Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

A Lasting Legacy by a Brief Stop by Austrians in Hawaiʻi

Austria, politically weakened both domestically and abroad, was forced to relinquish its leading role in Germany after its defeat by Prussia in 1866. Conservative forces sought to retain the old Habsburg glory, but the progressive industrialization had its consequences.  (all-history)

The imperial and royal monarchy of Austria-Hungary did not succeed in integrating the many ethnic groups under its rule. This phenomenon, paradoxically, led to a certain stability, given that no significant union was possible between so many competing nationalities. Meanwhile the civil servants remained loyal to their Habsburg paymasters.  (all-history)

Germans and Hungarians were favored in the political process. Later, into the 1870s, tensions grew.  (Internal conflict led in 1914 to the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand – World War I began.)  (all-history)

It was in this timeframe – 1860-1870s – that Austrians had a chance stay in Honolulu.

At that time Austria-Hungary, also known as the Danube Monarchy, was a major European power comprising some 60-million people who spoke 14-different languages and dialects. The country was ruled by the Habsburg dynasty.

The frigate SMS Donau (with a crew of 360-men,) together with the Corvette Erzherzog Friedrich of the Imperial Austrian Navy, left their base at Pola, Croatia on the Adriatic in late-1868 on a mission to strengthen Austria-Hungary’s trade and consular establishments in the Far East and along the coast of South America.

Donau translates to Danube (the Danube River runs through the core of Austria-Hungary; it’s about 1,000-miles long, from the Black Forest to the Black Sea.)

Off the coast of Japan, the two ships ran into two horrific typhoons. It was decided for the Erzherzog Friedrich to return to Europe and the damaged Donau to continue to Honolulu for repairs.

“Arrival of the Austrian Frigate Donau, HIR Austrian Majesty’s steam frigate Donau, Admiral Baron von Petz, commanding, arrived at this port on Monday the 20th, 37 days from Yokohama, Japan. She encountered two heavy cyclones during the passage, in the last of which she suffered serious damage.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, December 22, 1869)

“The Donau carries 16 guns, and her engines are 200 horse power. At 10 o’clock AM, on Tuesday, she saluted the Hawaiian flag, which was returned from the Battery on Punch Bowl. She has on board the members of the Imperial Legation, consisting of Contre Admiral Baron von Petz, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary ; Baron von Trautteaberg, Secretary of Legation; Pfisterer, Officer Board of Trade; Schonberger, Czerey, Commercial Reporters.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, December 22, 1869)

“In connection with the Donau, we would say that from private letters received from the officers of that ship, here, we are informed that all look back upon their visit in Honolulu with the utmost pleasure. The Hawaiian flag, hoisted over the Consulate at Valparaiso on the first Sunday of their visit there, was hailed with cheers by officers and crew.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, October 5, 1870)

“The Austrian Frigate Donau … experienced heavy storms on the passage, damaging her spars, machinery and hull.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, December 22, 1869)

“We hear that Messrs. Foster & Co. will undertake to repair the Austrian Frigate Donau. The job is a heavy one, and will require great skill and ingenuity on the part of the shipwrights, with the appliances at hand, but we understand that it can be done.  The work will be commenced immediately.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, December 22, 1869)

It took some 5 months to repair the ship.

While the Donau was being repaired, the ship’s marching band held daily dockside evening concerts to the great delight of the Honolulu populace.

“A Band in Honolulu, as a convenience on private occasions, and as a means of enjoyment to the public at large, can be easily appreciated, the more so, by the remembrance of the out-door concerts that have of late been given by the Bands attached to war-ships that have visited this port.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 9, 1870)

“The Band of Kamehameha III, whose performances at the levees at the Palace, and on other occasions, have now nearly passed out of public remembrance, has entirely disappeared, not more than two members we believe being at present alive; the leader Mr. Mersberg, is living on Hawaii, where he is now engaged in instructing a volunteer Band of twelve instruments, with very great credit to himself as band-master.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, November 9, 1870)

Based on the performances of the Austrian Band, folks petitioned King Kamehameha V to re-institute the Royal Hawaiian Band, originally established in 1836 as the “King’s Band.”

In debate in a legislative session to fund a band, legislator Harris noted:  “As for the item for a band, we needed one. We could dispense with very many things which we now have clothing; for instance, of some kinds. A band also exercised a very beneficial Influence on the people in general.”

“We had recently been favored with the band of the Austrian man-of-war Donau; everyone had been allowed to listen to their music, and its good Influence was shown by the fact of the decrease of crime in the city at that time.    As regarded the band, it was the intension to get genuine musicians to instruct our young men in the art of music.  All of that expense would be abundantly paid for.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, July 13, 1870)

The legacy of the Royal Hawaiian Band lives on.

When the Donau arrived, it had six dead sailors aboard, 2-officers and 4-crew, who had perished in the storms.  They were buried in the Catholic cemetery on King Street (across from Straub.)

In 2012, the Austrian Association of Hawaiʻi had a rededication ceremony in the cemetery for the deceased sailors; the Royal Hawaiian Band performed at the rededication ceremony.

Lots of info here is from a speech by H. Pepi Pesentheiner (Bürgermeister (President) of the Austrian Association of Hawai‘i,) at the rededication of the SMS Donau graves.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mail and Early Tourism

“Tourism means travel, and travel requires transportation. During most of the nineteenth century, visiting Hawaii meant crossing the vast Pacific Ocean on a sailing ship from San Francisco, a distance of some 2,100 miles.”

“At the height of the California gold rush (around 1850) diminutive schooners and brigs dominated the Hawaii trade. Carrying freight was their main business though passengers were also accommodated.”

“Before steamships ‘our business dealings with that port [San Francisco], which comprised more than all others combined…was dependent upon sailing vessels, which served also for passenger accommodation and mail opportunities, often weeks apart in arrival. Tourist travel was not encouraged thereby.’”

“It would require the arrival of regular steamship service to get tourism going in Hawaii.  Steamships provide greater speed and more predictable schedules than sailing vessels.”

“Mark Twain arrived in Honolulu on the steamship Ajax. Ajax’s inaugural round trip voyage from San Francisco arrived in Honolulu on January 27, 1866 with 68 passengers.” (UHERO)

Mark Twain’s travelogue Roughing It helped shape America’s image of the islands for 30-odd years: “On a certain bright morning the Islands hove in sight, lying low on the lonely sea, and everybody climbed to the upper deck to look.  After two thousand miles of watery solitude the vision was a welcome one.”

“As we approached, the imposing promontory of Diamond Head rose up out of the ocean its rugged front softened by the hazy distance, and presently the details of the land began to make themselves manifest: first the line of beach; then the plumed coacoanut trees of the tropics …”

“In place of roughs and rowdies staring and blackguarding on the corners, I saw long-haired, saddle-colored Sandwich Island maidens sitting on the ground in the shade of corner houses, gazing indolently at whatever or whoever happened along …”

“… instead of wretched cobble-stone pavements, I walked on a firm foundation of coral, built up from the bottom of the sea by the absurd but persevering insect of that name, with a light layer of lava and cinders overlying the coral, belched up out of fathomless perdition long ago through the seared and blackened crater that stands dead and harmless in the distance now …”

“… instead of cramped and crowded street-cars, I met dusky native women sweeping by, free as the wind, on fleet horses and astride, with gaudy riding-sashes, streaming like banners behind them …”

“… instead of the combined stenches of Chinadom and Brannan street slaughter-houses, I breathed the balmy fragrance of jessamine, oleander, and the Pride of India …”

“… in place of the hurry and bustle and noisy confusion of San Francisco, I moved in the midst of a Summer calm as tranquil as dawn in the Garden of Eden …”

“… in place of the Golden City’s skirting sand hills and the placid bay, I saw on the one side a frame-work of tall, precipitous mountains close at hand, clad in refreshing green, and cleft by deep, cool, chasm-like valleys – and in front the grand sweep of the ocean …”

“… a brilliant, transparent green near the shore, bound and bordered by a long white line of foamy spray dashing against the reef, and further out the dead blue water of the deep sea, flecked with ‘white caps,’ and in the far horizon a single, lonely sail – a mere accent-mark to emphasize a slumberous calm and a solitude that were without sound or limit.”

“When the sun sunk down – the one intruder from other realms and persistent in suggestions of them – it was tranced luxury to sit in the perfumed air and forget that there was any world but these enchanted islands.”  (Twain)

“After two round trips, the California Steam Navigation Company decided against offering further voyages because the service was unprofitable without government subsidy.”

“However, a year later the U.S. postmaster general contracted with the California, Oregon and Mexico Steamship Company to provide monthly mail service between San Francisco and Honolulu for a period of 10 years.”

“The steamship Idaho arrived in Honolulu under the provisions of the mail contract on September 17, 1867. That marked the beginning of regular steamship service between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii.” (UHERO)

“While freight and mail were the most important cargo between Australia and San Francisco, steamships also carried sizable number of passengers.”

“For example, the 11 steamships en route to San Francisco from Sydney and Auckland in 1875 carried a total of 1,121 passengers, 10 to Honolulu, 227 from Honolulu, and 884 were in-transit.”

“The 12 vessels en route to Auckland and Sydney from San Francisco carried a total of 855 passengers, 264 to Honolulu, 24 from Honolulu, and 567 were in-transit. Thus there were many more passengers passing through Honolulu than passengers going to Honolulu.”

“Pacific Mail maintained its service between Australia, Honolulu and San Francisco for an uneventful 9 years; the service ended after its mail contract expired on October 1, 1885. Oceanic Steamship Company stepped up to fill the void. …”

The US government contributed money toward the mail contract “and between 1888 and 1891 the Hawaiian government contributed $1,500 per trip. … the single factor that kept the ships sailing was subsidy.”

“Hawaii benefited financially from government mail subsidies to trans-Pacific steamship companies as passengers passing through Honolulu could play tourist for a day during their several hours of layover in Honolulu.”

“The economic value of one-day tourism did not go unnoticed. Thrum’s Annual, 1894 observed that during a very difficult year of 1893: ‘While trade in general has felt depressed this past year…Still we have benefitted somewhat by the extra through travel by the frequent steamers to and fro between the occident and orient, as also in the new line established between the Colonies and Vancouver via this port…’”

“At the end of the day lei-decked departing passengers were sent off with Hawaiian music provided by the Royal Hawaiian Band. ‘Steamer Days’ would later be extended to all departing ships in the Honolulu-San Francisco route ‘to give the local boat with departing residents and tourists as good a sendoff.’” (UHERO)

“The signing of the Reciprocity Treaty between the U.S. and the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1876, which permitted sugar grown in Hawaii to be shipped to the U.S. duty free, greatly stimulated sugar production and overall economic activity in the islands.”

“Demand for shipping increased sharply. More shipping was required to transport sugar from the outer islands to Honolulu and then on to the U.S. mainland. More shipping was needed to carry more goods to Hawaii as well. Shipping was the lifeline of Hawaii.”

Thrum’s Annual, 1881 observed “… that we import nearly everything that we eat, drink, wear, or use, and San Francisco is our principal source of supply. We are producers and exporters of sugar, rice, and a few other minor articles, but importers of all else.”

“More shipping service meant potentially more visitors and tourists.”

“With direct service between the U.S. mainland and Honolulu and through trans-Pacific service via Honolulu, Hawaii was able to tap into two potential tourist markets—tourists bound for Hawaii as their final destination and travelers in transit to other destinations beyond Hawaii.”

Thrum’s Annual, 1888 expressed its optimism for this opportunity as follows: “The two or three lines of sailing packets that used to suffice, with their passages of from ten to twenty or more days from San Francisco, are now strengthened by direct monthly steamers of the Oceanic Steamship Company, as also the monthly call, both ways …”

“… of their Australia, New Zealand and San Francisco line of steamers, all of which vessels make the trip in seven days between this port and San Francisco, and often times less.”

“These boats fitted with every comfort for passengers, and officered by courteous and experienced men, make it a pleasure trip in every sense of the word.”

“The natural consequences has been to encourage in a marked degree the travel of tourists and others, whether in pursuit of health, pleasure or profit. And it is but the beginning of what these islands are destined to attract when the facts of our climate and natural attractions become known to the intelligent public.” (UHERO)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Golden Gate Bridge

For years, I used to go to San Francisco three times a year (on my way top Napa); we would always go to the Golden Gate Bridge and walk (or bicycle across and have lunch in Sausalito and catch the ferry back to the city) or simply gaze at it.

We don’t go anymore.  It used to be relatively safe and clean; that has changed.

In a pre-election questionnaire published in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco’s District Attorney, Chesa Boudin said: “We will not prosecute cases involving quality-of-life crimes. Crimes such as public camping, offering or soliciting sex, public urination, blocking a sidewalk, etc., should not and will not be prosecuted.”

The May 22, 2023 ‘City Performance’ report from the City’s Office of the Comptroller notes “Broken glass was the most commonly observed hazard, on approximately 50% of surveyed streets and sidewalks” and “Feces [human and animal] was another notable observed hazard, on approximately 50% of street segments in Key Commercial Areas”.

San Francisco even has an App for that … “Snapcrap is a mobile app that allows residents of San Francisco to request street and sidewalk cleaning from the city’s Public Works department by submitting a photo of something gross (usually crap) and sharing its location.” (App developer Sean Miller)

OK, back to the better days and the Golden Gate Bridge … “It may seem incomprehensible to the twentieth century layman that

San Francisco Bay … was not discovered until the late eighteenth century – and then not by seamen but by a party of Portola’s land expedition led by Sergeant Jose Francisco de Ortega, in 1769.”

“The historical fact remains, however, that the Golden Gate was not recognized as a bay entrance from the seaward side until it had been discovered from a height on land.”

“The first ship to enter San Francisco Bay was the San Carlos commanded by Don Manuel de Ayala, under orders from the government of Spain to examine the port of San Francisco.”

“The log of the San Carlos discloses that three approaches were made to within the Gulf of the Farallons, two of which were aborted because of nightfall when the courses were reversed.”

“The third approach, on which the Golden Gate was sighted and entered, required over twelve hours of maneuvering with strong currents and tides before the vessel finally made the channel and dropped anchor approximately a league inside the entrance, under Fort Point, for the night. This occurred on August 5, 1775.” (Capt Adolph S Oko)

Rather than being named for the area’s association with the Gold Rush, the Bridge is actually named for the water that runs beneath it – The Golden Gate Strait.

During the mid-1800s, soldier and explorer John Fremont gave the passage its name, borrowing from the Greek term, ‘Chrysoplae.’ In English, it translates to ‘Golden Gate,’ which was fitting, as Fremont saw the similarities between San Francisco and another port town from antiquity:

“[When] John C. Fremont saw the watery trench that breached the range of coastal hills on the western edge of otherwise landlocked San Francisco Bay, it reminded him of another beautiful landlocked harbor: the Golden Horn of the Bosporus in Constantinople, now Istanbul.”

Thus, the name for this gateway to the Pacific Ocean was born. Little did Fremont realize, however, that years later, the name would also be lent to the now-famous bridge that joins the sides of this mighty expanse. (Towers at Rincon)

Fast forward … the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District originated with the 1923 California Bridge and Highway District Act, specifically intended to allow for the public financing, construction, and administration of a bridge across the Golden Gate.

A year and a half after the passage of the enabling act, members of the Bridging the Golden Gate Association could finally start the process of enrolling counties. They specified the eight most likely candidates: San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Humboldt, Lake, and Del Norte.

A call for bids on construction contracts was made on June 17, 1931; on February 26, 1933, 100,000 people witnessed the symbolic start of construction in San Francisco, when William P Filmer (president of the board of directors), Joseph B Strauss (engineer of the bridge) and San Francisco Mayor Angelo Rossi broke ground with a golden spade. (Dyble)

It was in 1935 that an architect on the project proposed it be painted an orange color that would go well with its surroundings. The two sides of the bridge met in the middle in 1936. Eleven workers lost their lives during construction, all but one of them in a single accident shortly before the bridge opened. (Time)

On May 27, 1937, San Franciscans celebrated as nearly 180,000 people crossed the bridge by foot. It opened to cars the next day. The Golden Gate Bridge was, TIME noted the following week, “the world’s greatest” bridge “by practically every measurement.” (The main span is 4,200 feet long; at the time that was the world’s longest suspension span.)

“With eager expectation, San Franciscans and the citizens of the Redwood Empire have looked forward to this day when the mighty Golden Gate Bridge would be opened to the traffic of the world. And now that this glorious enterprise is completed, rejoicing is in every heart.” (Mayor Angelo Rossi)

“The biggest task that ever challenged the genius, courage and will of man has been accomplished. After nearly a century of dreaming, decades of talk, and five years of heroic labor, the Bridge stands here, the noblest structure of steel upon this planet.” (Toole)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Filipinos in Hawaiʻi

Filipinos were the first Asians to cross the Pacific Ocean, as early as 1587 – fifty years before the first English settlement of Jamestown was established on the continent.

From 1565 to 1815, during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, Filipinos were forced to work as sailors and navigators on board Spanish Galleons.  (CSU-Chico)

In 1763, Filipinos made their first permanent settlement in the bayous and marshes of Louisiana. As sailors and navigators on board Spanish galleons, Filipinos – also known as “Manilamen” or Spanish-speaking Filipinos – jumped ship to escape the brutality of their Spanish masters.  (CSU-Chico)

During the War of 1812, Filipinos from Manila Village (near New Orleans) were among the “Batarians” who fought against the British with Jean Lafitte in the Battle of New Orleans.

Filipino’s Spanish connection came to an end after the Spanish-American War in 1898 when America wanted to control the Philippines. Unknown to Filipinos, through the Treaty of Paris (April 11, 1899,) Spain sold the Philippines to the US for $20-million, thus ending over 300 years of Spanish colonization.

In Hawaiʻi, shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

Of the large level of plantation worker immigration, the Chinese were the first (1850,) followed by the Japanese (1885.)  After the turn of the century, the plantations started bringing in Filipinos.

Over the years in successive waves of immigration, the sugar planters brought to Hawaiʻi 46,000-Chinese, 180,000-Japanese, 126,000-Filipinos, as well as Portuguese, Puerto Ricans and other ethnic groups.

For the first 15-Filipino sakadas (probably derived from the Ilocano phrase “sakasakada amin”, meaning, barefoot workers struggling to earn a living) who got off the SS Doric on December 20, 1906, amid stares of curious onlookers, the world before them was one of foreboding.

The 15-pioneers would soon be joined by thousands of their compatriots, thanks to the relentless recruitment of the Hawaiʻi Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA). (Aquino)

Upon arrival in Hawaiʻi, Filipino contract laborers were assigned to the HSPA-affiliated plantations throughout the territory. Their lives would now come under the dictates of the plantation bosses.

They had no choice as to which plantation or island they would be assigned. Men from the same families, the same towns or provinces were often broken up and separated.  (Alegado)

Between 1906 and 1930, the HSPA brought in approximately 120,000-Filipinos to Hawaiʻi, dramatically altering the territory’s ethnic demographics.    (Aquino)

By the 1920s, Filipinos in Hawaiʻi were still largely male, men outnumbered women by nearly seven to one, and unmarried. They represented, at one point, half of the workers in the sugar industry. Initially the Filipinos tended to be “peasants” of lower education than other groups.  (Reinecke)

Comprising only 19-percent of the plantation workforce in 1917, the sakadas jumped to 70-percent by 1930, replacing the Japanese, who had dwindled to 19-percent as the 1930s approached.  (Aquino)

These Filipino pioneers were known as the “manong generation” since most of them came from Ilokos Sur, Iloilo, and Cavite in the Philippines (manong is an Ilokano term principally given to the first-born male in a Filipino nuclear family who serves as one of the leaders in the extended family.)

During this later time, particularly during the Great Depression, Filipinos had to compete against other ethnic groups to earn a living. Tensions grew.

This eventually led to the passing of the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934, which officially provided for Philippine independence and self-government; it also limited Filipino immigration to the US to 50-per year.

The work was hard, it was dirty work (literally with soot  and mud) and monotonous and dangerous work; there was no future in it, in that as one grew older and weaker one earned less money, and that the work was tiring and thus the need to recuperate often.

Among Filipinos, when they got paid they would go to Honolulu by train and not come back for a week. Not to worry: “We could always get our jobs back because it was the worst job working in the fields and nobody else would do it.”  (Alcantara)

Working conditions and wage disparities lead to worker unrest, eventually leading to the formation of labor unions; they formed the Filipino Labor Union.

In 1924 and again in 1935 the Filipinos struck along racial lines; the Filipino workers and their families were evicted from their homes and left to fend for themselves, their leaders were jailed.

Then, in 1935, President Roosevelt, as part of his New Deal legislation, passed the Wagner Act giving workers the legal right to organize unions that could demand employer recognition.

Following WW II (May 21, 1945,) pro-labor legislature passed the landmark Hawaiʻi Employees Relations Act, popularly called the Little Wagner Act, which extended the rights of collective bargaining to agricultural workers. The legislature extended the provisions of the wage and hour law to cover agricultural workers and set minimum wages.

The International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU) proceeded to organize on all sugar plantations, and by the end of 1945, the ILWU had contracts industry-wide.

Bargaining on the employers’ side was conducted by the Hawaiʻi Employers Council (non-profit and voluntary,) formed to conduct the bargaining and negotiate contracts with unions – thus the ILWU bargained not with the plantations but with the Hawaiʻi Employers Council.

Over the years, the Filipino community has largely been working class; but there is now a growing number of management, professional and related occupations (including professionals such as doctors, nurses, therapists, teachers, lawyers, engineers and business executives.)  (hawaii-edu)

In 1959, the “First Annual Convention of Filipino Community Associations of Hawaiʻi” was held under the theme, “Statehood and the Filipinos in Hawaiʻi.”

Concurrent with the convention, a Fiesta Filipina celebration was held where Leticia Quintal, a UH history major, was crowned as “the first Miss Philippines-Hawaiʻi.” (That pageant award was later changed to Miss Hawaiʻi Filipina.)  Out of the convention and fiesta was born the United Filipino Council of Hawaiʻi.

In an editorial entitled “The Filipino Contribution,” the Honolulu Advertiser of June 19, 1959, noted: “There is a sense of urgency as able Consul General Juan C. Dionisio encourages Americans of Filipino ancestry – and Philippine nationals too – to organize and play a bigger part in Hawaiian affairs.”  (United Filipino Council of Hawaiʻi)

With a note of optimism, the editorial further pointed out: “The Filipinos, who have been doing right well under individual steam, now can be expected to progress even faster.”  (United Filipino Council of Hawaiʻi)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Writing An Oral Language

When Captain Cook first visited the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian was a spoken language but not a written language.  Historical accounts were passed down orally, through chants and songs.

After western contact and attempts to write about Hawaii, early writers tried to spell words based on the sound of the words they heard.  People heard words differently, so it was not uncommon for words to be spelled differently, depending on the writer.

The planning for the formal written Hawaiian language in the early part of the nineteenth century was started by the American Protestant missionaries who arrived in Hawai‘i, starting in 1820.

A committee of some of these missionaries (Hiram Bingham, C. S. Stewart and Levi Chamberlain) worked on the development of the Hawaiian alphabet.  (Hiram was my great-great-great grandfather)

Bingham noted, “To make the spelling and reading of the language easy to the people, and convenient to all who use it, was a matter of great importance, almost indispensable to our success in raising the nation.”

“It was, therefore, a part of our task to secure to the people a perfect alphabet, literal or syllabic, of all the sounds which were then in use, and which would need soon to come into use in the progress of the nation.”

“Those who had attempted to write the names of places and persons in the islands, had materially failed, even in the most plain and common. No foreigner or native, at the islands, could illustrate or explain the peculiarities and intricacies of the language.”

“[W] we found the dialect in use by foreigners often materially misled us, so that none could be trusted as to accuracy; and it required time to detect and unlearn errors.”

“In the oft recurring names of the principal island, the largest village, and of the king of the leeward islands, ‘Owhyhee’ [Hawai‘i], ‘Hanaroorah’ [Honolulu] and ‘Tamoree’ [Kaumuali‘i], scarcely the sound of a single syllable was correctly expressed, either in writing or speaking, by voyagers or foreign residents.”

“Had we, therefore, followed the orthography of voyagers, or in adopting an alphabet, made a single vowel stand for as many sounds as in English, and several different vowels for the same sound, and given the consonants the ambiguity of our c, s, t, ch, gh, & c …”

“… it would have been extremely difficult, if not impracticable to induce the nation to become readers, in the course of a whole generation, even if we had been furnished with ample funds to sustain in boarding-schools, all who would devote their time and labor to study.”  (Bignham)

On July 14, 1826, the committee prepared a final report to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions titled “Report of the committee of health on the state of the Hawaiian language.”   The report is signed by Hiram Bingham and Levi Chamberlain.

“Aiming to avoid an ambiguous, erroneous, and inconvenient orthography, to assign to every character one certain sound, and thus represent with ease and exactness the true pronunciation of the Hawaiian language, the following five vowels and seven consonants have been adopted: a, e, i, o, u, h, k, I, m, n, p, w.”

“These twelve letters, and possibly eleven, omitting either u or w, will express every sound in the pure Hawaiian dialect. The power of the vowels may be thus represented: – a, as a in the English words art, father; e, as a in pale, or ey in they; i, as ee or i in machine – o, as o in no; u, as oo in too. They are called so as to express their power by their names – Ah, A, He, O, Oo.”

“The consonants are in like manner called by such simple names as to suggest their power, thus, following the sound of the vowels as above – He, Ke, La, Mu, Nu, Pi, We.”

“The following appeared sometimes to be interchangeable: b and p, k and t, l and r, v and w, and even the sound of d, it was thought by some, was used in some cases where others used k, l, r, or t. For purely native words, however, k, l, p, and w were preferred.”

“The slight variation in quantity, though not in quality, of sound in the vowels requires no mark of distinction, any more than in the variation of the sound of a in the English words art and father. Here the quantity may differ slightly though it is not necessary to put a distinctive mark, or make a different character.”

“In the few dipthongal combinations ae, ai, ao, and au, whether more close or more open, each letter retains its original mono-sound. A-i, when sounded in quick succession, resemble the sound of the English pronoun I, and a~u, in quick succession, the sound of the English on in loud; so the Hawaiian word Jiau (hibiscus) resembles the full, round, English interrogative how.”

“In the name of the island, second in size in the group, whether pronounced Mau-i or Ma-u-i, there is no such difference as to cause a mistake in a native hearer.”

“Consonants are not doubled, and never end a word or syllable.”

“Double or triple vowels are never used to express a single sound, and where they occur, are sounded separately, as a-a, e-e, i-i y o-o, u-u. The accent being generally on the former, the latter is a sort of echo, as in the name Ha’-a-li-li-o’, but sometimes the reverse, as Ka-a’-hu-ma’-nu.”

“The convenience of such an alphabet for the Hawaiian language, undisturbed by foreign words, is very obvious, because we can express with simplicity, ease, and certainty, those names and phrases with the sound of which former voyagers were utterly unable to make us acquainted by English orthography.”

“Though it were possible to spell them with our English alphabet it would still be inconvenient. A few names may illustrate the reasons for our new orthography.” (Bingham)

One of the examples Bingham uses is the spelling (and pronunciation) of the chain’s main northern Island. There continues to be discrepancy in how it is spelled and pronounced; but Bingham makes it pretty simple – Kauai is pronounced ‘Cow-eye’ or ‘Kau ai’. (Bingham)

As Bingham concludes, “It could hardly be possible to write any language in the world with a more simple or limited alphabet, and at the same time equally intelligible to the children who use it.”

“A syllabic alphabet of ninety-five characters would have been tolerably convenient for all native words, but not so simple or convenient as the alphabet adopted.” (Bingham)

The Hawaiian language uses two special diacritical marks.  The kahakō (‘macron’ consisting of a horizontal line over the vowel) lengthens the pronunciation of the vowel on which it is placed.  The ‘okina ( ʻ – glottal stop) signifies a clean break between two vowels. 

Planning for the written Hawaiian language and development by the missionaries was modeled after the spoken language, attempting to represent the spoken Hawaiian sounds with English letters.

Interestingly, these same early missionaries taught their lessons in Hawaiian, rather than English.  In part, the mission did not want to create a separate caste and portion of the community as English-speaking Hawaiians.  In later years, the instruction, ultimately, was in English.

The alphabet of 1826 has stood the test of time.

(Here’s a handy link to translate Hawaiian words:  https://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.85/cgi-bin/hdict?l=en)

(Another side note … If using Word and you don’t have Hawaiian fonts, you can find the ʻokina and kahakō in Word by using the “Insert” (typically top/left in the tool bar,) then “Symbol” (typically far right,) then “More Symbols.”)

(We use Character code 02BB from Unicode (hex) for the ʻokina and Character code 0304 from Unicode (hex) for the kahakō.  Word allows you to create shortcut keys by assigning keys for repeated use.  We use Ctrl ~ for the ʻokina and Alt ~ for the kahakō.)

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