WOMEN IN EDUCATION IN HAWAI'I Hawaiian and Missionary

Lynette R. Mallery

It was May 8, 1819. Though separated by an ocean and nearly 3,000 miles of land, two groups of women were beginning their day in a similar fashion.

In Kailua, Hawai'i, the women rose to the news of the death of King Kamehameha. There would be no sounds of the knpn beating that day, but the children would still be cared for, food would be gathered, taro tended to and pigs and dogs would be fed. The news of the mourning had not yet reached the women of Kaua'i, dressed in the knee-length pa'u, gathered to plait the lauhnln mats and beat their kapa. Their kapn beaters would create a musical rhythm throughout the neighborhood. That sound, mixed with the laughter of children playing in the surf was a familiar music in Hawai'i.

The sound differed a littl!! from the domestic hum of a New England town nearly 5,000 miles to the east. These 19th-century women rose, donned their floor-length dresses and began their daily chores. Later the neighborhood women would gather for a sewing session, but this morning each woman worked alone.

Food had to be cooked, children cared for, gardens planted, and spring deaning finished. Hanging the rugs outdoors, one woman set to work beating the winter dust from the weave. The sound of the broom hitting the rugs combined with the laughter of the children playing in the yard, creating a domestic rhythm, not unlike the knpn beating music in Hawai'i.

Representatives from these two cultures met a year later. That meeting, on the shore of Kawaihae in 1820, and the sequence of resulting events completely changed the domestic rhythm of the Islands. The sound of the kapa beater was eventually replaced with the chant of classroom recitation. Prayer meetings and floor-length dresses replaced hula ceremonies and the pa'u. By 1831 the American Mission had swept through the Islands effecting a complete social reconstruction. Without the cooperation of the Hawaiian and New England women in those first few months, however,

the American Mission would not have succeeded in so completely civilizing, Americanizing and Christianizing the Hawaiian people.

Well before that first meeting of the Hawaiian and mission women on April 4, 1820, the respective cultures were experiencing a i;limate of change.

The London Missionary Society, pioneering the Pacific mission movement in the early 1800s, had been issuing pamphlets, diaries, and sermons describing their work in Tahiti. This became the impetus for the formation of the American equivalent to the London Missionary Society. In 1810, at a meeting of the Congregationalist General Association, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was established.1

The United States was experiencing a period of religious fervor while, at the same time, cultivating the seeds of race superiority and expansionism in the form of a Manifest Destiny and the Monroe Doctrine. The westward movement, the sandalwood trade with the Pacific in 1811, the opening of a foreign mission school at Cornwall in 1817, and the death of 'Opukahaia in 1818-as well as the

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•

subsequent publication and wide distribution of his memoirs-all contributed to the 1820 missionary movement. These large historical events were not the only influencing force which caused Lucy Goodale or Jerusha Burnap to leave their New England homes for foreign soil, however.

In her writings on September 21, 1819, Lucy Goodale indicates she wiu influenced by the memoirs of 'Opukahaia:

Dear to my heart are my friends and country. Yet, all this side of the grave, how transient! The poor heathen possess immortal natures, and are perishing. Who will give them the Bible, and tell them of a Saviour7 Great as must be the sacrifices, trials and hardships and dangers of such an undertaking, I said, "If God will grant His grace and afford an acceptable opportunity. Lucy and all that is hers, shall be given lo the noble enterprise of carrying light to the poor benighted countrymen of Obookiah."t

However, Lucy's decision to become a member of the first mission company was most greatly influenced by the death of her mother and the departure of her sister, Persis. Lucy likened herself to an orphan- lost, lonely and sorrowful the day her cousin, William Goodell, gave her information that "a Mission to the Sandwich Islands was to sail in four to six weeks.") Lucy, the daughter of Abner Goodale, a substantial farmer and the deacon of the Congregational Church in Marlboro, Massachusetts, was familiar with and sympathetic to the mission goal. Therefore, it seemed a proper decision for Lucy to marry Asa Thurston eleven days before the "Thaddeus" departed on its 164-day journey.

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The intense religious fervor of the period, focused on Hawaii by the memoirs of 'Opukahaia, did reach Jerusha Burnap Chamberlain in her New England home. She and her husband were impelled to go at once to Hawai'i.~

Of the seven women leaving New England on October 23, 1819, only Lucia Ruggles (Holman), Lucy Goodale (Thurston) and Maria Sartwell (Loomis) had formal teaching experience. Education was not considered a necessity for women and opportunities were limited in the early 1800s-but Lucy was educated at and a graduate of Bradford Academy. Both Lucia and Lucy were school teachers before their marriages. Only Maria Sartwell (Loomis) had printing experience, and only Jerusha Burnap Chamberlain had experienced childbirth. Six of the women had married within the two months preceding the voyage. All seven were skilled at, or at least knowledgeable, in sewing and cooking. None of the seven could be considered a feminist in today's political sense, yet six of them would become influential forces in shaping the future of Hawaii.

On October 17, 1819, these women stood next to their husbands to hear the rigorous goal of the mission to which they had so recently dedicated their lives. They were to "aim at nothing short of covering those Islands with fruitful fields, pleasant dwellings, schools and churches.''5 The message continued:

The beloved females of the mission are not to be forgotten. There is no law of heaven for excluding the sex from the participation for which the sovereign goodness has fitted them, in the toils and perils, the joys and glories of recovering the common race.•

While Lucy Goodale Thurston was engaged in sewing her twelve calico and gingham dresses and gathering together her one parasol, two combs and six pairs of shoes in preparation for her new life, Ka'ahumanu and Ke'opuolani were busy changing the cultural order in the Hawaiian Islands. They were, in effect, creating a revolution which ultimately shook and tumbled the Hawaiian belief system.

At the outset it must be emphasized that this revolution (the formal and public breaking of the l:apu) affecting as it did the fundamental beliefs of a whole people fixed in their conciousness by centuries of observance, was not the work of a d<1y or ii few weeks and was not the mere capricious act of an absolute monarch.'

The k11pu system, although most familiar as the '11i lmpu, was in fact a complete law and order structuring of Hawaiian society. The concept of kapu served to sanctify and strengthen the social and political relationships among Hawaiians. Observed in conjunction with the concept of mana, the kapu system kept those of higher mana separated from those of lesser mana, thereby insuring social order. Thus, when Ka'ahumanu and Ke'opuolani ate with Liholiho they did more than destroy the eating restriction. They destroyed the concept of mana which ultimately opened the door for those of lesser mana to be educated by the foreigners.

Credit for the destruction of the kapu system cannot be handed solely to Ka'ahumanu and Ke'opuolani for, as other writers have noted, Hawaiian women of all ranks had visited various sailing ships and had eaten pork in the presence of foreigners since the coming of Captain James Cook. Since the ships were referred to as htiau by the Hawaiians, the presence of women there violated a kapu far greater than the 'ai kapu. Their actions contributed to the final destruction of the kapu

Christ Church Family Boarding School, Kona Albumin print, 1881 From H1u111111 5/alt Archrvts

system in the fall of 1819. By defying the kapu concept, the women opened the door to a complete restructuring of Hawaiian social order.

The overthrow of the kapu was not applauded by all Hawaiian women, however. Manono, the wife of Kekuaokalani, died in the battle of Kuamo'o, in Kana, Hawai'i, fighting in support of religion and kapu. She opposed the destruction of the kapu system and died in defense of the old order.'

While the "Thaddeus" sailed toward the Sandwich Islands, the two groups of women were unknowingly readying themselves for their meeting. In order for the mission women to be effective as

The term "family" boarding school means th.rt the curriculum stressed homemaking skills.

teachers, they would have to present themselves as examples of the love they would preach. The voyage would do much to prepare them for their coming roles.

We hilve entered a new school. No trial or privation which I have experienced, or now anticipate, has ever caused me to cast a lingering look back to my native shores. If I may best contribute to the happiness and usefulness of one of Christ's own ministers, of assisting in giving civilization, the Bible, and letters, to one of the tribes of men in utter darkness, ... it is enough that I bid farewell to everything my heart so late held dear in life.•

Before the religious conversion of the Hawaiians could take place, something would have to happen which would make their minds more susceptible.to An opening event was the breaking of the kapu already discussed. Another, of equal

importance, was the introduction of white women's culture to the Island people.

Before the "Thaddeus" arrived in Kawashae harbor, the Hawaiians had become familiar with the "floating islands," or ships, of the white men. In what Walter Frear calls " a period of preparation, or a period of political consolidation and religious and moral disintegration"ll- the forty-two years between the arrival of Cook and the coming of the missionaries­the Hawaiians had been introduced to the culture of the white man. Kuykendall speaks of a white woman visiting the Islands in 1787, when Captain Charles W. Barkley and his wife, who was traveling with him on the "Imperial Eagle," engaged the services of a Hawaiian woman as a lady's servant. The first meeting of

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Hawaiian and white, missionary women, however, took place on the "Thaddeus," through a cabin window: a banana and a biscuit were exchanged. What thoughts passed in the minds of the two cultural representatives must be left to conjecture. Lucy writes, "Thus after sailing eighteen thousand miles, I met, for the first time, those children of nature alone." She doesn't report any reaction from the Hawaiians at this meeting- other than the exchange of food; however, Lucy does say that in future encounters the Hawaiians readily expressed their curiosity.

In their (the Hawaiians! curiosity they followed the ladies in crowds from place to place, with simplicity peering under bonnets, and feel ing articles of dress . It was amusing to see their efforts in running and taking a stand. that so they might have a full wive of our faces. As objects of curiosity, the ladies were by far the most prominent.12

The decision to allow the missionaries a trial residential period in the Islands was made by King Kamehameha ll (Liholiho) yet here again, according to Lucy Thurston, the women were influential. "Kamamalu, the sister and marked favorite out of five queens, urged the King to receive the Mission,"tJ despite the fact that she would be cast aside should the King embrace the new religion which forbade incest and polygamy. Perhaps Kamamalu equated the Mission with the fancy dress Kalakua had received from the sewing needles of the white women. Perhaps she saw in the mission women potential court advisers-such as Isaac Davis and John Young had been to the first Kamehameha-or, perhaps, she saw an alliance with the white women as a prestigious undertaking. For whatever reason, it appears that any

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rejection of the Mission in the beginning did not come from the Hawaiian women; at a later time, however, it is true that both mission teachings and teachers were rejected by many vocal and prominent Hawaiian women . The high chiefess Ruth Ke'elikolani steadfastly refused the religion and the English language.

Although education and formal schooling are often used synonymously in the literature when discussing the work of the missionaries, education in this essay is used to refer to any cultural exchange which led to the Americanization of the Hawaiian people.

Thus, the "education" of the Hawaiian began immediately. "Monday morning, April 3rd, 1820, the first sewing circle was formed,"•~ when four native women of distinction were furnished with calico patchwork to sew. In this crucial period the mission women engaged in the task of teaching American cultural concepts of modesty and vanity to the unclothed Hawaiian women. "These people were in a state of nature. We tried to give them a standard that was right."u

The "standard that was right" took many forms at the hands of the missionary women. Time took on a new meaning for the Hawaiians; there was a time for schooling, for prayer, for play, for work. This ordering of time helped to erode the art of hu/n, an art which had survived the overthrow of the knpu . since the missionaries "disliked the amount of hme the people wasted in attending and preparing for performances­time much better spent in learning the pnlapnln and pult."10 Personal space and property became new concepts for the Hawaiians as the missionaries walled off sections of their houses for personal affairs and built sealed garden courts for their children.

The monogamous marriage of the strangers was .mother cultural "standard that was right." Kamehameha II was advised that should he embrace this new religion, he must give up his polygamous ways. The missionaries taught by example in many respects, and the love and devotion of monogamy was no exception.

Though in many cases married to hastily found mates shortly before sailing. they lived marital lives that were examplary in their fill of love and devotion, their families were models of affection and mutual helpfulness. With mere pittances of salaries ur rations, often unable to obtain suitable food, living at first for years in cramped, leaky. floorless, thatched houses, wit h little privacy, often ill or child­bearing with no doctor available, they were marvels of patience and faithfulness 1·

Formal schooling took place immediately. ''The missionary zeal for education had been unbounded. Education to serve God was their primary goal. Education would make better Christians."te Thus, the first step taken by the missionaries, men and women, was to learn the Hawaiian language and to translate the alphabet into written form. By the first Monday in January, 1822, this goal was realized. "The first form was put to press on the seventh of January in the presence of a company of missionaries, chiefs and foreign residents."19

In formal schooling as well as religious teaching, the Hawaiian women were receptive participants. While Kamehameha II "for several months kept foremost in learning, the pleasures of the cup soon caused his books to be neglected ."2o Ke'opuolani, on the other hand, "gave herself diligently to the study

of English in order to read the Bible which had not yet been translated into the Hawaiian tongue."~1 It remained for Ka'ahumanu, though, to be the most influential patron, firm friend and protector of the Protestant missionaries.22 Through her influenre the missionaries were given land and permission to build their homes.

The education of Hawaiian women was not confined to reading; Lucy Thurston's Friday Female Meetings stressed a new set of mores as welt:

I devote as much time to the instruction of women as I can redeem from my family. My labors are particularly directed to the members of the Friday Female Meetings. Two years ago [1827) their names were enrolled and a discipline established. A moral standard was raised. Whoever wished to join the society must forsake all their former vile practices, and pay an external regard to the Word and Worship of God. They must uniformly have a full covering for their persons, .it home and abroad, and follow whatever is lovely and of good report.2J

The importance of native teachers, both men and women, was a deciding factor in how far·reaching the mission would be. The Friday Female Meeting was divided into classes; each class had a particular teacher. "The number of female teachers has risen to twenty, all hopefully pious. This is my Lucy's class. I teach them what I wish them to teach others."24

In 1821, the total number of Hawaiians receiving instruction in the schools was near 200. By 1824, this figure had risen to 2,000, and in 1831, just eleven years after arrival, 52,000 pupils were studying the written word.23 For many years the native teachers formally aiding the missionaries were men, but they were joined later by Hawaiian women.26

Without the missionary women, it is unlikely that the mission would have been so readily received by the Hawaiian women, and, without the acceptance of the Hawaiian women, it is doubtful that the Hawaiian men would have allowed the missionaries the entry needed in order that their Christianization would succeed. The sometimes subtle, sometimes aggressive influence of the women set the groundwork for the periods of "fruition," "turning of the tide," "industrialization and immigration," and "political incorporation"11 which occurred in the years following this crucial period of beginnings.

There are, of course, reasons for the success of the mission other than those discussed in this essay. Any central question, such as: What was the influence of women in Hawaii?, will be clouded with lateral questions: Were the women influential because the men's work was too abstract? what was the role of education among the Hawaiian women before the missionary arrival? how did the Hawaiian men and women react to the family structure of the missionaries? Questions such as these are valid; more research is needed. It is hoped that these will receive more attention in the future. Just as the mission and Hawaiian women opened the door for the Christianization and Americanization of Hawai'i, this essay has only opened the door on thoughts of women's influence in these Islands' early period.

Footnotes

•Kent, Graeme. Comp~"!! of Hrar1t" · Early Missionarits i" /ht South Sras, Wellington : A.H. & A.W. Reed Ltd., 1972, p. 56.

:Thurston, Lucy Goodale. Lifr a"d Timrs of Mrs. Lucy G. Thurslo". Michigan : S.C. Andrews, 1921, p. 5.

•Ibid .. p. 3. •Ibid., p. 29. >ll11d., p. 15. 6lbid • p. 16.

7Kuykendall, Ralph S. Thr Hawaiin" Kingdom, 1178-1854, Honolulu, 1918, p. 66.

&Emerson, Nathaniel. Tlrr Unwrillrn Uttraturt of Hawai'i: Tht Sarml Songs of lltt Hula. Rutland. Vermont ; Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1965, p. 204.

•Thurston, op. n t., p. 22. 10Koskinen, Aarne A. Mimonary lnflumu •s

a Palilirnl Factor i" thr Parr/it Islands, Helsinki : Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Sueran Kirjapainon Oy., 1953, p. 23.

11Frear, Walter. "A Century of Achievement," in Thr Crnlrn"iAI Book 18.20-1920. Honolulu : Hawaiian Mission Centennial. 1920, p. 8.

t:Thurston. op. cit., p. 69. II /bid,, p. 36. 14/bid., p. 32. 1 ~/bid .. p. 91. t0 Barrere, Dorothy B .. Mary Kawena

Puku'i and Marion Kelly. Hula Hrslorirnl PmprclivN. Honolulu : Bishop Museum Pacific Anthropological Records, No. 30, 1980, p. 34.

"Frear, Walter. llnli·Missionary Criticism With Rrfmnrt lo Hawai'i, Honolulu : Honolulu Social Science Association, 1935, p. 10.

!&Fuchs, Lawrence H. Hawai'i Pono· II SMial History, New York : Harcourt, Brace&. World Inc., 1961, p. 263.

••Kuykendall, op. cit., p. 106. ~See Thurston, op. cit. u American Board of Commissioners for

Foreign Missions. ll"nual Rrporls, 1820-1841, p. 82.

22Kuykendall, op. rrl., p. 133. i>Thurston, op. cit., p. 98. 2~/bid.

2'Kuykendall, op. er/., p. 104. I <> Young, Nancy Foon and Judy R.

Parrish, eds. Montagr: II" Elh"ic History of Womm fo Hawai'i, Honolulu : General Assistance Center for the Pacific, College of Education, 1977, p . 22.

" Frear, see footnote 11.

Ly"tllt R. Mallrry is a Gradua/t Studr"I in Educational Fou "dalio"s· Colltgt of Educalio"· Univrrsity of Hawai'i al Manoa. Shr rruivrd hrr Profmio"11I Diploma i" tducation and Bii in 11"lhropology from /hr U"ivmity of Hawai'i at Ma"°"· Hrr inlrmts arr rduc111ional thtory an1/ anlhropologirnl applicalio"s lo nlucalion.

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