Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 15, Number 3, 1 March 1998 — EFFCTS OF WESTERN CONTACT, IDEOLOGIES AND MISSIONARIES SPAN GENERATIONS OF HAWAIIANS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

EFFCTS OF WESTERN CONTACT, IDEOLOGIES AND MISSIONARIES SPAN GENERATIONS OF HAWAIIANS

By Pikake Pelekai Editor's note: This article, written by OHA Culture Officer Pikake Pelekai, is part ofa series on the historieal context leading to the 1898 annexation ofHawai'i to the United States, and the resulting loss ofnational and cultural identity on the part ofthe Hawaiian people. ĪHE 42 years between Captain Cook's arrival in 1778 and the coming of the American missionaries in 1 820 constituted a period of drastic transition for our people and culture. Beliefs, values, traditions, customs and practices were

challenged and changed forever. This era was riddled with confusion, helplessness, curiosity and mass depopulation primarily ffom the introduction of foreign disease. The conflicting cultures of the 'ōiwi and the malihini shook the spiritual and social foundation upon whieh Hawaiian civilization had existed for hundreds of years. In the eyes of our kupuna kahiko, the malihini were vastly different in appearance, and behaved in a peculiar marmer. Their speech was described as "namu," or unitelhgible gibber-

ish. Were they gods, demigods, or some sort of supematural beings? Interaction, nevertheless, ensued with mutual fascination. In exchange for water, hogs, breadfruit and other supplies, the foreigners traded nails, metal scraps, clothing, weapons, matches and other items that intrigued the Hawaiians. Producing fire at whim was particularly awesome because to our ancestors, Lonomakua was the keeper of fire. These strangers who could create fire at whim must have been affihates of Lonomakua. Since Cook landed in the advent of the makahiki harvest season dedicated to Lono, it made sense that he in fact was Lono. Cook, already familiar with the Tahitian language, understood that the Hawaiians were hailing him as a god. James Cook was on an expedition in search of fabled northwest passage. After leaving the islands to continue his joumey, he was forced to retum because of damage to his ships in a storm. His retum to Kealakekua in Febm1 ary 1779 occurred after the close of the makahiki season of Lono. In a confrontation over the alleged theft of one of Cook's row boats, a skirmish arose in whieh Cook shed blood. The Hawaiians then realized then that Cook

was indeed a mortal, not Lono. The fight resulted in Cook's death, after whieh his crew returned to England. By the 1790s, increasing interaction between foreigners and natives caused Hawaiians to question the tradihonal gods and way of life. After all, the malihini were spared ffom divine punishment for offenses of the kapu. Illness and disease for whieh the Hawaiian of old had no immunity were devastating. The results of social interactions over time resulted in epidemics of venereal disease and small pox that caused the populahon to plummet. The ali'i applied the new technology of the malihini. With the aid of Englishmen John Young and Isaac Davis, Kamehameha the Great

used new "tools" and westem military strategies to secure the islands under his mle. The traditional ho'omana (religion) was in direct conflict with foreign ideologies. After Kamehameha's death in 1819, the kapu system was abolished by Kamehameha II at the urging of Ka'ahumanu and Keōpūolani. In 1 820, a year after the death of Kamehameha and the subsequent over-

throw of the 'aikapu, Calvinist missionaries arrived from America. When the ali'i adopted the new ho'omana and encouraged their people to do the same, it was because they were looking for another way to restore peaee and prosperity for their people. They had witnessed the effects of the illnesses and wars that decimated their people. They had seen the lo'i kalo and the fishing grounds laid to waste because of neglect and over harvesting. Perhaps the new god would restore peaee and prosperity to their lands and their people. Missionaries explained that Hawaiians were dying because of their "heathen and lascivious" ways, and offered salvation and etemal life. In an era when everyone was deeply impacted by mass depopulation, this eoncept of "ola hou" or renewed life was very appealing. Isn't it ironic that three quarters of a century later, the overthrow and annexation, overwhelmingly opposed by the native population, were orchestrated by missionary descendants and other foreigners? ■

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An American missionary preaches to Hawaiians at Kailua, Kona on the island of Hawai'i. ,

PHOĪO COURTESY: GUAVA GRAPHICS