Wakinikona Hawaiian Club
Seattle, Washington
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Wakinikona Hawaiian Club Seattle, Washington
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By Larry Kamehele 'Olelo No'eau: (Saying) Li'ili'i nioi hiohio ka waha. Small red chili peppers makes he mouth blow. (Said of one who is small but potent.) KA MAKA MUA O KA PO'OLEKA HA W All (THE BEGINNING OF THE HAWAIIAN POSTAGE STAMP) Prior to 1850, mail service in the kingdom of Hawaii was very hap-hazard. In sending mail out overseas, a person had to make his own arrangement with a ship's captain, crewman or passenger . As to incoming mail, its' delivery ranged from casual to chaotic. In a letter to a friend, Charles Bishop, husband of Princess Pauahi Bishop, describes the delivery of letters, periodicals and packages thus: "on the floor of the counting room of the consignee of the vessel, or of the harbormaster's office, and those expecting letters gathered around the pile to assist in overhauling or 'sorting,' picking out their own and passing over their shoulders, the letters, etc., of those standing in the outer circle." Until 1846, the Hawaiian government assumed no responsibility for the mails, domestic or foreign. However, with the growth of foreign interest in Hawai'i and its' concurrent expansion of commercial activities in the 1840's, the Monarchy realized the desirability of a regular official postal service. In response to this understanding, the Organic Acts passed by the Privy Council and confirmed b y the King, Kamhameha IV, in 1846, included provisions for the setting up of a postal system within the kingdom. The postal provisions provided for a set of fixed rates for inter-island and mails coming from abroad, authorizing the payment of the masters of foreign ships bringing mail into the Kingdom at the rate of 2 cents for each letter and one cent for each newspaper. Inter-island mails, however, were exempt from any charge, when carried on any vessel that was licensed by the Kingdom to engage in inter-island coastal service. Other than the provision for free postal charge between islands, the rest of the postal provisions of the Hawaiian mail service were not put into effect for the next four years. The treaty of December 20, 1849 between the United States and Hawai'i, which was ratified by both countries to become effective on August 20, 1850, provided the impetus for the beginning of the Hawaiian Postal System. This treaty provided for the exchange of mail between the two countries as soon as steam or other rmil packets (i.e. ships having government contracts to carry mails) commence running between the countries. On December 22, 1850, King Kamehameha IV proclaimed that, "there shall be established a post office in Honolulu and for the time being the Polynesian office (the government printing press) is de- Glared to be the post office." This was followed b y the appointment of Henry Martyn Whitney as Hawai'i's first Postmaster, with his salary set by the Privy Council at $250 per year. Henry Whitney held his postal service post for five and a half years, when he resigned to start up the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, the fore runner of the Honolulu Advertiser. During his tenure in office Mr. Whitney instituted an efficient postal system, inaugurating branch post offices throughout the is- lands, continued the free inter-island mail service, and issued the first na po'oleka Hawai'i {Hawaiian postal stamps). In October 1, 1851, the Privy Council empowered Mr. Whitney to print the first Hawaiian stamps. Three denominations of postal stamps were issued. A two-cent denomination to be used as postage of periodicals and newspapers, a five-cent denomination to pay the Hawaiian rate to have a letter accepted aboard a U.S.-bound ship, and a thirteen- cent denomination that covered both the ocean voyage and delivery within the United States. being refused, murdered him and stole the stamp. He was caught by the French and confessed. Life Magazine once called the "Parisian murder stamp," as a collector's item, "the most valuable substance on earth." In November of 1995, at an auction in New York City, a Hawaiian two-cent Missionary cover, sold for a record-breaking 2.09 million dollars while an unused two-cent Missionary stamp went for 660,000 dollars. Both broke the record for stamp prices up to that time. Hawai'i is the only state in the Union that had its own stamp. 'OHANA Today the word ohana, besides being used to refer to families with common "roots", also refers to what is called the "nuclear" or "intermediate" families. In the past the ohana appeared to refer to members of a family group having blood ties. Just having geographical, political and social ties did not make one a member of an ohana. The word "ohana " appears to have been de- rived from two words, "'oha" am "na." According to the Hawaiian Dictionary (Pukui & Elbert, 1964), 'oha was the taro that grew from an older root, especially from the taro stalk which was called kala; a tender plant; a branch. Figuratively, it was used to mean offspring. Ni meant plural or many. So, like taro shoots growing from an older root or stalk, members of the ohana were all from the same root. Family consciousness of the "same root" concept was deeply felt and a unifying force of the ohana. As Mrs. Pukui tells us, "you may be 13th or 14th cousins, as we define relationships today, but in Hawaiian terms, if you are of the same generation, you are all brothers and sisters. You are all ohana." The ohana of old was an extended family that included: ni kupuna, the elders of the family which included the grandparents and relatives of the grandparents' generation, the great-grandparents and relatives of that generation, etc. ; the na makua or parents and relatives of the parent generation such as uncles and aunts, etc. ; and na keiki or children and their cousins. Not all in-laws were part of the ohana or clan. For instance, the bride, together with her brothers and sisters would immediately become members of the groom's ohana, but her father and mother were not included. However, on the birth of a child to this couple, the bride's parents immediately became the members of the groom’s ohana and the parents of the groom joined the bride’s parent’s ohana. The child was the link that brought them together in one one ohana. If this mutual grandchild should die and there were no others, this ohana link would be severed. The traditional ohana included not only the living relatives of the clan but also those who had passed on into immortality. Among these were the aumakua (ancestor gods) and often the unihipili (spirit) of a recently departed relative. A person seeking advice or solace not only from the living members of the ohana but also from the spiritual members of the ohana. Traditionally, blood linkage bonded together the members of an ohana. Mrs Pukui tells us, "You are not ohana because you live in the same kuleana or community. You can be neighbors and close friends --but to be ohana you must all come from the same root or be linked by the same pika (navel)." Blood ties, not living in the same area, determined one's inclusion in an ohana. Kainoa Kaiona was a benevolent goddess whose home was on the slopes of Mt. Ka'ala on the island of O'ahu. The 'ohai (a low to prostrate shrub with bright red or orange flowers) grew in profusion here. Because of her graciousness, Princess Pauahi Bishop was often compared to this goddess in song. One of the things Kaiona was celebrated for were her pet birds, which she sent out to find per- sons, who had been separated from their com- panions and lost in the forest. The birds would guide anyone lost back to their companions. Thus the saying, "He lokomaika'i ka manu o Kaiona" (Benevolent or kind is the bird of Kaiona.) A saying referring to one who helps a lost person find his way home. Kauloa Kualoa, located in Ko'olaupoko on the windward side of the island of Oahu, was one of the most sacred places on the island. Here were located the sacred pahus (drums) Kapahu'ula and Ka'ahuula- punawai. It was so sacred that in ancient times, all canoes, no matter who were passengers, lowered their mast when passing by the land of Kualoa. This kapu was strictly observed and woe to its' infractor . Because of its' sacredness, Kualoa was also a pu'uhonua, or place of refuge to anyone, condemned to die, if he could reach its borders.
Sources: Chaplin, George Press time in Paradise. The. ~ m ~ .(t b. Honolulu Advertiser . ~P-~(Honolulu. University of Hawaii Press, 1998) pp. 8-10, 312-313. Feher, Joseph; Joesting, Edward; Bushnell, O.A. ~A~~(Honolulu. Bishop Museum Press, 1969) p 23. Kuykendall, Ralph S ~ Hawaiian Kingdom ~ =16I.4. (Honolulu. University of Hawaii Press, 1953) pp. 26-32. Pukui, M.K., Haertig, E.W., Lee, C.A. ~ 1 K.e KumY pp 166-173
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