Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Alii Letters La‘anui to Loomis December 5, 1826

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) collaborated with Awaiaulu Foundation to digitize, transcribe, translate and annotate over 200-letters written by 33-Chiefs.

The letters, written between 1823 and 1887, are assembled from three different collections: the ABCFM Collection held by Harvard’s Houghton Library, the HEA Collection of the Hawaii Conference-United Church of Christ and the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

These letters provide insight into what the Ali‘i (Chiefs) were doing and thinking at the time, as well as demonstrate the close working relationship and collaboration between the aliʻi and the missionaries.

In this letter, Gideon La‘anui writes to affirm that Mr. Loomis and all the missionaries are blameless and that he is devoted to Jesus and the word of Jehovah.

Elisha Loomis was in the first missionary company in 1820 and became the first printer in Hawai‘i. Gideon Peleiōhōlani Laʻanui was a native of Waimea, Hawaiʻi who was partly raised in the court of Kamehameha I and married Nāmāhana, a sister of Kaʻahumanu. He was an early Christian convert and became an active member of the church, living in Waialua, Oʻahu.

“Oahu December 5 1826”

“Good will to you Mr. Loomis together with all the missionaries from Hawaii to Kauai.”

“These are my sentiments for you all. I do not know of you having done wrong. Not in the least have my eyes ever seen any thing blameable from the first even down to the present time.”

“Here is the fault concerning which the world is angry, the word of Jesus.”

“To the wicked it is an evil word, but to those who believe in Jesus, it is the mighty word of Jehovah. It is the good thing you have brought to us – the salvation of our souls – Jesus, he it is whom you have preached to us.”

“Our hearts have looked and beheld the real salvation, and the certain truth.”

“Then the eyes saw the wickedness crowded out by the entering in of the good.”

“Now the wickedness is without, because Jesus came to take upon himself our sins, and he gave also his body to be food for us, and his blood to be the means of cleansing away the evil of our hearts …”

“… and his powerful spirit to be that means of enlightening the mind, and his word to be that by which to become straight.”

“The sentiments for you is finished. Affection for you all.”

“Gideon Laanui”

Here’s a link to the original letter, its transcription, translation and annotation:

https://hmha.missionhouses.org/files/original/a94bd802063e1540089f9c99ef3536e5.pdf

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) They arrived in the Islands and anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the earliest efforts of the missionaries, who arrived in 1820, was the identification and selection of important communities (generally near ports and aliʻi residences) as “stations” for the regional church and school centers across the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Mission Houses’ Strategic Plan themes note that the collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in the
• The introduction of Christianity;
• The development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• The promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• The combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine, and
• The evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing).

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Laanui - Loomis Dec 5, 1826
Laanui – Loomis Dec 5, 1826

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Collaboration

Definition of collaborate – “to work jointly with others or together …” (Merriam-Webster)

The recent Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives project “Letters from the Ali‘i,” more than 225 letters written by 42 different ali‘i between 1820-1907, helps illustrate the collaboration between the missionaries and the ali‘i.

These letters have been digitized, transcribed, translated and annotated by interns under the direction of Dr. Puakea Nogelmeier, Executive Director of the Awaiaulu Foundation.

Jon Yasuda was one of the intern translators who participated in the translation project. He received his Master’s Degree in Hawaiian Language from UH Mānoa. He currently teaches Hawaiian Language at Punahou School.

In a November 4, 2016 interview on ‘Ōlelo’s ‘First Friday’, interviewer Manu Ka‘iama noted that “the nice thing about these letters is it kind of is a portal” that illustrate the feeling at the time and “you have some proof of that”.

She asked what Yasuda found interesting in the letters; he noted:

“I think one thing that is interesting is that it really shows the way that the missionaries and a lot of the chiefs at the time needed to work together. They worked together, and through their letters we can see the ways … that they helped each other. And I think that both sides had things to share with each other that were beneficial to both sides.”

“I think that one thing that is commonly believed is that the missionaries really came in and started barking orders, and saying this is how it’s going to be … and you are going to do this and you are not going to do that and this is how you need to be. But what we are really seeing is that it wasn’t quite like that.”

“There were very few missionaries in comparison to how many Hawaiians there were at the time. And so, the letters really show us the way that the missionaries and Hawaiians worked together and how some of the things the missionaries brought, for example, sewing and some business, and trade were attractive to the Hawaiians at the time. And, they really had to work together for a lot.” (Jon Yasuda)

Manu Ka‘iama then noted:

“I think I hear what you are saying, and it is an important point to make and to remember is that their mission was very different, that first generation of missionaries. Their mission or their reason to be here, and the assistance that they provided the ali‘i goes without saying. I guess these letters probably pretty much show that.”

“You can see the relationship and you can see how they worked together and that they learned from each other. And, I would assume that is so and I think we are hard on the missionaries because of maybe the next generation of missionaries …”

“We do, many times, kind of just brush over that earlier history, and we shouldn’t make that mistake, because the fact that these letters show a relationship that you think is honorable….” (Manu Ka‘iama)

Jon Yasuda then added,

“I think literacy was … almost like the new technology of the time. And, that was something that was new. … When the missionaries came, there was already contact with the Western world for many years…. But this was the first time that literacy really began to take hold. The missionaries, when they came, they may have been the first group who came with a [united] purpose. They came together as a group and their purpose was to spread the Gospel the teachings of the Bible. …”

“But the missionaries who came, came with a united purpose … and literacy was a big part of that. Literacy was important to them because literacy was what was going to get the Hawaiians to understand the word of the Bible … and the written word became very attractive to the people, and there was a great desire to learn the written word. … Hawai‘i became the most literate nation at one time.” (Jon Yasuda)

Click HERE for a link to comments by Jon Yasuda.

Puakea Nogelmeier had a similar conclusion. In remarks at a Hawaiian Mission Houses function he noted,

“The missionary effort is more successful in Hawai‘i than probably anywhere in the world, in the impact that it has on the character and the form of a nation. And so, that history is incredible; but history gets so blurry …”

“The missionary success cover decades and decades becomes sort of this huge force where people feel like the missionaries got off the boat barking orders … where they just kind of came in and took over. They got off the boat and said ‘stop dancing,’ ‘put on clothes,’ don’t sleep around.’”

“And it’s so not the case ….”

“The missionaries arrived here, and they’re a really remarkable bunch of people. They are scholars, they have got a dignity that goes with religious enterprise that the Hawaiians recognized immediately. …”

“The Hawaiians had been playing with the rest of the world for forty-years by the time the missionaries came here. The missionaries are not the first to the buffet and most people had messed up the food already.”

“(T)hey end up staying and the impact is immediate. They are the first outside group that doesn’t want to take advantage of you, one way or the other, get ahold of their goods, their food, or your daughter. … But, they couldn’t get literacy. It was intangible, they wanted to learn to read and write”. (Puakea Nogelmeier)

Click HERE for a link to comments by Puakea Nogelmeier.

The Hawaiian frustration with the early foreigners and support for the missionaries is illustrated in comments from a couple chiefs of that time, Kaumuali‘i (King of Kauai) and Kalanimōku (chief councilor and prime minister to Kamehameha I, Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III.)

Missionary Samuel Ruggles notes in in his Journal entry on May 8, 1820, “The inhabitants treated me with all the attention and hospitality which their limited circumstances would afford; and even carried their generosity to excess …”

On May 10, 1820, Ruggles notes, “This afternoon the king (Kaumuali‘i) sent to me and requested that I would come and read to him in his bible. I read the first chapter of Genesis and explained to him what I read as well as I could.”

“He listened with strict attention, frequently asking pertinent questions, and said I can’t understand it all; I want to know it; you must learn my language fast, and then tell me all. No white man before ever read to me and talk like you.”

An 1826 letter written by Kalanimōku to Hiram Bingham (written at a time when missionaries were being criticized) states, “Greetings Mr Bingham. Here is my message to all of you, our missionary teachers.”

“I am telling you that I have not seen your wrong doing. If I had seen you to be wrong, I would tell you all. No, you must all be good. Give us literacy and we will teach it. And, give us the word of God and we will heed it … for we have learned the word of God.”

“Then foreigners come, doing damage to our land. Foreigners of America and Britain. But don’t be angry, for we are to blame for you being faulted. And it is not you foreigners, (it’s) the other foreigners.”

“Here’s my message according to the words of Jehovah, I have given my heart to God and my body and my spirit. I have devoted myself to the church and Jesus Christ.”

“Have a look at this letter of mine, Mr Bingham and company. And if you see it and wish to send my message on to America to (your President,) that is up to you. Greetings to the chief of America. Regards to you all, Kalanimōku.”

Click HERE to view/download Background Information on the Ali‘i Letters

(This includes links to the letters and discussions about them.)

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A_Missionary_Preaching_to_Hawaiians_on_the_lava_at_Kokukano,_Hawaii,_sketch_by_William_Ellis-1822-24
A_Missionary_Preaching_to_Hawaiians_on_the_lava_at_Kokukano,_Hawaii,_sketch_by_William_Ellis-1822-24

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ali‘i Letters Beretane to ABCFM (1852)

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) collaborated with Awaiaulu Foundation to digitize, transcribe, translate and annotate over 200-letters written by 33-Chiefs.

The letters, written between 1823 and 1887, are assembled from three different collections: the ABCFM Collection held by Harvard’s Houghton Library, the HEA Collection of the Hawaii Conference-United Church of Christ and the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

These letters provide insight into what the Ali‘i (Chiefs) were doing and thinking at the time, as well as demonstrate the close working relationship and collaboration between the aliʻi and the missionaries.

In this letter, EP Kamai Beretane writes to the ABCFM regarding the return of Rev. Hitchcock and his wife, their long dedication to the people of Molokai and the strides made in the betterment of the lifestyle there.

Harvey Rexford Hitchcock came with the fifth company of missionaries, founded the first church on Molokai and worked there for many years with his wife, Rebecca Howard.

EP Kamai Beretane – Also spelled Kamaipelekane, this man was a district judge on Molokai and went on to become a member of the house of representatives.

“Nov. 13, 1852”

“Na E.P. Kamai Beretane”

“To the Prudential Committee of the ABCFM”

“Salutations to you.”

“I am inconsiderable brother, living on Molokai declare to you my mind reporting the return of Mr and Mrs Hitchcock to meet with you in their native land. They return on account of their frequent infirmities.”

“They have persevered a long time but have no improvement in health among us. It is therefore thought best that they go there if perchance they may in some degree improve in health and then return.”

“But that is uncertain they may recover and may not, it is with God’s consent.”

“They return greatly beloved by us, very great are Our obligations, to them for their patience in teaching us religion, and teaching our schools.”

“Molokai excels all the islands of the group in peacefulness, docility, activity in every good event, and in the knowledge of the children, and members of the church; as well as in sound comfort – and in constituting [unintelligible] unanimously to all benevolent objects.”

“When they first landed on Molokai it was an ignorant and backward …and – poverty stricken land. seeing our distressed and death like condition.”

“They disregarded their life and devoted it and their strength for ours. From their first arrival 20 years and upward until the present time they have labored hard for our good. Constantly and immeasurably have thy been engaged for the benefit of the people.”

“They have consequently become sick and infirmed. They leave us greatly beloved and with our heartfelt pain, on their account
they also leave us, their children with heartfelt pain.”

“Our Step father father [unintelligible] with us Mr Andrews – Our own father leaves us it my chief – love is to my own father – that to the step father is only a part.”

“They two return greatly beloved by Hawaiians, and and with a name over their hearts which is better than gold or silver. I have done.”

“yours respectfully R. P. Kamai Beretane member of the Hawaiian Parliament & District judge of Molokai.”

Here’s a link to the original letter, its transcription, translation and annotation:

https://hmha.missionhouses.org/files/original/0a0641a281a6b90c6f9f1d32016a9c60.pdf

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) They arrived in the Islands and anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the earliest efforts of the missionaries, who arrived in 1820, was the identification and selection of important communities (generally near ports and aliʻi residences) as “stations” for the regional church and school centers across the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Mission Houses’ Strategic Plan themes note that the collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in the
• The introduction of Christianity;
• The development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• The promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• The combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine, and
• The evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing).

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© 2017 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Beretane to ABCFM Nov 13, 1852-1
Beretane to ABCFM Nov 13, 1852-1
Beretane to ABCFM Nov 13, 1852-2
Beretane to ABCFM Nov 13, 1852-2

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Aliʻi Letters Kalanimōku to Hiram Bingham October 28, 1826

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) collaborated with Awaiaulu Foundation to digitize, transcribe, translate and annotate over 200-letters written by 33-Chiefs.

The letters, written between 1823 and 1887, are assembled from three different collections: the ABCFM Collection held by Harvard’s Houghton Library, the HEA Collection of the Hawaii Conference-United Church of Christ and the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

These letters provide insight into what the Ali‘i (Chiefs) were doing and thinking at the time, as well as demonstrate the close working relationship and collaboration between the aliʻi and the missionaries.

In this letter, Kalaimoku (Kalanimōku) writes to Rev. Hiram Bingham dismissing the blame placed on the missionaries for other foreigners’ misconduct. He encourages their goodness and their teachings and professes his own faith in God.

Kālaimoku, also known as Kalanimōku and William Pitt Kalanimōku, was a trusted advisor of Kamehameha I. During the travels of Liholiho and Kamāmalu to Great Britain, he co-ruled with Kaʻahumanu, maintaining a leadership role during the first reigning years of the new king, Liholiho’s younger brother, Kauikeaouli.

In part, the letter notes:

“Honolulu, Oahu October 28, 1826”

“Greetings to you, Mr. Bingham,”

“Here is my message to all of you, our missionary teachers. I am telling you that I do not see your wrongdoing. If I should see you to be wrong, I would tell you all.”

“No, you should all just be good.”

“Give us literacy and we will teach it; and give us the word of God, and we will heed it.”

“Our women are restricted, for we have learned the word of God.”

“Then foreigners come, doing damage to our land, foreigners of America and Britain.”

“Do not be angry, for it is we who are to blame for you being faulted, and not you foreigners.”

“Here is my message according to the words of Jehovah. I have given my heart to God and my body and my spirit. I have devoted myself to the church for Jesus Christ.”

“Have a look at my message, Mr. Bingham and company, and if you see it and wish to send my message to America, to our chief, that is up to you.”

“Greetings to our chief in America. Regards to him. From Kalaimoku”

Here’s a link to the original letter, its transcription, translation and annotation (scroll down):

https://hmha.missionhouses.org/files/original/48a090b14ab39c3e64644c9a03b6b1dd.pdf

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) They arrived in the Islands and anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the earliest efforts of the missionaries, who arrived in 1820, was the identification and selection of important communities (generally near ports and aliʻi residences) as “stations” for the regional church and school centers across the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Mission Houses’ Strategic Plan themes note that the collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in the
• The introduction of Christianity;
• The development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• The promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• The combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine, and
• The evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing).

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Kalanimoku - Bingham - Not Seen Your Wrongdoing-1826-1
Kalanimoku – Bingham – Not Seen Your Wrongdoing-1826-1
Kalanimoku - Bingham - Not Seen Your Wrongdoing-1826-2
Kalanimoku – Bingham – Not Seen Your Wrongdoing-1826-2
William Pitt Kalanimoku (c. 1768–1827) was a military and civil leader of the Kingdom of Hawaii-Pellion
William Pitt Kalanimoku (c. 1768–1827) was a military and civil leader of the Kingdom of Hawaii-Pellion
Hiram_Bingham-Morse
Hiram_Bingham-Morse

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ali‘i Letters – Kaʻahumanu to Evarts (1831)

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (Mission Houses) collaborated with Awaiaulu Foundation to digitize, transcribe, translate and annotate over 200-letters written by 33-Chiefs.

The letters, written between 1823 and 1887, are assembled from three different collections: the ABCFM Collection held by Harvard’s Houghton Library, the HEA Collection of the Hawaii Conference-United Church of Christ and the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society.

These letters provide insight into what the Ali‘i (Chiefs) were doing and thinking at the time, as well as demonstrate the close working relationship and collaboration between the aliʻi and the missionaries.

In this letter, Elisabeth Kaʻahumanu writes to Mr. Jeremiah Evarts regarding the success of the mission in Hawaiʻi. She includes her religious sentiments to the brethren of the ABCFM.

Jeremiah F. Evarts was an early leader of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions (ABCFM). He was a reformer who advocated for the rights of Native Americans and wrote under the pseudonym William Penn.

Kaʻahumanu, favorite wife of Kamehameha I, served as the Kuhina Nui, or regent at the time of this letter. She became a staunch advocate for literacy and Christianity for all her people.

“Oahu September 11, 1831”

“Regards to you, Mr. Evarts, missionary superintendent and my first brother in Christ Jesus,”

“Here is my message to you along with my joy.”

“Here I live by the voice of salvation of Jesus Christ who resurrected me from death. I was dwelling in the core of death. I was adorned and bedecked by the glory of death and its symbols.”

“When I heard the voice of Jesus sounding in my ears, it was a chill in my heart, speaking as follows, [“]Come unto to me all of you who are weary and heavy-laden and I shall give you rest.[”]”

“And his voice then said again, [“]He who thirsts, let him come and drink the waters of salvation.[”] So, I rose to come and lie under the shelter of his feet, with great trepidation.”

“Here I am bearing his yoke, thinking to myself that I am unable to move his yoke, he being the one who enables me with his assistance night and day; there I forever dwell in his glory and his love for me.”

“There is my desire and my affection, with the intention of my heart and my spirit to submit to Jesus. There my mouth and my tongue shall forever give thanks for the life I live until I join in his everlasting glory. That is my humble message to you.”

“Here is this other message of mine to you. I am grateful for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for his assistance in sending new teachers for us.”

“They have arrived and we have beheld their eyes and faces. We met in the presence of our Lord and in our own presence with gratitude to our Lord for protecting them on the ocean until they arrived here in Hawaii.”

“We abide here, teaching the native language of Hawaii so they will understand. Then, we sow the gardens with fruitful seeds for eternal salvation.”

“At that point, my elder brethren, them [the teachers] and my native brothers and sisters together will take up the will of our Lord in this archipelago, praying to him to assist so that the bumpy places be smoothed by him through his intentions for these islands from Hawaii to Kauai.”

“But my adopted child and I carried the word of our Lord from Hawaii to Kauai with love in our hearts for God, traveling to speak of his love, his word, and his laws and to tell people that they should abide by them.”

“That is what we, my adopted child and I, speak of. It is not according to our will, but according to the will of the Lord that we take this up.”

“That is my humble message to you.”

“Here is another remaining message that I say to you. Do express my regard to the brethren in Christ and my beloved sisters in Christ Jesus. Here are my regards to you all.”

“Do pray often to God for all the lands of the unenlightened, for all those remaining in enlightened lands, and for us as well and we shall do the same with the brethren here.”

“Pray often to God for the unenlightened lands, and for the remainder of those in enlightened lands, and for you all as well.”

“Thus we beseech our Lord so all peoples cooperate through him that his kingdom be unified to the bounds of the earth, and so all people unite behind him to praise his everlasting name.”

“That is my message of affection to you all. Deep regards to you.”

“Though we may not meet in person in this world, it is our hope that if we do meet in this world, our souls will also meet in the glory of the kingdom of our Lord of salvation, Jesus Christ.”

“That is the end of the message to you.”

“By Elisabeth Kaahumanu”

Click HERE to link to the original letter, its transcription, translation and annotation.

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries from the northeast US, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) They arrived in the Islands and anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”,) about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

One of the earliest efforts of the missionaries, who arrived in 1820, was the identification and selection of important communities (generally near ports and aliʻi residences) as “stations” for the regional church and school centers across the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Mission Houses’ Strategic Plan themes note that the collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in the
• The introduction of Christianity;
• The development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• The promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• The combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine, and
• The evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing).

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© 2017 Hoʻokuleana LLC