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Puerto Rican migration to Hawaii began when Puerto Rico's sugar industry was devastated by two hurricanes in 1899. The devastation caused a worldwide shortage in sugar and a huge demand for the product from Hawaii. Consequently, Hawaiian sugarcane plantation owners began to recruit the jobless, but experienced, laborers from Puerto Rico. In thirteen separate groups, 5883 Puerto Rican men, women and children traveled by ship, train then ship again to the islands of Hawaii to begin their new lives in the sugar plantations.
In the 19th century, Puerto Rico depended mainly on its agricultural economy. The island together with Cuba was the Spanish Crown's leading exporter of sugar, coffee, tobacco and cotton. When the island was ceded to the United States after the Spanish–American War, as stipulated by the agreements of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, most of its industries were taken over by American industrialists. Labor was provided by Puerto Ricans who depended on the nation's agriculture as their only source of income. [2]
On August 8, 1899, Hurricane San Ciriaco, with winds of over 100 miles per hour, struck Puerto Rico and, on August 22, another hurricane followed. The floods, caused by 28 days of continuous rain, damaged the agricultural industry and left 3,400 dead and thousands of people without shelter, food or work. [3] As a result, there was a shortage of sugar from the Caribbean in the world market and a huge demand for the product from Hawaii and other sugar producing countries. To meet the demand, plantation owners began a campaign to recruit the jobless laborers in Puerto Rico. [4] By 1901, the Hawaiian sugar output was 360,000 tons of raw sugar. [5]
On November 22, 1900, the first group of Puerto Ricans consisting of 56 men, began their long journey to Maui, Hawaii. The trip was long and unpleasant first sailing from San Juan harbor to New Orleans, Louisiana. Once in New Orleans, the travelers boarded a railroad train to the Port of Los Angeles, California or San Francisco. From there they set sail aboard the SS City of Rio de Janeiro to Hawaii. [6] According to the "Los Angeles Times" dated December 26, 1901, the Puerto Ricans were mistreated and starved by the shippers and the railroad company. They arrived in Honolulu, on December 23, 1900, [7] and were sent to work in one of the different plantations owned by the "Big Five" on Hawaii's four islands. [8] Often, groups of men, women with children would refuse to continue the journey to Hawaii. A December 15, 1900 San Francisco Examiner article said that 60 Puerto Ricans were forced onto the Rio in California, but 50 "escaped". [9]
By October 17, 1901, 5,000 Puerto Rican men, women and children had made their new homes on the four islands. Records show that, in 1902, 34 plantations had 1,773 Puerto Ricans on their payrolls; 1,734 worked as field hands and another 39 were clerks or luna/overseers (foremen).
Between 1900 and 1901, 11 trips took place to move Puerto Ricans to Hawaii to work in the fields. [10]
People came from different places to work in the sugar plantations of Hawaii: the first were the Chinese, the second came from Portugal, the third group came from Japan, the fourth group came from Puerto Rico, the fifth came from Korea and the sixth group came from The Philippines and all these people worked together in the plantations. [11] This mix of people of different tongues led to the need of a common vernacular which led to Hawaiian Pidgin. [12] [13]
In thirteen separate groups, 5883 Puerto Rican men, women and children traveled by ship, train then ship again to the islands of Hawaii to begin their new lives in the sugar plantations. [14]
The "Big Five" was the name given to a group of sugarcane corporations that wielded considerable political power in the Territory of Hawai‘i and leaned heavily towards the Hawai‘i Republican Party. The "Big Five" consisted of Castle & Cooke, Alexander & Baldwin, C. Brewer & Co., Amfac and Theo H. Davies & Co.
The owners of the "Big Five" were Euro-Americans who would indulge in discrimination and bigotry against ethnic groups who worked the plantations. They had an association called the "Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association" (HSPA) whose power was equivalent to an oligarchy. The Attorney General of Hawai‘i, referring to the Big Five, said in 1903, "There is a government in this Territory which is centralized to an extent unknown in the United States, and probably almost as centralized as it was in France under Louis XIV." [15] Wages and living accommodations depended upon their job and race. Europeans were paid more and received better quarters. Most of the workers moved from plantation to plantation to work because they did not like the work they did and because of the racial discrimination. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]
In 1920, Puerto Rican and Portuguese sugar plantation workers at Ewa, a district of Oahu, joined work strikes that began with the Filipino and Japanese workers, who were demanding better pay and an end to discriminatory practices. [21]
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You may watch a short segment of the documentary "Puertorriqueños en Hawaii" (Puerto Ricans in Hawaii) here |
According to the State of Hawaii Data Book 1982, by the year 1910, there were 4,890 Puerto Ricans living in Hawaii. [22] Puerto Rico and Hawaii were unincorporated and incorporated territories of the United States respectively; however, the passage of the Jones–Shafroth Act of 1917, the same year that the United States entered World War I, gave American citizenship, with limitations, to the Puerto Rican residents in Puerto Rico but excluded those who resided in Hawaii. Yet, the "non-citizen" Puerto Ricans were assigned draft numbers and were expected to serve in the military. [23]
The Plantation owners, like those that comprised the "Big Five", found territorial status convenient, enabling them to continue importing cheap foreign labor; such immigration was prohibited in various other states of the Union. [24] In 1917, Puerto Ricans in the island, believing that they were entitled to the same rights that every other U.S. citizens had, tried to sign up to vote in a local Hawaiian election and were denied their rights by the county clerk who claimed that early immigrants to Hawaii were not covered by the Jones Act. [23]
Manuel Olivieri Sanchez, a court interpreter at the time, became enraged in what he viewed as a violation of the civil rights of his fellow countrymen. He encouraged his fellow Puerto Ricans to protest by telling them that "If you are not allowed to vote, don't answer the draft call". [23] Olivieri Sanchez led a legal battle for the recognition of the Hawaiian Puerto Ricans as citizens of the United States. In the first legal battle the lower court ruled in favor of the county clerk, however Olivieri Sanchez did not give up the fight and took the case before the Territorial Supreme Court, which reversed the decision of the lower court, granting the Puerto Ricans of Hawaii their United States citizenship. [25]
Olivieri Sanchez' victory was not welcomed by members of HSPA, who depended on the cheap labor non-citizens provided. In 1930, HSPA began to circulate false rumors, they made it be known that they (HSPA) were planning to recruit laborers in Puerto Rico, while at the same time they had the "Honolulu Star Bullentin" and some local newspapers they controlled run anti-Puerto Rican stories, that—for example—claimed Puerto Ricans were "unhealthy hookwormers who had bought disease to Hawaii". [23]
In December 1931, Olivieri Sanchez wrote a letter to the editor of the Hawaiian Advertiser where he stated that he saw all of the rhetoric as a tactic by HSPA to push all the different ethnic groups in the local labor force back to work on the plantations. He was right, the HSPA wanted to persuade the United States Congress to exempt the territory from a law, which in 1924 was requested by California to prevent the migration of Filipinos and Japanese nationals to the U.S. (National Origins Quota Action (Immigration Act) and Johnson Immigration Act of 1924). [26] HSPA's secretary treasurer claimed that the association was unwilling to import Puerto Ricans to Hawaii. His defamation of Puerto Ricans condemned not only the Puerto Ricans of Hawaii, but also those on the island of Puerto Rico. Despite the efforts of Olivieri Sanchez, HSPA had their way and Hawaii was exempted from the stern anti-immigration laws of the time. [23]
The power of the plantation owners was finally broken by the activist descendants of the original immigrant laborers. Because it was recognized that they were born in an incorporated United States territory and that they were legal American citizens with full local voting rights and therefore were entitled to actively campaign for statehood recognition of the Hawaiian Islands. [27]
Currently, there are over 30,000 Puerto Ricans or Hawaiian-Puerto Ricans living in Hawaii. Puerto Rican culture and traditions are very strong there. One of the traditions that is still practiced is the "compadrazgo". When a person baptizes somebody's child, he or she becomes the "padrino" (godfather) of the child and the "compadre" or "comadre" of the child's parents. There is a relationship of respect, mutual affection and obligation between the child, parents and compadres. The children ask for a blessing "La Bendición" and the padrinos respond with a "Dios te bendiga" (God bless you). [6]
The platano , a main staple of Puerto Rican cuisine was not found in Hawaii. But as in Puerto Rico, the Hawaiian-Puerto Ricans enjoy the preparation of the pasteles (meat pies) during the Christmas holidays. The confection of the pastel is an event where the whole family participates. Some of the members of the family cut the green bananas (in place of the plantains) and season them while others prepare the masa (dough). The masa is then filled with seasoned pork and other ingredients, wrapped in banana or ti plant leaves and finally tied with a string. The pastel is boiled in water until cooked. [6] [28]
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When the Puerto Ricans immigrated to Hawaii they took along with them their music and their musical instruments. Among the musical instruments introduced to Hawaii was the Puerto Rican cuatro. The Cuatro was a four stringed guitar developed in Puerto Rico in 1875; however, it eventually evolved into a ten stringed guitar. Other musical instruments introduced were the Maracas, a rattle containing dried seeds and the Guiro (percussion instrument made out of a gourd and played with a scraping stick). Soon, these instruments were not only limited to playing Spanish songs but, were also absorbed by the typical songs of Hawaii. [6] Cachi Cachi music is a style of music which began in Hawaii in the early 1900s when the Puerto Ricans immigrated to Hawaii. [29]
In 1998, Master guitarmaker William R. Cumpiano and his colleagues wrote, directed and produced "Un Canto en Otra Montaña: Música Puertorriqueña en Hawaii" (A Song Heard in Another Mountain: Puerto Rican Music in Hawaii), a short-feature video documentary on the music and social history of the century-old Puerto Rican Diaspora in Hawaii. [30]
On December 23, 2000 the Puerto Ricans in Hawaii celebrated a centennial celebration. [31] [7] They published a Puerto Ricans of Hawaii recipe book featuring how the people managed to prepare their cuisine in Hawaii, improvising with other ingredients when necessary. Los Pleneros de la 21, a bomba and plena musical group were part of the celebration.
The following table is in accordance to the U.S. Census 2000 Data for the State of Hawaii. [32] Despite having left Puerto Rico long ago, and being a product of intermarriages, many still identify as Puerto Rican when some Puerto Rican heritage exists in their family history. [33] [19]
Hawaii Puerto Rican Population | |
1990 | 2000 |
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Total: 25,778 | Total: 30,005 |
Percent of population: 2.3% | Percent of population:2.5% |
Hawaii Puerto Rican Population by County | |
Honolulu County | 18,933 |
Hawaii County | 6,243 |
Maui County | 3,290 |
Kauai County | 1,539 |
Total Puerto Rican Population | 30,005 |
During the late 20th century, the "coquí", a thumbnail-sized tree frog endemic to Puerto Rico, became established in Hawaii, most likely as stowaways in shippings of potted plants. Its loud mating call, "music to the ears" of Puerto Ricans on their native highland, is considered an annoyance in Hawaii where this invasive species reaches much higher population densities. Unsuccessful efforts were made to exterminate the infestation. [34] [35]
Some of the Hawaiian-Puerto Ricans who have distinguished themselves are: [27]
Hawaii is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) southwest of the U.S. mainland. It is the only state not on the North American mainland, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state in the tropics.
Hilo is the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaii, and is a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. It is the fourth-largest settlement in the state of Hawaii and largest settlement in the state outside of Oahu.
Waipahu is a former sugarcane plantation town and now census-designated place (CDP) located in the ʻEwa District on the island of Oʻahu in the City & County of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 43,485. The U.S. postal code for Waipahu is 96797.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Hawaii:
The Chinese in Hawaii constitute about 4.7% of the state's population, most of whom (75%) are Cantonese people with ancestors from Zhongshan in Guangdong. This number does not include people of mixed Chinese and Hawaiian descent. If all people with Chinese ancestry in Hawaii are included, they form about 1/3 of Hawaii's entire population. As United States citizens, they are a group of Chinese Americans. A minority of this group have Hakka ancestry.
The cuisine of Hawaii incorporates five distinct styles of food, reflecting the diverse food history of settlement and immigration in the Hawaiian Islands.[a]
Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico resulted in the 19th century from widespread economic and political changes in Europe that made life difficult for the peasant and agricultural classes in Corsica and other territories. The Second Industrial Revolution drew more people into urban areas for work, widespread crop failure resulted from long periods of drought, and crop diseases, and political discontent rose. In the early nineteenth century, Spain lost most of its possessions in the so-called "New World" as its colonies won independence. It feared rebellion in its last two Caribbean colonies: Puerto Rico and Cuba. The Spanish Crown had issued the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 which fostered and encouraged the immigration of European Catholics, even if not of Spanish origin, to its Caribbean colonies.
Afro-Puerto Ricans, most commonly known as Afroboricuas, but also occasionally referred to as Afroborinqueños,Afroborincanos, or Afropuertorros, are Puerto Ricans of full or mostly sub-Saharan African origin, who are predominately the descendants of slaves, freedmen, and free Blacks original to West and Central Africa. The term Afro-Puerto Rican is also used to refer to historical or cultural elements in Puerto Rican society associated with this community, including music, language, cuisine, art, and religion.
Sugarcane was introduced to Hawaiʻi by its first inhabitants in approximately 600 AD and was observed by Captain Cook upon arrival in the islands in 1778. Sugar quickly turned into a big business and generated rapid population growth in the islands with 337,000 people immigrating over the span of a century. The sugar grown and processed in Hawaiʻi was shipped primarily to the United States and, in smaller quantities, globally. Sugarcane and pineapple plantations were the largest employers in Hawaiʻi. Today the sugarcane plantations are gone, production having moved to other countries.
Hawaii has been a notable destination for Korean immigration to the United States since the early 20th century.
Manuel Olivieri Sánchez was a court interpreter and civil rights activist who led the legal battle which recognized U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans living in Hawaii.
People of Filipino descent make up a large and growing part of the State of Hawaii's population. In 2000 they were the third largest ethnic group and represented 22.8% of the population, but more recently, according to the 2010 United States Census data indicates they have become the second largest ethnicity in Hawaii, after Whites.
Most early Asian settlers to the United States went to Hawaii. Most of these early immigrants moved to the islands as laborers to work on the pineapple, coconut, and sugarcane plantations. These early migrants have tended to stay, although a handful returned to their home countries. There has also been recent immigration to Hawaii from more ethnic Asian groups, including Thai, Indian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese.
White Puerto Ricans are Puerto Ricans who self-identify as white due to a rubric of laws like the Regla del Sacar or Gracias al Sacar dating back to the 1700's where a person of mixed ancestry could be considered legally white so long as they could prove that at least one person per generation in the last four generations had also been legally white. Therefore, people of mixed ancestry with known white lineage were classified as white, the opposite of the "one-drop rule" in the United States. In the 2020 United States census, the number of people who identified as "White alone" was 536,044 or 16.5%, with an additional non-Hispanic 24,548, for a total population of 560,592.
Spanish immigration to Hawaii began in 1907 when the Hawaiian government and the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association (HSPA) decided to supplement their ongoing importation of Portuguese workers to Hawaii with workers recruited from Spain. Importation of Spanish laborers, along with their families, continued until 1913, at which time more than 9,000 Spanish immigrants had been brought in, most recruited to work primarily on the Hawaiian sugarcane plantations.
White people in Hawaii, also known as Haole, are people of predominantly European descent. They form 22.9% of the population according to the 2020 United States Census. There are around 294,102 White people in Hawaii. Including people with two or more races, the number of people with some European ancestry is 476,162 (39.3%), meaning that around 14.6% of the population is mixed race.
Cachi Cachi music, also spelled Kachi Kachi, Kachi-Kachi and Katchi-Katchi, is a term that was coined to refer to music played by Puerto Ricans in Hawaii, after they migrated to Hawaii in 1901.
Fred Kinzaburo Makino(フレッド 金三郎 牧野) was a Territory of Hawaiʻi newspaper publisher and community activist. He was the founder and first editor of the Hawaii Hochi, a Japanese-language newspaper for Japanese laborers. He advocated for workers rights, and led a strike in 1909. Makino also advocated against the regulation of Japanese-language schools.
Joseph Ballard Atherton (1837–1903) was a Honolulu businessman and a former president of Castle & Cooke. He was a member of the Annexation group, which overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was the founder of Honolulu YMCA. Atherton was a member of both Kalākaua's Privy Council of State and Liliʻuokalani's Privy Council of State.
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ignored (help)Yet, when that U.S. Census form arrives in my mailbox on April 1, I'm going to check that little box marked "Puerto Rican." I am, because that's what I am.