Factos históricos ligados à emigração portuguesa para o Hawaii... |
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| by Robert Castro I am a volunteer with the Portuguese Genealogical Society of Hawaii (PGSH) and also with Hawaii's Plantation Village, an outdoor museum. Much of the history of Hawaii is about the 400,000 immigrants who came from different countries around the world beginning in 1852 to work on the sugar plantations. First were the Chinese (46,000), followed by the Portuguese. Next the Japanese (180,000), Puerto Ricans (7,500), Koreans (5,000), and the most recent, Filipinos (156,000). This is the basis of Hawaii's current multi-ethnic population. Hawaiians comprised most of the work force, but because of disease and other reasons, there wasn't enough labor as the demand increased. This is part of the history that the Plantation Village seeks to inform visitors to the museum. Because I have been searching for my ancestors (mostly Portuguese) my interest also revolves around the history of Hawaii. Since you are mostly interested in the Portuguese, I will give you some history of their immigration to Hawaii beginning in 1878 and ending around 1913. Most of the Portuguese came from the Azores, followed by Madeira. After 1900 immigrants from Portugal arrived with the 8,000 Spanish who also came to work on the sugar plantations. There were also Germans, Norwegians, Russians, Austrians, and Poles who came. The Europeans had to sail around the Cape of Good Hope (through the Straits of Magellan) in very hazardous sailing conditions. Altogether, about 17,500 Portuguese came to Hawaii. If we include those Portuguese who came prior to 1878 with the whaling ships, the number is higher. While most Europeans came as families, those who arrived from Asia were single men who were supposed to return to their countries after their contracts expired. Many however, remained in Hawaii, sending for their families. The Castro family came to Hawaii from Santa Maria, Madeira (to the east of Funchal)on the second ship to bring the Portuguese in 1879 on the RAVENSCRAG. The first ship was the PRESCILLA. My grandfather (Manuel) was about six months old when my great grandparents sailed to Hawaii. Two sisters would later be born and raised here (Maria and Georgina). My mother's mother (Caroline Baptista) arrived in 1886 on board the AMANA from Magdalena do Mar, Madeira (to the west of Funchal), when she was five years old with her parents and five brothers and sisters. My genealogical search continues to find what happened to my ancestors and their siblings since I did not know about most of them while I was growing up. I'm also still searching for information about where my mother's father (Jules) came from. Although I know he came from Sao Miguel, Azores, I haven't been able to locate him in the passenger lists. My father's grandparents on his mother's side came from Brazil (Manuel) and Sao Miguel (Justina). They married on the island of Hawaii where my grandmother was born in 1884. Both my grandfathers worked for the sugar plantation and my father and uncles on my mother's side also worked for them while I was growing up in the late 1940's and 1950's. Hawaii is a group of islands like the Azores and I live on the island of Oahu, where Honolulu and Pearl Harbor is located. The community where I live once was the Oahu Sugar Company until it closed in 1995. Where once there were at least 50 plantations existing at one time, there are only two remaining; one on the island of Maui and one on the island of Kauai. The Portuguese contributed much to Hawaii; some Portuguese words, food (sweet bread (pao duce), malassadas, sausage, pickeled inions, and pickeled pork), and the musical instrument which later became the ukulele. The Hawaii Council on Portuguese Heritage sponsors a festa each year to perpetuate the culture. The PGSH also participates in this activity to provide information to visitors to the festa. When some of these people ask questions of us about their heritage, you would not know they have Portuguese blood. Some look pure Japanese, others Filipino or Hawaiian, or any other mix you can think of. The PGSH has the list of the ships which brought the Portuguese and Spanish to Hawaii indicating how many men, women, and children were on board. There are also newspaper accounts which talk about the voyage and how many passengers died or were born while in transit. I hope this provides some information which gives you an idea of how and why the Portuguese came to Hawaii. Let me know if there is additional information you would like. Aloha, Robert
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© 1995 José Luís da Silva Maltez. Todos os direitos reservados. |
