Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Happy Mother’s Day!

The image shows my mother and grandmother in 1928 (my mother is the little girl sitting to the left, her mother is sitting nearby, wearing a hat.)

The scene is at Kailua-Kona at a site known as Pa O ʻUmi; over the years, most of this outcrop of land has been covered over with Aliʻi Drive – a small remnant remains extending beyond today’s seawall.

Here is where Chief ʻUmi-a-Liloa (who reigned about the same time Christopher Columbus was crossing the Atlantic) landed when he first came to Kailua by canoe, moving the Island’s Royal Center from Waipiʻo to Kailua.

On this point of rock ʻUmi ordered his attendant to dry his precious feather cloak (ʻahuʻula.)  (The site is also referred to as Ka Lae O ʻAhuʻula.)

My mother was the great-great grand-daughter of Hiram Bingham, leader of first missionaries to Hawaiʻi who first landed in the Islands, here at Kailua-Kona in 1820.  (Mokuaikaua Church, built by Bingham’s fellow missionary, Asa Thurston, is in the background, as well as Huliheʻe Palace (to the right.))

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Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park (KAHO)

Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park (KAHO) was established in the Kekaha region of North Kona (Kailua to Kalaoa) in 1978 in order to preserve and protect traditional native Hawaiian culture and cultural sites.

The park is the site of an ancient Hawaiian settlement and is considered a locale of considerable cultural and historical significance. Cultural resources include fishponds, petroglyphs and a heiau (temple.)

The physical location of Kaloko-Honokōhau made the settlement easy to manage. Situated on the lower portions of a sloping terrain, the settlement’s activities were directed by kahuna chiefs, from a vantage point, such as the bluff overlooking the fishpond of ʻAimakapā, where a commanding view of Kaloko-Honokōhau was available.

“In ancient times, the chiefs would regularly live along the shore, that is, the chiefs of Kaloko and Honokōhau. At the place called Ahauhale, is where the chiefs of Kaloko lived. The place called Waihalulu, is where the chiefs of Honokōhau lived.”  (“Ka Wai o Kahinihini‘ula” (1923) Kumu Pono)

“There were men, women, and children, the houses were filled with large families. Truly there were many people (in Kekaha.) …  The lands of Honokōhau were filled with people in those days, there were many women and children with whom I traveled with joy in the days of my youth.  Kaloko was the same … Those families are all gone, and the land is quiet. There are no people, only the rocks remain, and a few scattered trees growing, and only occasionally does one meet with a man today”.  (“Na Hoonanea o ka Manawa” (1924) Kumu Pono)

The two dominant features in the Kaloko-Honokōhau National Park are Kaloko and ʻAimakapā Ponds.  (Prior to conversion and utilization as ponds, they were originally inland bays.)

The two ponds are different types of Hawaiian fishponds.  Kaloko is a loko kuapā (what we consider the typical coastal fishpond, artificially enclosed by an arc-shaped seawall (or in this case a seawall enclosing the mouth of a small bay) and containing at least one sluice gate (mākāhā.))

ʻAimakapā is a loko puʻuone (an shore fishpond containing either brackish or a mixture of brackish and fresh water, formed by development of a barrier beach paralleling the coast and connected to the ocean by a channel or ditch.)

Nearby (also in the Park) are the remnants of the ʻAiʻōpio fishtrap.  An opening in the trap to the sea enabled fish to enter, and the walled sections of the trap allowed fish to be stored until needed.

At high tide, fish entered the trap by swimming through the seaward opening or over the submerged walls.  At low tide, the fish were trapped in the enclosure and were easily netted.  Fishtraps differ from fishponds in that the fish are trapped and caught, but not raised.

The 1,160 acre park, a landscape of rugged lava rock, was at one time a thriving ancient Hawaiian settlement. More than 200 archeological sites document the Hawaiian’s use of the area over time.

The Hawaiians of this ancient settlement harvested fish from the sea and from fishponds they constructed. They grew coconuts, sweet potatoes and gourds and raised chickens and pigs.

Those living closest to the shore harvested fish and other food from the sea, while others living within the ahupuaʻa (sea to mountain land division) grew staple resources such as taro, breadfruit, paper mulberry, wood, and fiber for clothing. To ensure everyone’s survival, they would trade these items with one another.

Archeological resources at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park also include kahua (ancient house site platforms), heiau (temples,) a holua (toboggan slide), kiʻi pōhaku (petroglyphs), papamu (kokane game boards), stone enclosures, ahus (stone mounds that serve as altars, shrines, or security mounds), lava tube shelters and parts of the Māmalahoa Trail (Kings trail.)

Of all the Aliʻi associated with Kaloko-Honokōhau, the most famous is Kamehameha l, who settled and established his Royal Center at Kamakahonu in Kailua-Kona.  (Some believe Kamehameha was buried at Kaloko.  Kaloko is also believed to be the resting place of King Kahekili from Maui.)

Hale Ho’okipa Visitor Center, the Hawaii Pacific Parks Association store, and the adjoining parking area are open from 8:30 am to 4:00 PM daily.  (The Kaloko road gate is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 PM daily.)  Admission to the park is Free.

The image shows Kaloko Fishpond at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park (USGS.)  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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William Beckley

George Charles Beckley was known as “the English friend and military adviser of Kamehameha the Great.”  (Taylor)  Born in 1787, Beckley arrived in the Islands around 1804.  About 1813, he married Ahia Kalanikumaikiʻekiʻe.

Ahia was daughter of Kaha, a trusted friend of Kamehameha I, a warrior and Kahuna Kalaiwaʻa (a priest who superintended the building of canoes) and of Makaloa, daughter of Malulani (k) and of Kelehuna (w) of Puna, Hawaiʻi.  (Hawaiian Historical Society)

At the birth of the princess Nahiʻenaʻena (Kamehameha’s daughter) at Keauhou, Kona, in 1815, Beckley was made a high chief by Kamehameha, so that he might with impunity enter the sacred precinct and present the royal infant with a roll of China silk, after which he went outside, and fired a salute of thirteen guns in her honor.  (Hawaiian Historical Society)

The Beckleys had seven children, William (1814,) Maria (1817,) Localia (1818,) Mary (1820,) George (1823,) Hannah and Emmeline (1825.)

Captain Beckley’s oldest son, William Beckley, born at Keauhou (August 1, 1814,) was hānai to Keōpūolani and brought up together with Kauikeaouli (later King Kamehameha III.) George Beckley’s two oldest daughters were brought up by Queen Kaʻahumanu.  (Hawaiian Historical Society)  William was also playmates of Keoni Ana, son of John Young, and Aikake, son of Isaac Davis.

John Young and Isaac Davis were two of the several foreigners who aligned with Kamehameha I.  Young, a boatswain on the British fur trading vessel, Eleanora, was stranded on the Island of Hawai‘i in 1790.  Davis arrived the same year on The Fair American.  Both became close advisors to Kamehameha I.

With the arrival of Western ships, new plants and animals soon found their way to the Hawaiian Islands.  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 later 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.)

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; many of these were former convicts from Botany Bay in Australia.

The hapa-haole Beckley was for a number of years in charge of the king’s cattle on Hawai’i. After the death of Governor Adams Kuakini on December 9, 1844, Beckley was appointed konohiki of Waimea, as well as manager of all the cattle there belonging to the king and the government.  (Clark/Kirch)

Kamehameha III, although a king, was one of the first ranchers in the islands, owning the largest on the Big Island, from the top of Mauna Kea to the sea. He had William Beckley for his partner and afterwards Olohana Davis (son of Isaac Davis.)    (Taylor)

Beckley carried his own portion independently; they were identified as Waʻawaʻa, Waikani and a pahale (houselot) at Līhuʻe.  In addition, some land nearby (Waiemi) was awarded to his wife (a granddaughter of Kameʻeiamoku (one of the four Kona Uncles and close associates with Kamehameha.))  (Clark/Kirch)

Beckley called his piece “Little Mexico,” where he raised thoroughbred horses. This was at Waimea, and a portion of this is now part of Parker Ranch.  (Taylor)

The “Mexico” reference may tie into one of the stories about how the initial vaqueros (Español – paniolo (cowboys)) came to the islands; one story suggests William Beckley recruited vaqueros from Veracruz Mexico.  (Barna)

The earliest Hawaiian bullock hunters hunted alone, on foot, and used guns and pit traps. By 1830, a few vaqueros who had perfected methods of capturing wild cattle on horseback in Alta California began working for the Hawaiian monarchy and teaching the Hawaiians their techniques.  (Mills)

Most histories credit Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) with the idea of hiring vaqueros.   Joaquin Armas arrived in Hawai‘i on April 4, 1831 and stayed in Hawai‘i at the bequest of the King. Armas had grown up in Monterey, where undoubtedly he learned how to rope cattle and process hides. Other contemporary vaqueros on Hawai‘i Island were Miguel Castro, a man named Boronda, and Frederico Ramon Baesa.  (Mills)

Hawaii’s cowboys became known as paniolo, a corruption of español, the language the vaquero spoke. The term still refers to cowboys working in the Islands and to the culture their lifestyle spawned.

By 1840, there was concern that the great herds of cattle would be diminished because of consistent hunting pressure. So, another kapu was placed on the cattle.

Under Beckley, more lands were converted to pasturage and holding pens; and, according to Lorezo Lyons, Waimea had turned into a “cattle pen” and “(b)y another unfavorable arrangement 2/3 of Waimea have been converted to a pasture for government herds of cattle, sheep, horses, etc.”  (MKSWCD)

In 1847, the branding of wild cattle became a government function, overseen by William Beckley.  That same year, John Palmer Parker purchased the first acres of land that would become Parker Ranch.  (Bergin)

Shortly after, in 1850, the King appointed George Davis Hueu, of Waikoloa, as “Keeper of the Cattle” at Waimea, Mauna Kea and surrounding districts.  (MKSWCD)  William Beckley died March 16, 1871.

The image shows an early view of Waimea (Engraved at Lahainaluna.) In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Moku

Prior to European contact, each of the major islands or independent chiefdoms in the Hawaiian chain comprised a mokupuni (island.) Over the centuries, as the ancient Hawaiian population grew, land use and resource management also evolved.

The traditional land division of pre-contact Hawaiians was based on the sustainability and self-reliance within ahupuaʻa (community watershed areas) as well as within larger regions (moku) and lastly individual sovereign islands (mokupuni.)

The mokupuni were subdivided into land units of varying sizes, and the largest division was the moku (district – literally: interior island,) administered by high-ranking chiefs.

They were either relatives of the high chief of the island, trusted supporters or high ranking individuals who pledged their support to the high chief but were allowed to remain relatively independent.

Each island was divided into several moku or districts, of which there are six in the island of Hawaiʻi, and the same number in Oʻahu. There is a district called Kona on the lee side and one called Koʻolau on the windward side of almost every island.  (Alexander)

It appears that the six districts on the islands of O‘ahu and Hawai‘i, and the system of developing smaller manageable units of land became formalized in the reigns of Māʻilikūkahi and ʻUmi-a-Līloa, respectively (about the time Columbus was sailing across the Atlantic.)

Māʻilikūkahi is noted for clearly marking and reorganizing land division palena (boundaries) on O‘ahu.  Palena, or possibly an evolved term “palena ʻāina” are place boundaries.  (Beamer)

Defined palena brought greater productivity to the lands; lessened conflict and was a means of settling disputes of future aliʻi who would be in control of the bounded lands; protected the commoners from the chiefs; and brought (for the most part) peace and prosperity.

Fornander writes, “He caused the island to be thoroughly surveyed, and boundaries between differing divisions and lands be definitely and permanently marked out, thus obviating future disputes between neighboring chiefs and landholders.”

Kamakau tells a similar story, “When the kingdom passed to Māʻilikūkahi, the land divisions were in a state of confusion; the ahupuaʻa, the ku, the ʻili ʻāina, the moʻo ʻāina, the pauku ʻāina, and the kihapai were not clearly defined.”

“Therefore, Māʻilikūkahi ordered the chiefs, aliʻi, the lesser chiefs, kaukau aliʻi, the warrior chiefs, puʻali aliʻi, and the overseers (luna) to divide all of Oʻahu into moku, ahupuaʻa, ʻili kupono, ʻili ʻāina, and moʻo ʻāina.”

Malo gives a detailed description of the kuleana that a kālaimoku aliʻi who divided lands for Mōʻī had to fulfill:  “There are two important aspects in being a kālaimoku, to take care of the aliʻi, and to take care of the makaʻāinana, for these two reasons the kālaimoku guides the aliʻi at his side, with the careful attention to these two things, things were to be done properly.”  (Malo, Beamer)

What is commonly referred to as the “ahupuaʻa system” is a result of the firm establishment of palena (boundaries.)  This system of land divisions and boundaries enabled a konohiki (land/resource manager) to know the limits and productivity of the resources that they managed.

In the late-1400s, through warfare and alliances with other chiefs, ʻUmi gained control of the entire Island of Hawaiʻi. ʻUmi made himself the aliʻi nui, or high chief, for the whole island.

ʻUmi divided his island into separate moku, or districts. These moku were subdivided into smaller sections called ahupuaʻa.

In the time of ʻUmi, son of the great chief Līloa, the Hawaiian islands were divided into political regions. The four mokupuni (larger islands) of Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui, and Hawaiʻi were divided into moku (districts).

The smaller islands of Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe became moku of Maui, and Niʻihau a moku of Kauaʻi.

Traditionally, the Island of Kaua‘i was divided into five moku (districts): Haleleʻa, Kona, Koʻolau, Nāpali and Puna. However, after the battle of Wahiawa in 1824, the land of Kaua‘i was redistributed and district boundaries changed. The new district names became: Hanalei, Kawaihau, Līhuʻe, Kōloa and Waimea.  (Cultural Surveys)

For ease in collecting annual tribute, the moku were subdivided into ahupuaʻa, land sections that usually extended from the mountain summits down through fertile valleys to the outer edge of the reef in the sea (or if there was not reef, one-mile from shore.)

The size of the ahupuaʻa depended on the resources of the area with poorer agricultural regions split into larger ahupuaʻa to compensate for the relative lack of natural abundance. Each ahupuaʻa was ruled by an aliʻi or local chief and administered by a konohiki.

These natural land divisions were the result of the flow of water over the land (streams or springs.)

From the earliest days, streams were among the most important natural resources sought after by native Hawaiians. Battles were fought and lives sacrificed for the right to use stream water.

The Hawaiians called freshwater wai, and considered it to be sacred. People using wai from streams took only what was absolutely necessary. They were expected to share the wai with others. This was done without greed or selfishness.

Such practices gave Hawaiians their word for law which is kanawai, or the “equal sharing of water.” Water was so valuable to Hawaiians that they used the word “wai” to indicate wealth. Thus to signify abundance and prosperity, Hawaiians would say waiwai.

In keeping with this concept of wealth being fresh water, the traditional land tenure system in ancient Hawaii had at its very core the presence of streams, or kahawai. Although of many shapes and sizes, each ahupua’a consisted of three area types: mountain, plain and sea.

The image shows the Moku of Oʻahu (ksbe.) In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook  Moku

Prior to European contact, each of the major islands or independent chiefdoms in the Hawaiian chain comprised a mokupuni (island.) Over the centuries, as the ancient Hawaiian population grew, land use and resource management also evolved.
The traditional land division of pre-contact Hawaiians was based on the sustainability and self-reliance within ahupuaʻa (community watershed areas) as well as within larger regions (moku) and lastly individual sovereign islands (mokupuni.)
The mokupuni were subdivided into land units of varying sizes, and the largest division was the moku (district – literally: interior island,) administered by high-ranking chiefs.
They were either relatives of the high chief of the island, trusted supporters or high ranking individuals who pledged their support to the high chief but were allowed to remain relatively independent.
Each island was divided into several moku or districts, of which there are six in the island of Hawaiʻi, and the same number in Oʻahu. There is a district called Kona on the lee side and one called Koʻolau on the windward side of almost every island.  (Alexander)
It appears that the six districts on the islands of O‘ahu and Hawai‘i, and the system of developing smaller manageable units of land became formalized in the reigns of Māʻilikūkahi and ʻUmi-a-Līloa, respectively (about the time Columbus was sailing across the Atlantic.)
Māʻilikūkahi is noted for clearly marking and reorganizing land division palena (boundaries) on O‘ahu.  Palena, or possibly an evolved term “palena ʻāina” are place boundaries.  (Beamer)
Defined palena brought greater productivity to the lands; lessened conflict and was a means of settling disputes of future aliʻi who would be in control of the bounded lands; protected the commoners from the chiefs; and brought (for the most part) peace and prosperity.
Fornander writes, “He caused the island to be thoroughly surveyed, and boundaries between differing divisions and lands be definitely and permanently marked out, thus obviating future disputes between neighboring chiefs and landholders.”
Kamakau tells a similar story, “When the kingdom passed to Māʻilikūkahi, the land divisions were in a state of confusion; the ahupuaʻa, the ku, the ʻili ʻāina, the moʻo ʻāina, the pauku ʻāina, and the kihapai were not clearly defined.”
“Therefore, Māʻilikūkahi ordered the chiefs, aliʻi, the lesser chiefs, kaukau aliʻi, the warrior chiefs, puʻali aliʻi, and the overseers (luna) to divide all of Oʻahu into moku, ahupuaʻa, ʻili kupono, ʻili ʻāina, and moʻo ʻāina.”
Malo gives a detailed description of the kuleana that a kālaimoku aliʻi who divided lands for Mōʻī had to fulfill:  “There are two important aspects in being a kālaimoku, to take care of the aliʻi, and to take care of the makaʻāinana, for these two reasons the kālaimoku guides the aliʻi at his side, with the careful attention to these two things, things were to be done properly.”  (Malo, Beamer)
What is commonly referred to as the “ahupuaʻa system” is a result of the firm establishment of palena (boundaries.)  This system of land divisions and boundaries enabled a konohiki (land/resource manager) to know the limits and productivity of the resources that they managed.
In the late-1400s, through warfare and alliances with other chiefs, ʻUmi gained control of the entire Island of Hawaiʻi. ʻUmi made himself the aliʻi nui, or high chief, for the whole island.
ʻUmi divided his island into separate moku, or districts. These moku were subdivided into smaller sections called ahupuaʻa.
In the time of ʻUmi, son of the great chief Līloa, the Hawaiian islands were divided into political regions. The four mokupuni (larger islands) of Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Maui, and Hawaiʻi were divided into moku (districts).
The smaller islands of Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe became moku of Maui, and Niʻihau a moku of Kauaʻi.
Traditionally, the Island of Kaua‘i was divided into five moku (districts): Haleleʻa, Kona, Koʻolau, Nāpali and Puna. However, after the battle of Wahiawa in 1824, the land of Kaua‘i was redistributed and district boundaries changed. The new district names became: Hanalei, Kawaihau, Līhuʻe, Kōloa and Waimea.  (Cultural Surveys)
For ease in collecting annual tribute, the moku were subdivided into ahupuaʻa, land sections that usually extended from the mountain summits down through fertile valleys to the outer edge of the reef in the sea (or if there was not reef, one-mile from shore.)
The size of the ahupuaʻa depended on the resources of the area with poorer agricultural regions split into larger ahupuaʻa to compensate for the relative lack of natural abundance. Each ahupuaʻa was ruled by an aliʻi or local chief and administered by a konohiki.
These natural land divisions were the result of the flow of water over the land (streams or springs.)
From the earliest days, streams were among the most important natural resources sought after by native Hawaiians. Battles were fought and lives sacrificed for the right to use stream water.
The Hawaiians called freshwater wai, and considered it to be sacred. People using wai from streams took only what was absolutely necessary. They were expected to share the wai with others. This was done without greed or selfishness.
Such practices gave Hawaiians their word for law which is kanawai, or the “equal sharing of water.” Water was so valuable to Hawaiians that they used the word “wai” to indicate wealth. Thus to signify abundance and prosperity, Hawaiians would say waiwai.
In keeping with this concept of wealth being fresh water, the traditional land tenure system in ancient Hawaii had at its very core the presence of streams, or kahawai. Although of many shapes and sizes, each ahupua’a consisted of three area types: mountain, plain and sea.
The image shows the Moku of Oʻahu (ksbe.) In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

ʻŌpūkahaʻia Leaves Hawaiʻi

Hostilities of Kamehameha’s conquest on Hawai‘i Island supposedly ended with the death of Keōua at Kawaihae Harbor in early-1792 and the placement of the vanquished chief’s body at Puʻukoholā Heiau at Kawaihae.

The island was under the rule of Kamehameha.  However, after a short time, another chief entered into a power dispute with Kamehameha; his name was Nāmakehā.

In 1795, Kamehameha asked Nāmakehā, who lived in Kaʻū, Hawai‘i, for help in fighting Kalanikūpule and his Maui forces on O‘ahu, but Nāmakehā ignored the invitation. Instead, he opted to rebel against Kamehameha by tending to his enemies in Kaʻū, Puna and Hilo on Hawai‘i Island.

Hostilities erupted between the two. The battle took place at Hilo.  Kamehameha defeated Nāmakehā; his warriors next turned their rage upon the villages and families of the vanquished. The alarm was given of their approach.

A family, who had supported Nāmakehā, the father (Ke‘au) taking his wife (Kamohoʻula) and two children fled to the mountains. There he concealed himself for several days with his family in a cave.  (Brumaghim)  The warriors found the family and killed the adults.

A survivor, a son, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, was at the age of ten or twelve; both his parents were slain before his eyes.  The only surviving member of the family, besides himself, was an infant brother he hoped to save from the fate of his parents, and carried him on his back and fled from the enemy.

But he was pursued, and his little brother, while on his back, was killed by a spear from the enemy. Taken prisoner, because he was not young enough to give them trouble, nor old enough to excite their fears, ʻŌpūkahaʻia was not killed.

He was later turned over to his uncle, Pahua, who took him into his own family and treated him as his child. Pahua was a kahuna at Hikiʻau Heiau in Kealakekua Bay.

When Captain Vancouver visited the islands in the 1790s, he provided the following description of Hikiʻau:
“Adjoining one side of the Square was the great Morai (heiau,) where there stood a kind of steeple (‘anu‘u) that ran up to the height of 60 or 70 feet, it was in square form, narrowing gradually towards the top where it was square and flat; it is built of very slight twigs & laths, placed horizontally and closely, and each lath hung with narrow pieces of white Cloth.”

“… next to this was a House occupied by the Priests, where they performed their religious ceremonies and the whole was enclosed by a high railing on which in many parts were stuck skulls of those people, who had fallen victims to the Wrath of their Deity. …. In the center of the Morai stood a preposterous figure carved out of wood larger than life representing the … supreme deity… .”

John Papa ʻI‘i wrote that in ca. 1812-1813, shortly after Kamehameha’s return to Hawai‘i, the king celebrated the Makahiki and in the course of doing so he rededicated Hikiʻau, “the most important heiau in the district of Kona”.

This is the same place where Captain Cook landed on the Island of Hawaiʻi, across the bay from Hikiʻau Heiau is where Cook was later killed.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s uncle, wanting his nephew to follow him as a kahuna, taught ʻŌpūkahaʻia long prayers and trained him to the task of repeating them daily in the temple of the idol. This ceremony he sometimes commenced before sunrise in the morning, and at other times was employed in it during the whole or the greater part of the night.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was not destined to be a kahuna.

He made a life-changing decision – not only which affected his life, but had a profound effect on the future of the Hawaiian Islands.

“I began to think about leaving that country, to go to some other part of the globe. I did not care where I shall go to. I thought to myself that if I should get away, and go to some other country, probably I may find some comfort, more than to live there, without father and mother.”  (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

In 1807, he boarded an American a ship in Kealakekua Bay, the Triumph, under the command of Captain Brintnal; also on Board was Thomas Hopu.  They set sail for New York, stopping first in China (selling seal-skins and loading the ship with Chinese goods.)

Also on Board was Russell Hubbard, a son of Gen. Hubbard of New Haven, Connecticut.  “This Mr. Hubbard was a member of Yale College. He was a friend of Christ. Christ was with him when I saw him, but I knew it not.  ‘Happy is the man that put his trust in God!’  Mr. Hubbard was very kind to me on our passage, and taught me the letters in English spelling-book.”  (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

In 1809, they landed at New York and remained there until the Captain sold out all the Chinese goods.   Then, they made their way to New England.

“In this place I become acquainted with many students belonging to the College. By these pious students I was told more about God than what I had heard before … Many times I wished to hear more about God, but find no body to interpret it to me. I attended many meetings on the sabbath, but find difficulty to understand the minister. I could understand or speak, but very little of the English language. Friend Thomas (Hopu) went to school to one of the students in the College before I thought of going to school.”  (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s life in New England was greatly influenced by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor that were active in the Second Great Awakening and the establishment of the missionary movement.  These men had a major impact on ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s enlightenment in Christianity and his vision to return to Hawaiʻi as a Christian missionary.

He was taken into the family of the Rev. Dr. Dwight, President of Yale College, for a season; where he was treated with kindness, and taught the first principles of Christianity.  At length, Mr. Samuel J. Mills, took him under his particular patronage, and sent him to live with his father, the Rev. Mr. Mills of Torringford.

By 1817, a dozen students, six of them Hawaiians, were training at the Foreign Mission School to become missionaries to teach the Christian faith to people around the world.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia improved his English by writing; the story of his life was later assembled into a book called “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” (the spelling of his name based on its sound, prior to establishment of the formal Hawaiian alphabet.)  ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired 14-missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawaiʻi.)

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from the northeast United States, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)

There were seven couples sent to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.   These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children.

Along with them were four Hawaiian youths who had been students at the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall Connecticut, Thomas Hopu (his friend on board the ship when he first left the Islands,) William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaiʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i and also known as Prince George Kaumuali‘i.)

Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died suddenly of typhus fever in 1818 and did not fulfill his dream of returning to the islands to preach the gospel.  (The bulk of the information here is from ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” and Papaʻula, 1867 in Brumaghim)

The image shows ʻŌpūkahaʻia. In addition, I have added some other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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