Some Americans would compare these Sacramento Valley natives to Pacific Islanders.” (Farnham)

In his memoirs, Sutter recalled the Hawaiians, “I could not have settled the country without the aid of these Kanakas. They were always faithful and loyal to me.” (Sutter)

From 1839 to 1849, Sutter’s Fort was the economic center of the first permanent European colonial settlement in California’s Central Valley. During that time, the Fort catalyzed patterns of change across California. Then, the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848.

So, what happened to the Sutter Hawaiians and other Hawaiians on the continent?

“[B]y the mid-1800s, there were hundreds of Hawaiians in what is now Canada and California. In 1847, Hawaiians made up 10% of San Francisco’s tiny but growing population.” (Terrell)

“In the aftermath of the gold rush, many Hawaiians stayed in California. And as they settled in California, a number of Hawaiian men married local indigenous women. Which, it turns out, was a common occurrence up and down the West Coast.: (Terrell)

“Both Hawaiians and Indians in the Oregon Territory were explicitly excluded from the dominant society. From the mid-1860s onward, neither they nor their offspring were legally permitted to marry into the dominant society.” (Barman & Watson)

As a result, Hawaiians were absorbed into local Native American communities through intermarriage. These Hawaiians were less likely to return to the Islands and leave their Native American wives and children behind. (Farnham)

“Sutter’s Hawaiians were to play an important role in the development of Sacramento, and their descendants, many of whom are living in Sacramento and environs today, have contributed greatly to the economic progress and welfare of the region. They became gold miners, salmon fishermen, snag boat operators, river boatmen, farmers, trappers, levee builders, and entertainers.” (Kenn)

“In the summer of 1865 some Hawaiian fishermen and their ‘wahine,’ who had sailed the placid Pacific in search of new realms for their nomad spirits, arrived in San Francisco bay only to discover that the cool fogs bred dire distress in lungs used to none but the fervid breezes of a tropic sea …”

“… so on they kept until, after a day and night of clear weather, they reached Vernon, a busy farming community on the banks of the Feather river.”

“Housed in picturesque huts on the east bank of the Feather river, near the thriving little town of Vernon, and gaining a livelihood

as best they may, and according to the tenets of their native land, caring not for the morrow so long as they may live and enjoy the day…”

“… a hundred or more big brown men and women and numerous tots form a colony where, peace and content rule their world, and where the salubrious climate Is engendering in this languorous race …”

“… an aptitude for labor a foreign element in their home taro-patches and rice field, with the sun shining upon them ten months of the year, and with the brown rush of waters homing myriad finny tribes for their ever ready rods …”

“… these dusky exiles pass their days rowing and fishing and pitching their tents at night in the shaggy thickets that clothe the river reaches, where with their ukuleles and guitars they build harmonies and weave legends into their cloth of dreams.” (Parkhurst)

“And living up there close to the touch of nature, they have kept all of their race identity. When one of their people visits them bringing pol, ti leaves, kukui and other choice tidbits from home, they have barbecues, chowders and hula-hulas, and all of the delights that comprise a luau or Hawaiian feast.” (Parkhurst)

June 7, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Royal Footsteps Along the Kona Coast

Royal Footsteps Along the Kona Coast Scenic Byway covers the entire length of Ali‘i Drive, seven miles of roadway and over seven centuries of Hawaiian Royalty archaeological, historic and cultural traditions that have shaped Hawai‘i into what it is today.

By whatever means (vehicle, transit, bicycle or on foot,) following the footsteps of ancient royalty and embracing the scenic beauty, natural and archaeological features, historic sites, associated cultural traditions and recreational opportunities will give the traveler a greater appreciation and understanding of Hawai‘i’s past and sense of place in the world.

Here are selected Points of Interest along the Scenic Byway:

1 – Kailua Seawall – first built in 1900, the entry to Historic Kailua Village begins on Ali‘i Drive where its oceanfront promenade offers sweeping vistas of Kailua Bay, from Kamakahonu and Kailua Pier to Hulihe‘e Palace

2 – Pa o ‘Umi – marks the location of the landing and residence of the ruler ‘Umi-a-liloa (‘Umi) (ca. AD 1490-1525.) Modern seawall and road construction has covered most of Pa o ‘Umi

3 – Hulihe‘e Palace – built in 1838, Kona’s only existing royal palace and one of three palaces in the United States

4 – Moku‘aikaua Church – built in 1837, it is the oldest Christian Church in Hawai‘i

5 – Hale Halawai – means “meeting house” and serves as a community meeting facility under the County Parks and Recreation program

6 – Ōneo Bay – scenic panoramic views of the shoreline and seasonal surfing -favorite place for residents and visitors to enjoy Kona’s famous sunsets

7 – Wai‘aha Beach Park – also known as Honl’s – “birth-beach and the birthplace” of modern bodyboarding (in 1971, Tom Morey created boogie board and first used it here)

8 – Kahului Bay – nicknamed Tiki’s after the adjacent small hotel (Kona Tiki Hotel,) lovely ocean vista

9 – Hale Halawai O Hōlualoa – stone church structure was built entirely by native Hawaiians under the direction of John D. Paris 1850-55

10 – Puapua‘a – popular local surf spot that once served as a canoe landing, now referred to as “Banyans”

11 – Hōlualoa Bay – oral traditions suggest King Kamehameha I learned to excel in board and canoe surfing in these very waters

12 – Hōlualoa Royal Center – Hōlualoa Royal Center includes Kamoa Point/Keolonahihi Complex, Keakealaniwahine Residential Complex and Kaluaokalani

13 – Jud Trail – constructed between 1849 and 1859 and intended to link the Kona area with Hilo – construction was abandoned when portions of the trail were covered by a lava flow in 1859

14 – Pāhoehoe Beach Park – County park with picnic and portable restroom facilities. Ocean access is via coral rubble and rocky shore

15 – La‘aloa Beach Park – also known as White Sands, Magic Sands or Disappearing Sands

16 – La‘aloa Bay – small cove on the south side of the parking lot, entry point for snorkelers and divers

17 – Ku‘emanu Heiau – overlooks Kahalu‘u Bay and is associated with surfing – adjacent Waikui Pond was convenient for chiefs to bathe after an ocean outing

18 – St. Peter’s by the Sea Catholic Church – originally built in 1880, the church was dismantled and carried piece by piece to its present site at Kahalu’u in 1912

19 – Kahalu‘u Bay Beach Park – served as the Royal Center of Ali‘i, residence of Lonoikamakahiki ca. 1640-1660 and oral histories note its use by Alapa‘inui, Kalani‘ōpu‘u and Kamehameha — successive rulers from 1740-1760 on

20 – Helani Church –‘Ōhi‘amukumuku Heiau – old Helani Church (built in 1861 by Rev. John D. Paris) built atop the former ‘Ōhi‘amukumuku Heiau

21 – Hāpaiali‘i Heiau and Ke‘ekū Heiau – Hāpaiali‘i Heiau was built around 1411-1465; Ke‘ekū Heiau – after building it, Lonoikamakahiki attacked and defeated Kamalalawalu, king of Maui

22 – Mākole‘ā Heiau – also known as Ke‘ekūpua‘a, built (or consecrated) by Lonoikamakahiki and that it was used for prayers in general

23 – Heritage Corridor Overlook – pull out on Ali‘i Drive includes interpretive sign explaining the archaeological and historical significance of the lands of Kahalu‘u and Keauhou

24 – Royal Hōlua Slide – stone ramp nearly one mile in length that culminated at He‘eia Bay – this is the largest and best-preserved hōlua course, used in the extremely dangerous toboggan-like activity

25 – Lekeleke Burial Grounds – Following the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, Liholiho declared an end to the kapu system; Kekuaokalani (Liholiho’s cousin) and his wife Manono opposed the abolition and went to battle, here is the burial ground

S-1 – Kamakahonu Royal Center at Kailua Bay – residential compound of Kamehameha I from 1813 until his death in 1819; the center of political power in the Hawaiian kingdom during Kamehameha’s golden years

S-2 – Ahu‘ena Heiau – reconstructed by King Kamehameha the Great between 1812-1813; he dedicated it to Lono, god of healing and prosperity of the land

S-3 – Keauhou Royal Center at Keauhou Bay – ocean access at Keauhou Bay is superb and, just as boats use it today, canoe landings once dotted the shore. The royal canoe landing of King Kamehameha I was located at Pueo Cove

S-4 – Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli) Birthsite – son of Kamehameha I and high chiefess Keōpūolani, he was ruler of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i for thirty years from 1825-1854

We prepared the Corridor Management Plan (CMP) for the Royal Footsteps Along the Kona Coast Scenic Byway, the first CMP to be accepted by the State of Hawai‘i Department of Transportation.

We are proud and honored that American Planning Association-Hawai‘i Chapter selected Royal Footsteps Along the Kona Coast for the “Environment/Preservation Award”, Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation awarded the 2011 Historic Preservation Commendation and Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce awarded the 2011 Pualu Award for Culture & Heritage.

June 4, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kona Coffee Living History Farm

The Kona Coffee Living History Farm (on the former Uchida Coffee Farm) is a 5.5-acre historic coffee farm, first homesteaded in 1900, and is the only living history coffee farm in the nation.

The Uchida Coffee Farm is an intact example of the lifestyle of early Kona Coffee farmers, many of whom were Japanese and brought Japanese customs and culture to Hawai‘i.

Don Francisco de Paula y Marin recorded in his journal, dated January 21, 1813, that he had planted coffee seedlings on the island of Oʻahu. The British warship H.M.S. Blonde brought coffee trees, to Hawaii, from Brazil in 1825.

Coffee was planted in Mānoa Valley on O‘ahu, and from a small field, trees were introduced to other areas of O‘ahu and neighbor islands.

Reverend Samuel Ruggles moved trees to Captain Cook, Kona in 1828. Hanalei Valley on the North Shore of Kaua‘i was home to the first coffee plantation.

Between 1868 and 1924, more than 140,000 Japanese came to Hawai‘i with 3-year labor contracts to work for the sugar plantations and, when their contract expired, many decided that a different lifestyle suited them better.

The 1890s boom in coffee-growing in North Kona was encouraged by rising prices. Although sugarcane plantations expanded with US annexation in 1898, coffee-growing grew in Kona because of its adaptability to land that was too rocky for sugarcane.

During the early coffee boom, Portuguese and then Japanese laborers had filtered into Kona. As one coffee plantation after another gave up when coffee prices fell and sugar plantations became more attractive, these plantations were broken up into small parcels (3 to 5-acres) and leased to these laborers.

Many worked on the newly formed sugar plantations and worked their coffee orchards as side lines. As the coffee prices remained low, the Portuguese abandoned the coffee orchards, and by 1910, the Japanese were about the only growers left to tend the coffee trees.

By the 1930s there were more than 1,000 farms and, as late as the 1950s, there were 6,000-acres of coffee in Kona.

At the turn of the last century there was coffee on all the major Hawaii islands, and now 100 years later, there is once again coffee on all the major islands.

The Uchida Coffee Farm illustrates the development of small-scale coffee farming facilities along the Kona coffee belt of the Big Island, now considered a world class coffee.

It serves as an intact example of the structures that typify the coffee farm lifestyle and technology used in the 1900-1950s by Japanese coffee farmers in Kona.

The house is an excellent example of architecture adapted to the climate and needs of a particular family; it demonstrates some of the influences Japanese culture and tradition has had on Hawai‘i’s architecture.

The “Living History Farm” brings the coffee pioneer’s story to life by depicting the daily lives of early Japanese immigrants during the period of 1920-1945.

Electricity was installed just before the war in the early-1940s and hot running water wasn’t established until the late-1960s, when the modern bathroom was added. There was never a shower or bath tub, the furo was used.

Although the family did use a gas stove in the last years at the farm, the stone fireplaces, used up until recently for rice and wok cooking, are still in place.

The Farm museum, operated by the Kona Historical Society, is open for tours and 100% Kona coffee sales Tuesdays and Fridays, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. There is a small fee for the self-guided tour – no reservations required. (All proceeds from admission and sales go directly to the Society’s educational programs and preservation projects. )

Living history gives visitors an opportunity to experience history “brought to life” by costumed interpreters who demonstrate traditional crafts, agricultural activities and the everyday tasks of people from the past.

Visitors may walk through the coffee and macadamia nut orchards, tour the historic farmhouse, talk story with the interpreters and visit with the donkey and chickens.

May 30, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waikiki Toboggan

In the late 19th century, Waikiki’s shoreline was mostly a day-use beach; overnight accommodations were scarce. Visitors were usually residents of Honolulu who would arrive via horse-drawn carriage, on horseback of in a canoe.

They came to enjoy gazing at the surf or taking a ‘sea bath’. As ‘sea bathing’ gained popularity in coastal areas of the US, as well and England, private bathhouses began to appear, there, as well as at Waikiki.

Bathhouses served customers with bathing suits and towel rentals, dressing rooms and each access to the beach. Initially, bathhouses served only day-use recreation of visitors, but eventually some of them began to offer overnight rooms.

At the Long Branch Bathhouse (named after a popular New Jersey resort) another form of recreation was established …

“Our reporter visited Long Branch Waikiki Tuesday and saw the working of the toboggan slide at that place. The following particulars regarding this inovation in bathing tactics were gathered on the spot and may be of interest to our readers.”

“The platform of the arrangement is reached by a flight of steps and the chute or slide is twenty inches wide. This narrow width gives a great momentum to the toboggan as it slides over the rollers for about 200 feet until the water is reached.”

“Only one toboggan starts at a time and it is placed level on the platform and afterwards its forepart is depressed by a lever to the angle of incline when it starts toward the water.”

“The toboggan itself is a wooden frame with a turn up end upon which the bather reclines and the pleasure is in the swiftness of motion over the chute.”

“When the bather reaches the water his toboggan skips on the surface for some distance from fifty to one hundred feet in proportion to the momentum acquired in the descent and then he has to swim ashore and propel his toboggan to a landing.”

“To a young person either male or female this pastime cannot be otherwise than delightful and it gives an excitement which ordinary bathing lacks. It is almost impossible that any accidents should occur on the chute as there is no chance to topple over nor is there any fear of the construction giving way.”

“Originally the toboggan is a Canadian Indian invention and was first brought into public notice at the Chaudiere Falls Province of Quebec where an ice slide forms every winter below the cataract.”

“Of late years the pastime has undergone many changes and improvements and from being an exclusively winter sport the same idea has been extended to summer and to any clime.”

“Mr Sherwood the proprietor of the Waikiki bathing establishment and chute informs us that the work of perfecting tho constructions of his unique slide and the neccessary buildings will cost him nearly 5000 and that he intends to make still more accommodations.

“There are now forty two dressing rooms for gentlemen and eighteen boudoirs for ladies. To these accommodations will be added a bathing platform 100 feet along the beach by 80 feet wide and a trapeze and spring board attached.”

“There will also be a restaurant and when the whole is finished we may expect to have occasionally to report aquatic feats of considerable magnitude.”

“It may be expected that pastimes of this nature will be enjoyed chiefly by young persons but there is no reason why the seniors should not participate in what is really an enjoyable and sanitary sport.”

“The price of each scoot on the toboggan is the remarkably low figure of five cents.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 28, 1889)

May 26, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians

it started with one man named Johann Suter (later John Sutter) who came to California from Switzerland in 1839 and settled a large tract of land in Sacramento, which he called New Helvetia (New Switzerland). The goal was to bring other settlers to New Helvetia and build an agricultural and trade colony.

Sutter originally didn’t start in California; first, he left his family in Switzerland and travelled extensively through the Eastern US, Oregon and eventually to Hawaii where he met Russian traders who told him about Alto California where land and furs were abundant.

It was in Hawaii that he made the decision to head to California via Alaska. (Noren) After a brief stay in the Islands, in 1839, Sutter had a “crew consisted of the two German carpenters I had brought with me from the Islands, and a number of sailors and mechanics I had picked up at Yerba Buena.”

“I also had eight Kanakas, all experienced seamen, whom King Kamehameha had given me when I left the Sandwich Islands. I had undertaken to pay them ten dollars a month and to send them back to the Islands after three years at my own expense if they wished to leave me.” (Sutter; Houston)

At the time of Sutter’s arrival in California, the territory had a population of only 1,000-Europeans, in contrast with 30,000-Native Americans. At the time, it was part of Mexico.

When they landed and set up New Helvetia (August 13, 1839,) “I selected the highest ground I could find. The Kanakas first erected two grass houses after the manner of the houses on the Sandwich Islands; the frames were made by white men and covered with grass by the Kanakas.” (Sutter)

Sutter employed Native Americans of the Miwok and Maidu tribes, Kanakas and Europeans at his compound, which he called Sutter’s Fort.

In the following years many Sandwich Islanders followed these few to California. John Sutter brought them there to work at Sutter’s Fort and at Hock Farm.”

“A colony of more than 100-native Hawaiians formed a colony in Sutter County called Verona, the first non-native American settlement in the Central California Valley.”

“These Hawaiians fished for bass, trout, and catfish and sold them at the Fort and in Sacramento. They learned to raise alfalfa and raised hogs and cattle. The Hawaiians rowed their boats, assembled their tents and played their Ukulele and Guitar. When a visiting Hawaiian brought poi, ti leaves, kukui and other items from home the Hawaiians held barbecues and luau and danced hula.” (Willcox)

In his memoirs, Sutter recalled the Hawaiians, “I could not have settled the country without the aid of these Kanakas. They were always faithful and loyal to me.” (Sutter)

“[B]y the mid-1800s, there were hundreds of Hawaiians in what is now Canada and California. In 1847, Hawaiians made up 10% of San Francisco’s tiny but growing population.” (Terrell)

One such is the Shingle Springs Band. “They were known as the lost tribe of kanakas. They are not our Indians. They’re not local.” (Marilyn Ferguson; Terrell, Civil Beat)

Then in 1916, an agent with the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs traveled to California looking for landless and destitute Indians.

The agent recorded a number of Miwok families living in the Placerville area and called those people the El Dorado Band.

Then he visited the group near Verona — about 50 miles away. According to letters from the time, the group at that point was mostly made up of extended family members. A few Hawaiian men and their wives — local Miwok and Maidu and one white woman.

The spit of land they lived on was small. It nearly disappeared when the river swelled from rain. They lived on fish and marsh birds. Bought meager food supplies from town by delivering fish to markets and individual houses nearby.

The agent dubbed this group of Indians the Sacramento-Verona Band of Homeless Indians and suggested buying land for them.

“They seemed open to banding together,” he wrote. And would be excellent candidates for the federal government’s plan to “colonize and civilize Indians” in California. (Terrell; Civil Beat)

The Bureau of Indian Affairs relocated one of those communities to what is now the Shingle Springs Rancheria. Tribal members say they owe their survival to their Hawaiian ancestors and believe their relatives on the mainland deserve the same recognition as tribes in the US. (Ho-Chunk)

But the Sacramento-Verona tribe didn’t move to the 160-acre parcel. For decades the land sat fallow and unused. Then in 1970, the BIA reached out to the descendants of the group dubbed the Sacramento-Verona tribe to see if they wanted to sell the uninhabited land that had been set aside for their families.

They opted to keep the land and came together as a tribe. Built homes on the land. A church. A community center. Negotiated with the state to get highway access to the land. They renamed themselves the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians.

And they started making plans to open a casino. That’s when things got heated. Not everyone wanted the Shingle Springs Band to open a casino in the area.

The Miwok families that the Bureau dubbed the El Dorado Tribe in 1916 lost their land decades ago. Now, some of their descendants say it’s unfair for the Shingle Springs Band to have taken Miwok as part of its name. Unjust — and perhaps a misinterpretation of the law — for them to have tribal land in the area.

Most of the members of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians have Hawaiian roots. Tribal ancestors married Native Hawaiians who came to California during the Gold Rush of the mid-1800s and the groups formed Indian-Hawaiian communities around Sacramento.

However complicated their origins, the tribe’s sovereignty has been upheld repeatedly in court. (Terrell; Civil Beat)