Kaʻū News Briefs, Sunday, December 23, 2018

A Mele Kalikimaka is celebrated by the crew of the Hōkūleʻa during its worldwide voyage in 2015. Photo by Jason Patterson/Polynesian Voyaging Society

MELE KALIKIMAKA is the thing to say, on a bright, Hawaiian Christmas Day. The phrase means "Merry Christmas" in the Hawaiian language. The idea of Christmas came to Hawaiʻi through sailing ship crews and missionaries. A Mele Kalikimaka is celebrated by the Hawaiian community, including on board on the Polynesian sailing canoe Hokulea during its travels.
     The phrase Mele Kalikimaka is the attempt to say "Merry Christmas" in the native language. Without letters such as "r" and "s" in the Hawaiian language, the written form became Mele Kalikimaka.

WHEN DID CHRISTMAS COME TO HAWAIʻI? Some of the first mentions of Christmas came from ship captains who traveled to the Hawaiian Islands after their discovery by western explorer Capt. James Cook on Jan. 18, 1778. When Capt. George Dixon anchored the ship Queen Charlotte in Hawaiian waters on Dec. 25, 1786, he ordered his cooks to prepare a Christmas dinner, with pork, a pie and a bowl of punch. They fetched a pig from shore and roasted it. They made a spiked punch with coconut milk. In some story telling, the event is called Hawaiʻi's first Christmas.
     Young Hawaiian men who found work leaving Hawaiʻi on sailing ships learned about Christmas. Among them was Henry Opukahaʻia, of Punaluʻu, who traveled in 1807 to New England on the Triumph and became one of the first Hawaiians to become a Christian. He experienced Christmas on the mainland, and encouraged missionaries to move to Hawaiʻi to set up schools and churches, and to

Henry Opukakaʻia

help Hawaiians who were quickly losing their health and culture with the mercantile trading ship crews coming to the Island.
     The trading ships continued to bring glimpses of Christmas to Hawaiʻi. In 1817, a Christmas dinner was offered to Hawaiian chiefs who visited a sailing ship. The English crew took the feast to the shore on Christmas Day.
     In 1819, English Capt. Nathaniel Portlock wrote: "Kiana came off in a long double canoe and brought me a present of some hogs and vegetables which I received gladly, and made in a return that pleased him very much." Since there was giving back and forth, this event has been called the first exchange of Christmas gifts in Hawaiʻi.
     The first American missionaries arrived to Hawaiʻi on the ship Thaddeus on March 30, 1820. Hiram and Sybil Bingla, and Asa and Lucy Thurston, brought Christmas with them. The first English missionaries arrived in 1822. More missionaries followed, setting up churches and schools.
     In 1824, Queen Kaʻahumanu was baptized and Christmas celebrations slowly entered the native culture. By the 1840s, The Polynesian newspaper printed Christmas messages. Schoolmasters noted that students talked about exchanging gifts.
     By 1856, King Kamehameha IV, Alex Liholiho, had traveled to Europe, where he witnessed a Christmas celebration. He declared Dec. 25, 1856, a national day of Thanksgiving in Hawaiʻi. People from many backgrounds celebrated in their own ways and together.
     The first Christmas tree and Santa Claus in Hawaiʻi are reported at a Christmas Eve party for youth held by Mary Dominis at Washington Place, the Hawaiian monarch's home in Honolulu.

Fireworks were one of the mainland festivities adopted by Hawaiians for Christmas. Photo by Julia Neal

     In 1862, King Kamehameha IV proclaimed Christmas a national holiday in Hawaiʻi. Christmas parades included torches and candles. Fireworks and champagne celebrated Christmas. Newspapers advertised the purchase of gifts to give one another.

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THE SHUTDOWN OF 25 PERCENT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT could last into January. On Fox News Sunday, Mick Mulvaney, set to become Pres. Donald Trump's Chief of Staff on Jan. 1, said, "it is very possible that the shutdown will go beyond the 28th and into the new Congress," which beings Jan. 3. He also promised that "no one is working without getting paid. Paychecks go out on the 28th. The next pay period that is impacted is January 11th."
     Sen. Brian Schatz criticized the shutdown, which is a standoff between Pres. Donald Trump - to fund his proposed wall to keep out immigrants along the southern border of the U.S. mainland - and others in congress who oppose the wall.
     Schatz tweeted, "All shutdowns are ridiculous, embarrassing, costly, and useless, but this is an especially stupid shutdown. It is just awful what we are doing to federal workers over Christmas. Our federal workers shouldn't suffer because the President and Republicans in Congress don't know how to govern. These workers keep our country running, and it's irresponsible and cruel to threaten their pay just before the holidays."

Kahuku Unit remains closed during the government shutdown. NPS photo

     On this island, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park shut down its Kahuku Unit near Ocean View, but the main gate to the park in Volcano remains open with no admission fee. Volcano Art Center Gallery; Volcano House hotel, restaurants, and stores; Kīlauea Theatre; KMC accommodations, restaurant, store, and lounge; and Kīlauea Visitor Center displays and its Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association book store remain open. See Friday's Kaʻū News Briefs for details of trails and roads in the park that are open and closed.
     The USDA will continue providing services like food inspections; pest inspections on imports and exports; Forest Service law enforcement and emergency/natural disaster response; nutrition assistance programs like SNAP, WIC, and School Lunch; farm and farm loan payments. These and other services would "shut down in an orderly fashion" should the shutdown go beyond a week. Learn more at agriculture.com/news/business/how-does-a-government-shutdown-affect-the-usda.
     The National Weather Service tweeted it "will continue to operate 24×7 through the government shutdown to provide reliable forecast and warning information. Our social media presence will remain as close to normal as possible, but posts/replies will only be directly related to forecasts and warnings." National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will provide fisheries management, nautical safety for U.S. ports, patent and trademark application processing, export enforcement, the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), and more. Learn more at commerce.gov/news/blog/2018/12/shutdown-due-lapse-congressional-appropriations.