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May 24, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Chiefs in the 1820s

“The houses of the chiefs are generally large, for the kind of building, – from forty to sixty feet in length, twenty or twenty-five in breadth, and eighteen or twenty in height at the peak of the roof.”

“The sides and ends, as well as the roof, are of thatch, and the whole in one apartment. They are generally without windows, or any opening for light or air, except a wide door in the middle of a side or end.”

“In the back part of the house, the personal property and moveables, such as trunks, boxes, calabashes and dishes for water, food, &c. are deposited; while the mats for sitting, lounging, and sleeping are spread near the door.”

“Every chief has from thirty to fifty and an hundred personal attendants, friends and servants, attached to his establishment; who always live and move with him, and share in the provisions of his house.”

“All these, except the bosom friends, or punahele, have different offices and duties: – one is a pipe lighter, another a spittoon carrier, a third a kahile bearer, &c. Others with their families, prepare, cook, and serve the food, &c.”

“All the former, from the bosom friend, or punahele, to the pipe lighter, eat from the same dishes and calabashes with their master; and form, at their meals, a most uncouth and motley group.”

“In every respect indeed, as well as in that of eating, the household servants of the whole company of chiefs, from the king to the petty headman of a village, seem to enjoy a perpetual saturnalia.”

“The formation of this establishment takes place immediately on the birth of a chief, whether male or female. A kahu or nurse is appointed, who assumes all the care of the parent, and directs the affairs of the child, till he is old enough to exercise a will of his own.”

“Thus, often, very little intercourse takes place between the parents themselves, and the young chief; the former not unfrequently residing at a different district, or on a different island.”

“The present prince and princess, who are both children, have each separate houses, and a large train of attendants: and though their guardians of state reside near them, they are left very much to their own will, or to that of their kahus or nurses.”

“I have seen a young chief, apparently not three years old, walking the streets of Honoruru as naked as when born, (with the exception of a pair of green morocco shoes on his feet,) followed by ten or twelve stout men, and as many boys, carrying umbrellas, and kahiles, and spitboxes, and fans, and the various trappings of chieftainship.”

“The young noble was evidently under no controul but his own will, and enjoyed already the privileges of his birth, in choosing his own path, and doing whatever he pleased.”

“This portion of the inhabitants spend their lives principally in eating and drinking, lounging and sleeping; in the sports of the surf, and the various games of the country; at cards, which have long been introduced …”

“… in hearing the songs of the musicians, a kind of recitation accompanied by much action; and in witnessing the performances of the dancers.”

“They are not, however, wholly given to idleness and pleasure. It is customary for the male chiefs to superintend, in a degree, any work in which their own vassals, at the place where they are residing, are engaged, whether of agriculture or manufacture …”

“… and the female chiefs, also, overlook their women in their appropriate occupations, and not unfrequently assist them with their own hands.”

“A great change appears about to take place among the chiefs, in the general manner of employing time. The palapala and the pule, letters and religion, as presented by the Missionaries, are happily beginning deeply to interest their minds …”

“… and books and slates, I doubt not, will, as is the fact already, in individual cases, soon universally take the place of cards and games, and every amusement of dissipation.”

These general and desultory remarks will give you, my dear M-, some idea of the external character and state of the nobler part of the nation, for whose benefit H – and myself have sacrificed the innumerable enjoyments of home.”

“As to their qualities of heart and mind, they in general appear to be as mild and amiable in disposition, and as sprightly and active in intellect, as the inhabitants of our own country.”

“Ignorance, superstition, and sin, make all the difference we observe: and though that difference is at present fearful indeed, still we believe, that, with the removal of its causes, it will be entirely done away.”

“Notwithstanding the dreadful abominations daily taking place around us, drunkenness and adultery, gambling and theft, deceit, treachery, and death, all of which exist throughout the land to an almost incredible degree …”

“… such has already been the success attending the efforts at reformation, made in the very infancy of the Mission, that we are encouraged by every day’s observance, with fresh zeal to dedicate ourselves to the work of rescue and salvation.”

“No pagan nation on earth can be better prepared for the labour of the Christian Missionary; and no herald of the cross could desire a more privileged and delightful task …”

“… than to take this people by the outstretched and beckoning hand, and lead their bewildered feet into paths of light and life, of purity and peace …”

“… nor a greater happiness than to be the instrument of guiding, not only the generation now living, in the right way, but of rescuing from wretchedness and spiritual death, millions of the generations yet unborn, who are here to live, and here to die, before the angel ‘shall lift up his hand to heaven, and swear that there shall be time no longer!’” (The entire text, here, is from CS Stewart.)

© 2017 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Alphonse_Pellion,_Îles_Sandwich;_Maisons_de_Kraïmokou,_Premier_Ministre_du_Roi;_Fabrication_des_Étoffes_(c._1819)
Alphonse_Pellion,_Îles_Sandwich;_Maisons_de_Kraïmokou,_Premier_Ministre_du_Roi;_Fabrication_des_Étoffes_(c._1819)

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Hawaii, Chiefs, Timeline, 1820s

December 22, 2021 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Maui Chiefs

The following is a partial summary of various Maui Chiefs.  It is taken from a summary posted by Maui Magazine.  It is copied here from there.

Haho

The 12th and 13th centuries A.D. were a period of chiefly migrations to the Hawaiian Islands from central Polynesia. The migratory chiefs included Huanuikalala‘ila‘i and Paumakua-a-Huanuikalala‘ila‘i, grandfather and father, respectively, of Haho, who was presumably Maui-born.

Haho’s grandfather was an independent and warlike ruler of Hana. With his huge warfleet, he plundered the coasts of Moloka‘i and Hawai‘i Island, and was the aggressor in the earliest remembered war between Maui and Hawai‘i.

In Haho’s lifetime, Maui’s various districts were ruled by independent chiefs. Haho deserves recognition as the founder of the ‘Aha Ali‘i, Maui’s first Council of Chiefs, designed to consolidate power as “a protection of the native aristocracy against foreign pretenders.” The council lasted until Maui’s conquest by Kamehameha the Great, some five-and-a-half centuries later.

Kamaluohua

In the late 1300s, the warlike and ambitious ruling chief of the Ka‘u District of Hawai‘i Island embarked on the first recorded campaign of Hawaiian interisland conquest. His name was Kalaunuiohua—a direct ancestor of that famous conqueror from the Big Island, Kamehameha the Great.

Kalaunuiohua, his warriors and invasion fleet assaulted Maui’s defenses where Kamaluohua was principal chief and defender. Kamaluohua was defeated and taken along as prisoner, as Kalaunuiohua swept up the island chain, overcoming opposition on Moloka‘i and O‘ahu.

On Kauai, however, Kalaunuiohua met his Waterloo. He was crushingly defeated, himself taken prisoner and only much later allowed to return to Ka‘u. Freed by Kauai’s defenders, Kamaluohua returned safely to Maui.

Tradition says that while Kamaluohua ruled over the greater part of Maui, a vessel called Mamala arrived at Wailuku bearing light-colored foreigners with “bright, shining eyes”; one of several references to castaways who were in due time absorbed into the native Hawaiian population, chiefly and otherwise.

Kaka‘alaneo

In the early- to mid-1400s, two brothers at the royal court at Lele (the earlier name for Lahaina) emerged as noteworthy in Maui’s history. The elder, Kaka‘alaneo, was known for his thrift and energy. It was he who planted the groves of breadfruit trees for which Lele was celebrated for 400 years. Ka malu ‘ulu o Lele, the breadfruit preserve of Lele, offered shade and shelter, enhancing this part of a coastline known for its barren heat.

Kaka‘alaneo had a son whose mischief-making earned him everlasting fame. Kaulula‘au, whose pranks included uprooting his father’s breadfruit trees, was ingloriously banished to Lana‘i, an island haunted and tyrannized by akua ‘ino (evil spirits). By courage and craft, Kaulula‘au overpowered the vicious ghosts and mo‘o (dragons), restoring peace to the island, and regaining his father’s favor. Kaulula‘au was welcomed back to Lele a hero.

Of Kaka‘alaneo’s younger brother, Kaka‘e, little is remembered—yet his was the line of royal succession. Kaka‘e’s grandson Kawaoka‘ohele and granddaughter Kelea were the immediate forebears, respectively, of King Pi‘ilani and Queen La‘ielohelohe, of Maui’s Golden Age.

Pi‘ilani

The name of King Pi‘ilani is synonymous with the Golden Age of Maui (1500s–1700s), an era of profound accomplishments and remarkable royal personages.

To Pi‘ilani is attributed the political unification of East and West Maui, the island-encircling King’s Highway, ceremonial architecture on a grand scale (Pi‘ilanihale, the largest heiau, or temple, in the Hawaiian Islands), and Maui’s rise to political prominence—which continued for two-and-a-half centuries until invasion and conquest by Kamehameha the Great.

Of Pi‘ilani’s three royal marriages, the most significant was to his high-born first cousin La‘ielohelohe. Her father, Kalamakua, was a high chief of O‘ahu. Her mother, Kelea – a celebrated surfer who was reputed to be the most beautiful woman on Maui – was the sister of Pi‘ilani’s father. The union of Pi‘ilani and La‘ielohelohe produced four offspring, all of whom were to play consequential roles in Maui’s—and Hawai‘i’s—history.

Although King Pi‘ilani resided periodically in Hana and Wailuku, and made frequent tours throughout his kingdom to collect taxes, promote industry and enforce order, he ruled from Lahaina, where he was born and is known to have died.

His Lahaina residence and the nearby fishpond Mokuhinia became identified with a mo‘o (water deity), which inhabited the cavern beneath Moku‘ula island in Mokuhinia pond. Following her death, Pi‘ilani’s daughter Kala‘aiheana was deified as Kihawahine, the divine mo‘o guarding the royal family and royal descendants.

Thus, sacred Moku‘ula became the pivotal spiritual and political focus of the highest bloodlines and the most sacred kapu for the next three centuries.

Kiha-a-Pi‘ilani

Following the demise of King Pi‘ilani, succession passed to his first-born son, Lono-a-Pi‘ilani, whose character and reputation traditions recount as avaricious, surly and abusive to all. Lono’s maltreatment of his younger brother, Kiha, drove him into exile on Hawai‘i Island, where he sought the support of his sister Pi‘ikea and her husband, King ‘Umi-a-Liloa, in deposing Lono.

‘Umi-a-Liloa summoned his chiefs and warriors and prepared to invade Maui. Landing in Hana, the invaders stormed the fortress atop Ka‘uiki Hill and eventually defeated the defenders. Lono was killed in battle, and Kiha was proclaimed king of Maui. Kiha rewarded Pi‘ikea with the gift of Hana District, which thereafter was ruled, along with Kohala District, by Chief Kumalae-nui-a-‘Umi, son of  Pi‘ikea and ‘Umi-a-Liloa.

Kamalalawalu

The first-born son of Kiha-a-Pi‘ilani, Kamalalawalu succeeded his father as mo‘i (king) of Maui. His regency was highly regarded for enlightened leadership: wise government, good resource management, a genial and sumptuous royal court, peace and prosperity. No wonder Kama’s name became associated with the island in song and tradition as Maui-nui-a-Kama, Great Maui of Kama.

But Kamalalawalu’s fate ended in tragedy. Wanting to regain the Hana District his father had given to the rulers of Kohala, on Hawai‘i Island, Kamalalawalu sent his eldest son, Kauhi-a-Kama, to secretly reconnoiter the vulnerability of that coast. But Kauhi-a-Kama’s reconnaissance was grossly flawed.

Believing the region to be totally unprepared to resist invasion, Kamalalawalu launched his fleet, landed in Kohala and engaged in a disastrous battle. The best of his army perished, and Kamalalawalu was killed and sacrificed. Kauhi-a-Kama miraculously survived, returned to Maui and became its next ruler.

Ka‘ulahea II

During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the Hawaiian Islands experienced a dramatic population increase; highly sophisticated and intensive aquaculture and agriculture; and an elaborate hierarchy of chiefs, priests, occupational specialists, and commoner fishermen and farmers. From mere district chiefdoms, the growing consolidation of power and authority gave rise to island and interisland kingdoms.

Intricate networks of royal kinship—with their concurrent privileges and obligations—resulted from plural and prudent political marriages. One striking example of such advantageous marital alliances is evident in the unions of Ka‘ulahea II, great-great-grandson of King Kamalalawalu.

Ka‘ulahea’s first marriage was with Kalanikauleleiaiwi, who ruled the Island of Hawai‘i with her half-brother, Keawe‘ikekahiali‘iokamoku. Their mother, Keakealaniwahine, was in her time the renowned sovereign queen of Hawai‘i.

Ka‘ulahea’s second marriage was with Papaikani‘au, his first cousin. Their son, Kekaulike, was destined to be the next king of Maui. Historians say Kekaulike “enjoyed the company of several wives and was blessed with numerous progeny.” And with his half-sister Keku‘i‘apo‘iwanui, Kekaulike fathered the next generation of Maui’s highest-born royalty, the islands-wide luminaries of the 18th century.

With his full sister Kalaniomaiheuila, Ka‘ulahea fathered a daughter who became the highest-born royal wife of King Kuali‘i of O‘ahu and the mother of that island’s next king, the notable Peleioholani.

Like royal lineages in ancient Egypt, Peru, Japan, and elsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaiian royalty once favored close kin marriages for the sake of bloodline purity and privilege. By the 18th century, Maui was the acknowledged political and military powerhouse, with the highest bloodlines and the most sacred royal taboos. How ironic, then, that a great-grandson of Ka‘ulahea II should be the one to bring Maui to its knees!

Kekaulike

Kekaulike, whose name means “impartiality,” was also known as Kalaninuiku‘ihonoikamoku: “the high chief who joins bays to the island.” By either name, he was a central figure in the rise to preeminence of the royal house of Maui in the 18th century.

Kekaulike had six known wives and was “blessed with numerous progeny,” including 11 high-born offspring. Though most of his reign as paramount ruler of Maui was characterized by peace and prosperity, he sowed the seeds of war when he invaded and plundered the domain of his brother-in-law, Alapa‘inui, king of Hawai‘i Island, who successfully repulsed the invading force.

Soon after, on his deathbed, Kekaulike named as his successor his second-born son, Kamehamehanui (not to be confused with his famous namesake of Hawai‘i Island), whose mother was of higher rank than that of Kekaulike’s first-born son, Kauhi‘aimoku.

Kauhi‘aimoku beseeched his cousin Peleioholani, king of O‘ahu and Kauai, to help him wrest the throne from Kamehamehanui. But Kamehamehanui was under the protection of their uncle Alapa‘inui, who brought his forces to Maui for the inevitable showdown between the adversarial brothers.

The year was 1738, and the confrontation, one of the bloodiest in Maui’s history, came to be known as Ke Koko o Na Moku: the Blood of the Islands. The two sides joined battle, retreated, rallied and slaughtered up and down Maui’s west coast.

The greatest carnage occurred in the vicinity of Ka‘anapali, where, to this day, heaps of human bones and skulls lie buried in the sand. The loss of life became so intolerable that the two kings, themselves brothers-in-law, met on the battlefield and made peace.

After Kauhi‘aimoku was captured and killed by order of Alapa‘inui, Kamehamehanui ruled Maui until his passing 27 years later. His younger brother, the fierce and fearsome Kahekili, then assumed power and went on to create an interisland empire that lasted until his death in 1794.

Kahekili

Kahekili, meaning “thunder,” is a short form for Kane-hekili, “Kane, god of thunder.” The son of Kekaulike and Keku‘i‘apo‘iwanui, Kahekili tattooed half his body black, perhaps to suggest thunder and lightning. He was destined to live up to his name.

His sister Kalolanui married Kalani‘opu‘u, paramount chief of Hawai‘i. A direct descendant of Pi‘ilani through Pi‘ikea, Kalani‘opu‘u wrested Hana District from Alapa‘inui and his son Keawe‘opala. Kahekili recovered Ka‘uiki Hill and Hana District in 1781, and later extended his chiefdom to O‘ahu and Moloka‘i by defeating his nephew Kahahana.

Kahekili married Kauwahine of Kaupo, with whom he had sons Kalanikupule and Koalaukani, and daughters Kalilikauoha and Kalola. After Kamehameha the Great’s success against Kalanikupule at the Battle of ‘Iao, Kahekili’s two sons joined their father at his Waikiki residence, where he died in 1794.

Kahekili may have been the biological father of Kamehameha the Great. A mighty warrior king, he created an empire that included all but Hawai‘i Island. Fate and prophecies decreed that Kahekili’s unclaimed and rivalrous son would soon conquer his father’s empire and emerge as the most significant Hawaiian leader of all time.

Kalanikupule

Eldest son and successor to Kahekili, Kalanikupule was a popular and affable ruler, but his career and his life ended when he was 35.

As heir apparent to the mighty political mastermind Kahekili, Kalanikupule found himself at war with his father’s younger brother, King Ka‘eokulani of Kauai, and then pitted against the powerful war machine of Kamehameha the Great. His struggles climaxed in the fateful rout known as the Battle of Nu‘uanu in April 1795.  (All here is from a summary by Maui Magazine) The image is Gathering of Chiefs by Brook Parker.

© 2021 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Kekaulike, Kamalalawalu, Kamaluohua, Chiefs, Haho, Kakaalaneo, Kiha-a-Piilani, Maui, Kaulahea II, Kahekili, Piilani, Kalanikupule

January 27, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Mission Children Named After Ali‘ì

“I was born in the ‘Old Mission House’ in Honolulu on the 5th day of July, 1831. When I was but a few hours old, ‘Kīna’u,’ the Premier, came into the bedroom with her crowd of ‘kahus,’ took me into her arms and said that she wanted to adopt me, as she had no girl of her own.”

“My mother, in her weak state, was terribly agitated, knowing that the missionaries were unpopular and entirely dependent on the good-will of the natives, so feared the consequences of a denial. They sent for my father in haste, who took in the state of affairs at a glance.”

“’We don’t give away our children,’ he said to Kīna’u. ‘But you are poor, I am rich, I give you much money,’ replied the Chiefess. ‘No, you can’t have her,’ my father answered firmly. Kīna’u tossed me angrily down on the bed and walked away, leaving my poor mother in a very anxious frame of mind.” (Wilder; Wight)

“She accordingly went away in an angry and sullen mood, and was not heard from until the infant was being christened a few weeks later, when she again appeared, elbowed the father to one side, and exclaimed in the haughtiest of tones, ‘Call the little baby Kīna’u.’”

“Fearing that a second refusal would result disastrously, the parents agreed, and the child was accordingly christened Elizabeth Kīna’u Judd.” (The Friend, May 1912)

Kīna’u “seemed somewhat appeased after the (christening) ceremony, and, as I was the first white girl she had ever seen, deigned from that time on to show a great interest in me, either visiting me or having me visit her every day.” (Wright, Wight)

Kīna’u, daughter of Kamehameha I, became a Christian in 1830. She succeeded her aunt Kaʻahumanu as Kuhina Nui upon the latter’s death in 1832.

She acted as the Regent for her brother Kauikeaouli when he became King Kamehameha III, from June 5, 1832 to March 15, 1833. She would rule with him until her death. She was responsible for enforcing Hawaiʻi’s first penal code, proclaimed by the king in 1835.

Gerrit and Laura Judd were in the 3rd Company of missionaries. In 1839, at the request of King Kamehameha, Judd, a physician, looked after the royal children in the Chiefs’ Children’s School.

Judd left the mission in 1842 and for the next 10+ years served the Kingdom in various positions, including translator, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior and Commissioner to France, Great Britain & US.

The Judd’s child was not the only missionary child named for Hawaiian Chiefs or Chiefesses.

Maria Kapule Whitney was born October 19, 1820 to the Pioneer Company missionaries/teachers, Samuel and Mercy Whitney. She was “the first haole girl to be born in the Hawaiian archipelago,” and named for Kauai Chiefess Kapule, wife of Kauai’s King Kaumualiʻi.

Maria went to the mainland at the age of six to be educated; she returned to the Islands with the 11th Company. She married bachelor missionary Reverend John Fawcett Pogue of the 11th Company.

Reportedly, the daughter of Samuel and Nancy Ruggles (missionaries/teachers of the Pioneer Company) born on December 22, 1820, was named Sarah Trumbull Kaumuali’i Ruggles. (Some suggest her Hawaiian name was Ka‘amuali‘i.)

The Whitneys and Ruggles escorted Humehume (Prince George,) King Kaumuali‘i’s son, back to Kauai, where they set up a missionary station.

Lucia Kamāmalu Holman was daughter of Thomas and Lucia Ruggles Holman of the Pioneer Company (Lucia was Samuel Ruggles sister.) Holman was the mission’s first physician and was stationed in Kona. She was born March 2, 1821 on Kauai and named after Queen Kamāmalu, King Kamehameha II’s wife.

Elisabeth “Lizzie” Kaahumanu Bingham was born March 8, 1829 in Honolulu to Reverend Hiram and Sybil Bingham, leaders of the Pioneer Company of missionaries. She was named after Queen Kaʻahumanu, favorite wife of King Kamehameha I and a friend of the mission.

In 1840, Lizzie returned to the mainland with parents and, after graduating from Mount Holyoke, taught on the continent. Lizzie returned to Hawai‘i in 1868 to work at Kawaiahaʻo Seminary (until 1880.) She died November 27, 1899 in Honolulu.

Mary Kekāuluohi Clark was born to Ephraim and Mary Clark (from the 3rd Company of missionaries) on September 20, 1829. She was named for Kekāuluohi, who later became Kuhina Nui (as Kaʻahumanu III;) Kekāuluohi was mother of King Lunalilo.)

Harriet Keōpūolani Williston Richards was born in 1829 to Reverend William and Clarissa Richards of the 2nd Company of missionaries. (Harriet was sent to the continent and lived with the Willistons; when her father died, she was adopted by the Willistons and took their name.)

Harriet was named for the mother of King Kamehameha II and III. When the 2nd Company arrived in the Islands (1823,) Richards and others escorted Keōpūolani to Lahaina where Richards was stationed. William Richards left the mission in 1838 at the request of King Kamehameha III to become the King’s translator, counselor and political advisor.

Douglass Hoapili Baldwin was son of Reverend Dwight and Charlotte Baldwin of the 4th Company of missionaries. He was born in 1840 and died in 1843; Hoapili was Governor of Maui and lived in Lahaina (where the Baldwins were stationed at the time of Douglas’ birth.

This is only a summary; click HERE for more information.

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Elizabeth_Kinau_Judd-WC
Elizabeth_Kinau_Judd-WC
Gerrit and Laura Judd
Gerrit and Laura Judd
Elizabeth_Kinau-1836
Elizabeth_Kinau-1836
Kinau-Returning from Church-PP-98-2-007-1837
Kinau-Returning from Church-PP-98-2-007-1837
Samuel and Mercy Whitney-1819
Samuel and Mercy Whitney-1819
Maria Kapule Whitney Pogue
Maria Kapule Whitney Pogue
Samuel and Nancy Ruggles-1819
Samuel and Nancy Ruggles-1819
Thomas and Lucia Holman
Thomas and Lucia Holman
Hiram and Sybil Bingham-1819
Hiram and Sybil Bingham-1819
Queen_Kaahumanu
Queen_Kaahumanu
Elizabeth Kaahumanu Bingham gravestone
Elizabeth Kaahumanu Bingham gravestone
Douglass Hoapili Baldwin-headstone
Douglass Hoapili Baldwin-headstone

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Missionaries, Alii, Chiefs

January 13, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Tea Party

The mission compound at Kawaiaha‘o was always a bustling place. There were many duties to attend to by the mission women: cooking cleaning teaching, entertaining guests and visitors, and raising their own children to name just a few.

These many domestic labors were hard on the mission women, so many of them hired for wages, Native Hawaiians to aid them in this domestic work. This interface between Native Hawaiians and Missionaries, and the women in particular was a major one, as it occurred on a daily basis, and occurred within the 1821 Mission House. (Mission Houses)

Then, they invited the leading chiefs to a tea …

“On Tuesday of last week (December 11, 1827,) Mrs. Bingham & Mrs. Richards, undertook to make a ‘tea party’ to bring all the chiefs in the place & the members of the mission family together to join in a friendly & social cup of tea, to shew Christian kindness & civility to our Sandwich Island neighbors and to promote kind feelings among the chiefs themselves now assembled from the different Islands.”

“The two sisters with their native domestics spent most of today in preparing biscuit, cakes &c. & making such arrangements as seemed to them desirable.”

“We sent out our billets in due form in the morning to the king & Ka‘ahumanu, and all the chiefs of the first & second rank and to some others connected with them by marriage. As soon as Kaahumanu received her invitation she sent over a supply of good white sugar for the occasion.”

Those in attendance included, Ka‘ahumanu, Kalākua, Pi‘ia, Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III,) Nahienaena, Kuakini, Naihe, Kapi‘olani, Hoapili, Kaikioewa, Keaweamahi, Kapule, Kaiu, Kekāuluohi, Kīna’u, Kekauōnohi, La‘anui, Keli‘iahonui, Kana‘ina, Leleiōhoku and Kamanele.

“But look, for a few moments, at the present group: twenty-one chiefs of the Sandwich islands mingling in friendly, courteous and Christian conversation with seven of the mission family, whom you have employed among them. Contemplate their former and their present habits, their former and their present hopes. They have laid aside their vices and excesses, and their love of noise and war.”

“(T)o this interesting group we should have been happy to have introduced you, or any of our Christian friends; and I doubt not you would have been highly gratified with the interview. …”

“Listen, and you will not only hear the expressions of gratitude to us and to God for the privileges they now enjoy, but you will hear these old warriors lamenting that their former kings, their fathers, and their companions in arms, had been slain in battle, or carried off by the hand of time, before the blessed gospel of Christ had been proclaimed on these benighted shores.”

“Your heart would have glowed with devout gratitude to God for the evidence that, while our simple food was passing round the social circle for their present gratification, the minds of some of these children of pagans enjoyed a feast of better things; and your thoughts, no doubt, like ours, would have glanced at a happier meeting of the friends of God in the world of glory.”

“When our thanks were returned at the close of our humble repast, though you might not have been familiar with the language, you would have lifted up your heart in thank-fulness for what had already appeared as the fruits of your efforts here, and for the prospect of still greater things than these.” (Bingham, December 15, 1827)

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'OLD MISSION HOUSE' (LOC)-photo ca 1907

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Kekauluohi, Keliiahonui, Kapiolani, Kalakua, Kamanele, Missionaries, Piia, Kaikioewa, Kanaina, Kaahumanu, Chiefs, Kauikeaouli, Kapule, Kamehameha III, Kaiu, Nahienaena, Naihe, Hoapili, Keaweamahi, Leleiohoku, Kekauonohi, Hawaii, Kinau, Laanui, Kuakini

December 30, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ali‘i Gifts to the Missionaries

In pre-contact Hawaiian culture, cooking was done by men, men and women ate in separate hale, and certain “male” foods were forbidden to women. Everything was based upon the ‘ai kapu (eating or food kapu). The ‘ai kapu ended in November of 1819 when King Kamehameha II ate with Ka‘ahumanu and Keōpūolani and let them eat forbidden foods ‘ai noa, free eating, and the kapu came to an end.

Like New England though, there was a gendered division of labor in pre-contact Hawai‘i. The labor of clearing fields and digging up the land was done by men, while the actual planting of plants was usually done by women.

Hawaiian food crops included: sweet potato, kalo, bananas, sugar cane, ‘awa, yam (uhi), arrowroot (pia) coconut, breadfruit (ulu), mountain apple, and bitter gourds. Other plants that Hawaiians cultivated were ‘ie and olona for fiber and cordage, wauke for making kapa, and many other plants and vegetables. The staple food was kalo. Kalo was made into poi and pa‘i ‘ai. It was also baked, roasted, and fried. Other foods included luau leaf, chicken, pig, and dog. (Smola)

The missionaries had to adapt to a new diet; for the most part, the missionaries had a very Hawaiian diet. Fish (i‘a), taro (kalo), poi, pigs (pua‘a), chickens (moa), bananas (mai‘a), sweet potatoes (‘uala) were regular parts of the missionary diet. (HMCS)

In addition, the missionary diet included: melons, squashes, cabbages, cucumbers, green corn, beans, fresh pork, goat, goat’s milk, bread, rice, mountain apples, bananas, pineapples, butter, wine, plus spices such as cinnamon and allspice, beef, and fish. Also, the missionaries ate New England foods shipped to them: dried apple rings, sea biscuits, salted beef and pork, and things made from wheat flour. (Smola)

Some food came from the missionaries buying food with money, from trading or bartering items like cloth and books, and from agricultural land given to the mission. The items of New England food that they got came by supply shipments from the ABCFM usually brought out in whale ships or merchant ships that were already headed to Hawai‘i or were brought here to be planted once the missionaries landed. (HMCS)

Much of the food came in the form of gifts from the ali‘i. According to the account books, these gifts of food from the ali‘i occurred virtually daily for over 10 years. (HMCS)

This meticulous listing of ‘Donations’ (as Chamberlain labeled his list in his account book), shows the regular interactions between the ali‘i and the missionaries – as well as the constant conveyance of gifts. Click to see the attachment that shows a later listing of food and other donations to the mission.

Notable names on the prior and following listing include, Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III), Ka‘ahumanu and Kalanimōku (noted as Karaimoku in the account books). You can also see here that others contributed, as did Captain Osborne (10-gallons of cider on November 24, 1825).

“(T)he missionaries described a seemingly endless bounty of provisions. The gifts were undeniably generous; their quantity and abundance attested to this.”

“In the first weeks and months after their arrival, missionaries received a host of gifts, ranging from fruit to potatoes and sugar cane to an ‘elegant’ fly brush. The gifts that ali‘i provided to American missionaries during the initial stages of contact suggest the political and diplomatic savvy developed in the decades leading up to the missionaries’ arrival.”

“(G)ift giving and generosity appeared as a means by which ali‘i might engage in a display of mana – that is, divine power. In the extension of gifts, Hawaiian royalty provided not just for the needs of their guests but, in the process, simultaneously created a debt between themselves and the missionaries while enhancing their own status.” The missionaries developed a reciprocal gift-giving relationship.

“(M)issionaries were well aware of the ways in which the gift of clothing might allow them to begin in earnest the process of transforming and converting the Hawaiian people. Additionally, they hoped to win the favor of the Hawaiian people through the strategic placement of things”.

“(A)s the mission period progressed (the) missionaries developed a close association with ali‘i …“The relationships constituted around gift giving and exchange created a necessary favorable link between American missionaries and ali‘i in this period.” (Thigpen)

Check out the Mission Account Books for yourself; click HERE.

Click HERE for more information on Gifts from the Ali‘i.

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Portion of Depository Book-Gifts-Donations
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Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Missionaries, Alii, Chiefs, Gifts

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