The Hidden Story Behind 'John Kanaka': Hawaiians in California's Gold Rush
Something my friends at work make fun of me for is my love for Irish Folk music. I have been known to blast bagpipe music in the parking lot too, So believe when I say I was very excited when researching this video to find a possible story behind one of my favorite songs. John Kanaka…
So, a while back did a show on John Sutter which you can go check out after this, Sutter was almost like a king in California for a while until the gold rush destroyed his empire. In his memoirs he is quoted as saying
"I could not have have settled the country without the aid of these kanakas"
What is a Kanaka? They are essentially commoner Hawaiians given to outsiders as servants typically for a payment of 10 bucks a month and within 2 or 3 years they needed to be returned to Hawaii. Now that you know that... Let me tell you a story.
The year was 1838, A Swiss man on the run from debtors prison from both Missouri and Switzerland arrived in the city of Honolulu on the Big Island of Hawaii. He never intended to go there, he desperately wanted to go to the free land of California where he could build himself an empire, pay off his debts and bring his family to the new world. He had traveled to the pacific northwest with a fur trading group and found himself stuck for the winter. He did not want to stay there so he boarded a ship to Hawaii to then get on another to head to the tiny fishing town of Yerba Buena known today as San Francisco.
He arrived to late and decided to winter in this warm tropical place. He was somewhat surprised by how many Americans, and English were there. Propping himself up as a high class man which he was not, he was able to make friends and was invited to all kinds of dinners and parties. Eventually being granted a visit to meet King Kamehameha the third. On the Island he was told of this place in Russian Alaska called New Archangel now known as Sitka where the trading was profitable. So using credit Sutter bought all kinds of supplies and a ship to then sail to to Sitka then finally to California.
Before he left though, he was given 10 Kanakas by Governor Mateo of Maui, 8 men and 2 women.
Whether he knew that one of the Kanakas he was given was not a Kanaka is not known.
One of the Kanakas was a young man named Loana Keala o'ka'i-ana who was actually part of a royal bloodline.
Loana was not born when the great Hawaiian unification took place by King Kamehameha, His Grandpa was the Chief of Maui, Ka'i-ana who turned on Kamehameha in the midst of the takeover. Back then all the Islands were separate and had separate customs and cultures. Kamehameha believed the islands should be united even if it meant by force. Ka'i-ana was one of his closest advisors but was ambitious, he had learned English and visited China and Alaska soon he was shut out from a top secret meeting and he turned on the plan and joined the resistance. He began building his army in Maui to attack Hawaii but ended up being attacked first. Kamehameha and his army were overpowering with muscle and also the advantage of English weapons. Like the cannon and musket.
After Maui was conquered, the war moved on to Oahu where Ka'i-ana joined forces. His wife though remained with Kamehameha and fought against the resistance.
Ka'i-ana eventually was shot down and almost immediately the battle stopped in silence as his wife ran to him and held him in her arms until he took his last breath.
The battle raged on and up to a cliff where the Hawaiians pushed about 800 men over the cliff to their deaths. This battle was the deciding point in the war and for the first time in history there was now The Kingdom of Hawaii
Now Nobody really knows why Loana was given to Sutter as a Kanaka, was he being exiled for being related to his defecting grandfather? Was he simply an ambitious adventurer? Whatever the reason it is interesting to note that Governor Mateo was Ka'i-ana's nephew who obviously became governor of Oahu, his good friend growing up was the King Kamehameha the second who died fairly young... when he died he married the kings' window and when she died married his other widow who gave birth to Kamehameha the Fourth and Fifth.
Either Way Loana was included in the ten Kanakas and went on to Alaska then California.
From the bay they traveled up the river to the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers then the Kanakas went to work building temporary grass huts for shelter.
Soon the men taught the natives farming and herding techniques and the women taught the native girls how to sew and wash. This is about the time Loana changed his name to John Kelly
John Sutter's empire grew incredibly and his fort was known far an wide as a safe waystation and trading post in the dangerous west.
The Kanakas took more of a liking to the natives which helped Sutter a ton as a white guy he didn't have much trust but the Kanakas looked and acted very similarly to them and they worked together
Eventually Gold was discovered and Sutter's empire fell and the Kanakas either ran to the mines or to the river.
Hawaiians learned in the Polynesian newspaper from Honolulu about the Gold being discovered and Soon over a thousand pickaxes were sent to California
John Kelly didn't join the Gold rush but instead became a river boatman. He probably didn't work on the Delta King or the Delta Queen but some kind of riverboat like those. One day up on deck a man named John Bidwell (Pictured), the founder of the city of Chico was traveling on the boat and a tree branch knocked him overboard. John Kelly dove down and saved him creating a relationship that would outlive him.
John Kelly didn't join the Gold rush but instead became a river boatman. He probably didn't work on the Delta King or the Delta Queen but some kind of riverboat like those. One day up on deck a man named John Bidwell, the founder of the city of Chico was traveling on the boat and a tree branch knocked him overboard. John Kelly dove down and saved him creating a relationship that would outlive him.
Eventually in a village near Oroville John Kelly met a gal who happened to be a royal from Hawaii and they got married. At some point in the 1850s California passed their own version of the Indian removal act that The federal Government had done back in the 1830s. Where Indians were to relocated onto reservations and it also kind of make slavery legal as long as it was an Indian.
Well John Kelly and his family were mistaken for Indians and were driven to a reservation though he protested saying he was Hawaiian. Luckily he was able to write to King Kamehameha iii and explained the situation. The King sent word and was able to get him returned to Camp Bidwell where he had been living before.
He eventually had 5 kids one of whom would die young, he slowly went blind and by the time he was 50 years old he killed his wife and committed suicide.
Now, One of his kids was a young girl name Mele whose American name was Mary.
She was 17 years old when King David Kalakua came to California to visit. This was in 1881. There was some kind of event where a bunch of Hawaiians came to meet the king and she went, told him of her lineage, they were related. He immediately appointed her Guardian of the King's Kahili then was asked to come back to Hawaii where she served Queen Kapiolani, she did that for five years then came back to California. Eventually in 1891 King David visited California again but this time got sick and died. Mary was called to watch over the casket and make sure his body safely returned to Hawaii. She went back to California to live in a house that the Bidwell family built for her.
Now, Is John Kelly the John in John Kanaka? Probably not but now you'll think of John Kelly whenever you hear the song. So for that You're welcome.
Before you move on and read my other articles like the one about John Sutter, This video was brought to you by the Hawaiian State Book series by Joseph Chamberlain. These books are easy to read and are in large font so you might not even need your reading glasses. The books are similar to what I aim to do here in my show, teaching history by telling a good story. The links to buy on Amazon are down below, Mahalo.
