Dave Boothroyd
From:
Staffordshire Moorlands
|
Posted 10 Sep 2006 1:32 pm |
|
The Folk music forum. Mudcat, www.mudcat.org
has a thread about Hawaiian (Kanaka) Shantymen.
I'll paste the longest post in here, but I wonder if it fills in the missing years and explains how steel guitar was able to become so influential in the USA so quickly.
Subject: RE: Folklore: Kanaka (Hawaian) chanteymen
From: Q - PM
Date: 08 Sep 06 - 06:27 PM
Although I have nothing directly citing Hawaiian chanteymen, there are many references to Hawaiians in the service of the fur trade, whalers and merchantmen, California hide trade, HB farms and HB construction, etc. These random notes may put some perspective on the period.
An important article on the subject is Quimby, George I., 1972, Jour. Pacific History, vol. 7, "Hawaiians in the fur trade of north-west America, 1785-1820."
Sir George Simpson, Governor-in Chief of the Hudsons Bay Company, 1847, "Narrative of a Journey Round the World during the years 1841 and 1842" wrote as follows about his trip in a boat along the Columbia River: "Our bateau carried as curious a muster of races and languages as perhaps has ever been congregated within the same compass in any part of the world. Our crew of ten men contained (an) Iroquois..., a Cree half-breed of native origin, a north Briton who understands only the Gaelic of his native hills, a Canadian... who knew French; and Sandwich Islanders who jabbered a medley of Chinook, English etc., and their own vernacular jargon...; add to this (passengers natives of the British Isles, Russia etc.) and you have the prettiest congress of nations..."
The Hudsons Bay Company records speak of the Kanaka voyageurs, whom they found more reliable than many of the French, and as good as the MetÃs.
Sir George speaks of the whaling ships, "Whaling ships have left San Francisco" .... have all gradually betaken themselves to the sandwich Islands." ... "The Sandwich Islands afford to the refitting whaler an ample supply of competent labour, both native and foreign, at reasonable wages." (He spoke of the population of San Francisco as "naturally indolent."
After the abandonment of the feudal system, many young Hawaiian men were left without occupation. For a short time, until joined by both American and English advisors, the "missionaries notoriously became, so far as new legislation was concerned, the real rulers of the Group." King Kamehameha II spoke English and French fluently
The Royal government, with the help of these advisors, arranged contracts for the placement of Hawaiians in employment in sea-going trades, the fur trade, sawmills, construction and farms in western America. Contracts were for a set period, and the employers were required to provide for return of the Hawaiians at the end of the contract period. In the Hawaiian Archives in Honolulu are many papers relating to these contracts. One discussed in Repts. Hawaiian Hist. Soc. was an agreement between Kekuanaoa and George Pelly (1840) to take 60 Hawaiians for service in the Columbia River, for a period of three years, "to be returned at the end of said period term on penalty of $20. each."
Fort Langley in British Columbia was constructed with Kanaka labor; they were the sawyers. The first HB sawmill, 1828, five miles upstream from Ft. Vancouver, was operated by Kanakas. By 1830, 200,000 board feet of lumber was being sent to the Islands. Salmon was salted and barrelled by Indian and Kanaka laborers, timber was cut and finished into lumber for shipment to the Hudsons Bay Store in Honolulu, etc. The farms experimented with various crops.
After the merger of HB and NW Cos. in 1821, the Kanaka labor force was a key factor in HB operations. The Indians were 'unreliable,' and French Canadian voyageurs were expensive and 'independent'. Chief factor at Ft. Vancouver, Dr. John McLaughlin, offered 10 pounds/year to islanders; by 1823, some 200 islanders were trained sailors. In addition to working as seamen on coast vessels, they built boats and worked on the canoes and York boats, and in various positions at the Forts.
Kanakas were important before the HB period; the crew of the Astor ship, 'Beaver', in 1812 consisted of five Canadians, seven Americans and twelve Kanakas.
At Fort Walla Walla, 1818, 25 Canadians, 32 Kanaka and 38 Iroquois were employed under Donald Mackenzie. The Iroquois attacked one night, but Mackenzie was saved by the Canadians and Owhyees.
The Hawaiians' 'warrior ability' also was put to use by HB to assist in pacification of local Indian tribes- the first punitive expedition was led by A. McLeod in 1828 against the Clallum Indians. In addition to the 'Owhyees', Chinooks and Iroquois were in the force.
Simpson spoke of Hawaiian women riding horses "en cavilier" on the Spanish saddle; Mexican vaqueros had trained Hawaiian cowboys ('paniolos') beginning in the 1820's after cattle introduced by Vancouver needed control, and cattle sales became important.
An important part of Hawaiian music is the result of the mixture of Hawaiians and Mexicans in the cattle trade, later reinforced by Canary Islanders, Portuguese and others.
Kanakas were employed by the Spanish in California in the hide trade (described by Dana in "Two Years Before the Mast").
In 1849, the Advertiser (Honolulu) reported that Rev. S. C. Damon visited Kanaka diggings in California, where 75 Sandwich Islanders were searching for gold.
Some of the Hawaiians stayed, and small settlements developed in British Columbia, Washington State and elsewhere. There are articles about Hawaiians who settled in New England when they were a part of the sea-faring trade.
Not all stories had happy endings; in 1903 an article in the Rept. Minister of Foreign Affairs describes the plight of indigent Hawaiians in Utah.
I just want to draw this to the attention of historians of Hawaii, who maybe might miss it.
Cheers
Dave |
|
George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
|
Posted 13 Sep 2006 1:52 pm
|
|
Not totally accurate, but interesting. It was in the 1830s (1832, I seem to recall) that El Capitan Don Jose De La Guerra y Noriega of the Presideo at Santa Barbara loaned some vaqueros (Mexican cowboys) to the King of Hawai`i to train Hawaiians to handle cattle, which were running wild all over the Big Island. They were a gift in the 1790s from Capt. Vancouver, who bought them from the same Capitan. Their contribution to music was the Spanish guitar.
Some of the Hawaiians who went to work for the Hudson's Bay Company settled on Salt Spring Islands, British Columbia, married Native (Indian) women and stayed there.
Note that all of those early dates in 1800s were long before the steel guitar was invented, so it is doubtful that they had any influence on its spread around the US or Canada.
Many Hawaiians left the Islands on ships, right from the very first opportunity (Cook) and continued throughout the history from 1778 to the present. It was young Hawaiian boys who settled in New England who learned other languages and helped translate the Bible from Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) into Hawaiian. That's why their Bible is more accurate than the hundreds of versions that were third hand, translated from English versions.
"Owyhee" is how Cook's writers spelled Hawai`i in their journals and I think there is a river in Washington that carries that name... presumably because of some Hawaiians who went up there.
I seriously doubt that this has any connection to the steel, or its spread or popularity. But then, what would I know?
[This message was edited by George Keoki Lake on 13 September 2006 at 08:25 PM.] |
|
