Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 9, 1 September 2022 — Paniolo: The Pride of a Nation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Paniolo: The Pride of a Nation

By Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp We associate cowboys with the "Wild West," but the Hawaiian Kingdom had cowboys long before the United States and it all started with seven cattle. In 1793, British Capt. George Vancouver gave seven longhorn cattle as a gift to King Kamehameha I. The following year, Vancouver gave an additional 12 longhorns to the king to encourage him to engage in the dairy and beef industries. The king placed a kapu on the longhorns, and for the next 20 years they roamed free on Hawai'i Island and bred to the point of becoming a serious problem. John Parker, a sailor from Massachusetts, was allowed by the king to establish a ranch where he domesticated wild horses and cattle. And by 1819, Native Hawaiians were allowed to build walls and trap wild cattle as a way to keep them away from their farms and homes. Eventually, there was such a large number of wild cattle that by 1830 King Kamehameha III removed the kapu on cattle and this was the beginning of the beef industry in Hawai'i. In 1833, with the help of John Parker, King Kame-

hameha III brought three Mexican vaqueros, or eowboys, from California (then part of Mexico) to the Hawaiian Kingdom to tame the cattle and train Hawaiians to be cowboys. These first vaqueros, whose last names were recorded as Kossuth, Ramon and Lauzada (Lazada), spoke Spanish (Espanol) whieh is where the term "paniolo" comes ff om. They trained Native Hawaiian paniolo to be among the best in the world. The vaqueros shared their knowledge of crafting saddles, brood winged stirrups, hair rope, and lassos as well as leather tanning. Waimea heeame the heart of "paniolo country" and Honoka'a was a major ranching town. Over the next 10 years more vaqueros eame to Hawai'i as ranches opened on all the major islands. The vaqueros continued to introduce their music, cuisine, and guitar to Hawaiians and mueh of that remains to this day. Pīpī kaula (jerked beef), for example, is a version of the Mexiean "carne seca" and is still enjoyed today. The vaqueros were so successful in teaching ranching to the paniolo that by 1849, Hawai'i began to export beef to the U.S. territory of California to meet their demands. With beef and other agricultural exports, Hawai'i helped to feed California throughout its Gold Rush and the U.S. Civil War periods.

The vaqueros also taught Native Hawaiian women about ranching and horse riding. Native Hawaiian women in ranching history remains an under-re-searched topic, but the equestrian skill of these women was well-known. Unlike European women who primarily rode side-saddle, Native Hawaiian women rode astride like men. Women riding astride was considered by some Europeans to be immodest. Native Hawaiian holo lio wāhine (female horse

riders) wore a form of a devantiere, or riding habit, that allowed them to ride astride. To keep their riding habits elean, comfortable and modest, some draped fabric (pā u) around them. The patterns and colors of these pā u began SEE PANIOLO ON PAGE 12

Notive Howoiion paniolo were renowned for their skills winning at rodeo competitions ocross Americo in the eorly 20th century. - Photo: Howai'i State Archives

PANI0L0 Continued from page 8

to serve as indicators of one's family or where one was ffom. These holo lio wāhine heeame the pioneers of our pāu riders today. Some of the more famous pāu riders include Kamaka Stillman; Adele Kau'ilani Lemke; Rose Davison; and Princess Lili'uokalani Kawānanakoa Morris. These women were also instrumental in forming women's riding clubs and bringing pāu riding into our parades. By doing so, they also helped to maintain these traditions until this day despite the closure of many ranches in the later part of the 20th century. By the 1850s, a paniolo subculture blending Mexican vaquero and Hawaiian traditions developed. This ean be seen in their wide brim hats made of lauhala and decorated with lei po'o. And olelo Hawai'i replaced Spanish as the language of the paniolo. In addition to handling cattle and horses, paniolo also managed hogs, sheep, and goats. King Kamehameha V was keen to produce wool on his ranch on Moloka'i. Emperor Napoleon III of France hearing of this, gifted four hand-picked rams from his royal estate at Rambouillet to start this venture. Thus, paniolo helped to establish other industries. From the 1860s and onward, ranching continued to expand on all islands through the mid 20th century. This not only helped to spread paniolo traditions throughout Hawai'i but also made the paniolo community more diverse. After finishing their plantation eontracts, quite a few Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, and Portuguese heeame paniolo. Many Portuguese already were eampinos or "cowboys" in their own country and would help maintain the horses and mules on the plantations. These campinos brought their traditions to Hawai'i and, after leaving the sugar plantations, they opened up dairy farms and small ranches. Three of the most famous Hawaiian paniolo were Ikua Purdy, Arehie Ka'au'a, and Jack Low, all of whom competed and won various rodeos in the U.S. in the early 20th century including the Wyoming Frontier Days in 1908. Their victories at these rodeos stunned American cowboys and rodeo audiences. Many Native Hawaiians felt a deep sense of pain in the aftermath of the takeover of our lāhui, so when these paniolo outshone their competitors it helped to restore a sense of dignity to all Native Hawaiians. Paniolo, therefore, embodies a spirit of resiliency but also the pride of a nation. ■