Kanaka | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

December 3, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kanaka Pete

“It is my painful duty to report to you that the extreme sentence of the law has been carried out upon a native born Hawaiian, who had been in this Colony for many years, and who was convicted at the last assizes of the murder of his wife and child, and his wife’s father and mother.” (Henry Rhodes, Hawaiian Consulate, Victoria, May 18, 1869; Hawaiian Gazette, July 7, 1869)

Today, there is a place known as Kanaka Bay, named after Kanaka Pete on the east side of Newcastle Island, off Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Let’s look back.

Peter Kakua (‘Kanaka Pete’) left his home in Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi for Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, in 1853. He travelled to Victoria in 1854 but soon departed for Fort Rupert in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Pete remained at Fort Rupert for five years, then returned to Victoria where he “worked for Sir James Douglas (Governor of both Vancouver Island and British Columbia) for a year.” He left and took a job with the Vancouver Coal Company at Nanaimo. (Illerbrun)

Kakua’s aboriginal wife, Que-en (his ‘common law’ wife of about six years, known as Mary,) told him, via her brother, that she was leaving her husband. Kakua returned home to find Mary, their young child, plus Mary’s parents, packing up her things. (Fryer, BC Local News)

Then, on December 4, 1868, four bodies were found in Peter Kakua’s home and the Hawaiian was missing. They didn’t have to look far, however, to find him; he was sitting beside a fire on Newcastle Island.

December 5, 1868, he was arrested and charged with the murders of his Indian wife, Que-en (known as Mary;) their infant daughter and his wife’s parents (Squash-e-lik and Shil-at-ti-Nord.) (Cunningham, BC Local News)

At the Coroner’s Inquest, Pete willingly offered the following statement, “My wife had gone away and left me for some days, and had sent me a message by her brother to say that she did not intend living with me anymore.”

“I began drinking and continued up to the night of Thursday the 3rd Decr. About 12 o’clock on that night I returned to my house with the intention of going to bed.”

“When I opened the door I found a fire burning, and my wife and her father and mother sitting round it. I asked them what they wanted, and if my wife was going to live with me again, they told me no, they had only come for her things.”

“I got some drinks from a friend. I then thought I would go and sleep in my own house on the floor. When I went in I found the old man in bed with his daughter. I thought this too bad, and took hold of him to drag him out.”

“He caught hold of my hair and pulled me down on the bed and got my finger into his mouth and called out to the old woman to come and beat me. The old woman rushed at me and began striking me on the head and body with a stick, my wife also striking me.” (Kakua’s hand had a mangled stump, he claimed his wife’s father had bitten off his finger.)

“Being considerably intoxicated at the time, and owing to the pain I was suffering I became almost mad and laid hold of the first thing I could reach which was an axe, produced in court, and laid about me indiscriminately.”

“After a time I fell down and remember nothing more until I awoke at daylight on Friday the 4th instant when I saw my Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, my wife and child all dead.”

Those at the Inquest heard more from Dr. Klein Grant, who had examined the bodies of the victims. According to Grant, who described the condition of each corpse in detail, the wounds which brought death “were all inflicted by a heavy weapon such as the axe produced.” (Illerbrun)

After pleading not guilty to four counts of ‘wilful murder,’ Pete was tried on two counts, one heard on February 16, 1869, the other on February 17. (Illerbrun)

“The jury, upon the first trial (murdering Que-en,) upon the testimony furnished, found the prisoner guilty of murder, and recommended him to mercy.” (Henry Rhodes, Hawaiian Consulate, Victoria, May 18, 1869)

The mercy recommendation was made on the ground that “Kanakas (Hawaiians) are not Christians and killing men may not be such an offense in their eyes.” (Illerbrun)

He was then tried upon the second indictment (murdering Shil-at-ti-nord, Que-en’s mother,) and a verdict of guilty was rendered against him, without the recommendation of the first jury.” (Henry Rhodes)

The “crime of passion” aspect of the case, though not clearly enunciated in Kakua’s own testimony, had apparently made no impact on the jurors, for Judge Needham had informed them that if Que-en was involved in “open adultery” Pete should not be found guilty of murder. (Illerbrun)

The next day he was sentenced to be hanged “on a day to be henceforth designated by the Executive.”

The day after sentencing, Attorney General Crease wrote: “Although the murders were committed by the same person and at nearly the same time the facts the provocation and the law were different in their application to each individual case and were so stated by the Judge in his charges.” (Illerbrun)

Henry Rhodes, Hawaiian Consulate, Victoria, noted, “I endeavored to get his sentence commuted, and for this purpose requested his Counsel to draw up a petition to the Governor praying for a commutation.”

“This petition (forwarded to the Colonial Secretary) was signed by a number of the members of the Legal profession and by a number of influential gentlemen of this city”.

“Taking all these matters into consideration, and the ignorance of the prisoner, and the uncertainty I feel as to the statement taken down by the magistrate, … I have no hesitancy in joining the prayer of the petitioners, and I sincerely hope, that taking these matters into consideration. His Excellency will find sufficient ground for exercising the prerogative of the Crown, and acceding to the prayer of the petition.” (Henry Rhodes)

Rhodes was later notified that “the Governor regrets that in this instance, he cannot interfere with, the course of the law, by acceding to the prayer of the petition.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 7, 1869)

Peter Kakua (Kanaka Pete) was hanged at Nanaimo, “the scene of his fearful crimes,” at 7 am on the morning of March 10, 1869. “He ascended the scaffold unflinchingly, made no remarks, and struggled but slightly after the drop fell. His neck was evidently broken.” (Illerbrun)

Being of neither Caucasian nor First Nations descent, Kakua could not be buried in any of the city’s cemeteries and was instead interred on his last place of freedom – the east side of Newcastle Island.

Unfortunately, Kakua was still not allowed to rest. Thirty years later, the Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company unearthed Kakua’s coffin as they dug for a new coal mine. Kakua was reburied, in another unmarked grave, for good. (Nanaimo News Bulletin)

Today, the gory tale lives on in the form of ghost stories told around the fire by those camping on Newcastle Island. (Nanaimo Daily News) Many claim the most haunted area in the Pacific North West is Newcastle Island.

November 29, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Saint Didacus of Alcalá

For more than 10,000-years (over 600 generations,) the original inhabitants of the region were known as the Kumeyaay people. Other native people there are known as the La Jolla.

The first European expedition known to visit the area was a Spanish sailing expedition led by the Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (in 1542.)

Later, the Mission Basilica Saint Didacus of Alcalá, on a site known as ‘Kosoi’ overlooking a bay, was the first Franciscan mission there (also the first in the broader region.) It was founded in 1769 by Spanish missionary Fray Junípero Serra. It was not always successful and occasionally met with opposition from the native people.

Never-the-less, the mission and surrounding town grew. A military installation was built nearby. Captain George Vancouver visited in November 1793, and reported it “to be the least of the Spanish establishments. … With little difficulty it might be rendered a place of considerable strength, by establishing a small force at the entrance”. (NPS)

In 1810, the force numbered about 100 men, of whom 25 were detached to protect the four missions in the district. The garrison level was maintained until about 1830. After 1830, however, the military force soon declined rapidly. The last of the troops were sent north in 1837, and the facility was completely abandoned as a military post. (NPS)

“In the town at that time the inhabitants, soldiers and citizens numbered between 400 and 500. Quite a large place. At that time there was a great deal of gayety and refinement here. The people were the elite, of this portion of the department of California. In the garrison were some Mexican, and not a few native Spanish soldiers.” (Davis)

The site of the town was by no means favorable for a seaport town. The military site (known as the Presidio) was located on the hill above the river, at the outlet of Mission Valley, merely because the place could be easily fortified and defended. The town grew up upon the flat below Presidio Hill, because it was originally only an overflow from the garrison itself.

From 1830 onward, the town grew rapidly and was soon, for the time and country, an important commercial and social center.

When William Heath Davis first came in 1831, he found it quite a lively town. Davis and his partners did a large business with the missions for many years. (Smythe)

William Heath “Kanaka” Davis, Jr. (1822 – 1909) was a merchant and trader. Born in Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi to William Heath Davis, Sr (a Boston sea-faring ship-owner) and Hannah Holmes Davis, a daughter of Oliver Holmes (another Boston ship-master and a relative of Doctor Oliver Wendell Holmes.)

The shipping trade to the Coast and to Hawaiʻi was almost exclusively in the hands of Boston firms from its beginnings to the days of the Gold Rush. Davis’ grandmother on his mother’s side was a native of Hawaiʻi, and her husband, Oliver Holmes, in addition to his trading operations, was at one time Governor of Oʻahu.

Davis’ nickname “Kanaka” refers to his Hawaiian birth and blood; he was one-quarter Hawaiian. He first visited California as a boy in 1831, then again in 1833 and 1838. The last time he joined his uncle as a store clerk in Monterey and Yerba Buena (now San Francisco). He started a business in San Francisco and became a prominent merchant and ship owner.

For many years, he was one of the most prominent merchants in San Francisco, and engaged in some of the largest trading ventures on the coast. He moved to southern California in 1850, around the same time California became part of the United States.

In March 1850, Davis purchased 160-acres of land and, with four partners, laid out a new city (near what is now the foot of Market Street.) He built the first wharf there in 1850.

The town took the name of the surrounding Mission Basilica Saint Didacus of Alcalá (the “Mother of the Alta California Missions”) – today, we call it San Diego.

Whenever a ship came to anchor, saddle-horses were at once dispatched from the Presidio to bring up the Captain and supercargo. Monterey being at that time the seat of government of California, and the port of entry of the department, all vessels were compelled to enter that port first. After paying the necessary duties, they were allowed to trade at any of the towns along the coast, as far south as Lower California.

Davis was one of the founders of “New Town” San Diego in 1850, though he did not live there for long (and the venture turned into a failure.) He believed that a town closer to the waterfront in San Diego would attract a thriving trade.

He later wrote “Messrs. Jose Antonio Aguirre, Miguel Pedrorena, Andrew B Gray, TD Johns and myself were the projectors and original proprietors of what is now known as the city of San Diego.”

An economic depression in 1851 put an end to their plans, and New Town rapidly declined. Although these men had the judgment to choose the best spot for the city and the imagination to behold its possibilities, they lacked the constructive capacity required for its building. Hence, their effort goes into history as an unsuccessful effort to take advantage of a genuine opportunity. (SanDiegoHistory)

For more than a hundred years Old Town was San Diego. It began with the founding of the fort and mission in 1769; it ended, as a place of real consequence, with the fire of April, 1872, which destroyed most of the business part of the town.

In 1867, Alonzo Horton arrived in San Diego from San Francisco. He also decided the best place for the city to develop was down by the waterfront and, determined to build a new downtown on the site of Davis’ failure, Horton purchased at auction land on the waterfront. The new settlement which had sprung up was called Horton’s Addition, or South San Diego. (now known as Downtown San Diego.) (Smythe)

San Diego’s William Heath “Kanaka” Davis House is the oldest surviving structure in the New Town area. It was one of the first houses built in 1850 in the New Town. A pre-framed lumber “salt box” family home; it was shipped to California by boat around Cape Horn. (It was never the home of Davis, whose own home at State and F Streets was a duplicate of the surviving one. By 1853, most of the houses constructed by Davis were moved to Old Town or used for firewood.)

The original plaza for New Town is not today’s Horton Plaza, but New Town Plaza, which still exists and is bounded by F, G, Columbia and India Streets. Davis eventually settled in San Leandro. He died in Hayward, California on April 19, 1909. (Lots of information is from San Diego History Center.)

October 13, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sandwich Islander Tax

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

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

Needing supplies in their journey, the traders soon realized they could economically barter for provisions in Hawai‘i; a triangular trade network emerged linking the Pacific Northwest coast, China and the Hawaiian Islands to Britain and the United States (especially New England).

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 United States.

As early as 1811, Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) had already hired twelve Hawaiians on three year contracts to work for them in the Pacific Northwest. That year John Jacob Astor built Fort Astoria, it was later sold to the North West Company.

Comfortable with the service from the Hawaiians, in 1817, North West sent a ship “to bring as many of the Sandwich Islanders to the Columbia river as we could conveniently accommodate.” (Corney)

The number of Hawaiians working as contract laborers for the Hudson’s Bay Company steadily grew. The large number of Hawaiian workers in the village at Fort Vancouver led to the name “Kanaka Town” in the early 1850s – “Kanaka” is the word for “person” in the Native Hawaiian language.

Historians suggest “that young Hawaiian males left Hawaiʻi as workers on whaling ships and traveled to China, Europe, Mexico, and the US mainland. In addition, many ventured into the Pacific Northwest territory, worked in the fur trade, and ended up settling in those areas.” (pbs-org)

Sandwich Islanders (Hawaiians) came to Oregon Country as seamen. Many remained in Oregon to work under contract as laborers, servants and craftsmen.

The growing population of Hawaiian into the Oregon Country resulted in growing concerns.

Then, in 1845, the Oregon legislature addressed a bill designed to reduce the flow – it was called the Sandwich Islander Tax.

It was an attempt to raise revenue by taxing employers of these Islanders, and it reflects the notion that they will not become permanent residents of Oregon.

A transcript of original drafting of the bill notes, “An Act concerning the introduction of Sandwich Islanders or natives from any of the adjoining islands.”

“Sec 1 Be it enacted by the house of Representatives of Oregon Territory as follows – That all persons who shall hereafter introduce into Oregon Territory any Sandwich Islanders or natives from any of the neighboring Islands for a term of Service shall pay a tax of five dollars for each person so introduced;”

“Sec 2 Each and every person in this Territory shall pay a tax of three dollar per annum for each and every Sandwich Islander or any native from a neighbouring Island that they keep in their service for a term of years’”

“Sec 3 The revenue arising from said tax shall be assessed and collected as other Taxes are assessed and collected, and paid into the Territorial Treasury the same time the other Territorial Revenue is paid in.”

While introduced, the bill never passed.

“The bill to tax Sandwich Islanders, was read a third time, and indefinitely postponed.” (December 18, 1845; Oregon Archives)

The intent was later disclosed, “For the taxation of the Sandwich Islanders, employed almost exclusively as servants and laborers, by the HB Company, and intended merely to annoy and embarass the gentlemen in charge of the said company.” (Oregon Historical Quarterly, 1909)

However, on October 15, 1862, Oregon Governor Addison C Gibbs approved the law that had passed the House of Representations (October 8, 1862) and Senate (October 13, 1862) that stated:

“That each and every negro, Chinaman, kanaka and mulatto (“mixed” or “biracial,”) residing within the limits of this state, shall pay an annual poll tax of five dollars, for the use of the county in which such negro, Chinaman, kanaka and mulatto may reside.”

“That every such negro, Chinaman, kanaka and mulatto, shall, between the first day of January and the first day of March, of each year, pay to the county treasurer of the county in which he may reside, the sum of five dollars, and thereupon said treasurer shall make out and deliver to such person a receipt”.

“When such negro, Chinaman, kanaka and mulatto shall fail and neglect to pay the tax required by section second of this act, then it shall be the duty of the sheriff of the county wherein such tax payer may reside or be found, to immediately collect such tax, with the additional sum of one dollar, and mileage, which additional sum and mileage shall go to the sheriff, as his fees; the balance shall be paid into the county treasury, and the sheriff is required to make return to the county treasurer of the taxes collected under the provisions of this act, on the first Monday of June, and every three months thereafter.”

“Should such negro, Chinaman, kanaka or mulatto, fail to pay the tax required by section second of this act, and should the sheriff be unable to collect the same, or make the same out of property belonging to such tax payers, then it is made the duty of the sheriff to arrest such negro, Chinaman, kanaka or mulatto, and put him at work on the public highways, under the direction of the road supervisor …”

“… such taxpayers shall be required to work one day on such highways, for every half-dollar of such tax due and unpaid, and in addition thereto, shall be allowed his board, which shall be paid by the county in which such labor is performed, and the sheriff shall be allowed by the county court a reasonable sum for his service.”

May 18, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“People think of the islands as a white place”

“Time erases stories that don’t fit the preferred narrative.” (BC historian Jean Barman to BBC writer Diane Selkirk)

This summary is inspired by a random e-mail I received that included just a link – the link was to a BBC story about Hawaiians in British Columbia’s Gulf Islands.

Captain Vancouver claimed the islands for the British Crown, and referred to them as being located in a “gulf.” While the Gulf Islands are clearly not in a gulf, the name stuck.

In the same year, Spanish and British cartographic expeditions also explored the area, intent on finding a passage to the northwest Atlantic. (Gulf Islands Tourism)

Canada’s Gulf Islands are scattered across the Salish Sea between Vancouver and Southern Vancouver. The area is now home to Gulf Islands National Park Reserve—an ecological paradise of land pockets on 15 islands, plus numerous small islets and reef areas. The forested Gulf Islands include Mayne, Galiano, Hornby, and Gabriola. The largest is Salt Spring. (Destination BC)

“The Gulf Islands are comprised of dozens of islands scattered between Vancouver and Southern Vancouver Island. With a mild climate and bucolic landscapes, it’s been the continuous unceded territory of Coast Salish Nations for at least 7,000 years.”

“The Spanish visited in 1791 and then Captain George Vancouver showed up, claiming the Gulf Islands for the British Crown. Not long after, settlers began arriving from all parts of the world. Many of them were Hawaiian, while black Americans, Portuguese, Japanese and Eastern Europeans also settled on the islands.”

“(I)n the late 1700s, during a period of strife when Indigenous Hawaiians (including royalty) were losing their rights and autonomy at home, many of the men joined the maritime fur trade.”

“A large number of Hawaiians settled on the western shore of Salt Spring Island where they could continue their traditions of fishing and farming “

“Employed by the Hudson Bay Company, hundreds, if not thousands, of Hawaiians found their way to Canada’s west coast. By 1851, some estimates say half the settler population of the Gulf Islands was Hawaiian.”

“Then in the late 1850s, as the border between the US and present-day Canada solidified, many Hawaiians who had been living south moved north, where they were afforded the rights of British citizenship.”

“Once in BC they became landowners, farmers and fishermen. Gradually, they intermarried with local First Nations or other immigrant groups and their Hawaiian identity was almost lost. But during the years when the land containing the orchards was researched and studied, their story was revived, and Hawaiian Canadians began reclaiming their heritage.”

“British Columbia’s Gulf Islands are testament of an era when, during a period of internal strife, Hawaiian royalty left their tropical home for distant islands.”

“Maria Mahoi, a woman born on Vancouver Island in about 1855 to a Hawaiian man and a local Indigenous woman … spent her young adulthood sailing a 40ft whaling schooner with her first husband, American sea captain Abel Douglas.”

“As they had children and their family grew, they settled on Salt Spring Island. Here a large number of Hawaiian families had formed a community on the western shore extending south from Fulford Harbour to Isabella Point, overlooking the islands of Russell, Portland and Cole.”

“Mahoi’s first marriage ended, leaving her a single mother with seven children. She then married a man named George Fisher, the son of a wealthy Englishman called Edward Fisher and an Indigenous Cowichan woman named Sara. The two had an additional six children and made their home in a log cabin on 139 acres near Fulford Harbour.”

“The restoration of Mahoi’s story ended up helping to shape part of a national park.”

“Much of what we think of as Hawaiian culture – hula dance, lei making and traditional food – are the customary domain of women. So those parts of the Hawaiian culture didn’t come to the Gulf Islands with the first male arrivals. But the Hawaiians left their mark in other ways.”

“The community provided both the land and the volunteer builders for the St Paul’s Catholic Church at Fulford Harbour; and Chinook Jargon, the local trade language of the time, included many Hawaiian words. The culture also showed in where the Hawaiians chose to live: most settled in the islands where they were able to continue their practices of fishing and farming.”

“Visitors can enter Maria Mahoi’s house on Russell Island and hear stories about her life on the island .“

“In Mahoi’s case, she also left behind the family home. The small house – with doorways that were just 5’6” – reflects the small stature of the original inhabitants, something that intrigued later owners.”

“Over time, as more of Russell Island’s unique history became clear, it was acquired by the Pacific Marine Heritage Legacy in 1997 and then deemed culturally distinct enough to become part of GINPR in 2003.”

“In 2003, Portland Island, with its winding trails, sandstone cliffs and shell-midden beaches, had become part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve (GINPR), a sprawling national park made up of protected lands scattered across 15 islands and numerous islets and reefs in the Salish Sea.”

“Over the next 15 years, 17 abandoned orchards, on eight of the islands, were studied by Parks Canada archaeologists and cultural workers in order to gain a glimpse into the lives of early settlers in the region.”

“On Portland Island, a new park sign told me, the heritage apples including Lemon Pippin, Northwest Greening, Winter Banana and Yellow Bellflower had been planted by a man called John Palau, one of the hundreds of Hawaiians who were among the earliest settlers in the region.”

The article notes, “History, though, can become obscured. And the story of the Gulf Islands became an English one. ‘People think of the islands as a white place,’ BC historian Jean Barman told [the author]. ‘Time erases stories that don’t fit the preferred narrative.’”

The “island history had faded from general knowledge”. “ Part of the problem is the fact that the records of Hawaiians who came to the west coast are particularly challenging.”

“Newly arrived Hawaiians often went by a single name or just a nickname. Even when a first and last name was recorded, a name’s spelling often changed over time. So it became difficult to track a specific Hawaiian royal through his or her lifetime.”

“The legacy of the early Hawaiian settlers was virtually erased from history, but now Hawaiian Canadians have begun reclaiming their heritage.”

“‘When people share the stories of who they are, they’re partial stories. What gets repeated is based on how ambivalent or how proud you are,’ Barman said, explaining this is why many British Columbians of Hawaiian decedent she’s spoken to claim royal heritage. It was a story they were proud of.”

October 16, 2021 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Blue Men

“Captain James Cook, who had been sent into the Pacific on a voyage of exploration by the King of England, discovered several islands which he named in honor of the Earl of Sandwich.”

“He later sailed northward and in March of the next year sighted the American coast in the neighborhood of the present Yaquina Bay. He thus became the first to make a contact between the Oregon country and Hawaii.”

“Cook was followed within a few years by vessels that engaged in trading furs from the Indians along the northwest coast of America which they sold in China. The captains of such ships were quick to learn the value of the Hawaiian Islands as a resting place and provisioning station.”

“Their custom was to stop there on the northward voyage, spend a season in trade, return to the islands for the winter, and afterwards sail back to the American coast to complete their cargo of furs before going to Canton. (Clark)

“King Kamehameha, claiming the throne in 1810 after an internal power struggle, attempted to forge a united kingdom out of competing groups.. He decided upon. an outward-looking policy to cushion his country against foreigners by absorbing the European’s economy and Christianity.”

“The heart of this policy was to send out young men to learn western techniques and values through practical experience. One place they migrated to was the Oregon Country, where Hawaiians had been in the crews of merchant vessels as early as 1788.” (Dodds)

When the Americans entered the fur trade of the Pacific in 1788 they, like the British, stopped at the Hawaiian Islands. (Clark) The Hawaiians soon became a vital labor supply in the fur trade. (Dodds)

“Loyal and docile, asking only food and clothing for compensation, the Hawaiians on one occasion saved Donald McKenzie from a surprise attack at Fort Walla Walla at the hands of his discontented Indian trappers.”

“The Hudson’s Bay Company and Nathaniel Wyeth also found the Kanakas most valuable as laborers, canoe men, sailors, gardeners, herders, and domestic servants, among other pursuits.”

“The missionaries, too, admired the islanders. The Methodists used them as blacksmiths, farm laborers, and kitchen help, and the Lees at one time proposed to import Hawaiian Christians as missionaries to their countrymen.”

“At the Whitman mission the Kanakas were also well received; and they worked in a variety of pursuits. Both Methodist and American board workers found the Kanakas to be in an respects preferable to their Indian charges.”

“The Indians, in missionary eyes, were slow in emulating American agriculture and domestic science, but the Hawaiians were adaptable and hard working.” (Dodds)

In the nineteenth century the Hawaiians were known as Kanakas or ‘Blue Men.’ One theory for the ‘Blue Men’ name is because of traditional tattooing, which appears blue in color. (Rogers) Others suggest it was because they turned that color in the winter drizzles of the Pacific Northwest. (Dodds)

The growing population of Hawaiian into the Oregon Country resulted in growing concerns. Then, in 1845, the Oregon legislature addressed a bill designed to reduce the flow – it was called the Sandwich Islander Tax.

However, on October 15, 1862, Oregon Governor Addison C Gibbs approved the law that had passed the House of Representations (October 8, 1862) and Senate (October 13, 1862) that stated:

“Employers of Hawaiian labor were taxed three dollars for those islanders already residents and five dollars for those who were to be introduced in the future. After the organic law of 1848 created the territory of Oregon, Kanakas on several occasions applied for American citizenship.” (Dodds)

“The final blow came in the passage of the Oregon Donation Land Act of 1850, which gave to the emigrants 160 to 320 acres of free land (depending on their time of arrival), but which … excluded from its term blacks and Hawaiians, although not part-Indians.”

“After this rebuff most of the Kanakas returned to the Islands. more fortunate than other ethnic minorities, who had no place to go. In the end, in spite of the Hawaiians efforts to accommodate, racism had conquered assimilation.” (Dodds)