Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kawaihae Harbor

Kawaihae is also generally referenced as Pelekane, which means ‘British,’ possibly named after the Young and the Davis families who lived there (when Isaac Davis (born in Pembrokeshire, Wales) died in 1810, his friend and co-advisor to Kamehameha, John Young (an Englishman born in Liverpool,) looked after Davis’ children.)

The vicinity around what is now Kawaihae Harbor (“the water of wrath”) has been the scene of many important events, from the killing of Kamehameha’s rival and cousin, Keōua in 1791, to interactions with foreign visitors, including Captain George Vancouver of Great Britain, Otto von Kotzebue of Russia, and dignitaries from France, the United States and other nations.

Kamehameha had a house here.  Following his death in 1819 and the succession of Liholiho to rule as Kamehameha II, Kawaihae served as the initial Royal Center for Liholiho, who sought consolidation of his forces and consecration of his leadership role, there.  (Kelly)

When the Pioneer Company of the American Protestant missionaries arrived the next year, they first stopped at Kawaihae; this is where the missionaries first learned that the kapu system had been abolished and heiau were destroyed.

Kawaihae’s position as the center of inter-island trade and transport on northwest Hawai‘i is detailed in a description published in the Merchant’s Magazine and Commercial Review in 1858:

“Kawaihae is a small village in the bay of the same name in the western shore of Hawaii…It derives its importance from being the port of the rich and extensive grazing uplands of Waimea, one of the finest agricultural districts of the islands, which has not yet developed its full resources.”

“Forty or fifty whale ships have annually visited this port for the last few years, to procure salted beefs and Irish potatoes, which are considered the finest produced in the islands.“

Features of the village in 1861 were described by Charles de Varigny, the secretary of the French Consulate in Honolulu (who later served Kamehameha V as finance minister and minister of foreign affairs.)

Varigny observed how much of the village was given over to its commercial functions: “The village consists chiefly of a single large wooden structure which serves as a country store and warehouse for the products of the district. Around the shop are clustered several makeshift buildings providing annexes for further storage.”

“A small wharf serves for the departure and landing of travelers. At a short distance from shore floats an old stripped-down vessel, its melancholy hull balancing at anchor and providing storage for products arriving from Honolulu.” (pacificworlds)

Over time, Kawaihae and Waimea (up the hill) developed a synergistic relationship.  The area was a canoe landing area, whether for commerce or combat.  (This is where Maui’s chief Kamalālāwalu landed in his assault against Lonoikamakahiki’s Hawaiʻi forces (Lono won.))  But Kawaihae’s presence was really focused on commerce as a landing site.

A 1914 map of Kawaihae Village shows a concentration of development along the shoreline; the uplands of the Kawaihae region remained undeveloped pasture land.

During WWII war years (1941-1945,) Kawaihae’s role as the shipping outlet for Waimea was intensified.  Troops were shipped in and out through Kawaihae. At the southern end of the bay, in Kawaihae 2, amphibious landing exercises were conducted and military emplacements were set up in the area of Puʻukohola Heiau.

The war in the Pacific had been over less than a year when on April 1, 1946, an earthquake off the Aleutian Islands caused a tsunami that devastated the Hawaiian Islands.  Although no lives were lost at Kawaihae, its effects wiped out commercial fishing activity there and it was reported that the tsunami “…was the beginning of the end for the Kawaihae Fishing Village. People left.”  (Cultural Surveys)

The old landing had been destroyed in the 1946 tsunami and the one built in 1937 had proven unsafe in high seas. By the 1950s, the need for improved harbor facilities at Kawaihae was apparent.

The Kawaihae Deep-Draft Harbor project was authorized by the US Congress in 1950; to be constructed were: “an entrance channel 400 feet wide, approximately 2,900 feet long, and 40 feet deep; a harbor basin 1,250 feet square and 35 feet deep; and a breakwater with a maximum crest elevation 13 feet above low water and approximately 4,400 feet long, of which 3,200 feet would be protected with heavy stone revetment.”

The harbor was created by dredging part of an extensive coral reef which extended 4,000-feet seaward and ran along the shore more than a mile south of Kawaihae town; the reclaimed reef area created a coral flat peninsula that extends approximately 1,000-feet makai (seaward) of the piers across the natural reef, forming a beach along the south harbor boundary and terminating at the outer breakwater.

The harbor’s construction was hailed as an “economic shot in the arm,” for sugar planters in the Kohala region of the island would no longer had to ship their crops overland to Hilo or to Kailua-Kona. The harbor would serve military needs as well. The Army was about to acquire a 100,000-acre training site nearby and could unload supplies at Kawaihae Harbor.  (Cultural Surveys)

At the completion of construction in 1959 (officially dedicated on October 5, 1959,) the Kawaihae facilities included an inter-island terminal, mooring areas, and a large harbor basin with a wide entrance channel.  Harbor modifications in 1973 widened the entrance channel and enlarged the basin (a little over 71-acres.)

The South Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor entrance channel and 850-foot West breakwater was constructed as part of Operation Tugboat and completed in December 1970.  As part of Project Tugboat, the Army used conventional high explosives to blast an 830-foot entrance channel, 120-feet wide/12-feet deep and a 200 by 200-foot turning basin.

(“Project Tugboat” was conducted by the Army’s Nuclear Cratering Group; perhaps because of this, some suggest nuclear explosives were used to clear the small boat harbor.  However, twelve 10-ton charges of an aluminized ammonium nitrate slurry explosives (placed 36-feet deep and 100 to 120-feet apart) were used; they were meant to simulate the yield of a nuclear explosion, but were not radioactive.)

After years of delay, it was recently announced that a project to improve the eastern portion of Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor is moving forward.  Among the improvements are a 445-foot long floating dock, as well as a 47-foot-long access ramp, gangway and 25 berthing stalls. Later a paved access road and new water system is planned.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lei Sellers

“Hawaiians have a very attractive custom of decorating themselves with floral or other leis on any eventful occasion. The usage is readily noticed by all new comers, or passing strangers, and its predominance at the steamer dock, on departures, give a lasting favorable impression as parting friends are seen bedecked … as a ‘bon voyage’ decoration.”

“At least this is the principal feature into which this national custom has gradually drifted, the origin of which is to be accredited to King Kalakaua in the early part of his reign”. (Thrum 1922)

“Sometime during the mid-nineteenth century the demand for leis reached a point where it became profitable to make and sell leis. The demand came not only from the burgeoning non-Hawaiian population, but from natives as well.”

“By the turn of the century, the lei industry was well established in Honolulu. Hawaiian lei sellers–generally women–were visible on the sidewalks of Downtown Honolulu in the area of Hotel, Maunakea, and Kekaulike Streets.”

“They sat on mats with their flower baskets beside them and their leis hanging on nearby trees or buildings. Later, in the 1920s, they sat at small tables, making and selling their leis.”

“‘I was maybe about ten, eleven years old, when I was at Maunakea Street with [my grandmother] …. Most of the lei sellers did not have a name for their business. They were outside on the sidewalk in the front of [established] businesses …. We had tables. We had like a long board with nails on it . Then we just put our leis on [it], hanging down .’” (Sandra Santimer)

“The flower gardens at this time were mainly in Nu‘uanu and Palama. Lei sellers picked what they could from their own yards and neighborhoods. They rarely purchased flowers but when they did, it was from backyard growers, not commercial nurseries.”

“‘We have to get up five o’clock in the morning …. We used to pick [flowers] every morning before we go to school. We soak it down, keep it cool, then we come home and we string it up … . And we worked hard for so cheap.’” (Moana Umi)

“November 1927 marked the beginning of Matson Navigation Company’s luxury liner service between California and Honolulu, which increased tourism. Steamer days occurred more frequently and the lei-selling industry continued to grow.”

“On steamer days these Downtown lei sellers and others, who came from all parts of the island, went down to the waterfront. Customers bought leis to bedeck arriving or departing passengers. The most common leis were maile (made thick with multiple vines), white and yellow ginger, carnation, rose, and haku leis.”

“Also popularized at this time was the crepe paper lei, particularly the yellow, resembling the ‘ilima flower. Overseas passengers purchased them as souvenirs.” (UH Oral History)

“Since California authorities placed their ban on all plants and most products of Hawaii, excluding them from being brought in to the State for fear of insect pests, the floral profusion in the lei market and at steamer departures has been greatly modified …”

“… but the spirit and activities in the observance of the custom of decorating departing friends and guests finds its expression in paper leis. At first this was confined to the yellow ilima, and proved a very successful substitute of more durable quality.”

“This led to the adoption of other and variegated colors, for gayety rather than an imitation floral product; crepe paper furnishing the material.” (Thrum 1922)

“‘They were good sellers then, … the seeds [seed leis] and crepe paper leis. Because they always wanted to keep them and take ‘em back as souvenirs. That, we did quite a bit, although the work that was involved in it was quite a bit of work. But then, those days, money had a lot of value.’”

“‘So even if the leis were supposed to be sold as twenty-five cents, if you couldn’t sell it at twenty-five cents, you went down to two for twenty-five cents just so you made some money. You see, but your labor didn’t count.’” (Gail Burgess)

“According to Hawai’i Tourist Bureau estimates in 1931, there were 200 Hawaiian lei sellers in the territory. As large numbers of lei vendors gathered on steamer days, competition intensified. Pushing, shoving, and rushing customers were common.”

“In this environment, lei sellers became familiar with marketplace competition. As one seller shouted out the prices of her leis, others countered with similar or lower prices. At times arguments arose, but when the day’s selling ended, the lei sellers gathered and socialized as friends.” (UH Oral History)

“‘That’s where we opened, we opened [on] the waterfront. And was good. We all sit down, string our leis. My mother was there, too. And she’d make food and call everybody. Everybody eating raw fish …. Oh, and they used to enjoy that.’”  (Sophia Ventura)

“By 1933, the number of lei sellers and the intensity of their competition necessitated regulation. Most agreed on the need, and a set of rules and regulations was adopted with the formation of the first lei sellers’ association.”

Police Chief WA Gabrielson called a meeting of the more than 100 Honolulu lei sellers, “The chief suggested that the lei sellers form an organization among themselves for their protection and to preserve the Hawaiian tradition of the lei as well as put a stop to public criticism of some lei sellers’ activities.” (SB, May 10, 1933)

As a result, “prices became stabilized and the old-time ‘mobbing’ of potential purchasers was virtually eliminated.”  “Five dollar fines will be imposed upon members of the Hawaiian Lei Sellers association who violate the organization’s rule prohibiting mobbing of prospective customers”. (SB, Aug 8, 1933)

“[F]urther regulatory measures were suggested – and adopted” … “all male vendors” were barred from the waterfront. “At the same time a further regulation was voted which would bar minors below the age of [16].” (Adv, June 27, 1933) 

That did not fully end peaceful interactions between the sellers … “Lady lei sellers indulged in fist fight on famous pier 11 and visited jail via emergency hospital route.  One was lei-ed up, you know.”  (Adv, Aug 13, 1933)

“As jobs grew scarce in the 1930s, the industry attracted more women seeking a livelihood for themselves and their families. Requiring no initial funding and no labor other than that provided by family, lei selling became a viable means of support.”

“During World War II, a majority of lei sellers acquired war jobs. … Some occasionally sold leis at nightclubs. Others, despite the diminishing tourist trade, retained their lei businesses on a full-time basis. They concentrated on the military clientele.”

During the WWII war years, leis were not the only thing these lei makers made – with growing demand for camouflage material, many of Hawai‘i’s lei makers supported the war effort by weaving camouflage netting.

“Camouflage workers included soldiers, lei makers, artists and fishing net weavers, each group with skills to contribute to the challenge of hiding military equipment from the enemy.  Even Hawaiian language scholar Mary Kawena Pukui was hired to be a part of the camouflage work.” (Denby Fawcett, Civil Beat)

“No boats came in”, so a “lot of the lei sellers at that time didn’t have a job. You know, there was no more. And the lei sellers were all mostly elderly people. … [my mother] went get jobs for the lei sellers to come into work camouflage.”

“[M]y mother went and asked to have the lei sellers to work in the camouflage for the army. That’s how they had all the lei sellers go. … Majority of the lei sellers from the boat all worked camouflage.” (Martina Macalino, UH Oral History)

“The Army figured lei sellers with their nimble fingers and understanding of texture and shape already had the needed skills for weaving scraps of fabric into camouflage nets. Fish net makers joined in to make the netting on which the lei makers wove dyed burlap strips.” (Denby Fawcett, Civil Beat)

“As part of the war effort from 1941–1943, [Mary] Kawena [Pukui] served as forelady of a camouflage unit in Waikïkï, under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, working with the lei ‘garland’ makers, whose job was to weave burlap strips into chicken wire for moveable covers for coast artillery, airplanes and trucks.” (Honolulu Rosies)

“The introduction of commercial aviation in 1945 drew some lei sellers to the airport. Lei selling continued in Waikiki and at nightclubs around town, but ceased on Downtown Honolulu streets when it was outlawed in the 1950s. As airplanes overtook ocean-going passenger lines as the mode of travel to the Islands, waterfront sales also dwindled.”

“The first location of the airport lei sellers was on Lagoon Drive near Nimitz Highway. Leis were hung in the back of old trucks converted into lei stands.”

“‘[We] had all these jalopies. No more electricity over there. Just a dark road and don’t even have street lights. What we have is gas lanterns. We hang it onto the stand. This is how it started. Just by experience, ‘Oh, let’s take a chance.’” (Harriet Kauwe)

“‘The navy used to have a boat [seaplane] by the name of the Mars. That boat used to bring in good, good business for us lei sellers at the airport …. That plane used to come in about two or three times a week. When they go out, oh, we used to make tremendous business.’”  (Irene Sims)

“The site was a very prosperous one and news traveled quickly to other sellers. The group grew until there were about a dozen trucks along Lagoon Drive. (The line-up order was important, as it was on the waterfront, and as it is today. The first ones in line seem to attract more customers.) This closed group of lei vendors established themselves as the airport lei sellers.”

“In 1952 the Hawai‘i Aeronautics Commission invited fifteen lei sellers to move into territory-built thatched huts located on Lagoon Drive at the entrance to the airport. Lei sellers fondly recall the huts, described by some as a Hawaiian village.”

“‘The old folks were told, ‘We’ll take you off the road, build grass huts for you, and it’ll be pleasant surroundings to sell leis.’ … It was very nice. I liked the grass huts. … Lagoon Drive in the ‘50s was good business.’”  (Maile Lee)

“‘Well, one had to sit in the back. And then, in the front where you sell, only one person could sit. … We had a small little … pune‘e in the back there, where you can sit or if you’re tired, you can lie down …. And a chair outside for whoever is working outside. It was not too much room. That’s why everybody had to stay in the house in the back to string [leis].’” (Bessie Watson)

“‘Everybody came. ‘Cause then, my brother and them would play music. They started to play in the back [of the thatched huts] …. So, that’ll get all the tourists. You know, they hear the music. From in the front, when the buses used to stop, [they] take pictures, they all go in the back …. Pretty soon, everybody’s dancing …. That was really nice over there.’” (Lillian Cameron)

“When a new airport was built in 1962, the lei sellers made another move.  The thatched huts were replaced by a single wooden building constructed near the main terminal. In this decade, rapid economic growth due largely to tourism increased revenues and brought steady business.”

“In 1978, the lei sellers moved to their present airport location, a concrete structure housing twelve lei stands. While family members still provide help, many non-Hawaiians–primarily Filipinas–now work at the airport stands.”

“As the Islands’ visitor industry grew, so did the lei industry. The business acumen of the lei seller paralleled this growth. As the lei business developed from its humble, uncomplicated beginnings into a sophisticated one, the lei seller developed into the business person of today.” (Lots here is from a summary in a UH Oral History project on lei sellers.)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Shipwrecks at Holoikauaua (the Pearl and the Hermes)

Holoikauaua (literally, Hawaiian monk seal that swims in the rough) is an atoll now known as Pearl and Hermes.  Its modern name reflects the twin wrecks of British whalers, the ‘Pearl’ and the ‘Hermes,’ lost in 1822.

Holoikauaua is a large oval coral reef with several internal reefs and seven sandbar/islets above sea level along the southern half of the atoll. The land area is just under 100-acres (surrounded by more that 300,000-acres of coral reef) and is 20-miles across and 12-miles wide.

The highest point above sea level is about 10-feet. The islets are periodically washed over when winter storms pass through.  Its estimated age is 26.8-million years.

As American and British whalers first made passage from Hawai‘i to the seas near Japan, they encountered the low and uncharted atolls of the NWHI. There are 52 known shipwreck sites throughout the NWHI, the earliest dating back to 1822 – the Pearl and the Hermes.

During the night of April 26, 1822, these British whaling ships ran aground almost simultaneously.  The 327-ton Pearl (with Capt. E. Clark) grounded into a sandy coral groove, pressing its wooden keel into the sediment, while the smaller 258-ton Hermes (with Capt. J. Taylor) hit the hard sea bed.

The British whaler ‘Pearl’ was originally built as an American ship in Philadelphia at least as early as 1805. At some time after that, the ship may have been captured by the French during the aftermath of the Quasi-war and renamed La Perla.

She was subsequently taken by the British privateer Mayflower and from there put into service in the British South Seas whaling industry out of London.

The two ships had been making a passage from Honolulu to the newly discovered Japan Grounds, a track which took them through the uncharted Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The Pearl and the Hermes (wrecked to the west of the Pearl) are the only known British South Sea whaling wreck sites in the world.

The Hermes was not cradled by the reef, but disintegrated as she pounded across the sharp reef. The Pearl, sailing close by and striking the reef only a few minutes later, was more fortunate. She seems to have lodged firmly in place in a deeper groove with her stern seaward, and then she broke up more gradually over time.

Ship’s carpenter James Robinson commented in a letter to his mother, “When the vessel (Hermes) struck she was thrown on her beam end and being endangered by the masts falling – but God ordained it otherwise.”

The combined crews (totaling 57) made it safely to one of the small islands and were castaway for months with what meager provisions they could salvage.

Using salvaged timbers and other parts of the lost ships, one of the carpenters on board the Hermes, James Robinson, supervised the building of a small 30-ton schooner named ‘Deliverance’ on the beach.

Before launching the beach-built rescue vessel, the castaways were rescued by a passing ship.

Though most of the crew elected to board the rescue ship, Robinson and 11 others were able to recoup some of the financial losses from the wrecks by sailing the nearly finished Deliverance back to Honolulu, and eventually selling her there for $2,000.

From there, Robinson went on to found the highly successful James Robinson and Company shipyard in 1827 (the first shipyard at Honolulu) and became an influential member of the island community (his descendants became a well-known island family and his fortune founded the Robinson Estate.)  (This family is different than the Robinson’s associated with Niʻihau.)

In 2004, NOAA divers in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands came across the two whaling vessel wreck sites at Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

The wreck of the Pearl lies seaward of the reef crest, but in the proximity of the surf zone, the Hermes site was to the west of the Pearl.

Artifacts were found at the sites, however they are quite deteriorated.  Large iron try pots (for rendering the whale blubber into oil,) blubber hooks, anchors, brick and iron ballast pieces and fasteners were found around each site.

Cannons (four from the Hermes and two from the Pearl) and numerous cannon balls indicate the nature of hazards faced during early 19th century whaling voyages to the Pacific.

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Honolulu Fish Auction

“The auctioneer rings a brass bell at 5:30 am and the bidding begins.” (United Fishing Agency)

“One of the most colorful but least known spectacles offered along the waterfront is the daily fish auction, offered in several spots by independent auction houses who take a percentage for selling independent sampan catches.” (Star Bulletin, Dec 11, 1954)

“United Fishing Agency, auction sales only, was organized … by fishermen, wholesalers and retailers. Agency trucks pick up deep-sea tuna and marlin and shallow-water bottom fish at the docks.”

“The United Fishing Agency is one of the best things that has ever happened to Hawaii’s seafood industry. … The agency … revolutionised and changed for the better the way Hawaii’s seafood is marketed”. (Iverson)

Back then, “The man who makes things go, Shozo Tanijo has been buying and selling fresh fish for over 40 years. As auctioneer and assistant manager of the United Fishing Agency, his shrewd handling of early morning auctions means life and death to the fishing industry.”

“It isn’t so much a matter of waiting for bids as it is a question of coaxing them from canny buyers – wholesalers, retailers and peddlers.”  (Star Bulletin, Dec 11, 1954)  That was 70 years ago; not much seems to have changed.

When I was at DLNR, I had the opportunity to experience the fish auction.  A couple owners of several longline boats wanted me to have a firsthand experience. It was memorable.

“The United Fishing Agency started the Honolulu Fish Auction on August 5, 1952.” (Hawaii Seafood) “They brought together several small fishing companies founded by Japanese immigrants in the 1900s.”

“Modeled after the famous Tokyo auction [where fish were sold individually rather than by the boatload to wholesalers (Mossman)], the Honolulu Fish Auction was born … “

“The Hawaii longline fleet has since grown to over 140 vessels operating the most sustainable fishery in the world.  They still operate it today at the new facilities located dockside on Pier 38 [at Honolulu Harbor].” (United Fishing Agency)

“In other parts of the world, fishermen sell their fish to wholesalers who generally dictate prices. The United Fishing Agency came up with a better way that allows the independent fishermen to sell their catch at a fair price …”

“… and, in turn, enables auction buyers representing the wholesale, retail and restaurant sectors to get the freshest fish. Open competitive bidding rewards higher quality fish with higher prices.” (HawaiiSeafood)

“Wholesalers and retailers bid against each other at these auctions. Often street truck-peddlers will form a hui to buy one 150-200-pound fish which they split later.” (SB, Dec 11, 1954)

Today, “The United Fishing Agency is a privately-held company with Mr Akira Otani as President, Brooks Takenaka as Manager, and Frank Goto as General Manager Emeritus.” (Iversen)

“‘The commercial fishing industry is the largest food producer in the state,’ says Goto, who also serves as assistant vice president of United Fishing Agency, the entity that runs the auction and is celebrating its 70th year in business.”

“‘We’re really 80%-90% of the local production of food in the state, so if we’re talking about food security, we’re the most important industry. Fresh fish is not only a cultural staple here,’ he adds, ‘it’s also an economic necessity.’” (Mossman)

“Brooks Takenaka, the auction’s general manager, is fond of saying that Hawaii’s pelagic longline fishery is the world’s best managed, pointing out that 20 per cent of Hawaii’s tuna longliners carry federal observers and that 100 per cent of swordfish longliners carry observers. When their quotas are reached, they stop fishing.” (Iversen)

“The day starts at 1 am. That’s when unloading begins, 6 days a week. The fishing vessels are unloaded in order of arrival. Fish are weighed, tagged with the vessel name, displayed on pallets, and kept clean and cold.”

“Before being offered for sale, each fish is carefully inspected by the United Fishing Agency staff to ensure fish quality and safety. Buyers arrive before the auction begins to inspect the day’s landings. By tradition, the auctioneer rings a brass bell at 5:30 am and the bidding begins.”

“Hundreds of fish are displayed on pallets on the auction floor. The United Fishing Agency auctioneer moves down the rows of fish surrounded by buyers who openly bid against each other for value, the best prices and quality fish.”

“The majority of fish are sold individually. This competition continues until all the fish are sold. Up to 100,000 pounds of fish can be auctioned in a day. Buyers are invoiced for their purchases by United Fishing Agency and fishermen are paid that day for their fish.” (HawaiiSeafood)

Limited tours at the auction are available by Reservation Only, on selected Saturday mornings from 6:00am – 7:30am.  Cost is $35 for adults and $25 for children 8 – 12 years old.  As a place of business the Honolulu Fish Auction does not allow unescorted access into the facility.  NOTE: Tours are not generally scheduled mid December to mid January.

Honolulu Fish Auction Tour Registration Dates

“The tour begins with viewing the fishing vessels dockside and a discussion of how the fish are harvested and handled to preserve quality and safety.  The daily life on a fishing vessel is described.”

“The regulatory requirements of the fishery are then emphasized … The tour then traces the fish from the vessels into the fish auction facility.”

“On the auction floor, you will learn about how the fish are inspected to insure seafood safety and how a fish auction works. You have the opportunity to see the variety of fish landed and learn something about fish quality, seafood & health and seafood safety.  “ (HawaiiSeafood)

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Sailamokus

There is historical evidence suggesting that Hawaiians began moving to the US mainland as early as the late-1700s for economic survival.

As early as 1811, Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) had already hired twelve Hawaiians on three year contracts to work for them in the Pacific Northwest.  By 1824, HBC employed thirty-five Hawaiians west of the Rocky Mountains.

When British and American ships, lured by the fur trade, entered into the Pacific in the wake of Captain Cook at the close of the eighteenth century, young Hawaiian men were regularly recruited off the Islands as deckhands.  Thousands of shipped out as seamen, called “sailamokus”.

“Hawaiian men proved to be valuable sailors who were at home in the seas and their excellent swimming skills had a variety of uses, such as repairing hulls underwater and dislodging stuck anchors.” (Brown)

The whaling industry had a major effect upon Hawaiian commerce and trade. As the Northwest fur trade decreased and sandalwood supplies and values dropped, the whaling industry began to fill the economic void. Hawaiians took to the sea and sailors traveled all over the world.

Thousands of Hawaiians shipped out as seamen aboard the whaling ships, so many that the crews were often half Hawaiian.  (NPS)  “Sandwich Island crew … are complete water-dogs, therefore very good in boating. It is for this reason that there are so many of them on the coast of California; they being very good hands in the surf.”

“They are also quick and active in the rigging, and good hands in warm weather; but those who have been with them round Cape Horn, and in high latitudes, say that they are useless in cold weather. In their dress they are precisely like our sailors.”

“In addition to these Islanders, the vessel had two English sailors, who acted as boatswains over the Islanders, and took care of the rigging.” (Dana, 1840)

Historians suggest “that young Hawaiian males left Hawai’i as workers on whaling ships and traveled to China, Europe, Mexico, and the U.S. mainland. In addition, many ventured into the Pacific Northwest territory, worked in the fur trade, and ended up settling in those areas.” (pbs-org)

“Hawaiian sailors were known for their seamanship and swimming abilities and made desirable recruits for the whaling captains, so much so that the Hawaiian government began to regulate this recruitment and passed laws requiring bonds to ensure the sailors’ return to the islands as early as the 1830s.”

“The demographic decline due to foreign diseases (an additional import of the early western whalers) made it all the more important to ensure the return of local sailors to Hawai‘i. Nonetheless, the role of Kānaka maoli in the American whaling fleet continued to increase. By 1871, Kanaka sailors made up almost half of the entire whaling crews in Alaska.”  (Van Tilburg, NOAA)

Other Native Hawaiians landed in Nantucket, New Bedford, and nearby ports. By the 1830s, Nantucket whalers employed about fourteen hundred seamen, including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Four or five hundred men arrived or departed annually.

At least six sailor boarding houses operated during the 1820 to 1860 period when Native Hawaiian seamen frequented Nantucket.

At least one house, near Pleasant Street in Nantucket’s New Guinea section, primarily or exclusively boarded Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and a sign identified William Whippy’s establishment as the “William Whippy Canacka Boarding-House.” 

These whalers, on countless other New England voyages with Hawaiian crews, contributed to the economic and social history there. They shared their cultural traditions, languages, skills and knowledge with New England’s citizens and with each other aboard the whaleships.  (Lebo)

“Hawaiians also migrated to Yolo County, California to participate in the Gold Rush and created their own Kanaka Village. There is evidence that Hawaiians settled across California in the late-1800s and even intermarried with Native Americans.”

“Many scholars speculate that Hawaiians migrated to the mainland in order to gain more economic opportunity and to flee from the dramatic Westernization that was changing the face of Hawai’i.” (pbs-org)

The American Civil War, the discovery of petroleum, and the decimation of the whales ended the reign of the whalers in the Pacific by about 1876. Whaling had been ‘an economic force of awesome proportions in these Islands for more than forty years’. (NPS)

Of course, this summary only highlights some of the early outmigration of Hawaiians from Hawaiʻi.  Recent decades have seen a flurry of movement of Hawaiians (and others) from Hawaiʻi to the continent.  (Some areas on the continent show over 100% increases decade-by-decade in the number of Hawaiians living there.)

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