Happy Father’s Day
Mahalo ʻAina
Mahalo ‘Aina: Give Back to the Forest is a program of the Hawai‘i Forest Institute (an entity established in 1989 to promote healthy and productive forests and a sustainable forest industry through forest management, education, planning, information exchange and advocacy.)
In partnership with the Hawai‘i Forest Industry Association (HFIA) and others, the goal of the Mahalo ‘Aina program is to expand community partnerships and gain support for the protection and perpetuation of Hawaiʻi’s forest ecosystems.
Click HERE to get to the Mahalo Aina website.
The philosophy of Mahalo ʻAina is simple: to help ensure a thriving future for forest restoration and education programs. The forest provides us with environmental, economic and cultural benefits, but we must also understand that we must give back to the forest.
Key Objectives of the Mahalo ‘Aina: Give back to the Forest program include:
- Participate in forest restoration projects;
- Raise awareness of reforestation efforts in Hawai‘i;
- Develop demonstration forests;
- Plan for future sustainability of forest ecosystems;
- Raise awareness of forestry practices;
- Illustrate forestry conservation practices; and
- Develop long-term partnerships
- Engage the public to become involved
This is a fundraising effort; please consider donating – click HERE to do so.
Funds raised through Mahalo ‘Aina are helping to support: Propagation, outplanting, and long-term care of plantings; Site maintenance; Cultural and environmental education programs; and Coordination and promotional activities.
Mahalo ‘Aina is not simply a tree planting program, in addition to planting trees, it is helping to support total ecosystem management and providing forest stewardship opportunities and educational programs at project sites throughout the state.
Mahalo ‘Aina will initially benefit the following projects:
- Ka‘upulehu Dryland Forest, Hawai‘i Island
- La‘i‘Opua Dryland Habitat Preserve, Hawai‘i Island
- Kaloko Makai Dryland Forest Preserve, Hawai‘i Island
- Pana‘ewa Zoo Discovery Forest, Hawai‘i Island
- Palamanui Dry Forest Preserve, Hawai‘i Island
- ‘Aina Mauna Christmas Tree Demonstration Project, Hawai‘i Island
- Kapapala Canoe Forest, Hawai‘i Island
- Honolulu Zoo Children’s Discovery Forest, O‘ahu
- Hawaiʻi’s WoodshowTM, Na La‘au o Hawai‘i, O‘ahu
- Hawaii Wood Guild, Hawai‘i Island
- Keauhou Bird Conservation Center Discovery Forest, Hawai‘i Island
- Kua O Ka La Public Charter School, Hawai‘i Island
- Hawai‘i Island Native Hawaiian Seed Bank Cooperative, Hawai‘i Island
- Honokohau National Historical Park & Pu‘uhonua O Honaunau Restoration, Hawai‘i Island
- Kakeʻe Area Restoration and Reforestation Project, Kaua‘i
- Maui Bird Conservation Center Discovery Forest, Maui (in exploration phase)
Tune in to the Mahalo ‘Aina Hawaiʻi Public Radio (HPR) Radio Series on HPR-1 Monday through Friday at 8:18 am, now through Friday, July 31st.
Click HERE to catch up on prior broadcasts.
The 65 episodes will re-run on HPR-2 starting in August 2015.)
I am honored and proud to serve as a director on the Hawaiʻi Forest Institute (HFI,) an organization dedicated to promote the health and productivity of Hawaiʻi’s forests, through forest restoration, educational programs, information dissemination and support for scientific research.
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Mahalo Aina
Barnum of the Pacific
Abraham Fernandez was a merchant, serving as Manager/Treasurer of Hawaiian Hardware Company (1903.)
He joined the Mormon Church in 1895, after a missionary blessed and miraculously healed his daughter. Fernandez went on to serve in many Church leadership positions in Hawaiʻi, as well as hosting missionaries and visiting authorities at his home in Kalihi.
Fernandez Street, in Kalihi is named for this full-blooded Hawaiian man. He was born in 1857 to a woman named Kalama Mahoe and adopted by her second husband, Peter Fernandez.
Abraham was appointed to the Privy Council by Queen Liliʻuokalani. His wife Minerva Davis Fernandez was one of the few people allowed to visit the Queen while she was imprisoned in ʻIolani Palace following the overthrow; they baptized the Queen into the Mormon faith just a few years later.
On July 16, 1907, Fernandez was one of the petitioners joining Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaʻole for the formation of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I.
Later advertisements note the company Abraham Fernandez & Son (Importers and Dealers in Agricultural Implements (1911.)) But, it’s the son noted in the family firm’s name that is the subject of this summary, and the company he formed that carried his name.
“Eddie” followed the family in their faith and attended Brigham Young University, Utah, that school’s first Native Hawaiian enrollee (1903.)
He, reportedly, was also called “Keiki Kiʻi Oniʻoni” (the moving picture kid;) he went to plantation camps and entertained workers by projecting scenic silent films onto bed sheets. He later set up an open-air theater in his back yard and charged admission (his films were later projected in the local theaters.)
He later branched out to “talkies,” fairs, carnivals, circuses, rodeos, stage shows, burlesque, boxing matches, bullfights and any other attraction he thought would draw a crowd.
Eddie held his first circus and carnival in Honolulu at Aʻala Park in 1915, with 20-performers and six acts. The star attraction was “Alice Teddy.” (Alice Teddy played other Hawaiʻi venues, as well.)
“(I)t was ‘Alice Teddy,’ a 400-pound wrestling and skating bear who beckoned Fernandez into the circus world. He brought the bear over to the islands from Los Angeles as an added attraction to his movies.”
“‘She stole the show.’ he said. ‘Most of the people had never seen a bear before, and the shows were packed. It was then that I decided to bring a circus to Hawaiʻi.’”
“To prepare for the venture, Fernandez traveled with the Ringling Circus, watching and absorbing everything he could about putting on a big show.” (The Daily Telegram, May 21, 1969)
By the end of World War II, Eddie (Edwin Kane ‘EK’ Fernandez,) was being called “the Barnum of the Pacific,” and EK Fernandez Shows “crossed the Pacific with tents, elephants and ice-making equipment to transport entertainment to Guam, Tokyo, Manila, Hong Kong, Singapore, Java and Shanghai.” (The Daily Telegram, May 21, 1969)
The company’s first amusement ride was a steam-powered merry-go-round called a Flying Jenny, which EK Fernandez introduced at the Maui County Fair in 1915.
The first elephant at the Honolulu Zoo was named Daisy (1916) and was one of the elephants that came to Hawaiʻi to perform in an EK Fernandez show.
He produced Honolulu’s first circus, imported Hawai‘i’s first ice show, first bullfight, first boxing match and first rodeo.
Rose and Margaret Nearing were a balancing wire act brought to Hawaiʻi by EK Fernandez in 1927. In 1930, the 18-year-old Rose was crowned Miss Oʻahu.
Margaret went on to make motion pictures in Hollywood. Rose remained in Hawaiʻi and, in 1933, became Mrs EK Fernandez.
Eddie Fernandez was a Punahou graduate. But his professional association with the school began in 1936 with a carnival that had one ride — a Merry-Go-Round. (Today, the Punahou Carnival is the company’s biggest two-day attraction, drawing more than 30,000 people per day.)
Some of the most famous acts to perform in an EK Fernandez production were the Flying Wallendas and their seven-person aerial pyramid, the wild animal trainer Clyde Beatty, and the famous clown Emmett Kelly.
In 1949 EK Fernandez signed an exclusive agreement with the Honolulu Junior Chamber of Commerce to operate the “49th State Fair,” even though Hawai’i was still a territory. (After Alaska got there first, the name was promptly changed to the “50th State Fair.”
Today, EK Fernandez Shows is a locally-owned, third-generation family business that operates a large assortment of kiddie rides, family rides, thrill rides and spectaculars. (Lots of information here is from EK Fernandez, Wood and Foley.)
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Eddie Fernandez Shows-TGI-Nov_7,_1922
EK_FErnandez-in back (Duke)
Early Poster-1950-(HnlAdv)
Early Poster-(HnlAdv)
All-American_Rodeo-(HnlAdv)
George & Carrie Crapsey and wife Carrie, with Alice Teddy
EK_Fernandez-Circus-1936-SB
EK_Fernandez_Circus-1936-SB
EK Fernandez & Elephant
Daisey the Elephant-PP-2-12-004
Clyde Beatty appeared with lions and tigers in the 1940s-(HnlAdv)
Bathing beauties on a fire truck advertised a 1948-49 E.K. Fernandez circus.-(HnlAdv)
Abraham_Fernandez_&_Son-Ad-HAwaiian_Almanac-1911
EK Fernandez Shows
Flying_Wallendas-7-person_pyramid-(image not from Hawaii)
Emmett_Kelly-circus clown
May Day
May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries.
May Day is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings.
The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane.
A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. There, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May.
Fading in popularity since the late-20th-century is the giving of “May baskets,” small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors’ doorsteps.
May Day is Lei Day in Hawaiʻi.
Lei making in Hawaiʻi begins with the arrival of the Polynesians who adorned their bodies with strings of flowers and vines.
When they arrived in Hawaiʻi, in addition to the useful plants they brought for food, medicine and building, they also brought plants with flowers used for decoration and adornment.
“The leis of Old Hawaii were made of both semi-permanent materials – hair, bone, ivory, seeds, teeth, feathers, and shells; and the traditional flower and leaf leis – twined vines, seaweed and leaf stems, woven and twisted leaves, strung and bound flowers of every description.”
“Leis were symbols of love, of a spiritual meaning or connection, of healing, and of respect. There are many references to leis, or as the circle of a lei, being symbolic of the circle of a family, embracing, or love itself: “Like a living first-born child is love, A lei constantly desired and worn.” (Na Mele Welo, Songs of Our Heritage, (translated by Mary Kawena Pukui,) Gecko Farms)
Robert Elwes, an artist who visited the Hawaiian islands in 1849, wrote that Hawaiian women “delight in flowers, and wear wreaths on their heads in the most beautiful way.”
“A lei is a garland of flowers joined together in a manner which can be worn. There are many different styles of lei made of numerous types of flowers. The type of flower used determines the manner in which the lei is woven.” (Akaka)
The lei known the world over, is a symbol of aloha. Great care is taken into the gathering of the materials to make a lei. After the materials are gathered, they are prepared and then fashioned into a lei. As this is done, the mana (or spirit) of the creator of the lei is sewn or woven into it.
The first Lei Day was in 1927 and celebrated in downtown Honolulu with a few people wearing lei. Reportedly, Don Blanding, writing in his book ‘Hula Moons,’ explained the origins of Lei Day: “Along in the latter part of 1927 I had an idea; not that that gave me a headache, but it seemed such a good one that I had to tell some one about it …”
“… so I told the editors of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the paper on which I worked. They agreed that it was a good idea and that we ought to present it to the public, which we proceeded to do. It took hold at once and resulted in something decidedly beautiful.”
From that it grew and more and more people began to wear lei on May 1.
In 1929, Governor Farrington signed a Lei Day proclamation urging the citizens of Hawaiʻi to “observe the day and honor the traditions of Hawaii-nei by wearing and displaying lei.”‘ (Akaka) Lei Day celebrations continue today, marking May 1st with lei-making competitions, concerts, and the giving and receiving of lei among friends and family.
“Lei Day(‘s) … sole purpose is to engage in random acts of kindness and sharing, and to celebrate the Aloha spirit, that intangible, but palpable, essence which is best exemplified by the hospitality and inclusiveness exhibited by the Native Hawaiians – Hawaiʻi’s indigenous peoples – to all people of goodwill.” (Akaka)
When you give a lei, you are giving a part of you. Likewise, as you receive a lei, you are receiving a part of the creator of the lei.
“A lei is not just flowers strung on a thread. A lei is a tangible representation of aloha in which symbols of that aloha are carefully sewn or woven together to create a gift.”
“This gift tells a story of the relationship between the giver and the recipient. Many things can make up a lei. One can string flowers, seeds, shells, or berries into a lei.”
“One can weave vines and leaves into a lei. One can weave words into a poem or song, which is then a lei. The ultimate expression of a lei is kamalei – the child which represents the intertwining of aloha between the parents.” (Akaka)
Reportedly, the “tradition” of giving a kiss with a lei dates back to World War II, when a USO entertainer, seeking a kiss from a handsome officer, claimed it was a Hawaiian custom.
The video plays May Day is Lei Day in Hawai‘i with scenes from across the state.
The lei of the eight major Hawaiian Islands become the theme for Hawai‘i May Day pageants and a lei queen chosen with a princess representing each of the islands, wearing lei fashioned with the island’s flower and color.
Hawai‘i – Color: ‘Ula‘ula (red) – Flower: ‘Ōhi‘a Lehua
Maui – Color: ‘Ākala (pink) – Flower: Lokelani
Kaho‘olawe -Color: Hinahina (silvery gray) – Flower: Hinahina
Lāna‘i – Color: ‘Alani (orange) – Flower: Kauna‘oa
Moloka‘i – Color: ‘Ōma‘oma‘o (green) -Flower: Kukui
O‘ahu – Color: Pala luhiehu (golden yellow) or melemele (yellow) Flower: ‘Ilima
Kaua‘i – Color: Poni (purple) – Flower: Mokihana
Ni‘ihau – Color: Ke‘oke‘o (white) – Flower: Pūpū (shell)
The image is ‘The Lei Maker’ painted by Theodore Wores in 1901.
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May Day
Infanticide
“I have often wondered why there were no more children here than there appear to be, upon asking a white man who has resided here many years …”
“… the reason he replied that many infants are strangled to death by their mothers, especially if they are not able to support them and many die for want of care when young. We have seen a number of latter case.” (Daniel Chamberlain. July 20, 1820; Tobin)
“A man and his wife, tenants of Mr (John) Young … had one child, a fine little boy. A quarrel arose between them on one occasion respecting this child. The Wife refusing to accede to the wishes of the husband, he, in revenge, caught up the child by the head and the feet, broke its back across his knee, and then threw it down in expiring agonies before her.”
“Struck with the atrocity of the act, Mr. Young seized the man, led him before the king, Tamehameha, … and requested that he might be punished.”
“The king inquired, ‘To whom did the child he has murdered belong?’ Mr. Young answered, that it was his own son. ‘Then,’ said the king, ‘neither you nor I have any right to interfere; I cannot say any thing to him.’” (Ellis, 1826)
“We have long known that the Sandwich Islanders practised infanticide, but had no idea of the extent to which it prevailed, until we had made various inquiries daring our present tour, and had conversed with Karaimoku Kapiolani, the governor, and several other chiefs, who, though formerly unwilling to converse on the subject, have, since their reception of Christianity, become more communicative.”
“It prevails throughout all the islands, and, with the exception of the higher class of chiefs, is, as far as we could learn, practised by all ranks of the people.”
“However numerous the children among the lower orders, parents seldom rear more than two or three, and many spare only one; all the others are destroyed sometimes shortly after birth, generally during the first year of their age.” (Ellis, 1826)
“Several mothers presented their offspring, with the pride of old Roman matrons. We counted the number of those who had living children, and then requested those who had none to rise.”
“The scene that followed I can never forget.”
“Why are you childless? we inquired. Very few had lost children by a natural death. One woman replied in tears, holding out her hands.”
“’These must answer the question: I have been the mother of eight children, but with these hands I buried them alive, one after another, that I might follow my pleasures, and avoid growing old.’”
“’Oh, if I had but one of them back again to comfort me now! If tears and penitence could restore the dead!’”
“She was followed by others, making the same sad confessions of burying alive, of strangling, of smothering, until sobs and tears filled the house.” (Laura Fish Judd, 1880)
“There can be no doubt but that infanticide was prevalent among them and that a very large percent of the children born were disposed of in various ways by their parents, soon after their birth.”
“Generally speaking, it appears that in Hawaiʻi, as throughout Polynesia, the struggle for existence and life’s necessities, was largely evaded by restricting the natural increase in population in this way.” (Bryan, 1915)
“But as we are told that parents were fond of their children and parental discipline was not rigorous, and as children were left largely to their own devices, their care could hardly be regarded as a serious burden …”
“… moreover, more girl children were destroyed than boys, indicating that the former reason was the more economic and, therefore, the more human and logical one.” (Bryan, 1915)
“The extreme skewing of the sex ratio among Hawaiians in the nineteenth century is open to many explanations … Overwork and general exploitation may well have erased more adult women than men, but the likeliest candidate as the chief killer of females was infanticide, either by direct intention or, as is much more common, indirectly and semi-intentionally.” (Crosby)
“(B)y European contact the Hawaiians were actively practicing several methods of population control, including abortion and infanticide, perhaps in response to pressure on local food supplies and the limitations of agricultural land.” (Kirch)
“Several of the early Christian missionaries in the Hawaiian archipelago were sure that infanticide, especially female infanticide, was widespread despite decrees against the practice and assurances that it had stopped circa 1820.” (Crosby)
“Abortion and infanticide, known to exist in pre-contact times, reached new highs in 1819-1825 and 1832-1836.” (Schmitt)
“Artemas Bishop reported in 1838, ‘the majority of children born in the islands die before they are two years old.’ Indeed, the infant mortality rate was so high that microbiologist OA Bushnell uses the term ‘genocidal decline’ in discussing Hawaiian infants in this period.” (Kanahele)
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