Let’s not forget the reason for the season. Merry Christmas!!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
The site and date of origin of Thanksgiving are matters of dispute, with regional claims being made by widely disparate locations in North America. The chief claims are: Saint Augustine, Florida – 1565; Baffin Island, Canada – 1578; Jamestown, Virginia – 1619 and Plymouth, Massachusetts – 1621.
In Hawaiʻi, the Makahiki is a form of the “first fruits” festivals common to many cultures throughout the world. It is similar in timing and purpose to Thanksgiving, Oktoberfest and other harvest celebrations.
Something similar was observed throughout Polynesia, but it was in pre-contact Hawaiʻi that the festival. Makahiki was celebrated during a designated period of time following the harvesting season.
As the year’s harvest was gathered, tributes in the form of goods and produce were given to the chiefs from November through December.
No one knows when the first western Thanksgiving feast was held in Hawaiʻi, but from all apparent possibilities, the first recorded one took place in Honolulu and was held among the families of the American missionaries from New England.
According to the reported entry in Lowell Smith’s journal on December 6, 1838: “This day has been observed by us missionaries and people of Honolulu as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God. Something new for this nation.”
“The people turned out pretty well and they dined in small groups and in a few instances in large groups. We missionaries all dined at Dr. Judd’s and supped at Brother Bingham’s. … An interesting day; seemed like old times – Thanksgiving in the United States.”
The first Thanksgiving Proclamation in Hawaiʻi appears to have been issued on November 23, 1849, and set the 31st day of December as a date of Thanksgiving. This appeared in ‘The Friend’ on December 1, 1849.
The following, under the signature of King Kamehameha III, named the 31st of December as a day of public thanks. The Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1849 read, in part:
“In accordance with the laws of this Kingdom, and the excellent usage of Christian Nations, it has pleased his Majesty, in council, to appoint the Thirty-first day of December, next, as a day of public thanksgiving to God, for His unnumbered mercies and blessings to this nation; and …”
“… people of every class are respectfully requested to assemble in their several houses of worship on that day, to render united praise to the Father of nations, and to implore His favor in time to come, upon all who dwell upon these shores, as individuals, as families, and as a nation.” (Signed at the Palace. Honolulu, November, 23, 1849.)
“It will be seen by Royal Proclamation that Monday, the 31st of December has been appointed by His Majesty in Council as a day of Thanksgiving. We are glad to see this time-honored custom introduced into this Kingdom.”
The celebratory day of Thanksgiving changed over time. On December 26, 1941 President Roosevelt signed into law a bill making the date of Thanksgiving a matter of federal law, fixing the day as the fourth Thursday of November.
The image is a drawing, ‘The First Thanksgiving 1621’ oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1899).
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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Alāla
Alāla (lit., awakening) is a point at the south end of Kailua Beach that separates Kailua Beach and Kaʻōhao (an ʻili in the Kailua ahupuaʻa – the area is now more commonly called Lanikai) on Oʻahu.
The point takes its name from the fishing shrine, a natural stone formation, on the ridge above. Wailea, a companion fishing shrine (and point,) is located at the south end of Lanikai. (Ulukau)
In 1920, a bridge was constructed across Kaʻelepulu Stream, giving better access to the area.
Shortly after, Harold Kainalu Long Castle sold land to developer Charles Russell Frazier (the head of Town and Country Homes, Ltd., which was the real estate division of the Trent Trust Co) to create what Frazier and Trent called Lanikai (a name they made up.)
They laid out the subdivision and the first permanent homes in the area were constructed in 1924. Development began at the northern end of the neighborhood and moved further south along the beach.
The area was initially considered a remote country location for weekend getaways or vacations at the beach for swimming, fishing, boating and hiking.
The construction of the Lanikai streets was completed by October 1925. Included in the deeds for the Lanikai subdivision were restrictions that remained in effect until 1950, against building within 18-feet of the property boundary line along the street or using the property for anything other than residences.
At about the same time, Frazier leased a couple-hundred acres of neighboring land from Bishop Estate. He persuaded sixty-five men, many of whom were purchasing his lots and cottages at Lanikai, to commit to a country club project (Kailua Country Club; the name quickly changed to Mid-Pacific Country Club.)
In 1926, the development doubled in size and Frazier added the now-iconic monument at the entrance to the development.
It was designed by the famed local architect Hart Wood. (Wood, known for residential and commercial structures (including Alexander & Baldwin Building and Honolulu Hale,) designed the also-iconic “Hawaiian” double-hipped roof pattern and “lanai” or broad roofed-in patio with open sides.)
The Lanikai Monument’s use of rough concrete and stone is in keeping with Wood’s experiments with natural stone indigenous to the structure’s site, an example of which is his Makiki Christian Science Church.
The Lanikai Monument is a simple pillar located on a narrow strip of land that is a high point next to the road; it’s there to mark the boundary and entry point of the subdivision and golf course. It is still in its original location and its original design remains almost intact.
The tapered concrete base structure is 40-feet in circumference and 56 inches high. The pillar is made of concrete and stone.
The 16 foot tall pillar has a gentle taper from its 5-foot-diameter lower portion to a slightly narrower and rounded concrete top that is capped with a conical concrete cap. Two curved metal plates near the top bear the name, “Lanikai.” (NPS)
For decades, beach houses in Lanikai were mainly used as a retreat from Honolulu; however, in the 1950s, the area began to develop into a more suburban residential area. (The Pali Highway and its tunnels opened in 1959; that helped spark the change.)
Lanikai Beach had a white sandy beach approximately one mile long (about half of this has disappeared over the years due to erosion and seawalls along the shore.)
During cleaning of the monument in 2001, it lost its pointed metal spear at the top, as well as the heavy chain that surrounded the monument and draped from four metal rings.
The image shows the Lanikai Monument in 1925. (gokailuamagazine) In addition, I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.
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Keanianileihuaokalani – Healing Stone of Wahiawa
Cultures collided at Keanianileihuaokalani.
Keanianileihuaokalani was a large tongue-shaped stone that has since been split into three pieces. Hawaiians view it as a healing stone; Hindus see it as an embodiment of the god Shiva. (According to reports, they appear to have worked (working) out how they work together.)
Reportedly, originally found in Kaukonahua gulch by a Waialua Sugar worker, the 6-foot stone broke when it fell off a wagon while being moved. (They are now situated at the lower end of California Avenue in Wahiawa.)
Hawaiians believe that the stone has sacred healing properties. It was believed that all children of royal lineage were thrice blessed and elevated to a higher status if born at nearby Kūkaniloko, the center of the earth. (Reveria)
After childbirth, the new mothers would bath in the cool springs of Helemano. It was this mingling of blood and water that culminated into the healing mystic rains that fell upon the land, people and most importantly Keanianileihuaokalani giving the healing stone its healing powers. (Reveria)
On the day of a royal birth, all work stopped in anticipation of the first healing rains generated from the blessed event. These rains were Waiʻihiawa, mystical rains tainted with the blood of royalty. This healing rain fell freely on the people who lived and worked in Kūkaniloko. (Reveria)
“This rock being visited by people to worship these days is becoming something that truly is stirring the thoughts of some people here in Honolulu, and some who are living near Wahiawa are appealing to the Government and to the power of the Board of Health to move that rock from where it first stood, because in their opinion, this action by the people will cause an epidemic to grow here where all ethnicities are going and touching themselves against the bodies of others, and this will perhaps cause sicknesses to spread from one to another.”
“The Board of Health refused to step in and block this action by people who believe their ailments will be healed by touching the sick area to that rock of Wahiawa, and the birthing stones of the High Chiefs of this land in ancient times.”
“Some people have said that their weakness due to rheumatism by them going there and touching their areas of pain to that rock. Some say that their weak areas were not cured by touching the rock.” (Hoku o Hawaiʻi, November 1, 1927)
According to practitioners, the stone should be anointed with Waiʻihiawa rainwater. Appropriate and appreciated gifts are awa root, olena sprigs, herbs, lei and flowers. (Reveria)
In 1971 the Wahiawa Community and Businessmen’s Association asked the Hawaii Visitors Bureau to put up a sign to again call public attention to the “Healing Stone of Wahiawa.”
Hindu, who assumed a caretaker role for the stone also revere it as a manifestation of their deity, Shiva (it is interpreted to have a phallic shape.)
The Hindu recognized it as a Shiva image in 1988. At the time, the structure that enclosed the stones on three sides was a dilapidated concrete shed; a Hindu family turned the shed into a white marble shrine.
Hindus anoint themselves with smoke from sacred candles, part of the ceremonial cleansing of the stones. In their ritual, the stone is bathed in milk, rubbed with honey and draped with lei. (Reportedly, contrary to some claims, Hindus do not put oil or candle wax on the stone.)
The “healing stones” of Wahiawa drew hundreds of pilgrims in the 1930s, but few local people or tourists find their way to the off-the-beaten-path location these days. (star-bulletin)
The image an earlier image of Keanianileihuaokalani, the Healing Stone of Wahiawa (HAS.) In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.
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Anthony Lee Ahlo
Anthony Lee Ahlo was born in 1876, in Honolulu (he was “Pake hapa-Hawaiʻi.”) His father Lee Ahlo (April 23, 1841- July 3, 1906) was born in Chong Lok near Canton, China, and came to Hawaiʻi in 1865.
His mother Lahela Kauhi Kehuokalani (April 22, 1852 – December 16, 1911) is reported to be a descendent of Kamehameha. (Anthony is also identified as Li Fang Ahlo and Lee Fong Ahlo, at various places and times.)
His father worked for seven years as a cook for Mr Lewers of Lewers & Cooke. He and Lahela were married June 22, 1872. In 1873, he started a small grocery at the corner of Maunakea and King Streets, in 1876 it moved to corner of Nuʻuanu and Chaplain Lane; he later expanded into rice planting/processing and general merchandising. (Krauss)
“(The mill) belonged to a man by the name of Lee Ahlo … (it) was near the Waikalua River, and there was a ditch and flume higher up the river that brought water from the river to the rice mill to make the water wheel go around, and that is where the rice mill got its power to clean the rice. The mill hulled the rice and it came out white. When it was still in the hull we called it paddy rice.”
“The river was near the rice mill and sometimes ulua and other large fish came up the river, following the water at high tide. They came into the ditches leading into the rice fields. Workmen netted them.” (Ching, History of Kāneʻohe)
His father died a very prominent merchant and had many friends. His estate was valued at $50,000 (about $1,500,000, today;) the inventory list includes $17,500 real property in Honolulu, $17,500 in Kāneʻohe, $3,000 in Waialua, $2,000 in personal property in Honolulu and $10,000 in Kāneʻohe. (Krauss)
Anthony Lee Ahlo graduated from Oʻahu College (Punahou) in 1897. He then was admitted at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University in 1898 and earned his BA in 1901 and MA 1911.
In 1901, Anthony married Gladys Fitzgerald. A reception, with over five hundred guests, being all the prominent society people of the city, was given by Mr. and Mrs. Lee Ahlo, in honor of their son and his young English wife, at their magnificent new residence off Liliha street, it “was a most brilliant and delightful affair.” (Honolulu Republican, October 20, 1901) Young Ahlo and his bride moved to Shanghai, China.
An article in the Maui news noted, “The Chinese government by imperial edict has requested Chinese residing in foreign countries to interest themselves in the matter of developing the mineral resources of China, and has pledged itself to grant the necessary rights, privileges and protection to those who desire to invest.”
It further noted, “China Waking Up. Mr. Anthony L Ahlo, an intelligent young Chinese, and by the way, a graduate of Cambridge, England is on Maui this week, and while here, is submitting an Investment for the purpose of developing the vast coal, copper and tin mines of the Chong Lock District in the province of Kwangtung (his father’s home town”.)
“Mr. Ahlo will proceed to China and secure the desired concessions. There is no question but what Chong Lock is a rich mineral district, and with the energy, ability and integrity of Mr. Ahlo back of the enterprise, there is no question but what the enterprise will prove successful and lay the foundation for vast fortunes for its promoters.” (Maui News, June 20, 1903)
Anthony was well-connected with the revolutionary movement that was underway in China. From 1894 to 1911, Sun Yat Sen traveled around the globe advocating revolution and soliciting funds for the cause. At first, he concentrated on China, but his continued need for money forced him elsewhere. Southeast Asia, Japan, Hawaii, Canada, the United States, and Europe all became familiar during his endless quest. (Damon)
However, movement by Chinese to and through the US was restricted. Sun needed a certificate to enter the United States at a time when the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 would have otherwise blocked him. Although born in China, to allow movement through the States, Sun sought a birth certificate from Hawaiʻi.
Ahlo provided sworn testimony supporting Sun Yat Sen’s ʻEwa birthplace (signed by A. Ahlo on March 22, 1904.) In part, he swore, “I have lived in Hawaii for 41 years. Have known Dr Sen a Chinese person, and knew his parents – since about 1870. I owned a rice plantation at Waipahu at that time and went there after to give it my attention. The father and mother of Dr Sen lived at Wamano and I often stopped at their house – sometimes overnight.”
On March 14, 1904, while residing in Kula, Maui, Sun Yat-sen obtained a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth, issued by the Territory of Hawaiʻi, stating that “he was born in the Hawaiian Islands on the 24th day of November, A.D. 1870.”
A May 26, 1908 article in the Chinese Public Opinion, an English paper of Peking, noted, “We are pleased to note the appointment of Mr. AL Ahlo to a position as justice in the Supreme Court in Peking. This gentleman is one of the new generation and was educated at the University of Cambridge, England where he passed his degree with honors.”
“He has been for some time acting as legal adviser to the High Court of Justice and has been doing good work in this department. It is a noteworthy fact that he is the returned student who has been appointed to a position of any importance in the Judiciary of China.” (Hawaiian Gazette, June 26, 1908)
In a speech he noted, “The world has become accustomed to seeing China plodding contentedly in rough conservatism and has not noted the size of reawakened China. Everywhere in the empire there are abundant evidences of material progress, and educational, industrial and scientific institutions tell the tale of life and activity.”
“The old-time superstitions and customs which stood in the path of its development are now being rudely brushed aside, and today behold China, a nation throbbing with the thrill of a new era, an era of advancement in the cause of humanity!” (Congress of American Prison Association, 1910)
The revolutionary movement in China grew stronger and stronger. Revolution members staged many armed uprisings, culminating in the October 10, 1911 Wuhan (Wuchang) Uprising which succeeded in overthrowing the Manchu dynasty and established the Republic of China.
That date is now celebrated annually as the Republic of China’s national day, also known as the “Double Ten Day”. On December 29, 1911, Sun Yat-Sen was elected president and on January 1, 1912, he was officially inaugurated. After Sun’s death in March 1925, Chiang Kai-shek became the leader of the Kuomintang (KMT.)
The Republic of China governed mainland China; during the Chinese Civil War, the communists captured Beijing and later Nanjing. The communist party led People’s Republic of China was proclaimed on October 1, 1949.
Ahlo’s provided further support and participation in the new China did not end there. Ahlo drafted the constitution of the Chinese republic which was submitted to the national assembly. It follows partially the federal law of America and part of that of France. It provides for a national assembly to consist of two houses, called the council of the people and the council of the provinces. (San Francisco Call, May 19, 1912)
In the early-1920s he was Chinese consul in Samoa and then Borneo, before being a secretary of foreign affairs at Peking, and then subsequently an assistant commissioner of foreign affairs in Canton.
“Dr. Ahlo’s 12-months sojourn in Samoa has enabled him to study the Pacific. He sees it as the meeting ground of England, Japan, and America, all striving to gain supremacy.”
“The enormous trade possibilities of this romantic region, with peoples of diverse races, numbering 800,000,000, waiting to be exploited as factors in trade and ideas, call the colonizers and traders of the Great Powers, and right through the Pacific the fight for this supremacy is going quietly on.”
“Tariffs and other things are playing their part, but the suspicions and antagonisms engendered by this competition are reflected in the naval importance given to the Pacific. It is now talked of as the scene of the next great war.”
“’The spending of millions on armaments will inevitably result in bankruptcy,’ said the doctor, and, on account of the enormous cost.” (The Advocate, Tasmania, August 4, 1921) The image shows Lee Fong Aholo.
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