Ke Alahou, Volume I, Number 1, 1 November 1979 — KANAKA WILLIAM by Yvonne Mearns Klan Mai ka "Beaver" [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

KANAKA WILLIAM

by Yvonne Mearns Klan Mai ka "Beaver"

A Publication of the Hudsdn's Bay Company ' Kanaka presence drifts like a ghost rf through the chronicles of Fort Vancouver. 01d : journals kept by visitors to the fort record the novelty of a Hawaiian ehaplain and congregation on the banks of the Columbia, and faded maps recall the existence of 'Owhyhee 'Church' within the fort's stockades. For a brief period Kan,aka William became the central figure in an intefnatibnal dispute whieh hastened Foxt Vancouver's c!osure, but in spite of his fleeting appearance on the international scene liUle is known about the Hawaiian ehaplain, The few his existence are scattered through archives in Manitoba, British ColumbiaV Ōregon and Hawaii, and have neverbeen woven togēther.' . Kanaka William and the hundreds of Hawaiians who served in the fur never c " historical prominence, so their colōurful and important gontribution to the development df the trade has ger;erally been overlcx)ked7n accoifnts df the era. The earliest maritime traders s bound for the fur-rich shores of the Pacific NorthwesC took aboard Hawaiians to replenish-€rews whieh had been depleted by scurvy, accidents and desertions. Russian fur traders recruited Hawaiians to work in remote Alāsks Outposts. Tn 1811 the Pacific Fur Company relied on Hāwaiian labour to bui!d Astoria, the first establishmēnt on the Columbia; When Astoria was taken over by th'e North West Company, the tradition of using Hawaiian laboūrers was maintained. The harsh and rugged life of the fur trade took its toll. Men froze in subzerd winters, drowned in turbulent rivers. t succumbed to disease and injury7 or were slain by hostile Indians; and the traders were hard pressed to find new men to replace those who had died or deserted. Native īndians were employed where feasible but they were accustom6d to seasonal work Tiabits and had neither the inclination nor mbtivation for the drudgery of steady labour around the fofts; nōr could theiFloyalty be depended upon in the event of Indian-white conflicts, The traders therefpre turned to the Hawaiian Islands for the cheapest, most accessible source of manf)ower. The Hawaiiāns" were found to be willing workers, docile and honest, and excellent boatmen. They were considered to laek the qualities

of leadership but this deficienGy was offset by their loyalty — an important consideration when isolated outposts were surrounded and outnumbered by unpredictable native Indians. Another advantage wāē their willingness to atcept only food and clothing for wages. The 1821 merger of the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company brought about many changes in the Pacific fur trade, but the wāges remained constant. Governor George Simpson conceded that the Islanders ■ were useful for 'eommon drudgery' and were 4 valuable in establishing new Countries as they ean be depended on is cases of danger from the. natives/ but otherwise he had a low,opinion of their abilities and maintained that foo3and clothing were recompense for all the services they render.' Nonetheress, in 1824 the Company awārded them a salary of £17 a year — the minimum wage for servants of the Jowest rānk. Other empīoyees resentēd the Hawaiians' elevation to salaried status, 'and very naturally sq' proc!aimed Simpson, 'as they are by no means a such sērviceable people.'.The contentious salary

was therefore reduced to £10 a year and this, reported Simpson, 'satisfies airparties.' It is debatable that the Hawaiians actually gained by jeceiving a salary. Reveread Herbert Beaver, the Company's ehaplain at Fbrt Vancouver, reported thaf'pach Hawaiian before arnbarkatiQn in tl>eir own country, received a sma.n advance of money, part of whieh their chiefs ,56126*35 a boniis for permitting them to have lt, . . The remainder is usually squandered; so that wheh they arriVē in a colder climate they are destitute of adequate clothing, thessupply of whieh generally consūmed the whole of their wage§ for the first year. Nor are they afterwards able to save,much of these, for all their ,necessities are charged $t the rate of 100 pei cent. . . Beaver was a reientless iand, at times, inaecurate) critic of the Gompany's Columbia Qperations. He strongly protested the use of corporal punishment and maintained that the Hawaiians' condition is little better than that of slavery, being subject to all the imperious treatment whieh their employers may think fit to lay on them, whether by flogging, imprisonment or otherwise> without a possibility of cbtaining redress. (to be continued)

-, / , Kaw aiahao. ihe f!r.si < huri h esiannshea in Honoluiu, as it appeared in-1847. Kānaka Willlam a member ofthtechurchbeforehisdepariurefortheColumbiaDistrkt.