Debt and Pono
Beyond the issue of merchants’ disparagement of Hawaiian chiefs’ governance and conduct in the sandalwood and ship trades, problems that arose from the differences between New England and Hawaiian conceptions of “debt” and obligation—and the values of good governance and trade—are not to be underestimated. In order to understand how the chiefs of the 1820s navigated their engagement with the merchants, we have to look back at the final kauoha (order) Kamehameha I speaks to his chiefs about his legacy and the possible relationships and responsibilities that the chiefs might have with their islands.
Just before the death of Kamehameha in May of 1819, the chiefs Kālaimoku and Ke‘eaumoku, who were on O‘ahu overseeing the business of cutting sandalwood, were recalled to Hawai‘i to the side of their ali‘i. After all avenues of curing the illness were exhausted, the chiefs arrayed around the body of their dying ali‘i spoke, saying: “Here we all are, your younger siblings, and your chiefs and your foreigners. Leave a word for us.” The ali‘i were asking Kamehameha for his kauoha, a directive or command, which quite possibly would be his last words to them. Kamehameha replied, “For what purpose?” Kaikio‘ewa answered, “As a word for us.”49 Kamehameha said, “E ‘oni wale nō ‘oukou i ku‘u pono ‘a‘ole e pau” (Enjoy the good which I have provided, for it is not finished).50 Several hours later in the early morning, the mō‘ī Kamehameha would die. This would be his final command to them, and it weighed heavily upon the chiefs who were left behind.
The “good” of any ali‘i was expressed in Hawaiian by the word pono—the pono of the chief encompassed the nature of his rule, his protection of the people, and his ability to maintain healthy balance in the world through the proper administration of lands and resources, through the veneration of the akua (gods). What was the nature of government and governance? Was it peaceful and just, or marked by cruelty and war?
Kamehameha’s rule was novel, as his vision of uniting all the islands under his administration was both ambitious and relatively unheard of in Hawaiian experience; there had been other ali‘i who sought to craft one aupuni—one unified government out of separate islands or district aupuni. Ali‘i had charge of moku, or districts, or entire islands, sometimes two or three in proximity, but no ali‘i had successfully prosecuted a campaign, harnessing resources, and mobilizing mana, men, and munitions to bring all the islands under the rule of one ali‘i nui (high chief) and his circle of chiefs. Kamehameha’s success depended in no small part on his mastery of trade with foreigners, in which he successfully wooed away or captured British and American sailors who provided him with skilled laborers and advice during the years of his conquest of the islands, and after, greatly assisted him in achieving his vision.
Pono also has a moral dimension. Ali‘i were disciplined in their deportment and behavior; in their relations with others, there were agreed-upon norms governed by religio-political and social expectation. Pono, therefore, was not only indicative of the nature of a chief’s rule, but it also referred to his or her moral character. For example, nearly two hundred years after his death, Kamehameha is remembered as a ali‘i pono, one who enacted kānāwai (laws) that protected the welfare of the common people. This designation also bespoke the excellent relations the chief maintained with the ali‘i around him—his supporters as well as his enemies. Within the compass of what Hawaiians considered “right action,” there were definite indicators that showed whether the ali‘i and his approach to the people and land was pono.
But the pono of Kamehameha was not bound by traditional ideas of “right action,” as it also included new indicators of wealth, well-being, and prosperity. While the health of the land and its people were formerly prime indicators of the pono of an ali‘i, during Kamehameha’s time, he and his chiefly supporters were becoming accustomed to a different kind of wealth—namely, fine and fancy goods, new clothing, housing and furnishings, and ships brought to the islands by New England merchants.
The ali‘i of the 1820s, left bereft by the death of Kamehameha, had much to consider. In what ways would they strive to uphold the pono of their chief, Kamehameha? Who would carry the burden of this responsibility, and in what ways would they be able to consolidate their rule against multiple adversaries, Hawaiian and foreign? The chief Kālaimoku—along with Kamehameha’s powerful widow, Ka‘ahumanu—would strive to do as Kamehameha commanded: “E ‘oni wale nō ‘oukou nō i ku‘u pono ‘a‘ole e pau” (Enjoy the pono which I have provided, for it is not finished). And it was this pono established by his rule over this new unified kingdom that they were enjoined to take up and continue.
The Ali‘i and Trade
The traditional roles of the chiefs and the relationships they had to one another were not completely clear to traders. The key to any successful trading venture in the islands was knowledge. Supercargoes like Hammatt, along with most ship captains, were directed in contracts and periodic letters from the merchant house to ascertain the political, economic, and social climate in the Hawaiian Islands as soon as they arrived. Merchants warned agents to be on the lookout for signs of political unrest, change, and transformation that would affect trade. Information about the current state of Hawaiian chiefly politics would give their concern the edge over competing firms who also had agents stationed at Honolulu and ships circulating between Boston and Hawai‘i. This was the first time that Hammatt ventured into the Pacific as supercargo, although he had come out previously as one of the mates on the Thaddeus, Captain Blanchard’s ship, which brought the first missionaries to Hawai‘i. Hammatt’s contract included the following instructions from his employers Bryant and Sturgis:
You must look for information as to the condition of the Islands, their disposition for trade, and in particular their ability to pay, for they have never shown any reluctance to making purchases—You are aware that we have always feared some changes in the Govt. that might endanger property on the islands. Should you find all quiet and business going on as it has done for some years past, it will give encouragement to trade boldly.51
John C. Jones wrote frequent letters to his employers about the movement of the chiefs and the progress of sandalwood collection, fulfilling his duty to inform his employers of developments which might affect trade positively or adversely. In Jones’ letter to his proprietors in October 1821, he supplied his judgment of the immediate political situation among the chiefs. The letter also revealed Jones’ frustration at trying to figure out the web of power relations and politics in play among the ali‘i.
I was present when Tamoree [Kaumuali‘i] gave everything he possessed to Rheo Rheo [Liholiho] and acknowledged him to be his king…. Rheo Rheo returned a few days since in the Cleopatra’s Barge, and has brought up Tamoree with him, for what purpose we no not, some say he will never return, I do not think so myself. Tamoree is fast growing old, and I think, is not long for this world, should he pass off I tremble for the consequences. Pit [Kalaimoku] is here [O‘ahu], he returned yesterday from the mountains where he has been cutting wood for the last five months, he is almost worn out, Cox has charge of Atooi [Kaua‘i], John Adams [Kuakini] is at Owhyhee, Carhamano [Ka‘ahumanu] is at the leeward part of the island. She and Pit are the only persons we put any dependence on they have some sense of propriety and integrity.52
Both Cox and Adams were brothers of the chiefess Ka‘ahumanu, whose father, Ke‘eaumoku, had warned of Ka‘ahumanu’s