Here Cum Da Rain
January 11, 2009 > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays No Comments |
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Step in a Puddle Day
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Oleo: Talk, speak, speech PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY — Talk story: Discuss, gossip HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “Life is in speech, death is in speech.” HAOLE SAYINGS OF THE DAY — “For me it [LSD] was a deep and mystical experience and not just an everyday pleasurable one.” - Albert Hofman WEBSITE OF THE WEEK — Aldo Leopold Foundation
January 11, 1903: How cum da Pidgin? The boat “Gaelic” (translates as ‘nice boat’) arrives on the islands, and within the next week, cane fields everywhere have new workers: from Korea.
The importation of workers from other countries to Hawaii was not new by the 20th century.In the previous 30 years, workers from the Philippines, Indonesia, and many smaller Pacific Islands had been shipped here, some with the promise of good pay, others with the carrot of a U.S. Citizenship.Regardless, sugar was big business, and there was not nearly enough labor to work the fields, especially on Maui, which was during this period the fastest growing sugar plantation area in the state. Soon, pineapple fields demanded workers as well, and more boats would follow the the Gaelic. Workers were imported to Maui right up to the second world war. Because of the diverse population of workers from different lands and cultures speaking many different languages, Pidgin English evolved as a form of communication that transcended these linguistic boundaries and is still commonly spoken on Maui today.
