Ka Pilina

Kii: deep3dsea

Inside image of a traditional Alaskan native hale built on the grounds of the Native Alaskan Heritage Center

Kii: Native Alaskan Heritage Center in Alaska

Aloha e nā makamaka,

In 1999, a small group of Hawaiians attended the opening of the Native Alaskan Heritage Center in Anchorage, Alaska. During our visit, we had the privilege of meeting the Iñupiat kūpuna from the Aleutian Islands who were respected healers in their villages and represented their respective clans. Iñupiat is the plural form of their word for "the people" in their native language. Known as Alaskan Inuit, they are a group of Alaska Natives whose traditional territory roughly spans northeast from Norton Sound on the Bering Sea to the northernmost part of the Canada–United States border. Their current communities include 34 villages.

As we spent time talking story with them, we learned that several had Hawaiian ancestry, and some carried Hawaiian names that had been passed down through their families for generations. They shared oral traditions describing how, many generations earlier, canoes carrying another native people from Hawaiʻi had arrived on their shores. According to these accounts, some canoes were forced to land, while others were regular visitors to certain localities.

The tupuna described these vessels as double-hulled canoes enclosed with finely woven mats that covered much of the hulls. They recalled that some of the visitors wore feather cloaks, feather helmets, and beautifully woven mat garments. According to their traditions, some of the canoes did not remain on their shores for long. However, several individuals stayed behind, became members of local village clans, and their descendants continued to preserve these stories through the generations.

One elder, a woman in her nineties who served as both a tribal elder and a healer, shared a story with me. She explained that her father had been the chief of their village, which at that time remained isolated and depended on hunting whales and seals for survival. She said that her grandmother and other elders had passed down stories that their ancestors had come from a place they called Hawaiki. She also carried a Hawaiian name that had been handed down through her family, reflecting a connection her ancestors believed was significant.

The elders were genuinely excited to meet us. They told us that word had spread throughout their community that "the Hawaiians were returning," and many had made a special effort to be present that day. 

Hearing these accounts firsthand was a valuable experience. Whether viewed as family history, oral tradition, or cultural memory, they offer a valuable perspective on how communities preserve stories of their origins and their connections across the Pacific. While oral traditions are not the same as archaeological or documentary evidence, they remain an important part of our people's Indigenous knowledge systems and cultural identity. 

Connections

Images Of Old Hawaii

November 19, 2023 by Peter T Young

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/connections/

“There has never been any agreement, as to the origin of this isolated island people, or the reasons why this type is only found scattered over all the solitary islands in the eastern part of the Pacific.”  (Thor Heyerdahl)

Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila was the son of Peleioholani (uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V) and Piikeakaluaonalani (mother.)  For many, Peleioholani was considered an important Hawaiian antiquarian and the final word in Hawaiian genealogy, especially of the chiefs and royal families.

He wrote of the Hawaiian history.  One of Peleioholani’s theories notes, “The ancestors of the Hawaiian race came not from the islands the South Pacific – for the immigrants from that direction were late arrivals there – but from the northern direction (welau lani,) that is, from the land of Kalonakikeke, now known as Alaska.”

Others have noted connections between people in the Pacific and other parts of the world.

The idea of a trans-Pacific crossing has had its proponents within scholarly archaeology. Heyerdahl’s (1950) Kon-Tiki experiment demonstrated that such a crossing (from Peru to Raroia) was possible. But simply because such an experiment is possible does not mean that it happened.  (Boulanger)

Meggers et al. reported on what they interpreted as similarities between ceramics of the Valdivia culture of coastal Ecuador and the middle Jomon culture of western Japan. Yet, concerted archaeological research over the past 200 years has failed to provide any substantial material evidence for a trans-Pacific origin for any Native American culture.

Some suggest the sweet potato is proof of connection … On his voyages across the Pacific, Captain James Cook encountered geographically disparate Polynesian societies, including those living on Easter Island, Hawai‘i and the north island of New Zealand. These far-flung communities cultivated a common crop, sweet potato.  (Denham; NCBI)

Researchers later sampled specimens brought back by early explorers (including Cook.) They found that the DNA evidence indicated that the sweet potato had migrated to Polynesia long before European explorers had made their way to that part of the world.  (Yirda; PHYS)

Peruvians first domesticated the sweet potato around 8,000-years ago. And though the crop spread from there, the means by which it traveled have always remained contentious.

One possibility was that Polynesian sailors first brought it home from across the ocean: The oldest carbonized sweet potato evidence in the Pacific hails back to about 1,000 AD – 500-years before Columbus sailed to the Americas.

The Polynesian word for sweet potato resembles the central Andes’ Quechua people’s word for the vegetable.  (SmithsonianMag)  Polynesian word for sweet potato ‘kuumala’ resembles ‘kumara,’ or ‘cumal,’ the words for the vegetable in Quechua, a language spoken by Andean natives. (NPS)

But did Polynesians land on South American beaches, or did Native Americans sail into the Pacific to reach Rapa Nui?  (Lawler; ScienceMag)  Or, did its seeds possibly hitch a ride on seaweed or natural raft, or gotten lodged in the wing of a bird? (NPR)

“Our studies strongly suggest that Native Americans most probably arrived (on Rapa Nui) shortly after the Polynesians (got there.)”  (Erik Thorsby; ScienceMag)

But many scientists say that Pacific currents and Polynesian mastery of the waves make it more likely that the Polynesians were the voyagers. They may have sailed to South America, swapped goods for sweet potatoes and other novelties—and returned to their island with South American women.  (Lawler; ScienceMag)

“There’s a lot of evidence accumulating … that the Polynesians made landfall in South America.  We think they had sophisticated, double-hulled canoes – like very large catamarans – which could carry 80 or more people and be out to sea for months.”  (Kirch; NPR)

The researchers found strong evidence that “supports the so-called tripartite hypothesis, which argues that the sweet potato was introduced to Polynesia three times: first through premodern contact between Polynesia and South America, then by Spanish traders sailing west from Mexico, and Portuguese traders coming east from the Caribbean.”

“The Spanish and Portuguese varieties ended up in the western Pacific, while the older South American variety dominated in the east”.  (SmithsonianMag)

It is believed the sweet potato then made three independent trips to Southeast Asia. The Polynesians probably introduced it in 1100 AD. While the Spanish and Portuguese brought other varieties from the Americas around 1500. (NPR)

Peter Marsh makes several Canadian connections to Pacific Islands, noting, that archaeological and cultural evidence suggests that there is a strong connection between Coastal Canada and Polynesia. Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) is an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Marsh notes that both the Polynesians and Haida people worked in stone in the same manner, designs of implements were almost identical. The use of pottery was completely absent in both cultures.  The design and way of manufacture of the following artifacts bear a striking resemblance:

• Tahitian, Hawaiian and Haida stone pounders are almost identical.

Kii: Images of Old Hawaiʻi

• Spiritual carvings such as the Tiki are amazingly similar in both cultures.

• Large totem poles with figures stacked on top of one another with their tongues sticking out are common in both Maori and Haida cultures.

• Haida and Marquesan carvings have similar shaped eyes and mouths.

• Carvings around building entrances where the legs form an archway.

• The practice of inlaying of Paua shell into the eyes of figures is a style used in both cultures.

• Maori war canoes are similar in design to Kwakuitl canoes.

• The use of calabashes instead of pottery for carrying water is common to both cultures.

• The use of hot rocks to steam and widen canoes, is practiced by both Maori and Kwakuitl.

• Earth ovens (umu) are used by both cultures

• The unique practice of rubbing noses ( honi) as a way of greeting is used in both Maori, Hawaiians, Tahitians and some tribes in the Canadian NW. This suggests definite cultural and spiritual connection.

• The use of the glottal stop in speech is similar e.g.; Hawai‘i and Haida Gwai‘i.