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February 21, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaluakauka

In 1793, Captain George Vancouver gave a few cattle to Kamehameha I; when Vancouver landed additional cattle at Kealakekua in 1794, he strongly encouraged Kamehameha to place a 10‐year kapu on them to allow the herd to grow.

In the decades that followed, cattle flourished and turned into a dangerous nuisance. Kamehameha III lifted the kapu in 1830 and the hunting of wild cattle was encouraged. The king hired cattle hunters from overseas to help in the effort.

By 1846, 25,000-wild cattle roamed at will and an additional 10,000-semi‐domesticated cattle lived alongside humans. A wild bull or cow could weigh 1,200 to 1,500-pounds and had a six‐foot horn spread. Vast herds destroyed natives’ crops, ate the thatching on houses, and hurt, attacked and sometimes killed people.

In addition to traditional practices in the forests (i.e. bird feather collecting, harvesting koa and ʻōhiʻa, etc,) wild cattle were hunted for consumption, as well as provisioning ships with salt beef, and hides and tallow to the growing whaling fleets replenished their stocks.

Hunting wild cattle in the upper forest where they roamed was dangerous. Bullock pits were dug to trap the animals (they were about seven or eight feet long, and four feet wide and were walled up and covered with fragile brush;) they were near established trails; cattle were also drawn to the area by adjoining water holes. When animals fall in the pits, they were unable to climb out the steep sides.

On July 12, 1834, the pits proved they can be a peril to people, too. Douglas was killed by a wild bullock at Keahuaʻai (a knoll at the top of Laupāhoehoe near the boundary of Humuʻula and Laupāhoehoe (now called Kaluakauka or Douglas Pit.)) (Maly) “In the forest under the shadow of Mauna Kea I have seen the bullock pit where the dead body of the distinguished Scottish naturalist, (David) Douglas”. (Coan)

Douglas was born at Scone, near Perth, Scotland, in 1799, and started his career, there; he was a botanist. He was affiliated with the University of Glasgow and served as botanical collector for the Horticultural Society of London. He was hired by the Hudson’s Bay Company to do a botanical survey of the Oregon region.

In mid-August 1823, Douglas was in Philadelphia looking at the plants brought back by Lewis and Clark that even then were flourishing in some American, as well as European gardens. By September Douglas was in the Northwest, looking as always for seeds and cuttings of fruit trees, as well as wild woody plants.

Even though first Menzies (1790, while sailing with Captain Vancouver) and then Lewis and Clark (1804, through the expedition through the Louisiana Purchase and to the Northwest) had collected plants in the area, they had found only the obvious. Almost every day Douglas was in the field he was finding curious plants that proved to be new to science.

One of the collections he sent back to England with a home-bound ship was the dried branches and needles of what he called “Oregon pine,” that today is known as Douglas Fir (his namesake that is now a common wood in construction, as well as the festive and adorned Christmas tree.)

For 4 years, he travelled approximately 8,000-miles throughout the Northwest, cataloging and collecting samples. He returned to England in 1827. He achieved fame in Europe for his collection, and has been referred to as “one of the founding fathers of the British forestry industry as it exists today” by one biographer.

He returned to the Northwest in 1829 hoping to convince the Hudson’s Bay Company to finance a trip to Alaska and beyond. They refused, so David Douglas sailed to Hawaiʻi, arriving here just before Christmas of 1833.

Douglas was a gifted collector, but in the field he was often in trouble. He once fell on a nail that penetrated his leg under the kneecap. He nearly drowned in a glacier-fed river, and was weeks away from civilization with little but his wet clothes. He grew blind in one eye, and his vision was slowly failing in the other.

In January 1834, he set out to “to ascend and explore Mauna Kea, as soon as possible” Having completed his trek to both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, Douglas also visited Kilauea and then returned to O‘ahu.

In July of 1834, Douglas returned to Hawai‘i for a second trip to Mauna Kea. This trip was made via the Waimea-Laumai‘a mountain trail.

“Douglas left the vessel at Kawaihae to cross over by land, engaged a foreigner for a guide and several natives to take along his baggage. The guide accompanied him till they passed all the pit falls dug to entrap wild cattle on the north side Mauna Kea, he then left him to return.” (Lyman, Greenwell)

On July 12, 1834, while exploring the Island; “Douglas, a scientific traveller from Scotland, in the service of the London Horticultural Society, lost his life in the mountains of Hawaii, in a pitfall, being gored and trampled to death by a wild bullock captured there. (Bingham)

“This has been one of the most gloomy days I ever witnessed. … Soon after Mr. Douglas went back a short distance for something and in retracing his steps fell into a pit (into which a bullock had previously fallen) and was found dead a short time afterward. This was Sat. Morning.”

“Sunday he was taken the shortest distance to the sea side, wrapped in a hyde, put on board a canoe and brought here as he was taken from the pit. His close are sadly torn and his body dreadfully mangled. Ten gashes on his head.” (Lyman, Greenwell)

Some have suggested it was not an accident. “(T)he dead body of the distinguished Scottish naturalist, Douglas, was found under painfully suspicious circumstances, that led many to believe he had been murdered for his money.” (Coan)

While examination at the time suggested death by the bullock – “On the 3rd instant the body was brought here (Oʻahu) in an American vessel. I immediately had it examined by the medical gentlemen, who gave it as their opinion that the several wounds were inflicted by the bullock.” (Charlton, British Consul) – many remain skeptical.

As Titus Coan noted (1882,) “A mystery hangs over the event which we are unable to explain.”

David Douglas was buried in the Kawaiahaʻo Church Cemetery. A plaque on the wall of Kawaiahaʻo Church and a stone marker at Kaluakauka (near where the pit was located) commemorate David Douglas’s death.

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David Douglas sign-Cathedral Grove, MacMillan Park-Canada
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Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana Douglas)
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Pseudotsuga_menziesii_cone-From a tree grown from seed collected by David Douglas
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Filed Under: Place Names, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii Island, Kamehameha, Kamehameha III, Laupahoehoe, Mauna Kea, George Vancouver, Humuula, David Douglas, Titus Coan, Kaluakauka, Hawaii

May 29, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka Pā Nui o Kuakini

Captain George Vancouver gave a few cattle to Kamehameha I in 1793; Vancouver strongly encouraged Kamehameha to place a kapu on them to allow the herd to grow.

In the decades that followed, cattle flourished and turned into a dangerous nuisance. By 1846, 25,000 wild cattle roamed at will and an additional 10,000 semi‐domesticated cattle lived alongside humans.

John Adams Kuakini was an important adviser to Kamehameha I in the early stages of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i.

When the Kingdom’s central government moved to Lāhaina in 1820, Kuakini’s influence expanded on Hawaiʻi Island, with his appointment as the Royal Governor of Hawaiʻi Island, serving from 1820 until his death in 1844.

During his tenure, Kuakini built many of the historical sites that dominate Kailua today. The Great Wall of Kuakini, probably a major enhancement of an earlier wall, was one of these.

The Great Wall of Kuakini extends in a north-south direction for approximately 6 miles from Kailua to near Keauhou, and is generally 4 to 6-feet high and 4-feet wide.

Built between 1830 and 1840, the Great Wall of Kuakini separated the coastal lands from Kailua to Keauhou from the inland pasture lands.

The mortar-less lava-rock wall has had varying opinions regarding the purpose of its construction.

Speculation has ranged from military/defense to the confinement of grazing animals; however, most seem to agree it served as a cattle wall, keeping the troublesome cattle from wandering through the fields and houses of Kailua.

It is likely that the function of the wall changed over time, as the economic importance of cattle grew and the kinds and density of land use and settlement changed.

Kuakini was responsible for other changes and buildings in the Kona District during this era.

He gave land to Asa Thurston to build Moku‘aikaua Church.

He built Huliheʻe Palace in the American style out of native lava, coral lime mortar, koa and ‘ōhi‘a timbers. Completed in 1838, he used the palace to entertain visiting Americans and Europeans with great feasts.

Hulihe‘e Palace is now a museum run the Daughters of Hawaiʻi, including some of his artifacts.

He made official visits to all ships that arrived on the island, offering them tours of sites, such as the Kīlauea volcano.

He was born about 1789 with the name Kaluaikonahale. With the introduction of Christianity, Hawaiians were encouraged to take British or American names.

He chose the name John Adams after John Quincy Adams, the US president in office at the time. He adopted the name, as well as other customs of the US and Europe.

Kuakini was the youngest of four important siblings: sisters Queen Kaʻahumanu, Kamehameha’s favorite wife who later became the powerful Kuhina nui, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie and Namahana-o-Piʻia (also queens of Kamehameha) and brother George Cox Kahekili Keʻeaumoku.

He married Analeʻa (Ane or Annie) Keohokālole; they had no children. (She later married Caesar Kapaʻakea. That union produced several children (including the future King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani.)

A highway is named “Kuakini Highway,” which runs from the Hawaii Belt Road through the town of Kailua-Kona, to the Old Kona Airport Recreation Area.

He is also the namesake of Kuakini Street in Honolulu, which is in turn the namesake of the Kuakini Medical Center on it.

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Great_Wall_of_Kuakini-WC
Great_Wall_of_Kuakini-WC
'John Adams' Kuakini, royal governor or the island of Hawai'i, circa 1823
‘John Adams’ Kuakini, royal governor or the island of Hawai’i, circa 1823
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Great_Wall_of_Kuakini-vicinity_of_Lowes-Kailua-Kona-(GoogleEarth)
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Great-Wall_of_Kuakini
'John Adams' Kuakini, royal governor or the island of Hawai'i, circa 1823
‘John Adams’ Kuakini, royal governor or the island of Hawai’i, circa 1823
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Great-Wall_of_Kuakini
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Kahului-Kuamoo-USGS_Quadrangle-1924-(note_alignment_of_Great_Wall_of_Kuakini)
Kahului-Kuamoo-USGS_Quadrangle-1924-(note_alignment_of_Great_Wall_of_Kuakini)
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Kailua_Town_and_Vicinity_Map-Kanakanui-Reg1676 (1892)-(note_Great_Wall_of_Kuakini)

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Economy, General Tagged With: King Kalakaua, Hawaii, Ane Keohokalole, Great Wall of Kuakini, Queen Liliuokalani, Kuakini, Hulihee Palace, Kailua-Kona, Asa Thurston, Mokuaikaua, George Vancouver

May 16, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Fort Vancouver

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) was a fur trading company that started in Canada in 1670; its first century of operation found HBC firmly focused in a few forts and posts around the shores of James and Hudson Bays, Central Canada.

Within ten years after Captain Cook’s 1778 contact with Hawai‘i, the islands became a favorite port of call in the trade with China. The fur traders and merchant ships crossing the Pacific needed to replenish food supplies and water.

The maritime fur trade focused on acquiring furs of sea otters, seals and other animals from the Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the US.

In 1821, HBC merged with North West Company, its competitor; the resulting enterprise now spanned the continent – all the way to the Pacific Northwest (modern-day Oregon, Washington and British Columbia) and the North (Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.)

Fur traders working for the HBC traveled an area of more than 700,000 square miles that stretched from Russian Alaska to Mexican California and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.

Ships sailed from London around Cape Horn around South America and then to forts and posts along the Pacific Coast via the Hawaiian Islands. Trappers crossing overland faced a journey of 2,000 miles that took three months.

In selecting a new fort and trading post site for the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) on the Columbia River in Oregon, they picked a location about 100-miles from the mouth at an opening in the forest called Jolie Prairie.

The new facility was to serve as the chief supply center for the company’s regional operation.

On March 19, 1825, the HBC opened Fort Vancouver on a bluff above the north bank of the Columbia River where the city of Vancouver, Clark County, is now located (named for British Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver (1757-1798.))

Yes, this is the same George Vancouver how first visited the islands as midshipman with Captain James Cook in 1778 and later led the expedition around the globe (and introduced the first cattle in Hawai‘i with a gift to Kamehameha I – he also discovered the Columbia River.)

Fort Vancouver became part of the expansion and establishment of forts and trading posts along the Pacific Northwest. Then, in 1829, HBC landed its first trading ship in Honolulu.

One of its primary ‘missions’ of that trip was that HBC was looking for a labor pool to help with its operations (they were also there to establish a trade business, as well as test the market for its primary products – lumber and salmon.)

A goal of the trip was to recruit a few seasoned seamen for HBC on the Northwest Coast, including “two good stout active Sandwich Islanders who have been to sea for 1, 2, or 3 years.”

At that time, Hawaiians had already played an important part in establishing the economic institutions of the Pacific Northwest. They provided the food and built the shelters of the fur traders and the early missionaries.

They had worked on many of the merchant ships plying between Hawaii, China, Europe and the Northwest. From the earliest Hawaiians who came as seamen or contract workers, to the ones who worked at Fort Vancouver and elsewhere along the Pacific Coast, they all made an important contribution to the development of the area.

As early as 1811, 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.

Over the years, HBC’s Fort Vancouver had a unique relationship with the Hawaiian or “Sandwich” Islands, the nineteenth century trade hub of the Pacific.

During peak season, when the fur brigades returned to rest and re-supply, the settlement contained upwards of 600 inhabitants. For many years, the village was the largest settlement between Yerba Buena, (present day San Francisco, California) and New Archangel (Sitka, Alaska).

In the late-1830s Fort Vancouver became the terminus of the Oregon Trail. When American immigrants arrived in the Oregon Country during the 1830s and 1840s, and despite the instructions from the Hudson’s Bay Company that the fort should not help Americans, John McLoughlin, supervisor of the Columbia District, provided them with essential supplies to begin their new settlements.

Not only was the village one of the largest settlements in the West during the fur trade era, it was also unmatched in its diversity. The Hudson’s Bay Company purposefully hired people from different backgrounds, thus providing opportunities in the fur trade business to a variety of people from both the Old World and the New.

Few of the village spoke English, though French, Gaelic, Hawaiian and a variety of Native American languages were often heard. In order to communicate with one another, most villagers learned Chinook Jargon, a mix of Chinook, English and French.

Hawaiians worked as trappers, laborers, millers, sailors, gardeners and cooks; however HBC employed more people at agriculture than any other activity. The daily routine was work from sun up to sun down, with only Sundays off.

In 1840, Kamehameha III, faced with the seeming threat of racial extinction due to depopulation by both emigration and disease, enacted a law that required captains of vessels desiring to hire Hawaiians to obtain the written consent of the island governor and sign a $200 bond to return the Hawaiian back to Hawai‘i within a specified time.

HBC Governor Simpson, on a visit to Hawaii in 1841, reported, “About a thousand males in the very prime of life are estimated annually to leave the islands, some going to California, others to the Columbia, and many on long and dangerous voyages, particularly in whaling vessels …”

“… while a considerable number of them are said to be permanently lost to their country, either dying during their engagements, or settling in other parts of the world.”

In December 1845, the Oregon Government considered an act providing, “that all persons who shall hereafter introduce into the Oregon Territory any Sandwich Islanders … for a term of service shall pay a tax of five dollars for each person introduced.”

By 1849, the Hawaiian population at Fort Vancouver exceeded that of the French Canadians, due to the declining importance of furs and the rising export business of Fort Vancouver’s agricultural production and the consequent larger use of Hawaiian workers.

The number of Hawaiians working as contract laborers for the Company grew steadily. The large number of Hawaiian workers in the village led to the name “Kanaka Town” in the early 1850s – “Kanaka” is the word for “person” in the Native Hawaiian language. (At its peak, the village was home to around 535 men, 254 Indian women and 301 children.)

Several circumstances combined to bring an end to HBC’s activities at Fort Vancouver. The decline of the fur trade, the arrival of numerous American settlers to the newly organized Oregon Territory, the settlement of the boundary dispute with Great Britain which put the area under American sovereignty, all combined to hasten the decision to move the headquarters to Victoria, British Columbia.

In 1859, Hudson’s Bay Company withdrew from Fort Vancouver, the same year the decision was made to close the HBC trading facility in Honolulu.

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Fort_Vancouver-LOC-1850
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George Gibbs' illustration of Kanaka Village and stockade, 1851
George Gibbs’ illustration of Kanaka Village and stockade, 1851
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Fort_Vancouver_1855_Covington_illustration
Fort Vancouver by H. Warre (1848)
Fort Vancouver by H. Warre (1848)
Detail of map of Fort Vancouver-Columbia River,
Detail of map of Fort Vancouver-Columbia River,
Detail of map of Fort Vancouver-Columbia River, Surveyed 1825
Detail of map of Fort Vancouver-Columbia River, Surveyed 1825

Filed Under: Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Hudson's Bay Company, Kamehameha III, Fort Vancouver, George Vancouver

April 18, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiian Flags

The American flag consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton (referred to specifically as the “union”) bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars.

The 50-stars on the flag represent the 50-states and the 13-stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that rebelled against the British monarchy and became the first states in the Union.

The first flags were used to assist military coordination on battlefields. National flags are patriotic symbols with varied wide-ranging interpretations, often including strong military associations due to their original and ongoing military uses.

Since contact, various flags have flown over Hawai‘i.

The first “official” Hawai‘i flag was adopted in 1845, however prior to that various flags flew at various times.

All of the flags were hand-made back then; so, there might have been rather large variations in appearance.

Even in the late-Monarchy period, the appearance of flags varied a lot. Likewise, there is a possibility that some observers were wrong in what they saw and reported.

Visitors to Hawai’i pre-1845 reported different types of flags flying, including varying numbers of stripes, sometimes 7 or 9, for example. Observers also reported the colors of the stripes in different orders.

It is reported that Captain Vancouver gave a British Red Ensign to the king in the 1790s, which on later visits he found flying in places of honor.

Later, the Union Flag of Great Britain flew over Hawai‘i as its National Flag. The Union Flag (also known as the “King’s Colors”) of Great Britain was one of the flags used by the King’s forces during the American revolutionary War.

After that, the monarchy of Kamehameha I started to use a new flag, similar to the one used today by the State of Hawaii.

The flag’s origin can be traced to the War of 1812. At the time, King Kamehameha had been flying the British flag. American officers suggested the king show more neutrality.

Alexander Adams is credited with helping to design the Hawaiian flag – a new flag for Hawaiʻi was needed to avoid confusion by American vessels (prior to that time, Hawaiian vessels flew the British Union Jack.)

Family traditions also credit George Charles Beckley as being the designer of the Hawaiian Flag – they may have designed it together (Adams later served as executor of Beckley’s estate and guardian of his children.))

“The Hawaiian flag was designed for King Kamehameha I, in the year 1816. As the King desired to send a vessel to China to sell a cargo of sandal-wood, he in company with John Young, Isaac Davis and Alexander Adams … made this flag for the ship, which was a war vessel, called the Forrester, carrying 16 guns, and was owned by Kamehameha I.” (Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, January 1, 1862)

On March 7, 1817, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi sent Adams to China to sell the sandalwood. When he sailed to China, it was the first vessel under the flag of Hawaiʻi.

The early Hawaiian flag looks much like the Hawaiʻi State flag of today, the apparent inspiration of the design being a melding of British and US flags, the most common foreign flags seen in Hawaiian waters at the time.

The original design had stripes (like the US flag) representing the eight major islands under one sovereign and the British Union Jack, representing the friendly relationship between England and Hawai‘i.

Then, Kamehameha and his advisers collaborated on a new flag design, which combines elements from both the American and British flags.

This design had the Union Flag in the upper left quadrant with nine horizontal stripes alternating red, white and blue from the top. This flag was observed by Louis Choris in 1816.

For a short period of time, in 1843, Lord George Paulet, representing the British Crown, overstepped his bounds, landed sailors and marines, seized the government buildings in Honolulu and raised the British Union Jack and issued a proclamation formally annexing Hawaii to the British Crown. This event became known as the Paulet Affair.

On July 31, 1843, after five-months of occupation, the Hawaiian Kingdom was restored and Admiral Thomas ordered the Union Jack removed and replaced with the Hawaiian kingdom flag.

That day is now referred to as Ka La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day, and it is celebrated each year in the approximate site of the 1843 ceremonies.

At the opening of the Legislative Council, May 25, 1845, the new national banner was unfurled, differing little however from the former.

Eight stripes: first, fourth and seventh are silver represented by the color white; second, fifth and eighth are red, and the third and sixth are light purplish blue.

The stripes represent the eight major islands under one sovereign. The Union Jack represented the friendly relationship between England and Hawai‘i.

Subsequent annexation, territorial and statehood status caused the Hawaiian flag to fly with the flag of the United States.

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1793-1794-British Red Ensign
1793-1794-British Red Ensign
1794-1816 Union flag (Kings Colors)
1794-1816 Union flag (Kings Colors)
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1801-Flag_of_the_British_East_India_Company_(1801)
1810-1895-Hawaiian_Royal_Standard
1810-1895-Hawaiian_Royal_Standard
1816-1843 Flag of Hawaii , Ka hae Hawaiʻi as observed by Louis Choris
1816-1843 Flag of Hawaii , Ka hae Hawaiʻi as observed by Louis Choris
1843 (Feb) - July 1843 Union flag (during Paulet Affair)
1843 (Feb) – July 1843 Union flag (during Paulet Affair)
1843 (July) - May 1845 Early version of the present flag
1843 (July) – May 1845 Early version of the present flag
1845 (May) - Feb 1893 The current Hawaiian flag introduced in 1845
1845 (May) – Feb 1893 The current Hawaiian flag introduced in 1845
1894-1898 Hawaiian flag re-adopted by Republic of Hawaii
1894-1898 Hawaiian flag re-adopted by Republic of Hawaii
1893 (Feb) - Apr 1893 US Flag (after overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom)
1893 (Feb) – Apr 1893 US Flag (after overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom)
1898–1959 Hawaiian flag used by U.S. territory of Hawaii (Hawaii)
1898–1959 Hawaiian flag used by U.S. territory of Hawaii (Hawaii)
1898–1959 Hawaiian flag used by U.S. territory of Hawaii (US)
1898–1959 Hawaiian flag used by U.S. territory of Hawaii (US)
1959–present Hawaiian flag used by state of Hawaii (Hawaii)
1959–present Hawaiian flag used by state of Hawaii (Hawaii)
1959–present Hawaiian flag used by state of Hawaii (US)
1959–present Hawaiian flag used by state of Hawaii (US)
1959-Flag_of_the_Governor_of_Hawaii
1959-Flag_of_the_Governor_of_Hawaii

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, General Tagged With: Hawaii, Ka La Hoihoi Ea, Paulet, Flag, George Vancouver

February 20, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Island Names

We still pronounce some of the Hawaiian Island names differently.

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

However, it may be helpful to look how early writers wrote the respective Island names and see if there is a consistency in representative letters for names and the sounds they represent.

Remember, the writing of the letters in each word is based on the sound they hear, then written in the context of the sound of based on their own English language (and pronounced in the English language).

The first writers were Captain James Cook and his crew. Here are the ways he spelled the Island names (and the words we use for them now).

Cook (1778-1779:)
Oreehoua, or Keehoua (Lehua)
Tahoora (Kaʻula)
Oneeheow or Neeheehow (Niʻihau)
Atooi, Atowi, or Towi, and sometimes Kowi (Kauai)
Woahoo, or Oahoo (Oʻahu)
Morotoi or Morokoi (Molokai)
Ranai, or Oranai (Lanai)
Mowee (Maui)
Morotinnee, or Morokinnee (Molokini)
Kahowrowee, or Tahoorowa (Kaho‘olawe)
Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi)

First off, let’s look at the preceding O or A in some of the names. ‘O, and sometimes ʻA, beginning a word are markers to note proper name subjects (persons, places or certain special things.) They are vocatives (addressing the person or place you are talking about or to) – i.e. Atooi means ‘this is (or, ‘it is’) Tooi’ – so it is a proper word and the Island name is ‘Tooi.’ (Johnson)

Here are some other early writers’ ways of writing the Island names by the sounds each hears:

Portlock (1785-1788)
Tahoora (Ka‘ula)
Oneehow (Ni‘ihau)
Atoui
Woahoo
Morotoi
Ranai
Mowee
Owhyhee

Vancouver (1792-1794)
Attowai (Kauai)
Woahoo
Morotoi
Ranai
Mowee (Maui)
Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi)

Hiram Bingham (1820-1840)
Owhyhee (Hawaiʻi)
Woahoo (Oʻahu)
Attooi (Kauai)

Let’s start with the double vowel sounds to start to break down the sound … double O, ‘oo’, has a sound that rhymes with ‘Too’ or ‘Two’. Double E, ‘ee’, sounds like the way we say the single letter ‘E’ (rhyming with ‘wee’).

Now let’s look at the ‘i’ in the words – it, too, sounds like the way we say the single letter ‘I’ (rhyming with ‘eye’).

So ‘Atooi’ really is ‘Tooi’ – sounding like ‘two – eye’. As Hiram Bingham was working on the alphabet developed for the written Hawaiian, he actually notes that Atooi (Kauai), in his early writing was written as ‘Kau‘ ai’ (with the ‘okina before the second ‘a’, not after it) and sounds like ‘cow-eye’.

Some, today, say Atooi is pronounced as ‘Ah’ ‘two’ ‘ee’; however, they are putting in the Hawaiian sound for ‘I’ (which sounds like ‘ee’), rather than the English sound for ‘I’, which rhymes with ‘eye’.

Another Island name with varied pronunciations today is Molokai.

It seems there are at least two schools of thought; an explanation on the pronunciation/spelling of the island name (Molokai (Moh-loh-kī) versus Molokaʻi (Moh-loh-kah-ee)) is noted in the early portion of “Tales of Molokai The Voice of Harriet Ne” by Harriet Ahiona Ayau Ne with Gloria L. Cronin.

Harriet Ne’s grandson, Edward Halealoha Ayau, noted:

“The reason that the name Molokai (as used in the book) is left without the glottal stop is because my tūtū wahine (grandmother) says that when she was growing up in Pelekunu it was never pronounced Molokaʻi (Moh-loh-kah-ee), but rather Molokai (Moh-loh-kī).”

“Then in about the 1930s, the name changed to Molokaʻi, in part she believes because musicians began pronouncing the name that way. Mary Kawena Pukuʻi, three weeks before her death, called my tūtū and told her that the correct name is Molokai, which means ‘the gathering of the ocean waters.’”

“On the rugged north coast of the island, the ocean slams hard into the pali. On the south and east shores, the ocean glides gently to shore due to location of reefs at least a quarter of a mile offshore. Hence the name, Molokai, ‘Gathering of the Ocean Waters.’”

In a follow-up exchange with Halealoha, he resolved the matter saying that the “best answer is both pronunciations are correct and the most correct depends on which family you are speaking to. So for our ʻohana, it would be Molokai. For others, Molokaʻi.”

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

“The power of the vowels may be thus represented: ‘a’, as ‘a’ in the English words art, father; ‘e’, as ‘a’ in pale, or ‘ey’ in they; ‘I’, as ‘ee’ or, in machine; ‘o’, as ‘o’ in no; ‘u’, as ‘oo’ in too. They are called so as to express their power by their names ‘ Ah, A, Ee, O, Oo.” (Bingham)

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

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

The Old.           Corrected in English.        The New, or Hawaiian.
Tamaahmaah    Kah-mā‘-hau-mā-hah       Ka me‘ ha-me‘ ha
Terreioboo        Kah-lah‘-nȳ-ō-poo‘-oo     Ka la’ ni o pu‘ u
Tamoree           Kah-oo‘-moo ah lee‘-ee    Ka u‘ rnu a Ii‘ i
Owhyhee          Hah-wȳe‘-ee                     Ha wai‘ i
Woahoo,          O-ah‘-hoo                         O a‘ hu
Attooi               Cow‘-eye‘                          Kau‘ ai‘
Hanaroorah     Hō-nō-loo‘-loo                  Ho no lu‘ lu

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Filed Under: General, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Hawaiian Traditions, Prominent People Tagged With: Hawaii Island, Captain Vancouver, Oahu, Hiram Bingham, Captain Cook, Molokai, Maui, Island Names, Kauai, Lanai, Niihau, Nathaniel Portlock, George Vancouver, Lehua, Hawaii, Kaula

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