COPYRIGHT NOTICE Law/Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory

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1 COPYRIGHT NOTICE Law/Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory is published by University of Hawai i Press and copyrighted, 2012, by University of Hawai i Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher, except for reading and browsing via the World Wide Web. Users are not permitted to mount this f le on any network servers.

2 Preface On November 11, 1902, Haumea Kaaumoana posed for the standard photo at Kalihi Hospital, designed to show the physical effects of leprosy on an individual. Rather than cross her arms in front of her chest in the usual manner required to show the condition of her hands, Haumea held her guitar. 1 Through this simple action, she refused to let herself be defined by a disease or by how others chose to see her. She chose to define herself as a musician rather than as a patient, to focus on her ability rather than any disability she might have. When the Territorial Legislature gathered testimony at Kalaupapa in 1901 related to the possibility of self-government, Thomas Nathaniel (whose Hawaiian name was Nakanaela), Kalaupapa s forty-three-year-old schoolteacher, magistrate, composer, and friend of King Kalakaua and Queen Liliuokalani, requested an interpreter so that he could speak Hawaiian. Using his English name, he stated, I can speak English, but I want all the people here to understand. 2 Thomas Nathaniel knew that if he spoke English, no one would translate his words for the two hundred residents of Kalaupapa gathered in the meeting hall, most of whom spoke only Hawaiian. During World War I, Ambrose Solomon Kahoohalahala and his wife Lillian Awai joined more than a hundred other people at Kalaupapa to contribute $248 to the Red Cross to be used toward relief efforts in Europe. Although the Maui News characterized this as one of the most remarkable and touching incidents of the great world war, they also stated that the contribution represented a sacrifice which they should not be permitted to make, however willing they might be to do so. 3 The editorial went on to suggest that if in the future the people of Kalaupapa wanted to assist the Red Cross, the island of Maui would cheerfully endeavor to raise, in their name, such sum as they may feel they would like to send forward. xi

3 Haumea Kaaumoana, described as an ocean swimmer, was eighteen years old when this photograph was taken at Kalihi Hospital in Adapted from photo, courtesy of Hawai i State Archives.

4 Two and a half weeks later the Maui News reported that the people of Kalaupapa had purchased $4,255 worth of War Savings Stamps and intended to purchase more. 4 In August, they carried the headline, The Settlement Sets an Example and reported that Kalaupapa was likely to be the first community in the Territory to go over the top for War Savings Stamps, with $12,511 already sold. This represented about $20 per person, whereas the Territory of Hawaii as a whole had bought perhaps less than $5.00 worth of stamps per capita. 5 The residents of Kalaupapa who refused to let others decide what they were or were not capable of doing included the Kahoohalahalas, each of whom contributed seventy-five cents to the Red Cross. David Kamahana, who knew Father Damien, contributed $10 together with his wife, Alana Ahlo. Willie Wicke, readily identifiable in photos as a young Caucasian boy holding his hat, gave $1, and Louis Aloisa, one of only nine people to ever volunteer for treatment at the Federal Hospital at Kalawao, contributed fifty cents. John T. Unea, a schoolteacher who conducted the first U.S. Census at Kalaupapa, gave $1. Ben Pea, who was sent to Kalaupapa in 1914 and would live there until his death in 1983, also contributed $1, as did Elizabeth Louisa Thielemann De Coito who, as a young girl of twelve, attracted the attention of Jack and Charmian London. 6 In about 1927, Ambrose Hutchison, who had been sent to Kalaupapa in 1879, started writing his recollections of more than a half century of life at Kalaupapa. He included a song written by the boys at Kalawao about Father Damien with the sparkling eyes that spoke of righteousness and peace. 7 The people of Kalaupapa have been speaking to us clearly and definitively for more than 145 years. The objective of this Collective Memory is to bring those voices back into the history of Kalaupapa, the history of Hawaii, and the history of the world. The book you have before you combines quotations from more than two hundred hours of oral history interviews with archival documents, including more than three hundred pages of letters and petitions from the early residents of Kalaupapa and Kalawao that have been translated from Hawaiian. This book strives to enable people to define themselves and their experience, in their own words, as much as possible. It has been suggested that I write a little about my relationship with the residents of Kalaupapa and other individuals who have experienced leprosy in order to give you some background about the evolution in thinking and understanding that has led to this book as it appears today. xiii

In 1952, as the people of Kalaupapa and many others around the world were being cured with the miraculous sulfone drugs, I was starting my life in Hong Kong.

5 Nellie McCarthy speaks about her experience and her hopes for the future of Kalaupapa at a meeting of Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa. Photo by Henry Law. Clarence Boogie Kahilihiwa, elected president of Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa in 2009, discusses his vision for the future at a meeting of that organization. Photo by Wayne Levin. In 1952, as the people of Kalaupapa and many others around the world were being cured with the miraculous sulfone drugs, I was starting my life in Hong Kong. One of my most vivid memories is visiting the island of Hay Ling Chau at Christmas. Hay Ling Chau had been established in 1951 as a place where people with leprosy were to be isolated. Even though there had been a cure for leprosy since 1941 and it was recognized that this was an extremely difficult disease to contract, society s reaction to leprosy was basically the same as it had been for thousands of years. Hay Ling Chau was not created because there was a medical need to separate people. It was created because society simply was not willing to substitute new scientific knowledge for old traditional beliefs. When we went to Hay Ling Chau, we took the Ling Hong, which towed behind it a small boat carrying people who had leprosy. This was done to make the public feel safe, without any concern for the feelings of those who were forced to ride in the separate boat. In high school, I found myself in Hawaii and first went to Kalaupapa when I was sixteen, more than forty years ago. It was a day trip and I was taken to sit in on xiv

6 a clinic. All I remember about that day is the personality of Alice Kamaka. When she entered the room, you knew you were in the presence of someone unique and truly remarkable, someone who refused to let either a disease or people s preconceived ideas compromise her identity. She had been sent to Kalaupapa in 1919 and would go on to gain distinction as being the person who would most likely live at Kalaupapa the longest some eighty-one years. On future visits, Richard and Gloria Marks would sponsor me, and Richard showed me what seemed like every inch of the peninsula. His love for the history radiated to all who met him, from stories of Father Damien s church, where I would later be married, to the legend of the naupaka flower, which told of the separation of two people in love. Richard also took me to Alice s house, and she was the first person to invite me into her home, something that was forbidden in those days by the rules rules that we all knew were completely unnecessary. Alice introduced me to her neighbors, John and Lucy Kaona. John emphatically showed how one must always look at disability in the context of ability, and Lucy remains an unwavering example of unconditional love. Alice also introduced me to her lifelong friend, Mary Sing, who had been sent to Kalaupapa in 1917 and well remembered raising money for the Red Cross in 1918 as part of the Rainbow Drill. On one visit to the old hospital, which has since burned down, Alice introduced me to her good friend, Olivia Breitha, who had been stung by a scorpion. Little did I know that Olivia would become one of my best friends and see me through some of the most difficult times in my life. In the late 1970s, I started going to Kalaupapa more regularly. After one of those trips, I received a call from Brandt Air in Honolulu telling me that they had a large box for me. It contained a whole stalk of bananas from David Kupele s yard. To me, he was a legend, someone who had been at Kalaupapa forever, someone who had personally known Mother Marianne and other major historical figures, someone who had learned through his genealogical research that five generations of his family had been sent to Kalaupapa, starting in I doubt that David ever knew how much those bananas meant to me, or how much he encouraged me with his thoughtfulness. I would continue to feel the kindness of the people of Kalaupapa as I started seriously working on learning this history. The fact that people who had so much taken from them could express such generosity and richness of spirit made a deep impression on me. I would never leave without gifts gardenias from Mariano Rea s xv

7 Letter written by Alice Kamaka on the back of the label of a can of peaches. A. Law Collection. yard, old photographs from John Cambra, newspaper articles and history magazines from Danny Hashimoto, Kalaupapa pens from Ed Kato, recipes for marshmallows and Portuguese bean soup from Olivia Breitha, T-bone steaks from Mary Kailiwai, papayas and beef jerky from Paul Harada, paintings and ceramics from Elaine Remigio. One year there was a shortage of Christmas trees in Honolulu and a good chance my family wouldn t get one. John Kaona took me to the grounds of the old Federal Hospital and found me a beautiful branch. He then gave me a wine bottle that he had decorated with shells to use as a tree stand. That Christmas tree has traveled with us from Kalaupapa to West Virginia to New York, a reminder of John s remarkable creativity and friendship. Visiting Kalaupapa is always a lesson in resourcefulness and creativity. Once I got a letter from Alice written on the back of the label of a can of peaches. When you dropped by Kenso Seki s garage after lunch, you would find him making vases and lamps out of coconuts, which he always gave away to visitors. Cathrine Puahala and Rachel Nakoa organized a Festival of Trees each Christmas, and the ornaments created out of everyday items were amazing. Cathrine even made angels out of Vienna sausage tins. She had the remarkable ability to see potential in absolutely everything. During the day, one could always stop by Winnie and Paul Harada s and rest on their lanai with the offer of a diet Coke to go with the enduring friendship and wisdom that emanated from these two individuals, who celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary in In the evening, we would gather at the bar. Rosie Lelepali would bring healthy snacks of carrots to go along with the beer that Mariano Rea would serve us. The music would sometimes go past midnight, as we listened to Rosie and her husband Edwin play songs like O Makalapua, with Henry Hatori and Fred Mc- Carthy on the ukulele and Georgie Kahoonei on the washtub bass. Castle Kalaukoa would sometimes be there to dance hula. As one drove out of town to the airport, Helen Keao would always be waiting on her porch to wave and shout goodbye. xvi

8 Those of us lucky enough to spend time at Kalaupapa in those days recognized that this was history this had to be recorded for the future. With an initial grant from the Hawaii State Library for the Blind, we started an oral history project, which was later supported by the National Park Service. The wonderfully creative Gene Balbach knew how to make everyone feel comfortable as he videotaped people s history, personalities, talents, and wisdom. We defied traditional theories that you could only do oral history if you were trained, that you shouldn t use videotape, and that you had to know the right questions to ask. Instead, we simply brought people together and listened to what was important to them. At the same time, Wayne Levin captured people s personalities and dignity in beautiful black and white portraits. We all talked about how the oral history would enable the people of Kalaupapa to continue to be the interpreters of their own history, even when they were no longer physically with us. Sometimes you have to go away from a place to truly understand its significance. You have to go away from a place you think you know in order to see how much you still have to learn. It was time to leave Kalaupapa and Hawaii. I was now married to Henry Law, the first National Park Service employee at Kalaupapa and the first superintendent of Kalaupapa National Historical Park. One of the last things we did before leaving Kalaupapa in 1988 was to go to the International Leprosy Congress in the Netherlands, together with several people from Kalaupapa. Henry Nalaielua and Richard and Gloria Marks made poster presentations, while Bernard Punikai a and Bill and Makia Malo presented papers in the scientific sessions. Upon hearing that they were going to speak, one doctor asked, What are their credentials? People who had personally experienced leprosy were clearly not seen as part of the process. People who had spent their lives in isolation due to public health policies that sacrificed the rights of individuals for the welfare of society were treated as if they had nothing to say, nothing to contribute. In 2002, we moved to Seneca Falls, New York, the birthplace of women s rights in the United States and an important center for the antislavery movement. I realized that, like most people in our country, I had not been taught anything about women s history in school. I was fascinated to learn how women traveled to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 and how the men decided that they could attend, but only if they sat separately and did not speak. The men clearly did not believe that the women had anything worthwhile to contribute. We moved to Seneca Falls in order to better understand how we could place xvii

Henry Law, the first National Park Service employee at Kalaupapa and the first superintendent of Kalaupapa National Historical Park. Photo by Anwei Law.

issues facing people affected by leprosy into the context of human rights in general.

9 Henry Law, the first National Park Service employee at Kalaupapa and the first superintendent of Kalaupapa National Historical Park. Photo by Anwei Law. Rose Lelepali being interviewed by Anwei Skinsnes Law and Gene Balbach as part of the Kalaupapa Oral History Project. Photo by Wayne Levin. issues facing people affected by leprosy into the context of human rights in general. I was now the international coordinator of the International Association for Integration, Dignity and Economic Advancement (IDEA), an organization founded in 1994 by fifty people from six countries, the majority of whom had experienced leprosy themselves. IDEA was formed in order to ensure that the voices of people affected by leprosy around the world would be heard, would become part of the process, and would become part of their own history. Coincidentally, or not, Seneca Falls is only an hour from Syracuse, the location of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Francis, which houses one of the best archives on the history of Kalaupapa in the world. It was from here that Mother Marianne and her fellow Sisters departed for Hawaii in As I started visiting the Motherhouse regularly, the bond that has existed between the Sisters of St. Francis and the people of Kalaupapa for well over a century was readily apparent. In rereading documents I had read more than twenty years earlier, I was struck by how much Mother Marianne and Sister Leopoldina had told us about so many of the women and girls they knew. Research conducted for the Cause of Mother Marianne by Sister Mary Laurence Hanley and others had added more voices of the xviii

10 people of Kalaupapa to this history. At the same time, I was reminded that Mother Marianne and the other Sisters are so often treated as minor figures in Kalaupapa s history a history that had been largely written by men. It was time to come back to this book. I now had a better understanding of how easily people can slip into anonymity and out of their own history. I spent a month on Robben Island in South Africa, where the maximum security prison in which Nelson Mandela was imprisoned was built on top of the graves of people who had leprosy. We learned how people in Kenya had been buried in secret sites without dignity, without a place in their family history. 8 Oral history conducted in Romania, Latvia, and Ukraine taught us how people with leprosy had been killed during the Holocaust, something that I had not seen recorded in histories of leprosy or in histories of the Holocaust. 9 I also paid more attention to something I was told years ago that I had a relative named Jens Helland who had leprosy and died at St. Jørgen s Leprosy Hospital in Bergen, Norway, in the mid-1800s. The genealogy compiled by my mother and her great-uncle Andreas enabled me to start my own search for information on Jens, someone we knew existed, but about whom we knew little else. In going back to documents in the different archives that I had looked at twenty- five years earlier, I began to see people I had not noticed before. It was amazing how the remarkably detailed records preserved by the Department of Health, the Hawai i State Archives, the Sisters of St. Francis, and the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts could help bring people back to life and back into history. I was also given a copy of the memoirs of Ambrose Hutchison that had been preserved at the Sacred Hearts Archives in Louvain, Belgium. These were the words of an eyewitness who had lived at Kalaupapa from 1879 to This was a man who used to sit with Father Damien in his parlor and reflect on the families that they would Winnie Harada (far left) and Valerie Monson visit Sister Wilma Halmasy and Sister Rosanne LaManche at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse, New York. Photo by Henry Law. xix

11 never see again. This was a man who gave Mother Marianne a cow and a calf when the Sisters arrived at Kalaupapa so that the girls would have milk. This was a man who held the top leadership position at Kalaupapa for ten years. This was a man who had signed the Anti-Annexation petition and given $1,000 worth of fishing equipment to the Board of Health. Yet, despite all his accomplishments and influence, Ambrose Hutchison had been largely left out of his own history. As I looked anew at Kalaupapa s history, it was extremely helpful to see that others were bringing to light new information about the people of Kalaupapa. Valerie Monson, 10 Pennie Moblo, 11 Noenoe Silva and Pualeilani Fernandez, 12 Kerri Inglis, 13 Colette Higgins, 14 and Esther Arinaga and Caroline Garrett 15 were all finding new ways to help generate a better understanding of the people sent to Kalaupapa, at least 90 percent of whom were Native Hawaiians. At the same time, six people readily agreed to help translate more than three hundred pages of letters and documents from the earliest people sent to Kalaupapa. Frances N. Frazier, Carol L. Silva, Jason Achiu, Esther Mookini, Linda Maka ala Warriner, and Malia Rogers all worked to ensure that the voices of the earliest residents of Kalaupapa could be appreciated by those of us who only speak English. Including the voices of the Hawaiian people sent to Kalaupapa who wrote so eloquently in their own language reveals something extremely significant. The letters are filled with pleas to keep family members at home or requests to accompany them to Kalaupapa to take care of them. The letters enable us to understand that Native Hawaiians actively engaged in a form of nonviolent resistance to isolation policies that were not consistent with their culture. They refused to reject people or allow them to be sent away alone because they were sick. They refused to accept policies that separated families. Their letters and petitions reflect a profound belief in justice that is repeatedly expressed in requests to government officials to simply consider what was right. Those who wrote the letters referred to themselves by using phrases like, We the people sick with leprosy or We the people overtaken by the leprosy disease. They would refer to themselves as people first. However, translations done in the past tended to simply use the word leper, and thus the people were lost. The people have been lost in many traditional histories of Kalaupapa and, consequently, they have been defined, usually inaccurately, by the preconceived ideas and imaginations of people who never knew them. In one of the first oral history interviews we did at Kalaupapa, Helen Keao sat in Siloama Church and said, I have xx

12 read and I have heard many stories about Kalaupapa and of the people that lived at Kalawao... that the people who lived here were bad, that the land was without law and the people were lawless, immoral, and they were engaging in a lot of wickedness. But, I don t think, in fact I don t believe that all the people were bad because I feel if that was true, then there would not be a church called Siloama, which was the first church to be built here at Kalawao. 16 Board of Health reports and correspondence for 1866, upon which many histories have been based, never mentioned how the earliest people sent to Kalawao gathered together to establish a church in June 1866 a church that became a vehicle through which they sought justice. As I was writing this book, I often thought of J. N. Loe, one of the first twelve people sent to Kalaupapa on January 6, In one of his earliest letters, he asked for a newspaper because they were living in darkness since they had no news of the outside world. 17 In writing to one of the Hawaiian language newspapers, he signed himself Hokuwelowelo, which can be translated as shooting star or comet. 18 It is likely that he felt his words were a means of radiating the light of truth about the situation he and others found themselves in the truth about who they were. It seems appropriate to use J. N. Loe s symbolism to describe what happens when you include the voices of the people of Kalaupapa in their own history. In the words of Bernard Ka owakaokalani Punikai a, whose middle name, interestingly enough, means bright light across the sky, When you look at the photographs, you see how a person looks. When you read their quotations, you see the heart of the person, and then it becomes complete. 19 Author s Note on Diacritical Marks Diacritical marks (the okina and kahakō) in current use to aid in the pronunciation, spelling, and comprehension of Hawaiian words are not generally used in this book because names and quotes are primarily from the time period before these symbols were used. However, they are retained in quotations from modern sources and in the names of individuals or organizations that have chosen to use them. The okina is also retained in some earlier sources where it was included to avoid misinterpretation of a word. xxi

The Soul of Kalaupapa

The Soul of Kalaupapa Remarks to be made on May 27, 2013 for a lecture at the Damiaan Centre in Leuven by Professor Fred E. Woods, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA Genesis of the Kalaupapa experience