Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 1989 — Memorial statue honors Hawaiian settlers in Utah [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Memorial statue honors Hawaiian settlers in Utah

By Nanette Napoleon Pumell Director, The Cemetery Research Project The first time I heard about Iosepa wasfrom a man I met in the Laie Communify Cemetery in 1986. He said I might be interested in going to Utah someday to see the cemetery at Iosepa, whieh, except for two old wooden houses is the on/y thing remaining of a onee beautiful Hawaiian 'town situated at the edge of the Great Salt Lake Desert. The following is an account of my journey to Iosepa last month to attend a special memorial seruice at the cemetery in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the town. On August 28, 1889, 54 pioneers of Hawaiian, Samoan, Portuguese and English ancestry entered Skull Valley, Utah, for the first time after a 75 mile, two-day wagon-and-mule trek from Salt Lake City, to found the town of losepa. On the morning of August 28, 1989, nearly 200 ancestors of thse original settlers arrived at the cemetery in Iosepa to pay homage to those pioneers and their descendants, who lived, and died, in the valley for 28 years. But instead of arriving by wagon-and-mule, these descendants arrived by air-conditioned cars, vans and trailer houses. Some eame from California and Virginia. Many eame from various cities and towns in Utah where their families have settled in recent years. But most journeyed nearly 4,000 miles from Hawai'i to attend this historic memorial event. Iosepa (what's left of it anyway) is quite literally in the middle of "nowhere." It's an hour by car from "anywhere" except the Morton Salt Mill (25 miles away) and the Skull Valley Indian Reservation (10 miles). The town is not listed on most maps because it has been abandoned since 1917, and if you don't know whieh dirt road to turn off of to get to the cemetery, you would have a heek of a time finding the plaee. But many of the people who attended the August 28 event know the road to Iosepa well, because they have made the trek there every year since 1980 to eamp at the site with other descendants and to elean the graves. Because 1989 marked the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the town, a week-long schedule of activities was organized by the Iosepa Historical Society, headed by Ed Kamouoha of Laiea. The celebration culminated at the cemetery on August 28 with the unveiling of a 16-foot tall memorial tablet crowned with a bust of a Hawaiian "ali'i"

figure. The bronze statue was designed by Jan Fisher, art instructor at BYU-Laie, and cost nearly $30,000. The long text on the front of the monument descnbes the founding of the town and lists the pioneer members of the settlement. It also includes an inlaid plaque designating Iosepa as an official Utah State Historic Site, as well as being placed on the National Register of Historic Places. On the back of the monument is a list of all the people (51) who are known to be buried in the cemetery. Various fund raisers were held to pay for the statue, both in Hawai'i and in Utah. The main speakers at the ceremony were Edith Alapa, 74, Andrew Kamauoha, 78, Lionel Broad, 75, Bernice Thomas, 86, and Irma McDonald, 85, who were all born in Iosepa. Eaeh told brief stories of their childhood life in Iosepa and how they treasured those memories to this day. Also speaking was noted Hawaiian genealogist and historian, Albert Like, who has helped the Historical Society put together various data about losepa and the families who lived there. Throughout the three-hour ceremony many songs were sung. Some were Hawaiian, some were Samoan, some were church hymns. The feature song, however, was "Iosepa Ku'u Home Aloha" (losepa My Beloved Home), whieh was written and sung by descendants of the Halemanu family. In 1988 $7,500 was raised to help pay for the instal!ation of cement "curbing" around eaeh of the 51 "known", but unmarked grave sites in the cemetery. These graves were marked by wooden crosses until 1985 when a brush fire swept through the valley destroying all of the markers and all of the abandoned dwellings in the town except for two home sites. To conclude the program fresh anthuriums from Hawai'i were placed on eaeh of the restored grave sites, their bright redness standing out in stark contrast to the desert surroundings. After the cemetery many families gathered at their cars and vans to eat island-style plate lunches of musubi, Korean ribs, shoyu ehieken and beef stew. Other drove 40 miles to the nearest LDS church, in Grantsville, to have a lu'au luneh there. Later this year a time capsule will be placed in the new monument with historical and genealogical information about the settlement, as well as pictures of living descendants and their families. Pioneer Settlers of Iosepa, Utah: Alapa, Harvey; Alapa, OHva; Barell, Elihue; Cluff, H. H.; Coles, William; Haiki; Halemanu, Eleen (wife); Halemanu, James (son); Halemanu, W. K.; Kalawai; Kalina, Moke; Kamakaniu, George;

Kamakaniu, Kealohaniu (wife); Kapaini (wife) Kapela; Kaulainamoku, J. W. (wife); Kealakaihouna, Kahiana (wife); Kealakaihouna, Pelekana (son); Kealakaihouna, Peter; Kealakaihouna, Peteropio (son); Kekuku, Hattie (daughter); Kekuku, Ivy (daughter); Kekuku, Joseph; Kekuku, Joseph; Kekuku, Miliama (wife); Kekuku, Viola (son); Lyman, F.M. Jr.; Mahoe, Hanah (wife); Mahoe, J.K. N.; Mahoe, Lucy (daughter); Mahunalii, Elizabeth (daughter); Mahunalii, John; Mahunalii, Victoria (wife); Makakao, John; Makakao, Lucy E. (wife); Makaopiopio (widow); Makaula, John; Makaula, Maria (wife); Marchant, Frank W.; Mitchell, F.A.; Mohala (wife); Mokuilima, David; Mokuilima, Hookala (wife); Mokuilima, Mary (daughter); Naau, Charles; Naau, Emily S.; Naau, Jane (wife); Napela; Napela, Hattie (daughter); Niau, George W.; Pomaikai, N.; and Solamona, Piipiilani. Editor's note: At the Sept. 29 board meeting, the OHA Board of Trustees was expected to act on a resolution honoring the Iosepa pioneers, and thanking the organizations that initiated and eoordinated the commemoration.

Descendants of the losepa pioneers pose before monumeni to their forebears.

Memorial statue at losepa represents Hawaiian ali'i.

Halemanu family descendants point to ancestors' names on engraved stone.