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July 7, 2026 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Ahahui Hoʻoulu a Hoʻola Lahui

“The Hui Ho‘oulu a Ho‘ola Lahui of Kalākaua I was organized at Kawaiahaʻo, Her Royal Highness Princess Kapili Likelike being President. … A large number of members joined the Society on this day, some 51. The amount of money collected was $17.00, the dues being ten cents per month.” (Report of the Executive Committee, February 19, 1874)

In addition to dues, they had fundraisers, “There will be a grand luau put on by the President, HRH Liliʻuokalani, at Kaumakapili Church, for the benefit of the Hoʻoulu and Hoʻola Lahui Society (Ahahui Hoʻoulu a Hoʻola Lahui) on the 22nd of January 1887, from 12 to 7 o’clock. Therefore, the kindness of all is requested to come there with their donations for the Ahahui.” (Ko Hawai‘i Pae ‘Āina, January 15, 1887)

“If the sick person is destitute, and has no one to take care of him, and is poor, and has no relatives or friends, but, has an aikane who is supporting him, and who has more love for him than his own relations, then such person is not entitled to assistance from this Society.”

“But if such person has no one to care for him, then the Society shall give him temporary assistance and endeavor to induce him to go to the hospital or to the Lunalilo Home; but if such person shall refuse to go to either of those places, then the Society may let such person go.”

“The Committee must be extremely careful that they are not imposed upon by undeserving persons who may claim that they are sick and destitute.”

“If the committee should be imposed upon, then they should forgive such offender if he return all that the Society has given him; but if such person will not return what has been given, then they must be dealt with according to the law of the land.” (Bylaws XI, Ahahui Ho‘oulu a Ho‘ola Lahui)

“His Majesty Kalakaua designed and established an organization for benevolent work amongst his people; it was called the Ho‘oululahui. The first meeting of the society having been appointed at Kawaiahaʻo Church, there was a good attendance of the first ladies of the city, not only those of Hawaiian families, but also of foreign birth.” (Liliʻuokalani)

“There shall be appointed a committee of three or more members of the society, and they shall do the work of the Society. It shall be their duty to visit the sick and destitute in their various districts and report the same to the President.”

“The Committee shall ascertain all facts concerning the sick or those in distress, ascertain if the sickness is a fever or some other sickness, and do all they can to give such person relief.”

“The committee should do all in their power to prevent such sick person from taking cold and should give instructions regarding clothing and diet.”

“If such sick person has no one to look after or help him, then the President may direct some member of the committee or any member of the Society to assist such sick person.” (Article VII, Constitution of Hui Ho‘oulu a Ho‘ola Lahui)

“It was my brother’s intention that the society should have as its head Her Majesty Kapi’olani, his queen; but to make it more efficient and systematic in its work, the society was divided into three departments.”

“Of these, the first embraced the central part of the city of Honolulu, and this was under the presidency of the queen. Next came the lower part of Honolulu, Kaumakapili, extending as far as Maemae, and embracing all the district beyond Palama, which was assigned to my management and presidency.”

“In like manner the third division, Kawaiahaʻo, extending through Waikiki and Manoa, Pauoa, and a certain portion of the city, was assigned to my sister, the Princess Likelike.”

“All denominations, including the Roman Catholics, were invited to co-operate in the good work. The Princesses Po‘omaikalani and Kekaulike … gave their aid to the queen. The former was made governess of Hawaiʻi, and the latter governess of Kauai.”

“These two ladies did all in their power to assist Queen Kapiʻolani in her work of charity, and my sister and myself were equally interested to attend to the needs of our departments …”

“… but the responsibility for the general management was really upon the king, who not only had to assume the financial burden, but gave to the work the weight of his official influence, and always responded cheerfully to our calls upon him for advice, giving to us with liberality the advantage of his own good judgment.”

“The people responded with good-will from other parts of the islands, and the work has gone on for over ten years since it was first established by my brother. Of those then interested, Queen Kapiʻolani and myself are the only two of the managers now living. As Princess Likelike and the other two princesses died, their departments came more under the personal management of the queen.”

“Like many other enterprises of charity, the original intentions of the founders have been improved upon; and the society is merged in other good works, or its purposes diverted to slightly different ends. The organization is now consolidated in the Maternity Home …”

“… the charitable funds which used to be distributed amongst the poor, the amounts contributed by the people everywhere to carry out the designs of the king, are still doing good through this institution, of which the Dowager Queen Kapiʻolani is the president, assisted by a board of managers consisting of notable Hawaiian ladies, and by others of foreign descent.” (Liliʻuokalani)

(Queen Kapiʻolani founded the Kapiʻolani Maternity Home in 1890. Kauikeōlani Children’s Hospital merged with Kapiʻolani Hospital and relocated to become Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children.)

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Economy, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Kapiolani, Emma Kauikeolani Wilcox, Kapiolani Medical Center, Ahahui Hooulu a Hoola Lahui, Hawaii, Liliuokalani, Kalakaua

July 6, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hōkūle‘a Was An Official US Bicentennial Project

“[D]uring this Bicentennial Year, each of our States is planning events with which to commemorate our country’s beginning.”

“As each observance differs from the other, they serve to emphasize the diverse cultural backgrounds that combine to form that anomalous national, the American.”

“In my State of Hawaii, where no one culture or ethnic group constitutes a majority, the peoples of Asia and the Pacific have combined with those of European background to form that special kind of person, the Hawaiian American.”

“It is therefore fitting that a Hawaiian bicentennial event should commemorate the beginning of our State’s history.”

“I refer to the voyage this year – voyage plans to begin sometime during April-May of Hokule‘a, a 60-foot double hulled canoe that will sail from Hawaii to Tahiti, using only the ancient navigational aids of wind, wave, star, and bird. …”

“Hokule’a is sponsored by the Polynesian Voyaging Society. This is a nonprofit group, formed in our State of Hawaii for the sole purpose of proving that more than 1,000 years ago, the Polynesian ancestors of today’s Hawaiians deliberately chose to sail across unknown waters to find new land.”

“Mr. Speaker, I think my colleagues will agree with me that this is a most exciting Bicentennial event. It will not only prove – and disprove – many scientific theories regarding Polynesian navigation, but will also perpetuate the spirit of ’76 as displayed by those American – and Polynesians – who dared to challenge the unknown.” (Spark Matsunaga, US House of Representatives, Feb 26, 1977)

“Intended as Hawaii’s contribution to the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial, Hōkūle‘a was built as a replica of the vessels used by Polynesians, using illustrations made by European explorers of the canoes they encountered in the 18th century.” (American Indian Magazine)

“Our project has been chosen to be part of the State of Hawaii’s Bicentennial celebration and is receiving $7,000 seed money from the Commission 1974.  This includes $2,000 from funds raised locally by the Commission and $5,000 from the Federal Bicentennial Fund.” (Proposal for an Experimental Voyage between Hawaii and Tahiti)

“The Hokule’a is a 60‐foot sailing canoe constructed as the official 1976 Bicentennial project of the State of Hawaii.” (NY Times) “The canoe first become internationally famous when it sailed from the Hawaiian Islands to the Society Islands in 1976 as an official part of Hawaii’s celebration of the United States’ Bicentennial. …”

“[T]he project was the result of many minds and many hands from throughout the community. The result of all that energy was the most outstanding of all Bicentennial projects undertaken in the United States during 1976.” (Gordon Piianaina. Implications of Hokule‘a)

“The canoe itself was built of modern materials”. (American Indian Magazine) In making Hōkūle‘a, the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) wanted to use traditional materials (koa wood hulls, lauhala sails, sennit lashing) and traditional tools (adzes, bone gouges, coral files and sharkskin for sanding) in building the canoe.

Instead, the hulls were constructed out of plywood, fiberglass, and resin, and the sails were made from canvas; the lashings were done with synthetic cordage.  (PVS)

“She was a ‘performance replica,’ designed to perform like an ancient vessel and intended for one historic voyage: to sail to Tahiti using traditional navigation.” (American Indian Magazine)

“In 1976, Hōkūle‘a proved her mettle by sailing 2,400 miles across empty ocean to Tahiti, guided by traditional Micronesian navigator Pius ‘Mau’ Piailug.” (American Indian Magazine) “[T]he canoe had originally been built just for that voyage”. (Sail Magazine)

“The original crew consisted of Piailug as the navigator; Captain Kawika Kapahulehua; Clifford Ah Mow; Milton ‘Shorty’ Bertelmann; Ben R. Finney; Charles Tommy Holmes; Sam Kalalau; Boogie Kalama; Buffalo Keaulana; John Kruse; Douglas ‘Dukie’ Kuahulu; David Henry Lewis; Dave Lyman III; Billy Richards; and Rodo Tuku Williams.” (Sail Magazine)

“Hokulea’s first voyage away from Hawaii on May 1, 1976 took her to Tahiti and back – two crews and 52 days at sea. What initially began as a scientific experiment to prove that Polynesians navigated the Pacific, and a nod to the United States bicentennial, ended up being a cultural revitalization in the art of canoe voyaging and navigation.” (Hawai‘i Magazine)

© 2026 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: Hawaiian Traditions, Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks Tagged With: Hawaii, Hokulea, Bicentennial

July 3, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

250 Years Ago … Comparing American & Hawaiian ‘Declarations’ … and War

Being in the middle of the Pacific, and unknown to the western world at the beginning of the American Revolution and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, folks in Hawai‘i may not feel connected to the American Revolution and its history.

July 4, 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the signing of America’s Declaration of Independence, it is interesting/appropriate to analyze, evaluate, and compare the similar/different circumstances, context, and text of …

… America’s Declaration of Independence (1776) with the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Declaration of Rights (1839) and subsequent Hawai‘i Constitution (1840 – that has the 1839 Declaration of Rights as its Preamble).

The following are only some of the kinds of comparisons that you might consider, under the theme of similarities and differences in the circumstances, context, and text of these documents:

• In America, the people forced the change; in Hawai‘i, the King and Chiefs initiated the change.
• In America, the changes were made through revolution and war (with thousands of lives lost, lasting over 8 years (1775-1783)); in Hawai‘i, the changes came through voluntary and peaceful recognition of ‘rights’ (that was bloodless, with immediate change).
• Each country’s ‘Declaration’ has similar references to the Creator and God:
o America’s Declaration of Independence (1776): “all men are … endowed by their Creator”;
o Hawai‘i’s Declaration of Rights (1839): “God hath made of one blood all nations of men”.
• Each ‘Declaration’ has similar statements of equality:
o America’s Declaration of Independence (1776): “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”;
o Hawai‘i’s Declaration of Rights (1839): “God … has given alike to every man and every chief of correct deportment … protecting alike, both the people and the chiefs of all these islands”.
• Each ‘Declaration’ has similar statements of individual rights:
o America’s Declaration of Independence (1776): “all men are … endowed … with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”;
o Hawai‘i’s Declaration of Rights (1839): “These are some of the rights … life, limb, liberty, freedom from oppression; the earnings of his hands and the productions of his mind”.
• Each country has a similar transition in how the people were viewed and treated, from being strictly subjects of a King to citizens of a country with established rights in written documents and laws.
• Each has similar governance mechanism/documentation that allowed each to join the family of nations (with a written Constitution), with Hawai‘i’s happening only 13-years from having a written language (with the standardized Hawaiian written alphabet approved on July 14, 1826).

Making these comparisons of ‘Declarations’ (with notably similar context and text) will help link Hawai‘i to the American Revolution during the 250th anniversary year of the adoption of the American Declaration of Independence.

Another Similarity is that Each was at War

Another interesting comparison/similarity is that Hawai‘i was at war at the same time as the American Revolutionary War. At the period of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms:

(1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oahu and Molokai, and the queen of Kauai was disposed to assist him in these enterprises.”

“The occupation of the Hana district of Maui by the kings of Hawaii had been the cause of many stubborn conflicts between the chivalry of the two islands, and when Captain Cook first landed on Hawaii …”

“… he found the king of that island [Kalaniʻōpuʻu] absent on another warlike expedition to Maui, intent upon avenging his defeat of two years before, when his famous brigade of eight hundred nobles was hewn in pieces.”  (Kalākaua)

Kamakahelei was the “queen of Kauai and Niihau, and her husband was a younger brother to Kahekili, while she was related to the royal family of Hawaii. Thus, it will be seen, the reigning families of the several islands of the group were all related to each other, as well by marriage as by blood.”

“So had it been for many generations. But their wars with each other were none the less vindictive because of their kinship, or attended with less of barbarity in their hours of triumph.”  (Kalākaua)

“Whether we contemplate the horrors or the glories of the rude warfare which wasted the nation, we are not to confine our views to the struggles of armed combatants – the wounds, the reproaches, and various evils inflicted on one another…”

“… but the burden of sustaining such armies deserves attention, and the indescribable misery of the unarmed and unresisting of the vanquished party or tribe, pursued and crushed, till all danger of further resistance disappeared, must not be forgotten.”  (Bingham)

“Before the conquest of Kamehameha, the several islands were ruled by independent kings, who were frequently at war with each other, but more often with their own subjects. As one chief acquired sufficient strength, he disputed the title of the reigning prince.”

“If successful, his chance of permanent power was quite as precarious as that of his predecessor. In some instances the title established by force of arms remained in the same family for several generations, disturbed, however, by frequent rebellions … war being a chief occupation …”  (Jarves)

“It is supposed that some six thousand of the followers of this chieftain (Kamehameha,) and twice that number of his opposers, fell in battle during his career, and by famine and distress occasioned by his wars and devastations from 1780 to 1796.”  (Bingham)

“However the greatest loss of life according to early writers was not from the battles, but from the starvation of the vanquished and consequential sickness due to destruction of food sources and supplies – a recognized part of Hawaiian warfare.”  (Bingham)

Vancouver was appalled by the impoverished circumstances of the people and the barren and uncultivated appearance of their lands.

“The deplorable condition to which they had been reduced by an eleven years war” and the advent of “the half famished trading vessels” convinced him that he should pursue his peace negotiations for “the general happiness, of the inhabitants of all the islands.”  (Vancouver, Voyage 2)

Then, a final battle of conquest took place on Oʻahu.  Kamehameha landed his fleet and disembarked his army on Oʻahu, extending from Waialae to Waikiki. … he marched up the Nuʻuanu valley, where Kalanikūpule had posted his forces.  (Fornander)

At Puiwa the hostile forces met, and for a while the victory was hotly contested; but the superiority of Kamehameha’s artillery, the number of his guns, and the better practice of his soldiers …

… soon turned the day in his favour, and the defeat of the Oahu forces became an accelerated rout and a promiscuous slaughter. (Fornander)  Estimates for losses in the battle of Nuʻuanu (1795) ranged up to 10,000.  (Schmitt)

In the American Revolutionary War, an estimated 6,800 Americans were killed in action, 6,100 wounded, and upwards of 20,000 were taken prisoner. Historians believe that at least an additional 17,000 deaths were the result of disease, including about 8,000–12,000 who died while prisoners of war.

Unreliable data places the total casualties for British regulars fighting in the Revolutionary War around 24,000 men. This total number includes battlefield deaths and injuries, deaths from disease, men taken prisoner, and those who remained missing. Approximately 1,200 Hessian soldiers were killed, 6,354 died of disease and another 5,500 deserted and settled in America afterward. (Battlefield)

© 2026 Ho‘okuleana LLC

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, American Revolution Tagged With: Hawaii, Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Rights (1839), Declaration of Rights, America250

July 2, 2026 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Waikiki Beach

In the late-18th century, European and American trade and travel into the North American continent’s interior was largely by water. Merchants used canoes to trade with the tribes for the continent’s most valuable natural resource: furs.

Eastern and central North America had many navigable rivers. For western traders, finding a great western river became an obsession for fur traders and scientific and government expeditions.

The first non-Indian to encounter and identify the river was Spaniard Bruno de Heceta. In August, 1775, Heceta mapped what he called Cape of Saint Roc and Leafy Cape, respectively. He attempted to cross the bar under full sail, but was unable to do so.

In 1778, the great British navigator Captain Cook sailed by the river in the night. While he did not find Heceta’s river, his expedition traded for otter furs. Cook was killed in Hawai‘i early the next year, but his ships carried the furs to China where they discovered a lucrative trade market with the Chinese.

The reports of a potentially trade between western North America and China would spur traders from all nations to the West Coast.

In 1788, Britain sailor John Meares also failed to find a river; he give Cape Disappointment its name to commemorate his failed search. (This is what Heceta called Leafy Cape.)

In April, 1792, British naval expedition Captain George Vancouver passed by the river mouth and noted muddy water flowing into the sea. Noting the sand island and waves breaking on the bar, he discounted the entrance as the mouth of a small river as it looked like most of the rivers emptying into the Pacific north of San Francisco.

On the morning of May 11, 1792, American merchant Captain Robert Gray sailed across the bar and into the Columbia River estuary, the first documented non-Indian to do so.

That was the river’s discovery via sea; by land, after acquiring the ‘Louisiana Purchase’ in 1803, under the directive of President Thomas Jefferson, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the ‘Corps of Discovery Expedition’ (1804–1806,) was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific coast undertaken by the US.

“Ocian in view! O! the joy.” When Captain William Clark wrote these words in his journal on November 7, 1805, he was not standing at the Pacific Ocean but the Columbia River estuary. It would be another couple of weeks before he and Captain Meriwether Lewis would stand at what they had “been so long anxious to see.” (NPS)

Clark and members of the Corps of Discovery explored the headland in their final push to the Pacific Ocean. “I Set out at Day light and proceeded on a Sandy beech … 2 Miles to the inner extremity of Cape Disapointment …”

“… this Cape is an ellivated circlier point covered with thick timber on the iner Side and open grassey exposur next to the Sea and rises with a Steep assent to the hight of about 150 or 160 feet above the leavel of the water … this cape as also the Shore both on the Bay & Sea coast is a dark brown rock.”

“I crossed the neck of Land low and 1/2 of a mile wide to the main Ocian, at the foot of a high open hill projecting into the ocian, and about one mile in Sicumfrance. I assended this hill which is covered with high corse grass. decended to the N of it and camped. I picked up a flounder on the beech this evening. …” (Clark, November 18, 1806)

The Lewis and Clark Expedition would have an immediate effect on American interest in the Northwest. Fur baron John Jacob Astor was excited by the expedition’s success in recording the lands, resources and peoples.

Astor sought to create a global network of land and sea transportation for fur pelts, goods, information and services between China, Russia, Europe, the American east coast and the mouth of the Columbia River.

In June, 1810, Astor and others signed articles of agreement of the ‘Pacific Fur Company.’ They hoped to best the flourishing Northwest Company (who travelled by land,) which was a most powerful concern, by having a great depot at the mouth of the Columbia, in other words, by using the sea.

One of the vessels selected for the pioneer voyage was the ‘Tonquin,’ under the command of Captain Jonathan Thorn. Before getting to the American Northwest, they supplied at Hawai‘i.

They were unable to secure either water or provisions on the Island of Hawaii; on February 21, 1811, Thorn anchored the Tonquin off Waikiki. Here he met Kamehameha I and paid Spanish dollars for hogs, several goats, two sheep, a quantity of poultry and vegetables.

Needing additional manpower, Canadian partners aboard the Tonquin proposed to enlist thirty or forty native Hawaiians, because they had never seen watermen to equal them, not even among the voyageurs of the Northwest.

“Remarkable for their skill in managing light craft and able to swim and dive like waterfowl,” were the words used in describing the Hawaiians. Thorn objected to a large number; twelve were signed for the company and twelve for the ship. The trade-men were to serve three years, were to be fed and clothed and at the end of the term were to receive $100 in merchandise.

On February 28, 1811, the Tonquin sailed for the Northwest coast, and March 22, 1811, arrived off the mouth of the Columbia, where they encountered heavy seas. Thorn sent out several boats to find the river channel; two of them capsized and eight men died. One of the men was a Hawaiian.

Local history says that the “the neck of Land low and 1/2 of a mile wide to the main Ocian, at the foot of a high open hill” noted by Clark (five years before) was named Waikiki Beach in honor of this unnamed Hawaiian who was buried on the beach (Washington State Parks.)

In 1811, Astor’s Pacific Fur Company established Astoria, the first non-native trading post and settlement at the mouth of the Columbia River.

The Astor expedition to the Columbia-Pacific region would also be responsible for opening up the key overland route for western settlement in years to come.

In 1812 on a journey from Astoria to New York City, Robert Stuart, a partner in the Pacific Fur Company stationed at Fort Astoria, discovered South Pass, a low pass over the Rocky Mountains. This route could be made by wagon from the Missouri and Mississippi valleys and became known as the Oregon Trail. (Lots of information here is from NPS.)

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks, Economy Tagged With: Lewis & Clark, Waikiki Beach, Pacific Fur Company, Tonquin, Hawaii, Washington, Fort Astoria

July 1, 2026 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Cats and Dogs

“I saw cats – Tom cats, Mary Ann cats, long-tailed cats, bobtail cats, blind cats, one-eyed cats, walleyed cats, cross-eyed cats, gray cats, black cats, white cats, yellow cats, striped cats, spotted cats, tame cats, wild cats, singed cats …”

“… individual cats, groups of cats, platoons of cats, companies of cats, regiments of cats, armies of cats, multitudes of cats, millions of cats, and all of them sleek, fat, lazy, and sound asleep”. (Twain, April 19, 1866)

They had taxed the cats, but dropped that in 1851. Let’s look back …

“The history of taxation in Hawaii is very brief. … Taxes were summarily levied on what was nearest and most convenient. … In 1850 all taxes, except labor, were made payable in money.”

“A chattel tax, which was really a tax on personal property, as well as a specific tax on cattle, horses, mules, asses, cats and dogs was, by said act, also provided.”

“Cats and dogs not useful in guarding flocks, herds or households were taxed $1 each. All other chattels, etc., were taxed 2 per cent ad valorem.” (Castle)

“All dogs and cats shall be subject to an annual tax of one rial per head, payable to the tax-gatherer previously to the first of January of each year; otherwise they must be killed.” (Laws Passed by the Annual Council of the Hawaiian Nobles and Representatives, Lahaina, 1843)

“It shall in like manner be incumbent upon all owners of cattle, horses, mules, asses, cats and dogs on or before the first day of December, to file with the governor of the island in which they happen to be, a true statement of the number owned by them respectively attested as aforesaid.” (Chattel Tax in Statute Laws, 1846)

“(T)hinking the horse and dog tax to which we are subject in these Islands not only heavy but unusual, I have to my surprise found out they paid in England the following taxes for 1850, and I presume for every year. Dog Tax – For every greyhound, $5.00, For every other dog, where two or more are kept, $3.50.” (Polynesian, January 10, 1852)

However, in 1851 the cat tax was dropped, “That all laws of this kingdom imposing any tax on cats be and the same are hereby repealed. … The tax of one dollar on dogs shall remain”. (Approved by the King, July 11, 1851)

When William Root Bliss visited Honolulu in 1873, he discovered that what should have been a quiet port city had been transformed into a noisy, yowling place by the pets of its residents. “Every family keeps at least one dog; every native family a brace of cats.”

The dogs would then begin to howl, joined by the cats who protest with “every vowel sound in the Hawaiian language.” It was impossible, he wrote, for him to sleep. (Bliss; Amanda)

Mormon missionary Joseph Fielding Smith (later LDS Church President,) in particular, noted their presence in his diaries. With few exceptions, he wrote in his July 4th, 1856 journal entry, “hoges, doges, cates and they live together.” (Smith; Amanda)

“I cannot account for the apathy of this community, in relation to the numerous and increasing fierce foreign dogs allowed to range about, or not safely secured in their owners’ yards.”

“I think it is a scandalous thing that those whose duty it is to see their salary paid, do not see the other part of their duty, to look after these animals and report them to the Magistrate, as often as they are loose or their chain too near the door path.”

“Dogs ought not to be allowed their liberty in any yard, that will seize a person approaching the house in the day time. If the owners do not wish visitors, let them notify that they keep a savage dog within, to prevent calls.” (Letter to the Editor, March 12, 1857)

“… and if any dog shall injure or destroy any sheep or cattle, goats, hogs, fowls or other property belonging to any person other than the owner of such dog, the owner shall be liable in damages to the person injured, for the value of the property so injured or destroyed …”

“… and it shall be the duty of the owner to confine or destroy such dog, and if he neglects – or refuse to do so, he shall in event of any further damage being done to the person or property of any person, by such dog …”

“… in addition to paying the person injured for such damage, pay the cost of the trial, together with a fine often dollars or in default of the payment of such fine, be imprisoned at hard labor for the term of thirty days, and it shall be lawful for any other person to destroy said dog.” (Approved by the King, July 11, 1851)

© 2026 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Hawaii, Cats, Dogs, Tax

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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