Kohala honors Puerto Rican centennial
By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
KAPA'AU, Hawai'i — A devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico generated a wave of immigration that touched Hawai'i's shores 100 years ago and introduced a cultural influence that thrives today on the remote north end of the Big Island.
Tomorrow 9 a.m. — Monument dedication at Honoipu Landing. Monday 6:30 a.m. — Mass in Spanish at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hawi.
After sailing from Puerto Rico to New Orleans, followed by a train ride to Los Angeles and a voyage to Hawai'i, they arrived to work on the sugar plantations in unknown numbers in North Kohala on May 14, 1901.
•
Events set to celebrate heritage
10:30 a.m. — Cultural exhibits, craft and food booths throughout day at Hisaoka Gymnasium in Kapa'au.
11 a.m. — Centennial parade from Kohala High School in Honomaka'u to Kamehameha Park in Kapa'au.
2 p.m. — Puerto Rican fashion show at Hisaoka Gymnasium.
7-11 p.m. — Free dance with music by El Leo, the Jarican Express at Hisaoka Gymnasium.
The 2000 census counted 818 Hispanics among North Kohala's 6,038 residents, about 14 percent of the population. Most have Puerto Rican roots. Across the state, the census found 30,005 Puerto Ricans, the largest single group of Hispanics in Hawai'i.
A yearlong, statewide observance of the Puerto Rican centennial ends this weekend with events in North Kohala.
The arrival of the first boatload of Puerto Ricans was not marked by much fanfare, said Blase Camacho Souza, 83, of Honolulu, who is doing independent research into her heritage. Her parents were among the original group to arrive.
Records are hard to come by, and Souza said she doesn't know how many Puerto Ricans came on that first interisland steamship, whose name also has been lost to time. Still, through hours of poring over hand-written documents from the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association, Souza has identified 100 names of the original immigrants that she will distribute on scrolls this weekend.
Celebration leader Elsie Candelario said the festivities begin at 9 a.m. Saturday with the dedication of a granite monument placed on a boulder at Honoipu Landing, south of 'Upolu Point, where the steamship dropped off the island's first Puerto Ricans.
Honoipu is hardly a landmark today. The shipping of sugar shifted to the larger port at Mahukona after a railroad was established.
Candelario said the area remains popular for fishing and diving and viewing humpback whales in the winter months.
For Puerto Ricans, Honoipu is ground zero for the launching of a culture that flourishes today through the Kohala Puerto Rican Social Club.
The club grew out of the need to help families with funeral expenses, but now provides college scholarships to the great-grandchildren of the first arrivals.
Pat Koga, a member of the statewide centennial commission and a longtime Hawai'i County executive assistant, is not from Kohala but admires the strong ethnic influence the club there has provided islandwide.
"They really have stayed in there for the long haul," said Koga.
Souza will serve as grand marshal for a parade at 11 a.m. Saturday from Kohala High School to Kamehameha Park.
The retired librarian-educator left North Kohala in 1935 on the Humu'ula, the steamship of her day. She has returned often and is proud of her Kohala roots.
For Candelario, the celebration of culture will not end with this weekend's events. She and two cousins have reserved 2002 for a trip to Puerto Rico to learn more about their ancestors.
