Reverend Charles Samuel Stewart and his wife Harriet Bradford (Tiffany) Stewart were in the 2nd Company of missionaries that arrived at Honolulu April 27, 1823.
On May 20 1823, Stewart wrote the following, noting some of his observations about life of the maka‘āinana (common people, as he called them) …
“[The] class of the [common people] constitutes at least one hundred and forty-nine thousand of the one hundred and fifty thousand supposed at present to be the population of the group.”
“In external appearance, and manners and habits of life, the kanakas, or common natives, present a strong contrast to the chiefs; and are indeed a wretched people, subject not only to a total blindness of mind and heart, but also to the most abject poverty. …”
“The greatest wealth they can boast consists of a mat on which to sleep, a few folds of kapa to cover them, one calabash for water and another for poe, a rude implement or two for the cultivation of the ground, and the instruments used in their simple manufactures.”
“Kalo, potatoes and salt, with occasionally a fish, constitute their general food, while all else that they grow, or take, and every result of their labor, goes to meet the series of taxes levied by the king and his governors, and their own respective chiefs.”
“The spontaneous production of the islands is very limited; and labor at all times of the year is necessary to the support of life. …”
Kalo “occupies most of the cultivated ground, especially such as is capable of being overflown by water; and the planting, irrigation, and of it, forms the most laborious part of the native farming.”
“The islanders have arrived at great skill in the cultivation of this plant and perhaps their mode of growing it … Next to kalo, the sweet potato is a principal article of cultivation. The yam also is grown; but chiefly at the leeward islands, Kauai and Nihau….”
“ In the cultivation of the ground, the making and care of artificial fish-ponds, a part of the possession of every chief, may be included. These are constructed much in the manner of the kalo plantations; and after the water is let into them, are filled with young fish from the sea, principally the fry of the grey mullet, a fish of which the chiefs are particularly fond. …”
“The building of houses, construction of canoes, making of fishing nets, wooden dishes and bowls, &c. are labors assigned to the men; while the manufacture of cloth in all its processes, and the platting of mats, &c. fall to the department of the women. …”
“The thickness of the different kinds of cloth is various. I have seen females with mantles of it, as thin and transparent as Italian crape; which, at a short distance, it greatly resembled. That generally used for malos and paus, is more compact, like paper.”
“The kiheis of the men and covers for sleeping, are still firmer and thicker, and are composed of several sheets of the former, spread with a gelatinous wash made from the gum of a tree, and then beaten together.”
“There is a kind still superior in text ore , and beauty, worn by the chiefs both for malos and paus; it is made of the best bark, and is as thick as morocco, to which, stamped with the brightest colors, and glazed with a composition having the effect of varnish, it bears a striking resemblance.”
“The kapa moe, or cloth for sleeping, is the largest in size; each sheet, ten of which, fastened together at one end, form a bed-cover, being as large as an ordinary counterpane. …”
“The manufacture, by the females, next in importance to the making of kapa, is that of mats, which form the seats of the islanders in the day and their beds at night.”
“The lounges and beds of the chiefs are generally eight or ten feet square, and consist of many thicknesses of these, from a dozen to thirty and forty, and even a greater number.”
“The materials of which they are made are of two kinds; one, a species of rush, and the other, the leaves of the hala …. Those of the last article are most valuable, as they are much the most durable, and admit of frequent washing, which the rush mats do not.”
“Both kinds are woven or braided by hand, without the aid of frame or instrument; and though often twenty feet square, and even larger, are finished with great evenness of texture and regularity of shape. …”
“Besides being engaged in these manufactures of cloth and mats, the females, especially those attached to the households of the chiefs, spend much time in making articles of ornament; in the braiding of human hair for neck· laces; trimming and arranging feathers for wreaths and kahiles; polishing tortoise shell and the ivory of whale’s teeth, for finger rings, and the handles of feathered staffs, &c. …”
“One of the strongest inducements to labor – that of a right of property – is entirely unknown. Were not this the case, the profit which every farmer might derive from the visit of ships for refreshments, would soon cause the face of the country to assume a new aspect.”
“But this means of emolument is a monopoly of the king and chiefs; and only proves a new source of oppression to the people, by increasing their toil, without adding to their possessions.”
“Two-thirds of the proceeds of anything a native brings to the market, unless by stealth, must be given to his chief; and, not unfrequently, the whole is unhesitatingly taken from him. …”
“Nor is there greater inducement to industry, from motives of immediate personal enjoyment. Any increase of stock, or growth of a plantation, beyond that necessary to meet the usual taxes, is liable to be swept off at any hour; and that, perhaps, without any direct authority from king or chief, but at the caprice of some one in their service. …”
“The poverty of many of the people is such, that they seldom secure a taste of animal food, and live almost exclusively on kalo and salt. A poor man of this description, by some means obtained the possession of a pig, when too small to make a meal for his family.”
“He secreted it at a distance from his house, and fed it till it had grown to a size sufficient to afford the desired repast. It was then killed, and put into an oven, with the same precaution of secrecy …”
“… but when almost prepared for appetites whetted by long anticipation to an exquisite keenness, a caterer of the royal household unhappily came near, and, attracted to the spot by the savory fumes of the baking pile, deliberately took a seat till the animal was cooked, and then bore off the promised banquet without ceremony or apology!”
“Such is the civil condition of the mass of the nation.”
Leave your comment here: