Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 6, 1 June 2004 — Sutter's Kānaka [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Sutter's Kānaka

The Hawaiians who helped settle Sacramento

By Andy Ah Po Sutter's Fort, with its high walls and heavy, wooden gates, keeps Sacramentans securely linked to their past. Should they get the urge to see what life was like for early inhabitants, they ean set aside a Sunday afternoon, visit the fort and peek into the small, damp rooms depicting the day-to-day tasks of the settlers. Few would leave, however, knowing the full story. The fort is said to be patterned after Kekuanohu Fort in Honolulu, and for a good reason: Native Hawaiians were instrumental in its construction. They made up the majority of Captain John Sutter's original party, whieh camped on the banks of the Sacramento River in thatched roof huts like those found in Hawaiian villages during that time. The story has been culled from letters, journals, memoirs and diaries written by ordinary men recording everyday life. No man was more prolific than Sutter himself. An entry in his diary explains the Native Hawaiians' presence: "When I left the Sandwich Isles (Hawai'i) the king gave me eight men, all experienced Seamen. I was to keep them three years and to pay them $10 per month and three years later to send them back at my own expense if they wish to go back. The men were glad to go with me and would not leave me at the end of three years. Two were married and brought their wives along with them." Sutter had sailed to Hawai'i in search of venture capitalists willing to back his agricultural enterprise in Alta California. While King Kamehameha III' s investment was not monetary, it was valuable to Sutter nonetheless. The Kānaka, as the Native Hawaiians were called, were experienced agriculturists. Sutter's agri-business flourished with the help of the Kānaka. He appointed one, Kanaka Harry, as the overseer of his 600-acre estate, Hoek Farm. Harry and his wife planted beds of melons, potatoes and other crops with the aid of fellow Kānaka. Their agricultural expertise made it possible to sell 24,000 bushels of wheat yearly to the Russian settlements at Fort Ross, Bodega Bay and Sitka, Alaska. Sutter later bought the Russians' California land holdings for $30,000, for whieh he paid $2,000 down and the remainder in wheat. "Kānaka," the Hawaiian word for human being, was used in Native Hawaiian culture to distinguish commoners from ali'i or the royal class, and kahuna, the priests and healers. The

Kānaka were the backbone of traditional Native Hawaiian society and soon filled the same role in Sutter's world. Harry's brother-in-law, Manaiki, served as a eook aboard Sutter's 20-ton sloop, the Amelia. Another Kanaka nicknamed Maintop carried freight on Sutter's schooner, making frequent trips between Yerba Buena (San Francisco) and the fort. At Sutter's command, Kānaka even traveled with a group from the fort to dig for gold on the south fork of the American River. They used their water skills to dive for fresh water clams to feed the mining party and brought up gold nuggets from the river bottom. They were Sutter's loyal supporters, from Aug. 1, 1839, when he set sail up to the Sacramento River in quest of a site for his empire, until he left California. The journey began with the ten Kānaka and nine other men aboard the schooner IsabeIIa, the yacht Nicholas and a small penanee, after Governor Alvarado gave Sutter permission to settle Alta California, a Mexican territory. It took the party eight days to find the mouth of the Sacramento River, with two false starts. They traveled up the San Joaquin River as far as Stockton and then fifteen miles up the Feather River. A near-mutiny by the haole in the party forced Sutter to make permanent eamp at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers.

At this time, Sutter decided to give the crews the option of returning to Yerba Buena "to obtain a supply of provisions . . . even at the risk of being left alone with my Kānaka." Most accepted his offer, leaving Sutter to establish New Helvetia "with ... eight Kanaka (and two wives) three white men, and one Indian." Sutter's diary is filled with bits and pieces on the Kānaka, though you would be hard-pressed to find mention of them in any history text today. One entry particularly acknowledges their contribution: "I could not have settled the country," wrote Sutter, "without the aid of these Kanakas. They were always faithful and loyal to me." Andy Ah Po is a Ca\ifornia state eh'il servant anā martial-arts expert of Hawaiian ancestry, who has Iived in Sacramento since he was stationed aī McCIeIIan Air Force Base there in the Iate 1950s. Active in Hawaiian civic and advocacy organizations, he was one of the founders of the Hui 'O Hawai'i Hawaiian CIub of Sacramento. Through extensive archival research, he has uncovered the IittIe-known ro!e played. by Native Hawaiians in the early history of CaIifornia. ■

A drawing of Sutter's Fort done by Joseph Warren Revere in 1 846, soon after it was built with help of Sutters' party of Kōnaka. Inset top right: A portrait of Sutter as a young man, around the time he traveled to Hawai'i. lllustrations courtesy ot Calitornia Department ot Parks, Sutter's Fort Archives,