Hawaii | Page 340 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 29, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Whence?

“(T)he first thought which presents itself to our minds, when we cast our eyes upon these islands on the map of the great ocean, is, surprise to find isles so remote from the world, with whose history we are acquainted, peopled by our own species …”

“… it may be as well, therefore, to make a few remarks, under the guidance of such information as we possess, concerning the first inhabitants of the group, and upon the probable means of their transport from the land from which they seem to have proceeded.”

“Future historians of this little state will not be spared the perplexities which have obstructed the first steps of all who have endeavoured to trace the course of events by which small societies became mighty nations.”

“We may pass very lightly over certain speculations, which cannot be wholly overlooked, tending to show that the natives of this group, if not those of the rest of the Polynesian isles, are descended from the lost tribes of the Jews.”

“These conjectures are founded upon the observation of several customs among the islanders, which are the same or similar to those believed to have been peculiar to the Jewish people.”

“The more remarkable of them are: the offering of their first-fruits to their deities; circumcision, which was also here a religious ceremony, and performed by the priests …”

“… the strict seclusion of the women after the birth of a child, and during other periods of natural infirmity, with the ceremonies of purification, under pain even of death; and the possession of cities or places of refuge, similar in design to those of that people.”

“The circumstances that chiefly strike us, when we compare one people with another, with a view to ascertain what ‘propinquity and property of blood’ they possess, are their physical conformation generally, but more particularly the features of the face, and their colour …”

“… and, after this, their language, their religion, and their well-established customs. For such examination of those that are at distances too remote from us to admit of especial or frequent observation, we have usually, and certainly in our case, to rely upon the accounts of navigators, missionaries, travellers, and merchants.”

“Now we find almost the universal testimony of all who have visited the Pacific islands, that the inhabitants of the whole of the groups, as well as of New Zealand, resemble one another in several, or in all these particulars …”

“… and, moreover, that they all bear in their type and physical conformation a greater resemblance to the Malay race, than to any other of the ancient inhabitants of the globe.”

“But all difficulties in the way of establishing the theory of their having sprung from that race will disappear when we consider certain traditions among the natives, in conjunction with known facts concerning the intercourse between the inhabitants of distinct groups …”

“… and some other circumstances which I myself, in common with others, learned in the capacity of traveller during these inquiries in the Pacific.”

“There are traditions among the Sandwich islanders regarding the land from which their ancestors came, and of an intercourse formerly carried on between different groups, and it is commonly believed by them, that they came from Otaheite.”

“They believe also that their progenitors, at a very remote period, possessed canoes of much larger dimensions and greater capability of navigating the ocean than the frail craft since in use among them.”

“If, indeed, such canoes or vessels of any kind did ever exist, this fact alone is sufficient to settle the question of the intercourse formerly carried on between the islands, as well as that of the origin of the inhabitants.”

“Let us then see what external information we have to corroborate these traditions. We know, from history, that every country bordering on the sea has from the earliest ages abounded in maritime adventurers …”

“… and, if we are acquainted with many circumstances which indicate the restraints that were put upon foreign enterprise and lawful trading, we also know that no laws have ever been able to suppress the marauding propensities of a nautical people …”

“… or of the organization even of direct systems of piratical adventure. Now, although we should suppose that no very long voyages were ever performed by any of the ‘Sea Kings,’ or Northmen of the Pacific …”

“… we have evidence in abundance, of the vessels of the Chinese and the Japanese being picked up by European whalers, after having been blown off the coasts of China and Japan, some of them with whole families on board.”

“In 1832, a junk, after being tempest-tossed for eleven months, was cast on the shore even of Woahoo, with four men of her crew still surviving, and some of these vessels have been known to reach even the coast of America.”

“During the voyage, with which this volume commences, there were but few old sailors among the seamen and officers on board our ship; but these had been long sailing in whalers in the Pacific, and especially upon the coasts of China and Japan …”

“… and they related to me many instances known to them of junks being blown off those coasts, and picked up after they were incapable of returning, and of their crews having been carried back to their own country.”

“In one of these cases, one of our officers was himself a party to the rescue of a junk and her crew, long after her pilots had lost all hopes of reaching their own shore.”

“Now it is clear, that it would be quite enough for any single one of these vessels to reach any island, provided there were but one man and one woman surviving, to people at least the whole group to which that island belonged …”

“… though it is extremely unlikely, that from a single vessel, probably cast on the shore, others should proceed to undertake the long voyage which the great distance between the groups would involve.”

“Nevertheless, if we even reject altogether the idea of intercourse between the groups generally, we have the same probability left, of the peopling of all the groups, one by one, by the same accident …”

“… which would equally account for the common Malay origin of their inhabitants, and also for such variation as we discover in their natural traits, customs, and language, by the variation of the character of the different nations of Malay origin, from which they might have come.” (All here is from Hill.)

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Hawaiian Islands from Hill-1856

January 28, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Ōpūkaha‘ia – The Inspiration for the Hawaiian Mission

In about 1807, a young Hawaiian man, ʻŌpūkahaʻia, swam out to the ‘Triumph’, a China-bound seal skin trading ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay. Both of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s parents and his younger brother had been slain during the battles on the island.

Click HERE to view/download Background on ʻŌpūkahaʻia.

Also on board was Hopu, another young Hawaiian. They set sail for New York, stopping first in China. Russell Hubbard was also on board. “This Mr. Hubbard was a member of Yale College. He was a friend of Christ. … Mr. Hubbard was very kind to me on our passage, and taught me the letters in English spelling-book.” (ʻŌpūkahaʻia)

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.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was eager to study and learn. He “was sitting on the steps of a Yale building, weeping. A solicitous student stopped to inquire what was wrong, and Obookiah (the spelling of his name, based on its sound) said, ‘No one will give me learning.’”

The student was Edwin Dwight. “(W)hen the question was put him, ‘Do you wish to learn?’ his countenance began to brighten. And when the proposal was made that he should come the next day to the college for that purpose, he served it with great eagerness.” (Dwight)

Later, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) formed the Foreign Mission School; ʻŌpūkahaʻia was one of its first students. He yearned “with great earnestness that he would (return to Hawaiʻi) and preach the Gospel to his poor countrymen.” Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died on February 17, 1818.

Dwight put together a book, ‘Memoirs of Henry Obookiah’ (the spelling of the name based on its pronunciation). It was an edited collection of ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s letters and journals/diaries. The book about his life was printed and circulated after his death.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men and women 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 missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Hawaiian Islands.

In giving instructions to the first missionaries, the ABCFM, noted: “You will never forget ʻŌpūkahaʻia. You will never forget his fervent love, his affectionate counsels, his many prayers and tears for you, and for his and your nation.”

“You saw him die; saw how the Christian could triumph over death and the grave; saw the radient glory in which he left this world for heaven. You will remember it always, and you will tell it to your kindred and countrymen who are dying without hope.”

Click HERE to view/download Background on ʻŌpūkahaʻia

Missionary Period

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 Hawaiian Islands – they anchored at Kailua-Kona on April 4, 1820.

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 184-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands. Collaboration between Native Hawaiians and American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the
• Introduction of Christianity;
• Development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy;
• Promulgation of the concept of constitutional government;
• Combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine; and
• Evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition (with harmony and choral singing)

On August 15, 1993, ʻŌpūkahaʻia’s remains were returned to Hawai‘i from Cornwall and laid in a vault facing the ocean at Kahikolu Church.

Click HERE to view/download Background on ʻŌpūkahaʻia.

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Opukahaia

January 27, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Robert Wilcox Supported Annexation and Statehood

Robert Randall Hoes “reached Honolulu on the USS Pensacola September 20, 1891, and remained there until March 9, 1893.” (Hoes)

As stated by Hoes, “I went there as chaplain of the Pensacola, and, having considerable leisure, apart from my professional duties, I commenced a study of the history of the country, pursuing it as carefully and critically as the books and pamphlets at my command would permit.” (Hoes)

“I was officially attached to the Pensacola while she remained in Hawaiian waters, and performed my duties accordingly; but, having considerable leisure at my disposal …”

“… as already said, I engaged in historical studies, and was instrumental, with Prof. Alexander, JS Emerson, and others, in organizing the Hawaiian Historical Society, and was officially connected with that organization until I left Honolulu.” (Hoes)

“The Queen, subsequently hearing that I was so deeply interested in historical research, applied to Secretary Blaine, through Minister Stevens, for permission for me to remain in Honolulu after the Pensacola left …”

“… to prepare a bibliography of Hawaii, and also to examine and arrange the early archives of the Government, which were in a state of disgraceful confusion. I was subsequently detached and remained in Honolulu until the time stated.” (Hoes)

Hoes was “studying the people for historical purposes … (and) also to learn contemporary opinion.”

In doing so, he interviewed Robert Wilcox, “the man who figured so prominently and conspicuously in the revolution of 1887, and has mingled in politics more or less ever since, and was a member of the last Hawaiian Legislature.” (Hoes)

The following is an interview between Hoes and Robert Wilcox, January 27, 1893, shortly after the overthrow:

”What are your views, Mr. Wilcox, in regard to the present situation in general?” (Hoes)

“Queen Liliuokalani brought these evils upon herself and the country both by her personal corruption, and that of her Government. She surrounded herself with bad advisers, and seemed determined to drive the nation to destruction.” (Wilcox)

“Good people had no influence over her whatever, for she indignantly refused to listen to them. I believe that if we can be annexed to the United States, the rights of all of our citizens, and especially those of the native Hawaiians, will be protected more carefully than they have ever been under the monarchy.” (Wilcox)

“What, in your opinion, is the personal feeling of the native Hawaiian element in this community?” (Hoes)

“My countrymen, with the exception of the most intelligent among them, do not understand much about these things.- They need to be educated. They have so often been told by designing men that the United States was their enemy that they are naturally suspicious.” (Wilcox)

“Politicians who have sought to use the natives simply as so many tools have deceived them. When they understand from the lips of disinterested men and patriots what annexation means, and become acquainted with the benefits that it will bring them, they will be as much in favor of the movement as any of our other classes of citizens.” (Wilcox)

“Does the present Provisional Government command the respect of the native Hawaiians?” (Hoes)

“They are naturally somewhat prejudiced against it, as monarchy is the only form of Government with which they are familiar, but this feeling will quickly wear away as the Hawaiians are led to see that the Government is friendly to them and their interests. They already have confidence in the integrity and patriotism of President Dole.” (Wilcox)

“You advocated annexation to the United States, I believe, several months ago, in your newspaper, ‘The Liberal?’” (Hoes)

“Yes, and I have repeatedly done so in public meetings held in this city.” (Wilcox)

“How long do you think it would be after hoisting the American flag before the natives would be entirely reconciled?” (Hoes)

“Almost immediately.” (Wilcox)

“Are you doing anything to instruct the natives so that they may have correct views in regard to these matters?” (Hoes)

“Yes; but I am compelled to move cautiously, or I shall lose my influence over them. I believe I am doing a good work by constantly conversing with them on the subject.” (Wilcox)

“I have told my countrymen that the monarchy is gone forever, and when they ask me what is the best thing to follow it I tell them annexation, and I firmly believe that in a very short time every Hawaiian will be in favor of that step.” (Wilcox)

“The great thing is to keep them from being influenced by the arguments of designing men who pretend to be their friends, but who are really their enemies – men who will try and use them as tools to accomplish their own corrupt and selfish plans. We have had too much of this and it is high time to call for a halt.” (Wilcox)

“Have you confidence in the integrity and patriotic intentions of the commission that has just been sent to Washington by the Provisional Government?” (Hoes)

“It is made up of good men, and I believe they will endeavor to do what is for the best interests of the country.” (Wilcox)

“The above is correctly reported. RW Wilcox.” (Hoes; Reports of Committees of the Senate of the United States, 1893-1894)

With the establishment of Territorial status in the Islands, Hawaiʻi was eligible to have a non-voting delegate in the US House of Representatives.

Wilcox and others formed the Independent ‘Home Rule’ Party and Wilcox ran as a candidate for the Delegate position (against Republican Samuel Parker and Democrat Prince David Kawānanakoa.) Wilcox won, and served as the first delegate and representative of Hawaiʻi in the US Congress.

Then, “Washington. July 3 (1901). Delegate Wilcox, of Hawaii, announces here that at the very opening of the next session of Congress in December he will introduce a bill granting statehood to the territory of Hawaii. Mr. Wilcox says that he does not fully expect that the bill will become a law next winter, but he predicts early statehood for the territory.”

“‘Of course I realize,’ says Mr. Wilcox, ‘that this proposition will meet with opposition on the ground that we have but recently been incorporated Into a territory and that we should wait, but I shall Introduce the bill just the same and commence working upon it.’”

However, others felt, “The statehood bill that Mr. Wilcox says he is going to bring forward will result In nothing but a discussion of the political conditions In Hawaii. There is no chance whatever that during the term for which Mr. Wilcox has been elected to sit in Congress he can get a statehood bill through for the territory.” (Honolulu Republican, July 17, 1901)

Wiclox ran for re-election, but lost to Republican Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi (Prince Kūhiō served from 1903 until his death in 1922.)

Wilcox returned to Washington to finish out his term (November 6, 1900 to March 3, 1903,) but was very ill. He came back to Hawaiʻi in 1903, and died October 26, 1903. He is buried in the Catholic cemetery on King Street.

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Robert_William_Wilcox_1900

January 26, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Hula … A view by a Missionary’s Son

“The Hawaiians, it is true, were many removes from being primitives; their dreams, however, harked back to a period that was close to the world’s infancy.”

“Their remote ancestry was, perhaps, akin to ours – Aryan, at least Asiatic – but the orbit of their evolution seems to have led them away from the strenuous discipline that has whipped the Anglo-Saxon branch into fighting shape with fortune.”

“If one comes to the study of the hula and its songs in the spirit of a censorious moralist he will find nothing for him; if as a pure ethnologist, he will take pleasure in pointing out the physical resemblances of the Hawaiian dance to the languorous grace of the Nautch girls, of the geisha, and other oriental dancers.”

“But if he comes as a student and lover of human nature, back of the sensuous posturings, in the emotional language of the songs he will find himself entering the playground of the human race.”

“The hula was a religious service, in which poetry, music, pantomime, and the dance lent themselves, under the forms of dramatic art, to the refreshment of men’s minds.”

“Its view of life was idyllic, and it gave itself to the celebration of those mythical times when gods and goddesses moved on the earth as men and women and when men and women were as gods.”

“As to subject-matter, its warp was spun largely from the bowels of the old-time mythology into cords through which the race maintained vital connection with its mysterious past.”

“Interwoven with these, forming the woof, were threads of a thousand hues and of many fabrics, representing the imaginations of the poet, the speculations of the philosopher, the aspirations of many a thirsty soul, as well as the ravings and flame-colored pictures of the sensualist …”

“… the mutterings and incantations of the kahuna, the mysteries and paraphernalia of Polynesian mythology, the annals of the nation’s history – the material, in fact, which in another nation and under different circumstances would have gone to the making of its poetry, its drama, its opera, its literature.”

“The people were superstitiously religious; one finds their drama saturated with religious feeling; hedged about with tabu, loaded down with prayer and sacrifice. “

“They were poetical; nature was full of voices for their ears; their thoughts came to them as images; nature was to them an allegory; all this found expression in their dramatic art.”

“They were musical; their drama must needs be cast in forms to suit their ideas of rhythm, of melody, and of poetic harmony.”

“They were; moreover, the children of passion, sensuous, worshipful of whatever lends itself to pleasure. How, then, could the dramatic efforts of this primitive people, still in the bonds of animalism, escape the note of passion?”

“The songs and other poetic pieces which have come down to us from the remotest antiquity are generally inspired with a purer sentiment and a loftier purpose than the modem; and it may be said of them all that when they do step into the mud it is not to tarry and wallow in it; it is rather with the unconscious naivete of a child thinking no evil.”

“If one mistakes not the temper and mind of this generation, we are living in an age that is not content to let perish one seed of thought or one single phase of life that can be rescued from the drift of time.”

“We mourn the extinction of the buffalo of the plains and of the birds of the islands, rightly thinking that life is somewhat less rich and full without them.”

“What of the people of the plains and of the islands of the sea? Is their contribution so nothingless that one can affirm that the orbit of man’s mind is complete without it?”

“Comparison is unavoidable between the place held by the dance in ancient Hawaii and that occupied by the dance in our modern society.”

“The ancient Hawaiians did not personally and informally indulge in the dance for their own amusement, as does pleasure loving society at the present time.”

“Like the Shah of Persia, but for very different reasons, Hawaiians of the old time left it to be done for them by a body of trained and paid performers. “

“This was not because the art and practice of the hula were held in disrepute – quite the reverse – but because the hula was an accomplishment requiring special education and arduous training in both song and dance, and more especially because it was a religious matter, to be guarded against profanation by the observance of tabus and the performance of priestly rites.”

“This fact, which we find paralleled in every form of communal amusement, sport, and entertainment in ancient Hawaii, sheds a strong light on the genius of the Hawaiian.”

“We are wont to think of the old-time Hawaiians as light-hearted children of nature, given to spontaneous outbursts of song and dance as the mood seized them …”

“… quite as the rustics of ‘merrie England’ joined hands and tripped ‘the light fantastic toe’ in the joyous month of May or shouted the harvest home at a later season. “

“The genius of the Hawaiian was different.”

“With him the dance was an affair of premeditation, an organized effort, guarded by the traditions of a somber religion. And this characteristic, with qualifications, will be found to belong to popular Hawaiian sport and amusement of every variety.”

“Exception must be made, of course, of the unorganized sports of childhood. One is almost inclined to generalize and to say that those children of nature, as we are wont to call them, in this regard were less free and spontaneous than the more advanced race to which we are proud to belong.”

“But if the approaches to the temple of Terpsichore with them were more guarded, we may confidently assert that their enjoyment therein was deeper and more abandoned.” (All here is from Nathaniel Bright Emerson.)

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Jean_Augustin_Franquelin_(after_Louis_Choris),_Danse_des_femmes_dans_les_iles_Sandwich_(1822)

Danse_des_femmes_dans_les_iles_Sandwich._Dess._et_lith._par_Choris._Lith._de_Langlume-1816

Danse_des_hommes_dans_les_iles_Sandwich._Lith.e_par_Franquelin_d’apres_Choris._Lith._de_Langlume_i_de_l’Abbaye._Paris,_1822

January 25, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sky Ranch

It’s not clear when it opened, but in the 1940s and ‘50s, there is clear evidence of the “Kailua Airport” on the Windward side of O‘ahu, reportedly, privately-owned and operated by Bob Whittinghill.

When work was started in 1948 on the new airport in Kailua-Kona, to avoid confusion with the Kailua Airport on Oʻahu, the Big Island’s airport was named “Kona Airport.”

In 1954 it was “enlarged and improved to handle an expected resurgence of prospective fliers. (T)he airport is prepared to offer flying lessons under a complete ‘pay-as-you-fly’ program.” (Advertiser, May 23, 1954)

It was generally referred to as ‘Sky Ranch’ and “was a grass field in Kailua, windward side of Oahu. It was located parallel to the southern fence of Kaneohe Marine Base, near the Mōkapu gate to the base, and west of Mōkapu Boulevard.”

“The runway was where the east/west portion of ‘Aikahi Loop is now. It would have appeared in any sectional published pre-1960. It had a 200′ asphalt strip & about 1,800′ of grass, and power lines at the East end, along Mōkapu Blvd.”

“There was a large Quonset hut as a hangar, shop combination, and a small raised house that served as the office & bathroom. There was a gasoline-powered pump & 3,500 gallon tank of 80/87 avgas.”

“The field was operated by Robert Whittinghill, who was an instructor at the state aircraft mechanic school at Honolulu Airport.” (Hurd; Freeman)

“One man who’s licked the commuting problem over the Pali is Bob King of Kailua who lives a block away from the Kailua Sky Ranch landing strip and works at Honolulu airport. He usually flies to work.”

“It takes him an average of seven minutes over the Pali, about 16 minutes by way of Koko head. He claims flying is six time safer that driving a car, 12 times safer than driving across the Pali.” (Krauss, March 2, 1959)

Besides recreational and commuter flying, there were other aviation activities there. “(N)ews has arrived from Hawaii of the formation of the Hawaii Soaring Club with Woody Brown as President.”

“Plans call for the operation of Pratt-Reads from Kailua Sky Ranch on Oahu with Kipapa Field as a secondary base of operations. We are glad to hear these beautiful islands which have in the past been the site of some interesting soaring flights will once again be the scene of soaring activity.” (Soaring, Jan-Feb, 1959)

Likewise, “Parachuting is rapidly becoming a very popular sport. Quite ordinary young men – and women – are jumping from aircraft every weekend all over the United States, including Hawaii.”

The Aloha Sky Divers “meets every Sunday at the Kailua Sky Ranch, a short walk from the Pali Palms. Its members, floating down under colored canopies, have become a familiar sight in these parts.” Star Bulletin, July 14, 1961)

In addition, “Oahu’s only Air Scout squadron has been launched at Kailua Sky ranch, where a model plane meet is scheduled. … a clubhouse with work shop has been made available for both the Boy Scouts and the model plane enthusiast of Windward Oahu.”

“Bob Whittinghill is adviser for the aero squadron, composed of Boy Scouts 14 and over … the model plane meet set for today is the third held by Kailua Sky ranch. The two earlier meets drew about 1,000 persons at each event”. (Advertiser, May 24, 1954)

“Robert Whittinghill (leased) Kailua Sky Ranch from Kaneohe Ranch Company on a short-notice basis.” (Star-Bulletin, October 29, 1956) While pressure was building to keep the air field for recreational flights, ultimately, pressure for residential home development overcame that.

“About 15 planes will leave this weekend on a final, nostalgic flight from the Kailua Sky Ranch, Oahu’s only remaining private airport for light planes.”

“The planes will head for temporary quarters at busy Honolulu Airport as bulldozers move in to plow the Sky Ranch airstrip for a housing subdivision.” (Star-Bulletin, July 20, 1961)

“‘Aikahi Park, a prestige home development designed for families growing in stature and size, is being opened this Labor Day weekend by Centex-Trousdale.” (Prices ranged from $25,050 to $27,350, “on low rent Kaneohe Ranch Co 55-year leasehold land.”)

“Homes in the park have been designed by Vladimir Ossipoff, FAIA, who has won many architectural awards for local residences. They are in Hawaiian styles with three and four bedrooms, the latter containing fireplaces.” (Star-Bulletin, September 2, 1962)

Whittinghill also ran (since 1947) the Aero-Tech Division of Honolulu Technical School, a State education arm for training aviation mechanics, situated in a hanger at Honolulu International Airport. (Advertiser, September 18, 1963)

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