Read this article in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
On the 7th of May 1792, the year that Puʻukoholā was dedicated by the priests of Kamehameha, a boat commanded by Captain George Vancouver anchored at Waimea, Oʻahu, to search for water and provisions for the ship.
The bay and valley of Waimea was part of an ahupuaʻa given by Kamehameha to the kahuna class and there is where Hewahewa lived. As the dinghy left the Daedalus to search for water and provisions, natives gathered here and there on the cliff side below Puʻu o Mahuka, the sacrificial heiau located there.
Other men were scattered here and there at river mouth and elsewhere. Eleven men left the Daedalus. Three did not return – commander Richard Hegeseth, astronomer William Gooch, and a Portuguese sailor. The foreigner was not welcomed. They were killed.
Why did the killing take place? Here is a reason. Before that event, a trading ship, the Grace, landed on Oʻahu. A foreigner by the name of Ridley urged the captain to shoot dead a chief on board. This Ridley fellow was an advisor to the chiefs of Oʻahu however, he was a “fish that swims both ways.” He had fled to the Grace. Because of this event, the people of Waimea were leery of the British flag. The is how they recognized the British.
Vancouver was not in Waimea during the killing. He was in Maui, where he discussed the tragedy at Waimea. Therefore, Kahekili sent his younger brother, Tamohomoho, there to help Kalanikūpule, the governor of Oʻahu, to seek justice for Vancouver.
It was heard that the culprits were in Waikīkī. Therefore, three men were seized at Waikīkī and killed. However, they were innocent. When the missionaries arrived, the accusers of the men that were killed confessed. The people of Waikīkī were innocent.
Before 1792, the Hawaiian people heard about the aggression of the British. The most famous was the killing of Captain Cook at Kaʻawaloa. Cook had riled the chiefs and warriors because of the arrest of Kalaniʻōpuʻu as a hostage for a dinghy taken by a native. That was in 1779.
Another famous tragedy was the massacre at ʻOlowalu, Maui in 1790. Waimea’s people may have heard of it. That is another story for the next issue.
