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June 7, 2022 by Peter T Young 5 Comments

Context

Sometimes, it is easy to overlook the context of events that took place in the past. We also sometimes judge them in today’s frame of reference. This stuff happened 200-years ago.

To set a foundation, we are reminded that in 1782 Kamehameha began a war of conquest, and, by 1795, he subdued all other chiefdoms, with the exception of Kauai. King Kamehameha I launched two invasion attempts on Kauai (1796 and 1804;) both failed.

In 1804, King Kamehameha I moved his capital from Lāhainā, Maui to Honolulu, O‘ahu.

In the face of the threat of a further invasion, in 1810, Kaumuali‘i decided to peacefully unite with Kamehameha and ceded Kauai and Ni‘ihau to Kamehameha and the Hawaiian Islands were unified under a single leader.

On May 8, 1819, King Kamehameha I died.

Following the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, his son, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II) declared an end to the kapu system. “An extraordinary event marked the period of Liholiho’s rule, in the breaking down of the ancient tabus, the doing away with the power of the kahunas to declare tabus and to offer sacrifices, and the abolition of the tabu which forbade eating with women (ʻai noa, or free eating.)” (Kamakau)

“The custom of the tabu upon free eating was kept up because in old days it was believed that the ruler who did not proclaim the tabu had not long to rule….”

“The tabu eating was a fixed law for chiefs and commoners, not because they would die by eating tabu things, but in order to keep a distinction between things permissible to all people and those dedicated to the gods”. (Kamakau)

Kekuaokalani, Liholiho’s cousin, opposed the abolition of the kapu system and assumed the responsibility of leading those who opposed its abolition.

Kekuaokalani (who was given Kūkaʻilimoku (the war god) before his death) demanded that Liholiho withdraw his edict on abolition of the kapu system. (If the kapu fell, the war god would lose its potency.) (Daws)

The two powerful cousins engaged at the battle of Kuamoʻo; Liholiho’s forces defeated Kekuaokalani.

In the discussion above, we reference traditional Hawaiian people, places and practices. What we tend to overlook is that these events happened 40-years after ‘Contact’ (1778) and took place with white and other foreigners living among the Hawaiians.

We shouldn’t overlook that Western ways were well underway, with aliʻi leading the changes. Let’s look.

At the time of 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, Lanai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

In 1790 (at the same time that George Washington was serving as the first US president,) the island of Hawaiʻi was under multiple rule; Kamehameha (ruler of Kohala, Kona and Hāmākua regions) successfully invaded Maui, Lanai and Molokai.

In fact, western arms and fighting techniques helped put Kamehameha into his leadership role.

Because of their knowledge of European warfare, John Young and Isaac Davis trained Kamehameha and his men in the use of muskets and cannons. In addition, both Young and Davis fought alongside Kamehameha in his many battles.

In addition to arms, Kamehameha also had Western boats, replacing the traditional canoes. The first Western-style vessel built in the Islands was the Beretane (1793.)

Through the aid of Captain George Vancouver’s mechanics, after launching, it was used in the naval combat with Kahekili’s war canoes off the Kohala coast. (Thrum)

Encouraged by the success of this new type of vessel, doubtless others were built between this period and the opening of the present century. One was a schooner called Tamana (named after Kamehameha’s favorite wife, Kaʻahumanu.) (Thrum, 1886)

Several small decked vessels were built. (Case) According to Cleveland’s account, Kamehameha possessed at that time twenty small vessels of from twenty to forty tons burden, some even copper-bottomed. (Alexander)

Trade in Hawaiian sandalwood began as early as the 1790s; by 1805 it had become an important export item. In 1811, an agreement between Boston ship captains and Kamehameha I established a monopoly on sandalwood exports, with Kamehameha receiving 25% of the profits.

As trade and shipping brought Hawaiʻi into contact with a wider world, it also enabled the acquisition of Western goods, including arms and ammunition.

Western clothes were catching on, as well. In 1809, Russian sailors noted that the Hawaiians had been bartering woolen cloth, blue and red thread and canvas in exchange for food stuffs from Kamehameha in exchange. They used the cloth to make malo and pāʻu. (Barratt)

In 1819, when Louis de Freycinet sailed in on the ship Uranie, Mde. Rose de Saulces de Freycinet, the captain’s wife, described Kalanimōkū (a High Chief who functioned similar to a Prime Minister) as “going on board dressed in loin cloth and a European shirt, more dirty than clean.” (Del Piano)

“It was not cloth as much as finished … clothing, however, that the Hawaiians valued. The aliʻi prized dress uniforms. Other Islanders took any sort of clothing. As time passed, Hawaiians built up larger wardrobes and no longer thought themselves well dressed if they were clad in one or two haole garments.”

“The higher a Hawaiian’s rank, the more likely it was that he or she would wear imported haole clothes on ceremonial occasions. Namahana, Kamāmalu and Kaʻahumanu, among other high-born women, had a number of volumimous velvet and satin dresses by the early-1820s.” (Barratt)

Western customs had also caught on.

When the Pioneer Company of Protestant missionaries first arrived at Kawaihae (March 30, 1820,) “Kalanimōkū was the first person of distinction that came. In dress and manner he appeared with the dignity of a man of culture.” Obviously familiar with western customs, the chief gallantly bowed and shook the hands of the ladies. (Del Piano)

In 1820, Hiram Bingham noted, “(Kalanimōkū’s) appearance was much more interesting than we expected. His dress was a neat dimity jacket, black silk vest, mankin pantaloons, white cotton stockings, and shoes, plaid cravat and a neat English hat. He sometimes however wears the native dress.” (Thaddeus Journal, April 1, 1820)

“Kalanimōku was distinguished from almost the whole nation, by being decently clad. His dress, put on for the occasion, consisted of a white dimity roundabout, a black silk vest, yellow Nankeen pants, shoes, and white cotton hose, plaid cravat, and fur hat.” (Hiram Bingham)

“We honored the king, but we loved the cultivated manhood of Kalanimōku. He was the only individual Hawaiian that appeared before us with a full civilized dress.” (Lucy Thurston)

By 1823, Queen Mother Keōpūolani (mother of Kamehameha II and III) began to accept many western ways. She wore western clothes, she introduced western furniture into her house and she took instruction in Christianity.

It’s interesting (at least to me) to consider the context of the actions in 1819 with the abolition of the kapu. When you look at it strictly from the Hawaiian people, places and practices, it’s one thing; however, when you look at what was also going on in the Islands at the same time, it puts a whole new perspective on it.

Captain Cook estimated the population at 400,000 in 1778. When Vancouver, who had been with Cook, returned in 1792, he was shocked at the evidences of depopulation, and when the missionaries arrived in 1820, the population did not exceed 150,000. (The Friend, December 1902)

The image shows Kamehameha I in Western wear in 1817; at the time, he was still enforcing the centuries-old kapu system. (Drawn by Choris)

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'King_Kamehameha_I_in_a_Red_Vest'_c._1820
‘King_Kamehameha_I_in_a_Red_Vest’_c._1820

Filed Under: Prominent People, Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks, Economy, General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Hawaii, Kamehameha, Western

February 10, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Western Wear

The origin of the name for kapa (bark-cloth) is simply ka = the, and pa = beaten, or the beaten thing. It was made with akia, wauke, palaholo, mamaki.

Its earliest and most important use is for clothing; malo: a strip of cloth nine inches wide and nine feet long for the man, and pa‘u for the woman: a strip a little wider and somewhat longer.

In pre-contact Hawai‘i, men wore a ‘maro’ (malo,) “pieces of cloth tied about the loins, and hanging a considerable way down.

The only difference in (women’s) dress, the pā‘ū, was their having a piece of cloth about the body, reaching from near the middle to half-way down the thighs, instead of the maro worn by the other sex.” (Cook’s Journal)

The pā‘ū was wrapped several times around the waist and extended from beneath the woman’s bust (for royalty) or the waistline (for commoners) to the knee (it looked kind of like a hula skirt.)

Following ‘Contact,’ Western Wear Caught On

At daybreak, on November 24, 1816, the ship Rurick faced the coast of Hawai‘i. Captain von Kotzebue had previously been advised of a strong anti-Russian feeling ‘in the air’, as a result of the awkwardly aggressive maneuvers of the Russian (Georg Anton Schäffer) against Kamehameha’s political primacy. (Charlot)

Louis Choris, the official artist on the Rurick, “asked Tammeamea permission to do his portrait; this project seemed to please him very much, but he asked me to leave him alone an instant, so he could dress.”

“Imagine my surprise on seeing this monarch display himself in the costume of a sailor; he wore blue trousers, a red waistcoat, a clean white shirt and a necktie of yellow silk. I begged him to change his dress; he refused absolutely and insisted on being painted as he was.” (Charlot)

From Hawaii, the Rurick went to Oahu for provisioning and repairs, anchoring at Honolulu. An event of its stay was the visit aboard of Kamehameha’s vice-regent for the island, Kalanimoku, and his retinue. (Charlot)

“They immediately recognized Tammeamea’s portrait, and when it became known that we had Tammeamea on paper, we daily received a crowd of visitors who wished to see him.” (Otto von Kotzebue)

Kamehameha obviously preferred western dress, whereas Choris wished to present him in the traditional kapa attire; however, knowing that the western world would be the audience for the artist’s depiction, Kamehameha presented himself as a civilized ruler in western wear. (Mission Houses)

Chiefs in Western Wear – Chiefesses Also Wanted Western Women’s Wear

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries left Boston for the Hawaiian Islands. After approximately 160-days at sea, they sighted the Island of Hawai‘i on March 30, 1820 and made their way to Kawaihae that day,

“On the 31st of March, a considerable number of the natives came off to our vessel, from the shores of Kohala, to dispose of their little articles of barter, and to look at the strangers.”

“On the 1st of April, as we were abreast of Kawaihae, Kalanimōku and his wives, and Kalākua (subsequently Hoapiliwahine) and her sister Nāmāhāna (sometimes Opi‘ia), two of the widows of the late king, came oft to us with their loquacious attendants, in their double canoe.”

“As they were welcomed on board, the felicitous native compliment, aloha (good-will, peace, affection), with shaking hands, passed between them, and each member of the mission family, Captain Blanchard and others.”

“Kalanimōku was distinguished from almost the whole nation, by being decently clad. His dress, put on for the occasion, consisted of a white dimity roundabout, a black silk vest, yellow Nankeen pants, shoes, and white cotton hose, plaid cravat, and fur hat.”

The next day, “Kalākua, a widow of Kamehameha, having little sympathy with the Evangelical prophet, and shrewdly aiming to see what the white women could do for her temporal benefit, asked them to make a gown for her in fashion like their own.” (Hiram Bingham)

“Kalākua brought a web of white cambric to have a dress made for herself in the fashion of our ladies, and was very particular in her wish to have it finished while sailing along the western side of the island, before reaching the king.”

“Monday morning April 3d (1820,) the first sewing circle was formed that the sun ever looked down upon in the Hawaiian realm. Kalākua was directress. She requested all the seven white ladies to take seats with them on mats, on the deck of the Thaddeus.”

“The dress was made in the fashion of 1819. The length of the skirt accorded with Brigham Young’s rule to his Mormon damsels, – have it come down to the tops of the shoes. But in the queen’s case, where the shoes were wanting, the bare feet cropped out very prominently.” (Lucy Thurston)

Long Necks

“White men had lived and moved among them for a score of years. In our company were the first white women that ever stepped on these shores.” (Lucy Thurston)

“White women were, as might have been expected, objects of great curiosity to the chattering natives, who thronged around them, as they walked along, to gaze at their costume …”

“… their white hands and faces, running before them and peering under their projecting bonnets, laughing, shouting, trotting around with bare feet, heads and limbs, men, women and children, and singing out occasionally, ‘A-i-oe-oe’ a phrase signifying long, protruding neck.”

“This term they doubtless applied from the appearance occasioned by the large, projecting fore-parts of the bonnets, in the fashion of 1819, so widely different from that of Hawaiian females, whose heads were usually bare, but occasionally ornamented with a simple chaplet of natural flowers, or small feathers.” (Hiram Bingham)

“It was thus the natives described the ladies: ‘They are white and have hats with a spout. Their faces are round and far in. Their necks are long. They look well.’ They were called ‘Long Necks.’ The company of long necks included the whole fraternity.” (Lucy Thurston)

Holokū and Mu‘umu‘u

The missionary wives modified their New England-style dresses to adapt to the hot, humid environment. They replaced the high waistline of Western fashion with a yoke. The end result was a basic design (referred to as a “Mother Hubbard”) which was simply a full, straight skirt attached to a yoke with a high neck and tight sleeves.

The diaries of missionary women report that Hawaiian women who had been Christianized adopted the holokū as daily dress by 1822 and it became standard dress of all Hawaiian women as early as 1838.

“All the women wore the native dress, the sack or holokū, many of which were black, blue, green, or bright rose color, some were bright yellow, a few were pure white, and others were a mixture of orange and scarlet.” (Isabella Bird 1894)

“At first the holokū, which is only a full, yoke nightgown, is not attractive, but I admire it heartily now, and the sagacity of those who devised it. It conceals awkwardness, and befits grace of movement; it is fit for the climate, is equally adapted for walking and riding, and has that general appropriateness which is desirable in costume.” (Isabella Bird, 1894)

The holokū was worn with a loose-fitting undergarment, the mu‘umu‘u (meaning cut-off, shortened.) Eventually, the mu‘umu‘u came to be worn as an outer garment, as well. The muʻumuʻu in the early days was a dress for home wear. It was made full and unfitted with high or low neck and long or short sleeves

It is the more comfortable muʻumuʻu that has challenged the present day designers to create many variations for home, street and party wear. Although it originated in Hawaii in the 1820s as a loose gown without a waistline or train and was worn for everyday wear, the holokū today is a long formal gown with a train.

For formal events, and other celebrations related to Hawaiian culture and ethnicity, the holokū is the quintessential Hawaiian gown. While both holokū and mu‘umu‘u continue to be very important in Hawaii, it is the mu‘umu‘u that is regarded by most of the world as Hawaiian dress and the holokū that is practically unknown outside of Hawai’i.

This is only a summary;Click HERE for more on Western Wear.

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'King_Kamehameha_I_in_a_Red_Vest'_c._1820-400
‘King_Kamehameha_I_in_a_Red_Vest’_c._1820-400
Kalanimoku_by_Alphonse_Pellion
Kalanimoku_by_Alphonse_Pellion
Hoapiliwahine_by_C._C._Armstrong-400
Hoapiliwahine_by_C._C._Armstrong-400
Barthélémy_Lauvergne_-_'Princess_Kinau',_watercolor_and_ink_wash_over_graphite,_1836
Barthélémy_Lauvergne_-_’Princess_Kinau’,_watercolor_and_ink_wash_over_graphite,_1836
Kapa Holoku-MissionHouses
Kapa Holoku-MissionHouses
1820s Bonnett
1820s Bonnett

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings Tagged With: Western, Western Wear, Clothes, Hawaii

October 13, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Red Vest

At daybreak, on November 24, 1816, the ship Rurick faced the coast of Hawai‘i. Captain von Kotzebue had previously been advised of a strong anti-Russian feeling ‘in the air’, as a result of the awkwardly aggressive maneuvers of the Russian (Georg Anton Schäffer) against Kamehameha’s political primacy. (Charlot)

In 1815, Schäffer had been sent to Hawai‘i to retrieve cargo and the sailors’ possessions of the Russian ship ‘Bering’ that were confiscated by Kaua‘i’s ruler, Kaumuali‘i. Schäffer arrived in Honolulu and Kamehameha granted him permission to build a storehouse near Honolulu Harbor; instead, they built a fort.

“(Q)uarrels ensued between the Russians and the natives, in which the latter (by the account of the narrator,) appeared in a very advantageous position …”

“… the ships, on leaving the Sandwich Islands, threatened to return soon with a strong reinforcement, mentioning particularly a man-of-war, that would likewise oppose the inhabitants.” (Voyage of Discovery, Otto von Kotzebue)

So, now, the Russians were back in Hawai‘i – “the king (Kamehameha) had actually expected a hostile man-of-war, and had already given orders to line the whole coast with soldiers; who, to the number of 400, armed with muskets, stood already prepared.” (Otto von Kotzebue)

“On the shore, countess people were under arms. The old king, in front of whose house we landed, was sitting upon a raised terrace, surrounded by his wives, and dressed in his native costume, the red malo and the black tapa, the wide beautiful folded cape .… Tammeamea (Kamehameha) received us frigidly.” (De Chamisso; Charlot)

However, peace prevailed, “The king sent me word that he regretted that he could not come to me onboard, since the jealousy of his people would not permit it; that he, himself had a better opinion of us, after his naja had acquainted him with the object of our voyage …”

“… and, as a token of his friendly sentiments, he, invited me to his camp, where he promised to treat me with a pig, baked on the ground.” (Otto von Kotzebue)

Louis Choris, the official artist on the Rurick, “asked Tammeamea permission to do his portrait; this project seemed to please him very much, but he asked me to leave him alone an instant, so he could dress.”

“Imagine my surprise on seeing this monarch display himself in the costume of a sailor; he wore blue trousers, a red waistcoat, a clean white shirt and a necktie of yellow silk. I begged him to change his dress; he refused absolutely and insisted on being painted as he was.” (Charlot)

“Mr. Choris succeeded admirably well in taking his likeness, although Tammeamea, to make it more difficult, would not set still for a moment, but was making grimaces all the time. At five o’clock in the afternoon we took leave of the king.”

“An attendant not having yet arrived, I promised to wait for him near the land. A well-made quiet horse, which he had obtained from an American ship, he kept as a curiosity, and suffered it to run about free. A number of little boys near the shore had hardened the sand by stamping on it, and drew on it, with ability, the Rurick under sail.” (Otto von Kotzebue)

Initially, Choris “had side by side with the king’s picture the drawing of a woman of the middle class.” Added Adelbert de Chamisso, the botanist of the expedition, “Mr Young, to whom this page was shown, expressed his doubts of the propriety of such a combination.”

“He advised our friend (Choris) either to separate the two pictures or not to show them at all. Therefore the page was cut in two before the King was shown to other Hawaiians.” (Charlot)

From Hawaii, the Rurick went to Oahu for provisioning and repairs, anchoring at Honolulu. An event of its stay was the visit aboard of Kamehameha’s vice-regent for the island, Kalanimoku, and his retinue. (Charlot)

“They immediately recognized Tammeamea’s portrait, and when it became known that we had Tammeamea on paper, we daily received a crowd of visitors who wished to see him.” (Otto von Kotzebue)

Kamehameha obviously preferred western dress, whereas Choris wished to present him in the traditional kapa attire; however, knowing that the western world would be the audience for the artist’s depiction, Kamehameha presented himself as a civilized ruler in western wear.  (Mission Houses)

His drawings of the king were so admired in Hawaii that some soon found their way abroad. One had apparently reached Manila long before the artist himself did two years later; and when Choris finally arrived there aboard the Rurick in December of 1818, he found his portrait being copied en masse.

von Chamisso wrote in Manila that “American merchants had already gained possession of (Choris’s) picture and had had many copies made for commerce in the Chinese painting factories.” (Boston Athenaeum)

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'King_Kamehameha_I_in_a_Red_Vest'_c._1820
‘King_Kamehameha_I_in_a_Red_Vest’_c._1820

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Hawaiian Traditions, Economy Tagged With: Hawaii, Kamehameha, Western

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