Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 11, 1 November 2015 — Scotty Bowman: Native Hawaiian lmpact and Legacy -- Kalama, Washington [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Scotty Bowman: Native Hawaiian lmpact and Legacy -- Kalama, Washington

Trustee's note: This eohmm is guest written hy Scotty Bowman, myformer chiefofstaff. Mahalo nui Scotty and Lynn "RV-ers extraordinaire." On August 19 to 21, 2005, during Kalama Days of Discovery, the city celebrated the arrival, 175 years ago, of John Kalama from Hawaih, and the unique entwining of Hawaiian and Native American cultures whieh helped develop the city and Paeihe Northwest Ter-

ritories. John, after whom the Kalama River, City of Kalama, Port of Kalama and Camp Kalama is named, was 16 when he left Kula, Maui on a fur-trading vessel. He went to work for Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Fort Nisqually, whieh raised livestock on its farm. He was one of ten Hawaiians who worked there on a variety of tasks including building structures, pressing furs and wool for shipping, herding sheep, cutting hay and repairing wagons and saddles. While there, John mar-

ried Mary Martin, daughter of the Nisqually tribe Chief. Oregon and Washington law prevented Hawaiians from marrying whites. HBC encouraged them to marry Native Americans. The eompany knew Hawaiians who married Paeihe Northwest women tended to stay and renew their work contracts. Over time, it heeame a status symbol for Native American women to marry Hawaiians and some Hawaiians or their descendants heeame Native American tribal leaders. A hmeline of Hawaiians in the fur trade indicates 24 arrived in the Paeihe Northwest in 1811. In 1812, 5 more. In 1813, 12 and in 1817, 60 more. Hawaiians were actively sought as fur trade employees because of their excellent swimming and canoeing skills. Although French voyageurs had good eanoe skills, they did not swim. As a "safety device," the Northwest Company (whieh merged with its rival Hudson's Bay Company) employed Hawaiians and put

them in every eanoe with French voyageurs. Now, when canoes flipped, excellent swimmers were aboard to save trappers and furs and recover sunken goods. In 1842, a French priest estimated 500 Hawaiians populated the Northwest Coast. They made many trips into the interior, to Fort Spokane and as far as the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. On one of HBC's first explorations of the Frazier River in Canada, 6 of 42 explorers were Hawaiians. The company had several forts along the Northwest Coast that

relied on Hawaiian employees. In fact, more than 20 plaee names in the Northwest have Hawaiian origins: in Oregon - Kalama River, City of Kalama, Owyhee River, City of Aloha (pronounced a-low-a) and Friday Harbor (town named for Joe "Friday" Poelie); and in Nevada - Owyhee Lake and Owyhee River, to name a few. The genetic consequences of many Hawaiians marrying Native Americans on the Northwest Coast reveals Hawaiians were among the top three contributors to

the Northwest Coast Native American gene pool. Tribal records, however, list members who do not know, or who do not elaim, they are part Hawaiian. Because many Native Americans did not understand the role of Hawaiians during the fur trade period, they assumed Hawaiians were "slaves." They would not list their Hawaiian heritage because they did not want to be known as the descendant of a slave. After the boundary between the US and Canada was determined, HBC moved north of the border. Many of its Hawaiian employees followed, but others married to Native American women remained in the Puget Sound area. John and Mary Kalama left Fort Nisqually and moved to the eompany's Cowlitz Farm. In fact, they ownedland where Fort Lewis now stands. The eouple had two children. Today, more than 1,200 descendants trace their lineage to John and Mary. Several still live in or near Kalama (pronounced Ca-lei-ma). 35/48 ■

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Donald "Scofty" Bowman at one of his sTops in the Pacific Northwest. - Courtesy photo