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January 28, 2024 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Math’s Life Lessons

OK, I know some may recall seeing this – but I wanted to lighten up and remind us of some Life Lessons from my favorite subject … Math.

Some might suggest my passion is history (talk to any of my former history teachers and you’ll soon learn the truth – back then, history was not a subject that interested me.)

Actually, it’s Numbers that talk to me … they help me see and explain the world around me.

Many who know me think I am weird for my apparent insatiable passion for Math.

Math is not just the quest to solve for the unknown (as if that is not enough;) Math also helps describe how we should live our lives.

Bear with me for a few moments, while I either turn you to the Math Side, or confirm what many people already think of me. (BTW, I proudly live up to my reputation as the Duke of Dork.)

Here are some important Math Life Lessons.

Math’s equal sign gives us a lesson on EQUALITY.

From grade school through research involving the most complicated mathematical expressions, there is blind faith in Math’s equal sign.

Definitively different looking items on either side of this symbol are indisputably the same. Without second thought, we defend and protect the equal sign and proclaim equality of two distinctive things.

In life, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we looked at each other … whomever we are, from wherever we come, however each of us looks or whatever each of us believes … and unquestionably see ourselves as equal?

This simple Math concept can save the world.

While we are on the subject of the equal sign, Math also teaches us the GOLDEN RULE.

You know, he who has the most gold, rules … no, wait, that’s a lesson in compounding and the relationship of addition, multiplication and exponents; that’s not what I am referring to.

I am talking about the ethic of reciprocity – doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.

We learn about this in Algebra – we call it balancing the equation, when we isolate a variable or solve an equation. If you do one thing (i.e. add, subtract …) to one side of the equation, you must do the same thing to the other side of the equation.

In life, the same is true. Treat people just as you wish to be treated and treat them equally.

Math teaches us the importance of WORKING TOGETHER.

This is illustrated in a tricky combination of geometry, trigonometry and physical science; so, bear with me, again.

Assume you need to get something from one point to another; say, up a hill.

In Math, we call it force to move a mass up a slope. Use all your might and you can eventually get the object to the top.

However, if you and a friend push the same object, each of you uses less of your own muscle power (force) because you are working together.

In fact, you two working together, using each of your individual maximum force, can move twice the mass.

In Math, as in life … working together, you can accomplish more.

Here’s another Math Life Lesson – PROBLEM SOLVING.

In all Math problems, from the simplest to the most complex, the solution is simply the systematic addition, subtraction, multiplication or division of only 2 numbers at time.

So, in Math, when faced with an extensive, complicated problem, you solve it by planning and breaking it down into small component parts; the process is called evaluating and simplifying.

In life, our so-called ‘big’ problems can be solved the same way – slowly and systematically – by looking for and addressing the simple component solutions. (It’s kind of like ‘baby steps.’)

There is LOVE in Math.

OK, for many, not necessarily love *for* Math; but, really … love is found in Math.

It is best seen in 1 + 1 = 2.

First, look at the numbers.

1 … a simple vertical line. By itself, it’s limited in character, scope and scale. 1 is the most basic, simplest and loneliest number that you’ll ever do.

But, put that 1 with another lonely 1 … and you get the most diverse, complicated integer of them all – 2 – a symbol made up of a curve, slope and straight line.

But, what does that mean?

OK, now, we have a little audience participation … do this in your mind’s eye.

Just as who we are and what we do reflects on others … take that 2 and imagine its left side is reflected up against a mirror. Can you see it?

That’s right. When you take a lonely one and put it together with another lonely one … you have love with a solid foundation.

Makes your heart skip a little beat doesn’t it?

Welcome to the Math Side.

$Math-2B2-mirror$

January 26, 2024 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

First Descriptions of the Islands and the People

“On the 19th (of January, 1778,) at sunrise, the island first seen, bore east several leagues distant. … At this time, we were in some doubt whether or not the land before us was inhabited; but this doubt was soon cleared up, by seeing some canoes coming off from the shore, toward the ships”.

“In the course of my several voyages, I never before met with the natives of any place so much astonished, as these people were, upon entering a ship. Their eyes were continually flying from object to object …”

“… the wildness of their looks and gestures fully expressing their entire ignorance about every thing they saw, and strongly marking to us, that, till now, they had never been visited by Europeans, nor been acquainted with any of our commodities except iron …”

” Of what number this newly-discovered Archipelago consists, must be left for future investigation. We saw five of them, whose names, as given to us by the natives, are Woahoo (O‘ahu,) Atooi (Kauai,) Oneeheow (Ni‘ihau,) Oreehoua (Lehua) and Tahoora (Ka‘ula.)”

“Besides these … which we can distinguish by their names, it appeared, that the inhabitants of those with whom we had intercourse, were acquainted with some other islands both to the eastward and westward. I named the whole group the Sandwich Islands, in honour of the Earl of Sandwich.”

“The inhabitants are of a middling stature, firmly made, with some exceptions, neither remarkable for a beautiful shape, nor for striking features, which rather express an openness and good-nature, than a keen, intelligent disposition.”

“Their visage, especially amongst the women, is sometimes round; but others have it long; nor can we say that they are distinguished, as a nation, by any general cast of countenance.”

“Their colour is nearly of a nut-brown, and it may be difficult to make a nearer comparison, if we take in all the different hues of that colour; but some individuals are darker.”

“They are vigorous, active, and most expert swimmers; leaving their canoes upon the most trifling occasion; diving under them, and swimming to others though at a great distance.”

“It was very common to see women, with infants at the breast, when the surf was so high that they could not land in the canoes, leap overboard, and without endangering their little ones, swim to the shore, through a sea that looked dreadful.”

“They seem to be blest with a frank, cheerful disposition; … They seem to live very sociably in their intercourse with one another; and … they were exceedingly friendly to us.” “(T)hey spoke the language of Otaheite, and of the other islands we had lately visited.”

Men wore a ‘maro’ (malo,) “pieces of cloth tied about the loins, and hanging a considerable way down.” “The only difference in (women’s) dress, was their having a piece of cloth about the body, reaching from near the middle to half-way down the thighs, instead of the maro worn by the other sex.”

“The habitations of the natives were thinly scattered about … (part of Cook’s crew) had an opportunity of observing the method
of living amongst the natives, and it appeared to be decent and cleanly.”

“Though they seem to have adopted the mode of living in villages, there is no appearance of defence, or fortification, near any of them; and the houses are scattered about, without any order, either with respect to their distances from each other, or there position in any particular direction.”

“Their amusements seem pretty various; for, during our stay, several were discovered. The dances … from the motions which they made with their hands, on other occasions, when they sung, we could form some judgment that they are, in some degree at least, similar to those we had met with at the southern Islands”.

“They did not, however, see any instance of the men and women eating together; and the latter seemed generally associated in companies by themselves.”

“They eat off a kind of wooden plates, or trenchers; and the women, as far as we could judge from one instance, if restrained from feeding at the same dish with the men … are at least permitted to eat in the same place near them.”

“It was found, that they burnt here the oily nuts of the doee dooe for lights in the night, … and that they baked their hogs in ovens”.

“They met with a positive proof of the existence of the taboo (or as they pronounce it, the tafoo), for one woman fed another who was under that interdiction.”

“They also observed some other mysterious ceremonies; one of which was performed by a woman, who took a small pig, and threw it into the surf, till it was drowned, and then tied up a bundle of wood, which she also disposed of in the same manner. The same woman, at another time, beat with a stick upon a man’s shoulders, who sat down for that purpose.”

“They have salt, which they call patai; and is produced in salt ponds. With it they cure both fish and pork; and some salt fish, which we got from them, kept very well, and were found to be very good.”

“Fish, and other marine productions were, to appearance, not various; as, besides the small mackerel, we only saw common mullets; a sort of a dead white, or chalky colour; a small, brownish rock-fish, spotted with blue; a turtle, which was penned up in a pond; and three or four sorts of fish salted. The few shellfish that we saw were chiefly converted into ornaments”.

“Of animal food, they can be in no want; as they have abundance of hogs, which run, without restraint, about the houses ; and if they eat dogs, which is not improbable, their stock of these seem to be very considerable. The great number of fishing-hooks found among them, showed, that they derive no inconsiderable supply of animal food from the sea.”

“Judging from what we saw growing, and from what was brought to market, there can be no doubt that the greatest part of their vegetable food consists of sweet potatoes, taro, and plantains; and that bread-fruit and yams are rather to be esteemed rarities.”

“(T)he vale, or moist ground, produces taro, of a much larger size than any we had ever seen; and the higher ground furnishes sweet potatoes, that often weigh ten, and sometimes twelve or fourteen pounds; very few being under two or three.”

(This summary comes entirely from the Journals of Captain Cook, explaining what he saw immediately after contact.)

View of the Sandwich Islands_Webber-Achorage at Atooi

January 21, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Point Four Program

In his inaugural address (January 20, 1949) President Harry S Truman noted that, “Since the end of hostilities [of WWII], the United States has invested its substance and its energy in a great constructive effort to restore peace, stability, and freedom to the world. …”

“We have constantly and vigorously supported the United Nations and related agencies as a means of applying democratic principles to international relations. We have consistently advocated and relied upon peaceful settlement of disputes among nations.”

Truman challenged the nation by stating that, “In the coming years, our program for peace and freedom will emphasize four major courses of action.”

He noted that, “First, we will continue to give unfaltering support to the United Nations and related agencies … Second, we will continue our programs for world economic recovery. … Third, we will strengthen freedom-loving nations against the dangers of aggression.”

The last of his initiatives later earned the name, Point Four Program. In it, he stated, “Fourth, we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.”

Truman went on to elaborate, in describing this latter point, “I believe that we should make available to peace-loving peoples the benefits of our store of technical knowledge in order to help them realize their aspirations for a better life. And, in cooperation with other nations, we should foster capital investment in areas needing development.”

“Our aim should be to help the free peoples of the world, through their own efforts, to produce more food, more clothing, more materials for housing, and more mechanical power to lighten their burdens.” (Truman Inaugural Address, Truman Library Museum, National Archives)

“The primary functions of Point Four lie in the fields of education, public health and agriculture. In the fiscal year 1951 approximately 80 per cent of the Point Four budget was spent on projects in these fields.” (Rickher)

It’s interesting that later history writers referenced the first American Protestant Missionaries to Hawai‘i as the “first American Point Four Agents.” (Tate)

“[O]ne hundred-thirteen years before President Harry S. Truman’s ‘bold new program’ for making the benefits of American scientific ‘know how’ and industrial progress available for the advancement of undeveloped areas of the world …”

“… the Sandwich Islands missionaries demonstrated a genuine and prophetic acquaintance with the requirements of a humble people lacking skill, enterprise, and industry, and suffering under so many restrictions that their temporal prosperity and their existence as a nation appeared problematical.”

“To the naive and sometimes indolent Hawaiians the evangelists exhibited the advantages of industry and frugality; they endeavored earnestly with their limited resources to lift a benighted nation from ignorance and poverty, in fact, to save it from extinction.”

“Their mission was more than a mission of love – it was the first American technical mission overseas; their tireless labors and simple instruction in the agricultural, mechanical, and manual fields represented the first chapter in the prelude to Point Four.” (Tate)

“On November 15, 1832, Rev. William Richards and others at Lahaina, Maui, in a letter to the American Board, expressed their conviction that in order to retain the ground which Christianity had already gained in the islands, new plans must be devised for elevating the character and living standards of the people.”

“As one means of doing this, they suggested that the Board sponsor a project for introducing the manufacture of cotton cloth into Hawaii. … The missionaries did not propose that the Board become a manufacturing company; but they saw nothing more inconsistent in teaching the people to manufacture cloth than in instructing them in agriculture.”

“They had already voted to teach the Hawaiians carpentry in connection with the high school at Lahainaluna, near Lahaina. In the same month [missionaries in Kona] emphasized the need of machinery for the domestic manufacture of cloth and of an instructor.”

“These clergymen earnestly invited the attention of ‘the friends of civilization to the subject of raising this people from their degradation’ and of uniting ‘with this mission in fixing upon some practicable means to effectuate this object.’ The American Board looked favorably upon the plan”.

Rev BB Wisner, secretary of the American Board, “wanted to have the deliberate views of the mission on the subject of agriculture, not with the aim of making New England farmers, ‘but of introducing and encouraging among them [the Hawaiians] such agriculture as is suited to their climate.”

The missionaries in the Islands “regarded the subject as of sufficient importance to warrant ‘encouraging the growth of cotton, coffee, sugar cane, etc., that the people may have more business on their hands and increase their temporal comforts.’”

“The initial steps toward the desired end were taken at the mission stations that became veritable oases from which seeds and cuttings of vegetables, fruit trees, and flowers were distributed throughout the country districts.”

“Edwin Locke at Waialua, Oahu, Samuel Ruggles at Kona, Hawaii, and James Goodrich, of the Hilo station, were especially successful along these lines.” (Tate)

“The first mission schools were not established as industrial or manual training institutions, but in the 1830’s the evangelists perceived the importance of agriculture and industry in raising the living standard of the nation.”

“In their general meeting held at Lahaina in 1833 they proposed a manual labor system, as a means both of desirable improvement and self-support, to be instituted at the high school. The secular agent was instructed to engage an artisan to oversee the work, take charge of the stock, tools, etc.”

“Two years later the mission recommended that a farmer be procured to teach agriculture and to conduct the secular concerns of the school and that the scholars be required to cultivate the land or earn their own food by their personal industry.” (Tate)

“In 1841 a regular manual labor school was started at Waioli, on Kauai, by Edward Johnson, but later was conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Abner Wilcox. Moreover, in the boarding schools at Kohala, Wailuku, and Hilo the boys were given instruction in agriculture and the girls were taught domestic science or home making.”

“[T]he Hilo Boarding School curriculum kept abreast with industrial progress by introducing successively courses in agriculture, tailoring, dairying, carpentry, blacksmithing, and coffee culture in the nineteenth century and cocoa, banana, and pineapple production and auto mechanics in the twentieth.”

“On twenty-five acres of land at Lahainaluna set aside for vocational education, Samuel T. Alexander, just out of college, was assigned … to the supervision of a sugar cane project. The success of this experiment conducted by the son of a former missionary principal, William P. Alexander, encouraged the commercial development of sugar in Hawaii.”

The Hawaiian leadership saw benefits. King Kamehameha III sought to expand sugar cultivation and production, as well as expand other agricultural ventures to support commercial agriculture in the Islands. In a speech to the Legislature in 1847, the King notes:

“I recommend to your most serious consideration, to devise means to promote the agriculture of the islands, and profitable industry among all classes of their inhabitants. It is my wish that my subjects should possess lands upon a secure title; enabling them to live in abundance and comfort, and to bring up their children free from the vices that prevail in the seaports.”

“What my native subjects are greatly in want of, to become farmers, is capital with which to buy cattle, fence in the land and cultivate it properly.”

“I recommend you to consider the best means of inducing foreigners to furnish capital for carrying on agricultural operations, that thus the exports of the country may be increased …” (King Kamehameha III Speech to the Legislature, April 28, 1847; Archives)

January 17, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Voyages

In 1768, when Captain James Cook set sail on the first of three voyages to the South Seas, he carried with him secret orders from the British Admiralty to seek ‘a Continent or Land of great extent’ and to take possession of that country ‘in the Name of the King of Great Britain’.

While each of the three journeys made by Captain Cook into the Pacific had its own aim and yielded its own discoveries, it was this confidential agenda that would transform the way Europeans viewed the Pacific Ocean and its lands. (State Library, New South Wales)

Endeavour voyaged to the South Pacific, mainly to record the transit of Venus in Tahiti in 1769. After that, the ship sailed around the South Pacific searching for the “Great Southern Land.” (Wall Street Journal)

After heading west from England, rounding Cape Horn beneath South America and crossing the Pacific, Cook landed the Endeavour in Australia’s Botany Bay on April 29, 1770. To the British, Cook went down in history as the man who ‘discovered’ Australia – despite Aboriginal Australians having lived there for 50,000 years and the Dutch traversing its shores for centuries. (Ward)

When Endeavour sailed around the coast of Australia, on June 11, 1770, she became stuck in a reef, now known as Endeavour Reef (part of the Great Barrier Reef). Cook ordered that all extra weight and unnecessary equipment be removed from the ship to help her float.

The reef had created a hole in the hull which, if removed from the reef, would cause the ship the flood. After several attempts, Cook and his crew successfully freed Endeavour but she was in a dire condition. She sailed to Batavia, part of the Dutch East Indies, to properly repair her before the voyage home.

After returning to Britain in 1771, the Endeavour was sent to Woolwich to be refitted to be used as a naval transport and store ship, frequently operating between Britain and the Falklands. In 1775 she was sold out of the navy to a shipping company Mather & Co. She was refitted and renamed Lord Sandwich.

Lord Sandwich was also contracted by the British navy to transport soldiers in 1776 to fight against the American colonists who sought to break free from British control.

In 1776, Lord Sandwich was stationed in New York during the Battle of Long Island that led to the British capture of New York. In August 1778, the British scuttled the Lord Sandwich and four other vessels at Newport Harbor to try to create a blockade to stop a fleet of French warships that had sailed in to support the American forces. (VOA News)

On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip guided a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia.

Cook’s second Pacific voyage (1772-1775) aboard Resolution and Adventure aimed to establish whether there was an inhabited southern continent, and make astronomical observations.

Cook set sail from Plymouth on July 13, 1772. Among the personnel on this second voyage were artist William Hodges (1744–1797); young George Vancouver (1757–1798), the future surveyor of North America’s northwest coast.

Two Royal Society astronomers were also on board and Cook tested a chronometer they had to determine longitude by comparing its results with those obtained by lunar observations, his more familiar method.

For the four-month period from November 22, 1772 until March 26, 1773, more than ten thousand miles of sea were traversed, out of sight of land, in fog, around ice fields, dodging icebergs, even dipping at one point below 67° S, just seventy-five miles from undiscovered Antarctica. (Princeton)

Cook did not rush back to England, though he had the wind with him. He took Resolution down to 55° and kept that “tolerable” parallel going east to Cape Horn for five weeks, covering on one day, under a steady gale, a record 183 miles.

They celebrated Christmas, protected in a cove within what Cook named Christmas Sound (still used today) on the western side of Tierra del Fuego, enjoying dozens of geese they had shot. After passing Cape Horn, Cook explored the vast South Atlantic, west of where he had started when leaving Cape Town two years before. (Princeton)

Cook’s third and final voyage (1776-1779) of discovery was an attempt to locate a North-West Passage, an ice-free sea route which linked the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Cook commanded the Resolution while Charles Clerke commanded Discovery. (State Library, New South Wales)

The Resolution impressed Cook greatly and he called her “the ship of my choice and as I thought the fittest for service she was going upon of any I have seen.” (Hough) She was 14 months old and her tonnage was 462. She had the same flat-floored, apple-cheeked hull.

Resolution’s lower deck length was 110 feet 8 inches, maximum beam was just over 35 feet. Her crew included 6 midshipmen, a cook and a cook’s mate, 6 quartermasters, 10 marines including a lieutenant, and 45 seamen.

She was fitted with the most advanced navigational aids of the day, including a Gregory Azimuth Compass, ice anchors and the latest apparatus for distilling fresh water from sea water. Twelve carriage guns and twelve swivel guns were carried. At his own expense Cook had brass door-hinges installed in the great cabin.

The support vessel was the Discovery built by G&N Langborn for Mr. William Herbert from whom she was bought by the Admiralty. She was 299 tons, the smallest of Cook’s ships. Her dimensions were: lower deck 91’5″, extreme breadth 27’5″, depth of hold 11’5″, height between decks 5’7″ to 6’1″. Her complement was 70: 3 officers, 55 crew, 11 marines and one civilian.

Cook’s crew first sighted the Hawaiian Islands in the dawn hours of January 18, 1778. His two ships were kept at bay by the weather until the next day when they approached Kauai’s southeast coast.

On the afternoon of January 19, native Hawaiians in canoes paddled out to meet Cook’s ships, and so began Hawai’i’s contact with Westerners. The first Hawaiians to greet Cook were from the Kōloa south shore.

The Hawaiians traded fish and sweet potatoes for pieces of iron and brass that were lowered down from Cook’s ships to the Hawaiians’ canoes.

The Islands “were named by Captain Cook the Sandwich Islands, in honour of the Earl of Sandwich, under whose administration he had enriched geography with so many splendid and important discoveries.” (Captain King’s Journal; Kerr)

Hawaiian lives changed with sudden and lasting impact, when western contact changed the course of history for Hawai’i.

At the time of Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lanai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Throughout their stay, the ships were supplied with fresh provisions which were paid for mainly with iron, much of it in the form of long iron daggers made by the ships’ blacksmiths on the pattern of the wooden pāhoa used by the Hawaiians.

After a month’s stay, Cook got under sail again to resume his exploration of the Northern Pacific. Shortly after leaving Hawaiʻi Island, the foremast of the Resolution broke. They returned to Kealakekua. On February 14, 1779, Cook was killed.

At this same time, recall that back in the Atlantic, the American Revolutionary War was still ongoing with the Americans (with support from the French) fighting the British.

“Not long after Captain Cook’s death, an event occurred in Europe, which had a particular relation to the voyage of our Navigator, and which was so honourable to himself, and to the great nation from whom it proceeded”. (King)

On March 19th, 1779, Monsieur Sartine, secretary of the marine department at Paris, sent to all the commanders of French ships the following statement/directive:

“Captain Cook, who sailed from Plymouth in July, 1776, on board the Resolution, in company with the Discovery, Captain Clerke, in order to make some discoveries on the coasts, islands, and seas of Japan and California …”

“… being on the point of returning to Europe, and such discoveries being of general utility to all nations, it is the king’s pleasure that Captain Cook shall be treated as a commander of a neutral and allied power …”

“… and that all captains of armed vessels, etc., who may meet that famous navigator, shall make him acquainted with the king’s orders on this behalf, but at the same time let him know that on his part he must refrain from all hostilities.”

“By the Marquis of Condorcet we are informed that this measure originated in the liberal and enlightened mind of that excellent citizen and statesman, Monsieur Turgot.”

“Whilst great praise is due to Monsieur Turgot for having suggested the adoption of a measure which hath contributed so much to the reputation of the French government, it must not be forgotten that the first thought of such a plan of conduct was probably owing to Dr. Benjamin Franklin.”

Franklin’s gesture of good will toward Cook was not least among the honors he brought to his fledgling country. On the return of the Discovery and Resolution, they met neither French nor American ships on the way home. (Captain Cook Society)

“All the great remaining voyages of the eighteenth century drew on Cook’s officers. Bligh, Portlock, Vancouver, Colnett, Riou, and Hergest all got their commands and served with great distinction. These men then passed on their skills to a second generation of men such as Flinders and Broughton.” (Information here is from Australian National Maritime Museum, Ward, RIMAP, MuSEAum. Image “Moment of Contact” by Herb Kane.)

January 15, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Homesteads

“From ancient times, Kanaka Maoli culture supported a belief in the power of environmental gods. It was generally believed that all the resources on the land of these islands and in the sea around them were gifts to the Kānaka Maoli from their gods.”

“These gifts carried responsibilities; the people had to care for them. The gods would thus be satisfied that their resources were respected; otherwise, disaster would strike, droughts parch the land, and there would be nothing to eat.”

“These natural resources were gifts for all the people to use; they were not “owned” by individuals, not even ali‘i (chiefs).”

“The ali‘i nui (high chief), in a sense, held the lands in trust for the gods and had the responsibility to create conditions under which the maka‘āinana, who were the fishers, the cultivators, and the artisans, took proper care of the land and the sea, which provided food and other resources for everyone, generation after generation.“

“Private ownership of land by foreigners living in the Hawaiian Islands was legalized by a law passed in July 1850. However, the maka‘āinana, had to wait until the Kuleana Act of August 1850 before rules and procedures were established to allow the government to start dealing with their land claims under the Māhele.” (Hasager & Kelly)

“The Kuleana Act (kuleana has the double meaning of plot of land and responsibility) specified that the native ‘tenants’ had the rights to their ‘cultivated grounds, or kalo lands, [but only] what they really cultivated, and which lie in the form of cultivated lands’”. (Language from Sec 6 of Kuleana Act; Hasager & Kelly)

“The Kuleana Act has been called the first homestead effort of the Hawaiian government, equating homesteads with agricultural enterprises.”

“The homesteading feature of the act was section 4, which opened for sale of government lands to ‘natives’ ’in lots of from one to fifty acres, in fee-simple, to such natives as may not be otherwise furnished with sufficient land, at a minimum price of fifty cents per acre’”. (Language from Sec 4 of Kuleana Act; Hasager & Kelly)

A few years later, King Kalākaua signed what is referred to as the Homestead Act on August 29, 1884. That Act starts by saying, “There are many persons of small means in the Kingdom who are without permanent homes and are desirous of procuring homesteads.” (Homestead Act of 1885)

“Following the American homestead policy, the government of Hawai‘i made plans to offer ownership of land in relatively small parcels for merely occupying and farming it for a given number of years, starting in 1884. Most of these lands were in relatively small parcels with nearby flowing streams.” (Hasager & Kelly)

The Homestead Act noted a distinction between kula (‘dry’) and kalo (‘wet’) lands noting that “the Minister of the Interior is hereby authorized and instructed to cause portions of the public lands which are suitable for the purpose and not at the time held by any person under lease from the Government …”

“… to be surveyed and laid out in lots not over twenty and not less than two acres in extent in dry or kula land, and not over two acres in extent in wet or kalo. land, with convenient roads in connection therewith.” (Section 1 of Homestead Act of 1884)

“These lots are then to be appraised by three appraisers, one of whom shall be the surveyor who laid out the land, and the other two residents of the district, who shall make a written statement of their appraisement to the Minister of the Interior, signed by at least two of their number.”

“The Minister shall thereupon publish a notice, inviting applications for the said lots, which shall be filed with the date of their receipt.” (Alexander)

“Any person of full age who may desire to acquire any of the said lots shall apply in writing to the Minister of Interior, stating the number of the lot chosen, and shall thereupon attend at the office of the Minister of Interior, bringing a fee of ten dollars, which shall be paid to the Minister of the Interior if such application is accepted and the proper papers signed and delivered.”

“No one will be allowed to acquire more than one lot, provided, however, that persons will be allowed to acquire two lots where one of them is kula land only and one is wet or kalo land only.” (Notice from Minister of Interior, Homestead Act of 1884)

“By this agreement, the applicant is allowed to occupy the lot for five years free from taxes for the same, on condition that he build a dwelling house upon it within one year, and fence it within two years”. (Alexander)

“Furthermore, this agreement cannot be assigned to any third party. At the end of the said term of five years, on the fulfillment of the above agreement, the occupant of the lot shall receive a Royal Patent for the same.” (Alexander)

On September 6, 1888, the foregoing Act was so amended that in the rocky districts of Kahikinui and Kipa, Maui, and Kona and Puna, Hawai’i, the limit of the size of the Kula lots was raised to one hundred acres. (Alexander)

“The results of these homestead laws were beneficial in placing homes, which have been greatly improved, into the possession of numerous families of moderate means. They did not, however, meet all of the requirements, hence these laws were supplanted by the land act of 1895.” (USDA, Stubbs, 1901)

In the following Land Act of 1895, “The idea of the legislature in creating these leases was clearly to encourage settlement and residence upon lands of the government.”

“It was not for the purpose of allowing persons to obtain farming lands at easy rates, but for the purpose of creating small farm homesteads where the parties would engage in farming and agricultural pursuits and increase in number the thrifty citizens of the Territory.” (Lorrin Andrews, Attorney General, Hilo Tribune, Sep 27, 1904)

“In this act, three types of homestead agreements were defined: (1) the Homestead lease; (2) the Right of Purchase Lease; and (3) the Cash Freehold Agreement.”

“The Homestead Lease was for a term of 999 years, and was issued after the applicants complied with terms and conditions of a Certificate of Occupation. “

“The Right of Purchase Lease was a lease for 21 years with the right of purchase at anytime after the end of the third year of full compliance with the stipulated conditions of residence, cultivation, fencing, payment of taxes, and payment of the purchase price.”

“The Cash Freehold Agreement was an agreement of sale in which the purchaser paid 25% of the purchase price in down payments, and 25% on the remainder for the next three years.”

“The Land Act of 1895 specifically noted that ‘The lessee shall from the end of the first year of said term to the end of the fifth year thereof continuously maintain his home on such premises.’” (Kumu Pono)

“The extremely varied quality of the lands, the intermingling of public and private lands, and the special needs of the people, together with the duty of best utilizing the limited public domain required land laws drawn to meet such special conditions, and these, in all essential points, have been met by the land act of 1895.” (USDA, Stubbs ,1901)

Then, a homestead resolution was drafted and debated in Congress; The US House of Representatives passed this measure on May 22, 1920. With disagreement in the Senate, Hawaiʻi’s delegate, Prince Kūhiō provided amendments and on July 9, 1921 SR 1881 passed both houses (and was signed into law). (McGregor)

“The Congress of the United States and the State of Hawaii declare that the policy of this Act is to enable native Hawaiians to return to their lands in order to fully support self-sufficiency for native Hawaiians and the self-determination of native Hawaiians in the administration of this Act, and the preservation of the values, traditions, and culture of native Hawaiians.” (Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920)

“Native Hawaiian” means any descendant of not less than one-half part of the blood of the races inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands previous to 1778.

The principal purposes are:

Establishing a permanent land base for the benefit and use of native Hawaiians (upon which they may live, farm, ranch, and commercial/industrial or other activities;
Placing native Hawaiians on the lands set aside in a prompt and efficient manner and assuring long-term tenancy to beneficiaries;
Preventing alienation of the fee title to the lands set aside so that these lands will always be held in trust for continued use by native Hawaiians in perpetuity;
Providing adequate amounts of water and supporting infrastructure, so that homestead lands will always be usable and accessible; and
Providing financial support and technical assistance to native Hawaiian beneficiaries to enhance economic self-sufficiency and promote community-based development, the traditions, culture and quality of life of native Hawaiians (Hawaiian Homes Act)

Approximately 200,000‐acres of land was set aside to the Hawaiian Homes Commission as a land trust for homesteading by native Hawaiians. The property and its program are administered by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.