Culture & Art

The Halawa School

Monday, July 13th, 2009

By Catherine Aki

More recently, I read through a 1936 Star Bulletin article about the 50th year Halawa School Anniversary. The school had originally been built with three rooms, in 1886, by a man named Henry Van Gieson. The school was so popular that students came from as far away as Kaunakakai through Kamalo, Kaluaaha, Waialua, Honouli, and Wailau even though those communities had schools of their own. After ten years Van Gieson left.

The succession of teachers after that were Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wagner, Peter Pascal, Simeon Kalua, Miss Emma Kane, Mathew Kane and David Kalaau who taught for more that 24 years. At the time of the anniversary, Edwin Kaupu was the principal.  The invocation of the ceremony was given by Rev. Issac D.  Iaea.  In attendance were various school delegates and about 100 alumni.  Mr. Van Gieson had already passed on and his wife was too sick to represent him, so two of his children and a granddaughter came instead.  The granddaughter’s name was Inez Hawkins who, coincidentally, was my grandmother’s first cousin.

It was such a surprise to realize that my family had a connection not only to Hawaii and Molokai, but actually to Halawa. Although it is just a single thread, it is still a multi-generational link - something that many of the non-native land owners do not have.  I had the story in my possession for years without realizing there was any relevancy, but it has been a “treat” to find it after all this time.

On Molokai, I am sure people are chuckling about how weak my thread is, and that is to be expected. But that is because this is an island where people still live where their ancestor’s bones have rested for at least 1000 years.

Yet, I hear stories about people coming from the outside expecting Molokai to change without realizing how connected indigenous people are to place. On a single parcel of land the same family may have lived for 75 to 100 generations. It has not been bought and sold but instead lived on forever in Hawaiian time. For most westerners, we cannot fathom this because land is such a commodity.

A while back I spent a lot of time in Halawa and I used to feel different things in the valley. I used to wonder what kind of learning environment could again be created which would utilize a more “traditional” family type teaching. Maybe it was just daydreaming or maybe it was a realization of Halawa’s long educational legacy.  The school, built in 1886, lasted until about 1956 or so. 

And it continues to make me smile that the first teacher in Halawa had a granddaughter who was my grandmother’s first cousin.

Tracing Roots

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Kaunakakai church houses Molokai family history records.

By Melissa Kelsey

Molokai is full of history, but the island’s arguably largest collection of names and dates is stored in a small, dark room filled with lanky microfilm machines and tall storage cabinets. For all families who want to research their genealogy, the Molokai Family History Center at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kaunakakai stores a voluminous collection of records from the past.  

“It is the best kept secret that should be out, and yet, it is available to anybody,” said Barbara Nakamura, the Center’s former director.

Keepers of the Records
The Molokai Family History Center was officially founded in 1988, according to Nakamura, at which time she was its only staff member. Today, the Center is staffed by more than 30 volunteers.

“Families and the linking of families, both living and dead, are important to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” said Nakamura, explaining why genealogy is an important element of the church’s ministry.

The majority of the Center’s historic records consist of books and microfilm, which are small pieces of film bearing miniature photocopies of documents. To read microfilm, visitors insert the tiny film into a machine that magnifies the letters.

Stored inside large, manila file cabinets, the Center maintains microfilm of census records from Maui County, Hawaii County and Honolulu County. Hawaiian newspapers, sugar plantation employment records, Chinese entry permits, passports and government court records are just some of the information the microfilm hold. In addition, there are birth, marriage and death records from the state Department of Health and historic data from other Polynesian islands.