Daily Archives: July 23, 2012

More from the Pacific Northwest, but a little more “recent,” 1912.

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A LETTER FROM AFAR

(Written by Sam K. Nainoa.)

The following letter is written by Sam K. Nainoa from Seattle, after the passing of several weeks since he left his homeland with his queen, on their travels, explaining some major things that they saw in their sightseeing of these foreign lands, and this will be something which the readers of the Kuokoa will rejoice in because of the progress witnessed by the two of them made by the Hawaiian youths living in that foreign land.

SEATTLE, May 16, 1912, Aloha oe:—Here we are, staying in this town; we’ve been here almost two weeks, meeting with the Hawaiian boys, and we are full of joy.

There is a great number of my classmates living here, all of them Hawaiians; they are playing music and singing, and they are making a lot doing this work; and some of them married haole women, and they are truly taken by this land, with no desire at all to return to the land of their birth.

Some of them have land and are well off; according to what they tell me, their thoughts of returning to Hawaii are no more; this is where they will live and they will leave their bones in this foreign land.

We went touring around another area farther across this expansive ocean for a few days and came right back, and am writing this letter to you. We went sightseeing at a wood mill, at a place called Port Blakeley, which is one of the largest mills in the world.

What I saw was truly amazing. There are many Hawaiian boys indeed living there, and to go from one area to the next, you travel by steamship. The Hawaiians take a fancy to living there, and for work, they do lumbering.

Hawaiians have no problem with jobs there; they have work at all times.

Some boys from Port Blakeley came to Seattle and got together with us and the band boys who live in Seattle; they insisted that we go with them to where they live, and there was not refusing the hospitality of the kamaaina, so we went aboard a steamship, spending a few days there and immediately returning back.

There were two Hawaiian women there with their husbands, and they have become mothers to the Hawaiian boys there; their living is easy, and they get along lovingly; I would not be mistaken to say there is a place for them in this land without their parents [he mua a he hope ka noho ana o ka aina makua ole ?]

There is bountiful food there, and when we arrived, two pigs were roasted as is the custom of Hawaiians, and all the luau foods were prepared like inamona, limu eleele, dried fish, alamihi crab, raw fish, and their poi was poi palaoa [flour poi].

Here they have dried opelu and dried nehu and many other things so that Hawaiians living here have nothing to complain about; they have everything, perhaps even more than Hawaii.

We enjoyed ourselves, and there was but one thing to do, that is to sing and to play music, and we were terribly happy. There is an over abundance of palai fern there, it is protects your feet [he pale wawae ia mea he palai ?] and it grows all the way until the ocean. When we went pole fishing, we caught poopaa and also large kuahonu crabs. There is a fish that looks like opelu here, and perhaps it is opelu; so too with the puhikii, which is good eating raw.

There are so many delicacies here: salmon worked in with tomatoes and onions; and according to what these Hawaiians say, there is no food that you can’t get here, you have so much to choose from to satisfy your wants.

These people were very kind to us, and we are greatly indebted to them for their hospitality, and these Hawaiians of ours are blessed in making this place somewhere that they look for their livelihood.

This is enough for now, and maybe there will be more free time here after to write more of our travels. All the Hawaiians here give their aloha to our lahui.

Your friend,

S. K. NAINOA.

(Kuokoa, 6/7/1912, p. 6)

HE LEKA MAI NA AINA MAMAO MAIA

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XLVIII, Helu 23, Aoao 6. Iune 7, 1912.

Hawaiians in the Pacific Northwest, 1865.

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Travels From Washington Territory to Oregon.

O Kuokoa Newspaper; Aloha to you: We left Port Madison on the 11th of April. We went by sea aboard a single-masted ship. It took us over the deep seas for 45 miles until Steilacoom. There we stayed for a short period of two days, and in the morning of the 17th, we left that place. We walked the surface of the earth for 25 miles. And we reached Town (Olympia). We were welcomed by the haole of the hotels, and on the morning of the 18th, we left Town; we went aboard carriage [kaa-keiki ?] for 90 miles. Then we reached the Town (of Monticello). Midday of the 19th, the steamship awaited the arrival of the letter bag, and right after the letters were loaded, we boarded. The ship left the harbor and went for 57 miles on the Columbia River and we reached the Town (of Portland). We were entertained in the hotels and that is where we rested. In the morning of the 20th, some of our party went to tour the town, and we stayed that day; on the 21st, we boarded another steamship, and went for 12 miles until arriving here (Oregon City).  We met with the Hawaiian kamaaina of Komolewa [Vancouver], and were welcomed into their pleasant homes [interesting that the quote “Home” in the original]; and we learned of the death of a Hawaiian, W. Kauloa of Maui, and this is his story:

“In the evening of the 14th of December, 1864. While some of the sun was covered over by the dark billows of the sea. C. Kaanaana went along with W. Kauloa to the place of the Indian [Ilikini] to fetch their wives, and they stood outside of the door of the house. With no idea that the Indians within were inebriated. W. Kauloa entered the house, and the other stood outside; the Indian saw him enter, at which point he grabbed him and started to fight, and the Indian was close to being in trouble. The second Indian jumped in and grabbed him.

The one Indian that was doing the  fighting pulled out a knife and stabbed W. Kauloa, at which point he called out in a loud voice, “Hey, Kaanaana! Hey Kaanaana!! I am dying. A third Indian heard him call out, and went after Kaanaana and stabbed him with a knife. He ran quickly and jumped off a cliff. (It was 37 feet high from where he jumped from,) and he fell to the ground. He believed that he was saved, although his knee was scraped, along with his elbow.

He returned to their house and told Kahuelipi and Moku of what was described above. And because they could not go that night, they slept until morning of the 15th, and went to the place of the killing and asked the Indian, “Where is W. Kauloa,” at which the Indian replied, “We don’t know him.” They looked for the Indian who did the killing, and he wasn’t in the house. They thought he escaped. They searched all over, and could not find him; 5 days later, they heard from the Indians. We found that man dead, left in a beef barrel, carried by the water. It was 17 miles away from here and thought to be W. Kauloa.

And during time when we arrived, that Indian was confined in shackles. He was just tried and was let go; he is living freely until now. (Before we heard this story.)

There after, there arrived a letter from one of our friends of this foreign lands, living in Jacksonville; here is some of what the letter said: “You all wait their until the arrival of M. Kaauwaeaina them, and then make for Boise Miners, where they are digging for gold. Five dollars per eight days or ten, and so forth.” Therefore, we are awaiting their arrival here and will see what happens later.

Here are the names of those who came with me: D. Keomo, C. Mahoe, J. Kaluapana, J. Kanakaole, L. Lewa, M. J.,

G. B. Kahinano.

Oregon City, May 9, 1865.

(Kuokoa, 6/15/1865, p. 4)

No ka huakai-hele mai Wasinetona Teritoria a Oregona.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke IV, Helu 24, Aoao 4. Iune 15, 1865.