Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 10, 1 October 1991 — Paniola history [ARTICLE]

Paniola history

The original paniolas were Spanish American | vaqueros, cowboys, who eame from California in | the early 1830s to teach the Hawaiians how to herd { cattle. | A Like many other things that have been 4 "Hawaiianized," the words Espanol and Espanola, { referring to the Spanish, translated to the | Hawaiian language as paniola by the first Hawaiian I cowboys. The result was the birth of the Hawaiian { cowboy. | Long ago, when the Spaniards first eame to I Hawai'i, cattle-raising was just beginning here. The { Hawaiian people had obtained cattle for food but { were unskilled in the proper care of the animals. | [ The Spaniards, known for their expertise in { I cattle work, taught the Hawaiian people { everything they knew about raising cattle. The J [ Espanola, therefore, became the first cowboys in I [ Hawai'i, during the reign of Kamehameha III in { [ 1830. { The Espanolas were especially important to i [ Hawai'i because most of the cattle acquired by the I [ early Hawaiians roamed freely throughout the Big { f Island. These wild cattle were difficult to capture j [ and next to impossible to determined who owned I [ them. { The cattle that had been left on the islands by I [ the early voyagers ran wild and multiplied to such { ī an extent that hides were notable export { products. The demand for beef led to the j establishment of ranches. I At the end of the reign, it was estimated that { there were about 40,000 cattle in the group, { including at 12,000 wild ones. In 1840, a kapu was| [ placed on the killing of wild bullocks but during the | [ last decade of the reign an average of more than { [ 2,000 hides were exported eaeh year. j | Over the years, the paniola has evolved into a | [ colorful yet distinctly different version of the Wild { [ West cowboy on the Mainland. The Hawaiian { : cowboy is often outfitted with a papale, hat, { decorated with fresh flowers or wili braided in j haku style. { Among their uniquely Hawaiian skills is the po'o { waiu, a rodeo event found only in Hawai'i, and{ paniola who swim the cattle into the surf, tyingj [ them to whale boats. { S — Paniola Historical Foundation j