"Finding David Douglas" film now on YouTube

I'm happy to share the link to "Finding David Douglas," now available on YouTube. I wrote the script for this documentary film, which was initially released in 2012.

My friend from childhood (we met at Girl Scout Camp and then were high school classmates), Lois Leonard, invited me to be the writer for her film. She said she had always enjoyed my writing but also, we had so many interests in common. We both loved history, the outdoors and all things Hawaiian.

Lois Leonard, facing camera, at the David Douglas Memorial

The last part of the 55-minute film takes place in the Hawaiian Islands, on 'Oahu and Hawai'i. David Douglas, a botanist-explorer from Scotland, spent time on both islands before his untimely death on Mauna Kea on July 12, 1834. He was just 35 years old.

Douglas was, in fact, the first non-native to climb both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the snow-topped volcanoes on Hawai'i Island. He did so for the purpose of collecting plants, most of which were unknown to European naturalists.

As he was walking across the lower elevations of Mauna Kea on his way to the town of Hilo, he had a fateful encounter with a wild cattle trapper named Ned Gurney. Most versions of the story blame Douglas's death on a bull trapped by Gurney; most of us on the film crew believed that Douglas was murdered by Gurney.

Some beautiful scenes were filmed in the peaceful grove of Douglas fir trees (imported from the Pacific Northwest) growing at the site of Douglas's death. A stone memorial has been standing there since 1934 and was dedicated on the centennial of Douglas's demise. Douglas is buried at Kawaiaha'o Church Cemetery in Honolulu.

A grove of Douglas firs among the koa trees

I hope you'll take the time to view the "Finding David Douglas" video so you can appreciate Douglas's accomplishments as a 19th-century plant collector. For one thing, the seeds from Douglas fir and spruce trees that Douglas sent back to London resulted in the re-growth of depleted forests in the UK and Europe.

My advice for anyone who wishes to visit the David Douglas Memorial on Mauna Kea: make the trip in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle. The road is pretty rough. Keep in mind that the hardy Douglas was making the entire trek on foot.

Learning Hawaiian the LDEI Way

Today on NPR I heard about a new world language being offered on the language learning app, Duolingo. According to the story, which you can hear or read here, local Hawaiian language teacher Ekela Kaniaupio-Crozier helped Duolingo develop their new 'olelo Hawai'i lessons.

She explained that during the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1980s children began learning 'olelo Hawai'i at special preschools. Now many of those children have children of their own. The new app is meant to help the parents make learning fun for a new generation of Hawaiian speakers.

The lessons were described as "bite sized." That brought to mind the most recent occasion when I heard spoken Hawaiian. That was last month in Seattle at a conference of Les Dames d'Escoffier (LDEI), an international organization of culinary professional women (including writers, like me). I had just joined and was eager to learn more about the group.

As the outgoing president addressed the group, I heard two familiar words: aloha and mahalo. Hayley Matson-Mathes was the president, a member of the Honolulu chapter. But then I heard the plucking of an 'ukulele and the swishing noise of bamboo puili sticks. I moved closer to the podium and saw that President Matson-Mathes's fellow chapter members were dancing and singing in honor of her successful tenure as president.

I brought along my copy of The Hawai'i Farmers Market Cookbook after realizing that the president of my new organization had been one of its editors. I asked Hayley to sign it for me, and took the occasion to tell her that in Portland I had studied hula, 'ukulele and 'olelo Hawai'i.

I also thanked her for spreading the Hawaiian language internationally. After being greeted at every conference gathering by Aloha! and hearing many of the members being thanked with a heartfelt Mahalo!, probably every member, including those from Europe, Mexico and Canada, felt that they had acquired some new language skills. To add to the Hawaiian flavor of the conference, a few special members received floral lei, to wear around their necks, or haku lei, as headdresses.

I must say it was a pleasure for me to hear even just a few words of Hawaiian spoken in an unexpected setting. Even though there now is an app for learning Hawaiian, I welcome any occasion to practice 'olelo Hawai'i.

Who was William McKinley?

Who was William McKinley and why were so many places named for him, including the highest mountain in North America?

Depending on whom you ask, their political persuasion and even their home state, McKinley was either one of the best or one of the worst U.S. presidents. He was the 25^th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until a September day in 1901, when he was assassinated, apparently by someone who believed that McKinley was one of the worst presidents.

McKinley, who had served as the governor of Ohio before he was elected president, was in the news recently. That was when the 44^th president, Barack Obama, officially stripped the name of the 25^th president from the 20,310-foot mountain in Alaska. It had been named Mount McKinley in 1896, when McKinley was merely the Republican nominee for president, by a gold prospector who apparently approved of his candidacy. Although the name of the surrounding park had been changed by the 39^th president, Jimmy Carter, in 1980, it was not until August 2015 that the mountain became, in the eyes of the federal government, Denali.

A lot of people from Ohio raised a stink over the renaming, as well as a lot of rather right-wing, nationalistic Americans. They are the folks who believe that McKinley was one of the best presidents because he expanded United States territory, paving the road for America’s role as the world’s most powerful nation.

For starters, he got Spain to give up its colonies in the Caribbean and the Pacific as part of the treaty ending the 1898 Spanish-American War. Suddenly, the United States possessed Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. Later, for good measure, the United States also claimed Wake Island – after annexing Hawaii.

The annexation of Hawaii, presided over by President McKinley in 1898, is still a sore spot for many Hawaiians. McKinley’s predecessor, Grover Cleveland, had refused to annex Hawaii, pointing out that it was against the desires of the Hawaiian people. But McKinley persevered. He failed to get a treaty of annexation, so he took a back-door route, achieving his aim through a joint resolution of Congress.

McKinley said that the U.S. possession of Hawaii was “manifest destiny” and was necessary for the nation’s trade ambitions in the Pacific Rim. He also feared that if the United States didn’t take Hawaii, Japan would.

This story leads us to another possible renaming of a McKinley landmark. On King Street in downtown Honolulu sits President William McKinley High School. Originally Fort English Day School at its founding in 1865, and renamed Honolulu High School in 1895, the school took McKinley’s name in 1907. It has been at its current location since 1923, along with the 8-ton bronze statue of McKinley that was dedicated in 1911. Ironically, the bronze hand of the McKinley statue is clutching a document with the words “Treaty of Annexation.” He never got the treaty; he took Hawaii anyway.

Perhaps spurred by President Obama’s action to rename the mountain in Alaska, Hawaiians have renewed their attempts to get the high school renamed to honor someone who is more agreeable to them or at least to restore the previous name of Honolulu High School. At MoveOn.org, a petition is slowly gathering enough signatures to put the question before the governor and the board of education.

On June 22, 2015, in The Hawaii Independent, Tyler Greenhill wrote in response to South Carolina’s removal of the Confederate Flag from its State Capitol, saying, “Should students of Native Hawaiian ancestry have to walk through entrances adorned with the name of an imperialist like William McKinley, the man who pushed for the United State to illegally annex Hawaii?”

Greenhill suggested, “Why not venerate the beautiful people who have made the most positive moral contributions to Hawaiian and local culture?”

I know that urges to rename landmarks to better reflect the current sensibilities sometimes get out of hand. In my own neighborhood some people want to rename the local high school, Wilson, because they say Woodrow Wilson was a racist. In Wilson’s day, true egalitarians were hard to come by, so I’m not persuaded that a name change is in order now.

But in the case of President William McKinley High School, I imagine that the name is a constant reminder to Hawaiians of a lawless time when powerful Americans wrested the rule of a monarchy from its queen and set in motion what was basically a land grab. 

Students should be able to wear the name of their school with genuine pride. Seeing the name McKinley every school day must be like picking at a wound that never heals. 

My Hana Hou! Debut

A new plaque at Kaluakauka

Of course, I've been meaning to write this post for a couple of months, to announce my first appearance as a writer in Hawaiian Airlines' inflight magazine, Hana Hou! But now only one week remains until the February-March issue is removed from seat pockets and the next issue appears!

My article, "The Curious Case of David Douglas," was the result of a trip I took to O'ahu and Hawai'i Island last October with my old friend Lois Leonard. Lois was the producer and director of "Finding David Douglas," a documentary film about the 19th-century Scottish botanist, David Douglas, who died tragically in 1834 while walking towards Hilo.

I wrote the script for that film, which was released in 2012. But, just like Lois, I wasn't able to drop my interest in the subject of the film. As often happens, one thing leads to another and a curious mind goes off on all sorts of tangents.

So when Lois told me of her plans to erect a new plaque on the David Douglas memorial at the site of his death, I was determined to find a way to accompany her and to write about the experience. When Michael Shapiro and Julia Steele, the editors of the magazine, said yes to my proposal, I was ecstatic. For one thing, I had long wished to see my byline in this exceptionally good magazine.

My article gives a history of David Douglas, for whom the Douglas fir is named, telling of how his scientific plant gathering in the Pacific Northwest led to a fascination with Hawaii's flora after his ship made a stop at Honolulu. Exploring further, he traveled to Hawai'i Island and there climbed three volcanoes, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Kilauea, collecting and pressing plants all the way.

On his final trip to the Big Island, he had a fateful encounter with a wild bull hunter. Although murder was never proved, some observers at the time made a connection between Douglas's body being found in an occupied cattle trap and the man who last saw him alive. Something about Douglas's missing money made people suspicious.                                                                                            

Lois Leonard, Gordon Mason, Lucy Douglas

Fast forward 100 years when in 1934 a state forester and Douglas aficionado named L.W. Bryan decided that the great botanist should be memorialized. Next to the cattle pit, which has since been filled in, Bryan built a lava stone cairn and affixed two plaques, one bearing the title "Kaluakauka." Meaning "The Doctor's Pit," it was what local natives called the death scene.

Lois's mission was to affix a third plaque on Bryan's monument, one that commemorated the 180th anniversary of Douglas's death and the 100th anniversary of the publication of his fascinating journal. On October 22, 2015, Lois, Doug Magedanz (her husband, who installed the plaque and is pictured above with Lois), Gordon Mason (a Douglas expert from England who was interviewed extensively in Lois's film), myself and a number of guests, including Lucy Douglas (David Douglas's great-great-great-great niece), conducted a brief but moving ceremony to honor Douglas and to dedicate the plaque.

You can read my article, complete with photos by Jeff DePonte, here.

Help a Maui pet find a mainland home

Are you planning a trip to the Hawaiian Islands that includes a return flight from Maui? With absolutely no expense to you and only a few minutes of your time, you can rescue a shelter dog or cat that would otherwise languish at the well-meaning but over-burdened Maui Humane Society.

Thanks to the generous participation of Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines, pets can travel from Kahului Airport in Maui to Portland International Airport. Generous donors have paid for the airfare. All that's needed are ticketed passengers that the pet can be assigned to. Don't worry -- it's only paperwork! Once you've signed the papers at the airport, you are free of worries. The pet travels in cargo and once you've arrived at PDX somebody will pick up the pet and from there it will be delivered to its new loving home.

This wonderful program, known as Wings of Aloha, managed in 2013 to deliver more than 200 homeless

pets to new homes in Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Calgary, Canada. The Maui dogs and cats are flown off only to areas that can guarantee new homes for them. There are more petless homes in the Northwest that are just itching to be hooked up with some homeless pets from Maui, so as a traveler please do this one small thing that will make a huge difference to pets that are worthy of a second chance.

Just give the Maui Humane Society a call at (808) 877-3680 ext. 17, or email Jamie Fitzpatrick at jfitzpatrick@mauihumanesociety.org. She'll get your return flight info and arrange for someone to meet you at check-in to make sure the pet is listed on your ticket. 

One more thing. If you want to help out even more, the Maui Humane Society welcomes volunteers to walk dogs and pet cats every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. Kids 10 and older, in the company of an adult, are welcome to come play with the pets. 

Mahalo!

Seasons Greetings!

My New Year's Resolution for 2013 is to post more frequently on my blog. I confess, I've been waylaid by another of my passions, Turkish language and culture.

But there's no reason why I can't continue to learn the Hawaiian language as I study Turkish, or to play the 'ukulele while I learn about the saz, a traditional stringed instrument played in Turkey.

But today my message is not a Turkish/Hawaiian mix, rather an Oregonian/Hawaiian mix. Pictured here are the Christmas shortbread cookies that I baked, frosted -- and ate. Yum!

As you can see, I had two themes in mind. There's the Christmas tree, looking very much like a Douglas fir. And there's an Oregon state map, complete with a heart. My daughter bought me this cookie cutter last summer at the gift shop in Oregon's Capitol in Salem.

But when I was last in Hawaii, in early October, I visited the Christmas shop at the Outrigger Reef in Waikiki. I bought four Hawaiian-themed cookie cutters: a honu, a mano, a palm tree and a pineapple. I chose just to use the two animals for my cookies. It's one way to bring 'aumakua, spirit animals, to life.

What's with all the pigeons?

Pigeons on Waikiki Beach

Anyone who has ever strolled along the beach at Waikiki has probably noticed that they shared the sand with a flock or two of pigeons. Meander down Kalakaua Avenue and you'll see many other flocks, some roosting in the nooks and crannies of the banyan trees, such as the tree near the Duke Kahanamoku statue.

I had noticed the pigeon population on earlier trips to Honolulu, but when I was staying last week at the Outrigger Waikiki I saw a photo which made me wonder who brought pigeons to O'ahu in the first place. The photo was of the Outrigger hotel chain's founder, the late Roy Kelley. His arms were full of white pigeons, the kind that are most prevalent in Waikiki. The caption noted that these were his "beloved pigeons."

Was Kelley the pigeon lover who introduced the now ubiquitous birds to Waikiki?

Not even close. I learned that pigeons first started strutting along Hawaii's beaches in the late 1700's, when Kamehameha was first rising to prominence on the island of Hawai'i.

White Kings roosting in a banyan tree

According to the Bishop Museum's Hawaii Biological Survey, which I found online, gray-colored rock pigeons are thought to have been introduced to Hawai'i in 1788, when a ship from China brought its cargo of wild turkeys and pigeons. Shipping records show that pigeons came from the other direction, from Europe, when a ship brought them to Hawai'i in 1796. Those were thought to be gray, as well. Rock pigeons, also known as rock doves (Columba livia) are native to the Mediterranean.

That accounts for the gray ones, but what about the white ones? They're everywhere. Known as White Kings, they're prized by pigeon fanciers. They are also prized for their meat and raised as squab.

Menus from 'Iolani Palace when Kalakaua was king (1874-1891) show that a popular tidbit at state dinners was pigeon on toast. Kalakaua was a man of prodigious appetites, but he also was a lover of beauty and nature. He loved birds and had his own exotic bird collection, located where the Honolulu Zoo is now.

In a 2004 article in the Honolulu Advertiser, a columnist tackled the subject of Waikiki's pigeons. He unearthed the fact that someone named S.Y. Chun brought four pairs of White Kings from Canada  in 1876 for the dedication of the Kapi'olani Bird Park, which originated as Kalakaua's personal bird collection.

I found other articles about how the city of Honolulu has over the years tried to control the pigeon population, even by feeding the birds birth control grain. The fact is, plenty of other people feed them and accept them as part of the landscape. Whether you regard pigeons as flying rats or as doves of peace and beauty, they're in Waikiki to stay.