Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka Lanakila O Ka Mālamalama Hoʻomana Naʻauao O Hawaiʻi Church

In ancient times, the windward coast of the island of Lānai was home to many native residents.  Maunalei Valley had the only perennial stream on the island and a system of loʻi kalo (taro pond field terraces) supplied taro to the surrounding community.

Sheltered coves, fronted by a barrier reef, provided the residents with access to important fisheries, and allowed for the development of loko iʻa (fishponds), in which various species of fish were cultivated, and available to native tenants, even when the ocean was too rough for the canoes to venture out to sea.  (Lānai Culture and Heritage Center)

There was once a time in the year 1900 when Keōmoku was the island’s population center, and over 1,000 workers flocked to the town to work in the area’s fledgling sugar plantation.

The plantation built a large community with houses, stores, an inn, a sugar mill and hospital.  However, with inadequate finances and water shortages, the plantation failed and closed in March 1901.

In 1903, the Hawaiian families of Lānai joined an association of Hawaiian churches and began construction of a wooden church at Keōmoku. Dedicated on October 4, 1903, the full name of the church was “Ka Lanakila o ka Mālamalama Hoʻomana Naʻauao o Hawaii.”

Ka Lanakila services were performed solely in the Hawaiian language, and structured in three distinct Sunday services, Kula Euanelio, Hālāwai Haipule and Kula Sabati. Families arrived at church before 10 am and remained there through 1 pm.

Also in those early days, no work was allowed on Lāpule (Sunday), so families prepared all food the day prior to service, and then returned home for a quiet day of rest and reflection.

By 1930, the population of Keōmoku Village had mostly moved to the uplands with the development of more extensive ranching operations and the Dole Pineapple Plantation, though Ka Lanakila church remained in regular use until 1951, when Reverend Daniel Kaopuiki, Sr. and his wife, Hattie Kaenaokalani Kaopuiki relocated from Keōmoku to Lānai City.

The town faltered with the closing of the plantation, and in the 1950s the town’s last resident moved to Lānai City.  The population of Lānai rapidly declined to around 125 individuals.

By 1954, Ka Lanakila was abandoned and decommissioned as a church, and the land was returned to the owner, the Hawaiian Pineapple Co.  In the late 1980s, a restoration project was begun, and large sections of the church wood work were removed and replaced.

Unfortunately, the work was left incomplete, and over the next 20-plus years, siltation buried the footings of the church, and posts and piers below the church rotted. Framing, walls and roofing materials also rotted, and the floors began to sink.

Following lengthy discussions with elder Hawaiians of Lānai – to assess whether Ka Lanakila should be allowed to collapse or if it should be stabilized – it was decided that this historic feature should be cared for.

The Agape Foundation Charitable Trust and Office of Hawaiian Affairs provided major funding for the project, community members and state-wide partners offered support, and Castle & Cooke Resorts, LLC granted a right of entry agreement to the Lānai Culture & Heritage Center to undertake the stabilization work which was begun in October 2010.

While no longer considered a “formal” church by the elder Hawaiian members of Lānai’s community, the building continues to hold a special place in the hearts and minds of the people, who, since its closing in 1951, continued to make visits to Ka Lanakila Church and tried to care for the site.

Several of the Kūpuna (elders) and their ‘ohana (families) hope to once again hold an occasional service at Ka Lanakila, and encourage its respectful use for family gatherings and educational purposes. This historic wooden church is a connection with earlier time in Lānai’s history, and is the last physical structure of what was once the most significant settlement on the island.

The building is 24-feet wide by 40-feet long.  Ka Lanakila Church is the last wooden structure existing in the former Keōmoku Village.

Hoʻomana Naʻauao o Hawaiʻi was the first independent Hawaiian Christian organization in the Islands; it was founded by John Kekipi in 1889.

He named his denomination “Hoʻomana Naʻauao,” which non-members translate as meaning “reasonable service.”  Its mother church, Ke Alaula oka Mālamalama, is in Honolulu.  (Lots of information here from Lānai Culture and Heritage Center; Maly.)

© 2024 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Battle of the Equator

Portuguese mariners built an Atlantic empire by colonizing the Canary, Cape Verde, and Azores Islands, as well as the island of Madeira. Merchants then used these Atlantic outposts as debarkation points for subsequent journeys.

From these strategic points, Portugal spread its empire down the western coast of Africa to the Congo, along the western coast of India, and eventually to Brazil on the eastern coast of South America.

It also established trading posts in China and Japan. While the Portuguese didn’t rule over an immense landmass, their strategic holdings of islands and coastal ports gave them almost unrivaled control of nautical trade routes and a global empire of trading posts during the 1400s.

The history of Spanish exploration begins with the history of Spain itself. During the fifteenth century, Spain hoped to gain advantage over its rival, Portugal. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1469 unified Catholic Spain and began the process of building a nation that could compete for worldwide power.

Their goals were to expand Catholicism and to gain a commercial advantage over Portugal. To those ends, Ferdinand and Isabella sponsored extensive Atlantic exploration. Spain’s most famous explorer, Christopher Columbus, was actually from Genoa, Italy.

Spain’s drive to enlarge its empire led other hopeful conquistadors to push further into the Americas, hoping to replicate the success of Cortés and Pizarro.

The exploits of European explorers had a profound impact both in the Americas and back in Europe. An exchange of ideas, fueled and financed in part by New World commodities, began to connect European nations and, in turn, to touch the parts of the world that Europeans conquered. (Lumen)

Over the centuries, there was a rivalry between Spain and Portugal, so it is not unexpected that the sailing of the Orteric in 1911 would include ‘The Battle of the Equator.’

The Orteric was carrying Spanish and Portuguese immigrants to Hawai‘i to work in the Islands’ sugar industry.

“The Orteric sailed from London on February 16 and at Oporto picked up a batch of immigrants, taking on 305 there. At Lisbon 260 people were taken on, and at Gibraltar 960 Spaniards were sent on the vessel.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)

“The Spanish were easily distinguished from the Portuguese because of their headgear and corduroy clothing.  The hats were wide brimmed, full crowned affairs and the corduroy of many colors ranging from dark brown to snuff yellow, showed hard and age in nearly every instance.”

“They all looked with a few exceptions to be people from agricultural districts. One or two were dapper as if they hailed from some city.  Poverty was the badge of nearly all and their belongings did not amount to much.”

“The Spaniards are in a majority numbering over nine hundred. On the voyage here they and the Portuguese had many disagreeable clashes and had to be kept in separate portions of the ship … trouble began to brew and it was one-sided, for the Spaniards greatly outnumbered the Portuguese.”

“As usual the women were the cause of the pilikia of the men.  The ladies differed and after a little hair pulling the men entered into the fray.” (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)

“[A]bout 10 days after leaving Gibraltar there was a riot between the Portuguese and Spanish male passengers, resulting in a pitched battle with knives, clubs, cleavers, and pistols.” (American Marine Engineer, Jan 1912)

“To prevent further trouble the Portuguese passengers were placed aft, while the Spanish passengers were put in the forward part of the vessel.”

“That battle is now referred to among the ships officers as ‘The Battle of the Equator.’ It was quelled by Captain Findlay and the ships officers.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, April 14, 1911)

© 2024 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

SPAM

In 1926, Geo. A. Hormel & Co. developed the world’s first canned ham. The transfer of leadership of Hormel from father to son Jay C. Hormel brought new products, including Dinty Moore beef stew, Hormel chili and in 1937 a new canned luncheon meat.

The goal of the new luncheon meat product was to produce an affordable canned meat item that was convenient enough to enjoy every day.

A contest was held in 1937 to give the promising new product a name. New York actor, Ken Daigneau, the brother of then Hormel Food vice president, entered with the name “SPAM.” Speculation indicates the name was a way to shorten “SPiced hAM.”

Daigneau won $100 for the contest and, his name is mostly unknown, he went down in the history books as the Bestower of Appellations of one of the most iconic pork product in the world. (HormelFoods)

First introduced on July 5, 1937, SPAM is made with Pork with Ham, Salt, Water, Potato Starch, Sugar and Sodium Nitrite. First, the pork and ham are pre-ground.

Then, salt, sugar and the rest of the ingredients are added and mixed, to reach the desired temperature. From there, the mixture is moved over to the canning line, where it’s filled into the familiar metal cans, 12 ounces at a time.

Once filled, cans are conveyed to a closing machine where lids are applied through vacuum-sealing. Next, the cans are cooked and cooled for about three hours. At this point they’re ready for labels and then they are off to be cased, where they await distribution. (SPAM)

With the passage of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 (this was a pre-US entry into WWII act that set up a system that allowed the US to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed ‘vital to the defense of the United States’) the US gave needed supplies to Great Britain, while remaining ‘officially’ neutral.  (HormelFoods & National Archives)

Because of its shelf-stable status (and the fact that it wasn’t rationed like beef), Hormel Foods began shipping the stuff abroad during World War II.

By 1941, Minnesota-based Hormel Foods sent more than 100 million pounds of SPAM to allied troops; by 1944, more than 90% of the canned foods were shipped for government use. (HormelFoods)

The easy-to-pack product became a staple food for GI’s during the war. SPAM sales skyrocketed; by 1959 Hormel had produced their one-billionth can of SPAM. (TasteOfHome)

If you live in a part of the world where US troops were stationed during WWII, you’re probably pretty familiar with SPAM. The product is most popular in these areas, with the most extreme example being Hawai‘i.

Folks in the Islands completely adopted the ham-in-a-can product and consume nearly 7-million cans of SPAM products each year. You’ll find fried eggs and rice with spam for breakfast, SPAM fried wontons as a snack, and sushi-inspired SPAM musubi rolls at nearly every home and restaurant. You’ll even see SPAM on McDonald’s breakfast menu! (HormelFoods)

The product has sold more than nine billion tins since it was introduced on July 5, 1937. More SPAM is consumed per person in Hawai‘i than in any other state in the United States – almost seven million cans of SPAM are eaten every year in Hawai‘i.

SPAM is also a popular ingredient in various Asian cuisines, particularly Korean.  South Koreans consume more SPAM than the residents of any other country besides the United States.

Despite having only a sixth of the population of the US, South Koreans consume half as much SPAM each year.  The popular Korean dish ‘budae jjigae’ — which translates to ‘Army stew’ or ‘Army base stew’ — developed after the Korean War, when an economic downturn meant that meat was scarce and expensive.

A US Army base in the South Korean city of Uijeongbu had a surplus of various processed food, including SPAM — which ‘was totally new to Koreans’.

As of 2023, SPAM is available in 11 varieties: SPAM Classic, SPAM Lite, SPAM 25% Less Sodium, SPAM Maple Flavored, SPAM with Real HORMEL Bacon, SPAM Oven Roasted Turkey, SPAM Hickory Smoke Flavored, SPAM Hot and Spicy, SPAM Jalapeño, SPAM Teriyaki and SPAM with Tocino Flavoring. (Rousselle)

Another preparation is SPAM Musubi.  We can thank Barbara Funamura (from Kauai) for that.  Barbara graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in food sciences and nutrition and went on to Ames, Iowa for post-graduate study in institutional management.

“Her first job was as an extension agent at the University of Hawaii. She traveled all over, and when she came home, she was an extension agent until the kids came.”

When she started working after raising the kids, she became the first food supervisor for the Meals on Wheels program before joining Big Save as a supervisor for the Kauai Kitchens.

Barbara Funamura was the originator of the SPAM musubi – SPAM and rice are combined in a musubi (rice ball) wrapped in nori (sheets of dried seaweed.)

“The first one was triangular” her husband said – to differentiate it from the musuburrito, a similar rice-and-chorizo musubi.

Eventually the SPAM musubi was made using a box, morphing it into its now familiar shape.  “Barbara saw it and recognized that it was the way to go,” her husband said.

“The sushi would come out all uniform, and it just happens that it fits two slices of SPAM side by side.”  (The Garden Island and Kauai Hongwanji.

© 2024 Ho‘okuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nine Traditions That Emphasized Chiefly Rank

In 1920, Martha Beckwith became the first person to hold a chair in Folklore at any college or university in the country. The Folklore Foundation, established at Vassar, was an unprecedented institution and became a center of research in the almost entirely new field of folk culture.  (Vassar)

“Position in old Hawaiʻi, both social and political, depended in the first instance upon rank, and rank upon blood descent-hence the importance of genealogy as proof of high ancestry.”

“Grades of rank were distinguished and divine honors paid to those chiefs alone who could show such an accumulation of inherited sacredness as to class with the gods among men. Since a child inherited from both parents, he might claim higher rank than either one.”  (Beckwith)

There were nine traditions that emphasized chiefly rank:

  1. a family genealogy tracing back to the gods through one of the two sons of Ki‘i, Ulu and Nanaʻulu, and by as many branches (lala) as family relationship could be stretched to cover
  2. a name chant, composed at birth or given in afterlife, glorifying the family history not only of persons concerned but also of places made sacred by particular events or association
  3. signs in the heavens by which ʻaumakua of the day recognized their offspring on earth
  4. a special place set aside as sacred to the birth of high-ranking chiefs (i.e. Kūkaniloko)
  5. the sacred cord (aha) stretched at the entrance of a chief’s dwelling, under which all of lower rank must pass but which fell “of itself” before the approach of anyone of equal or higher position
  6. wealth, especially in lands, labor and specialized objects such as foods, ornaments, colors belonging to ranking chiefs alone
  7. the power of the kapu, which gave the ranking chief immense personal privilege, although the ruling chief might have actually more power over lands and wealth (before certain captive chiefesses of Maui of incredible sanctity, according to Kamakau, Kamehameha himself was of lower rank)
  8. the right to officiate in the heiau as both chief and priest 
  9. at death, the final deification of the bones and their laying away in a sacred and secret place difficult of access (one of the most important such place in ancient times being the ʻĪao valley on the island of Maui)

Rank depended primarily upon blood; but of great importance was the conduct of life by which one could, by carelessness in preserving the kapu and in making proper marriages, lose caste and prerogatives under the severe discipline of the Aha-ali‘i (Council of Chiefs,) or could, through a royal marriage, raise the rank of one’s descendants upon the family line.

The image, ‘Aha Ula’ by Brook Parker, represents the chiefly rank.  Information here is primarily from Beckwith, Mookini and Yardley.

© 2024 Hoʻokuleana LLC

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Manaiakalani

A messenger sent by Maui,
Sent to bring Kane and his set,
Kane and Kanaloa, Kauokahi,
And Maliu.
Throwing out sacred influences, uttering prayers,
Consulting oracles, Hapuʻu the god of the king.
The great fish-hook of Maui,
Manaiakalani,
The whole earth was the fish-line bound by the knot
(A Song for Kualiʻi – Kualiʻi was a celebrated chief of Oahu, who reigned in about 1700 AD. (Journal of the Polynesian Society))

The demi-god Māui is the subject of extraordinary stories throughout Polynesia. In many of the accounts he is a mischievous trickster, stealing the secret of fire and helping his mother to dry kapa by lassoing the sun to slow its progression across the sky.  (Bishop Museum)

A Manaiakalani story suggests that Maui pulled up the islands by tricking his brothers into letting him come out to fish with them.

The brothers never took him out because whenever they did he would catch a scrawny little fish.  He said he sought to prove that he is as skilled as they were.

He prepares the sacred hook, baiting it with the wing of the pet bird of the goddess Hina. Māui tells his brothers that once he starts to haul in the catch, not to look back until he is finished.

Māui casts the hook into the water and catches the enormous ulua fish Pimoe.

The brothers strain against the fish and soon parts of Pimoe are above the surface of the water, immediately turning to stone. The brothers cannot resist any longer and turn around to see their catch.

But when they do, the line breaks and rather than one enormous island, Māui, the earth-fisher, is only able to raise up the eight separate Islands of Hawaiʻi.

Another story related to Manaiakalani tells of Māui’s attempt to rearrange the Islands of the group and assemble them into one solid mass.”

“Having chosen his station at Kaʻena Point, the western extremity of Oʻahu, from which the island of Kauai is clearly visible on a bright day, he cast his wonderful hook, Mana-ia-ka-Iani, far out into the ocean that it might engage itself in the foundations of Kauai.”

“When he felt that it had taken a good hold, he gave a mighty tug at the line. A huge boulder, the Pōhaku O Kauai, fell at his feet.”

“The mystic hook, having freed itself from the entanglement, dropped into Pālolo Valley and hollowed out the crater, that is its grave.”  (Manaiakalani, therefore, formed Kaʻau Crater.) (Emerson)

Finally, in frustration, Māui throws his hook into the sky where it becomes a constellation, still easy to see in the spring and summer months, known by Western astronomers as the tail of Scorpio.  (Bishop Museum)

In the Hawaiian sky of Kau (summer season, May to October), Manaiakalani (The Chief’s Fishline) is visible for most of the night, just as Ke Ka o Makali‘i (The Canoe- Bailer of Makali’i) is visible for most of the night in the sky of Hoʻoilo (winter season, November to April.)

Like other stars and groups of stars, Manaiakalani is used in celestial navigation as directional clues when they rise and set. On cloudy nights, when only parts of the sky are visible, navigators may recognize isolated stars or star groups and imagine the rest of the celestial sphere around them.  The image shows a depiction of Maui and Manaiakalani.

© 2024 Hoʻokuleana LLC