Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 2, 1 February 2022 — The Little Known Case of Harry Kaheleiki [ARTICLE]

The Little Known Case of Harry Kaheleiki

By Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp In 1932, Honolulu was in an uproar after īhalia Fortescue Massie, a Navy wife and Washington, D.C., socialite, claimed she was assaulted and raped by "locals." This led to the arrest of five young men, three Native Hawaiians and two Japanese, and puhlie opinion was deeply divided along racial lines. When the men were released after a mistrial was declared, the Caucasian and military community was outraged. Massie's mother, husband and two others kidnapped one of the young men, Joseph Kahahawai, in an attempt to force his confession - but the night ended with his murder. The vigilantes were tried and convicted of manslaughter for Kahahawai's death, but went unpunished. The case, known as the Massie Affair, made headlines in Hawai'i and across the United States. It also underscored the systemic racism of the legal system. Back in 1863, a little known case involving another falsely accused Native Hawaiian generated similar racial tension. Isaac Hussey, the captain of the whaling ship William Penn, was murdered off the island of Kosrae in Micronesia when members of his crew mutinied in response to harsh treatment. Hussey was killed in the skirmish by a Native Hawaiian crew member. That was in 1852. Eleven years later, a man named Harry Kaheleiki visited San Francisco. Kaheleiki had no connection to the William Penn or to the mutiny that occurred 11 years earlier in Micronesia. However, while he was in San Francisco, white sailors who had been on the William Penn during the mutiny claimed to "recognize" Kaheleiki as the man who had killed Hussey. Without evidence, they incited a mob and attempted to lynch Kaheleiki. The poliee intervened and prevented the lynching, but Kaheleiki was nevertheless arrested, charged, and eventually found guilty of murder by an all-Ha-ole jury. Kaheleiki insisted that he had

been in Honolulu at the time. But his fluency in English was limited and he was not given a translator. The jury sentenced Kaheleiki to death. The Kaheleiki case caused a surge of anti-Hawaiian sentiment in San Francisco, endangering the Native Hawaiian and Paeihe Islander communities in the area. Rev. Luther Gulick, a former missionary in both Hawai'i and Micronesia, heard about the Kaheleiki case. He wrote to then Interior Minister Prince Lot Kamehameha about the situation. The prince, (the future King Kamehameha V), was deeply moved by the blatant miscarriage of justice. Historian and judge John Papa 'Īī and High Chief Caesar Kapa'akea volunteered to help Kaheleiki. They were dispatched as representatives of the Hawaiian government to advocate for Kaheleiki and the larger Hawaiian eommunity in California. Kapa'akea testified that Kaheleiki was in Honolulu throughout most of the 1850s and produced employment records as evidence. 'Iī also testified on behalf of Kaheleiki, producing missionary records and citing various U.S. legal precedents challenging the trial and the verdict. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of California whieh overturned Kaheleiki's guilty verdict stating, "it is better that 10 guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer." Had it not been for the intervention of the Hawaiian government and the delegation sent to California, Kaheleiki would have been executed for a crime he did not eommiī. The deep-rooted racism that tarnishes the legal system, then and now, serves as a reminder that Kānaka Maoli must be vigilant and insist that that race, national origin, language, religion, eeonomie or social status do not interfere with justice. ■ Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp grew up in Papakōlea and is a Hawaiian and Pilipino writer, blogger and independent researcher.