Maui Sandalwood & The Six Chinese Society Halls
When I am walking around the part of town called China Town in Oahu I always thought that was the only China Town in Hawaii, but I sure had a lot to learn from the history books. Apparently there was stuff happening on the other island with further Hawaiian-Chinese developments of culture that were pre-plantation and went into the time of plantations. Being from Oahu, I hardly go to China Town as is unless im going to get some delicious dumplings from the Lam Family at the “Golden Palace Restaurant”. So, checking out the history on Maui really was an eye-opener with just how much collaboration and how far back Hawaiian-Chinese families had to manage all the immigrants coming in the plantations hey day. So lets start looking way back when to the Hawaiian Kingdom. The Hawaiian Kingdoms rule would be fine with the Chinese as they were able to see and respect the ideals set in place to adapt to a modern society. They had left their hope and their dreams in China where many had decided to leave the country as low-level paid workers. Many of them went to South Africa as slaves and Latin America as slaves, but those who came to Hawaii were the smaller towns who were in the minority of the people in the Chinese government’s perspective. The kingdom was a welcome move for many of the Chinese who left their nation. Back on Maui there were signs that were in Chinese and also a sign from the Kingdom itself. They would share the area of Lahaina where the kingdom would transport their supplies through the area and have the banyan tree as a marker to be close to the fresh water well. The missionaries had already been settled from 1820’s and slowly noticed the hopes of many cultures all being for a bright and happy future. In 1852, The Hawaii's sugar plantations brought Chinese workers by contract, but it was not completely new in the experience of sending Chinese to the Hawaiian islands. Because, the Chinese started to come to Hawaii as early as 1421 as a short stopping port. During the times of high seas whaling it was not uncommon for Chinese to be hiding in secret as the cooks on the Western vessels that had to use their skills of using wood to make food for the people on board which of course involved a cooking styles involving the burning of “wood”. This would they would end up using was Hawaiian Sandalwood... In 1778, The Chinese would need to cut the wood, so that it could make hot fires that would burn for cooking and make a beautiful fragrance from the sandalwood. It would be highly sought out for its flavor as well, so Hawaii was notably a place of sandalwood in cooking as well as for overseas trade. Hawaii had rare Sandalwood Tree forests that were known for their nice scent, medicinal purposes, and furniture building. When their contracts expired there were some who went back to their home with new skills, new experiences, and new knowledge, but some stayed behind. There were Chinese Society Halls that were created to provide religious, political, clubs, funerals, benefits, and mutual aid. These were in the areas of Wailuku (Chee Kung Tong & Tow Yee Kwock), Kula (Ket Hing), Lahaina (Wo Hing), Ke'anae (Li Hing), Kipahulu (Chee Kung Tong). When they had stayed longer on Maui they would refer to the communities of people expected to be segregated, but it was compared more to the rainbows that appeared in the sky with the many cultures being colors that all blend together. The changes that had happened in that time with the integration of many other plantation ethnic groups was a pleasant surprise. Many would change in belief of the land, even the Japanese and the Filipino to the Portuguese they would all come to see that the models used by the Hawaiians were for sustainable causes. The Chinese and Hawaiian-Chinese would continue to just enjoy the time period with knowing that there would be further development of the people who lived in Hawaii as well as its government. During this time in China, it was the end of the Quing Dynasty when many had chosen to come to Hawaii and be under the rule of King Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III. The economic and political climate came to the liking of some of the immigrated from China to Hawaii and stayed as well as tried to adapt to the Hawaiian way of life. This had also effected many of the foods in Maui-style cuisine to a large extent, but many dishes created from that time period may already have been lost from the plantation era. This was because the first generation had plenty of intermarriage and land for many Hawaiian-Chinese.
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